• I did end up going on an impromptu trip with some American friends to New Orleans for Mardi Gras on Sunday. Southern Miss students get Monday & Tuesday off as we're so close to NOLA and I'm guessing in the past, many years ago, class turn out after the weekend was minimal so they made it a holiday. I didn't actually see a parade though! I've spoken to a lot of people who went to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and few of them saw one, or at least remember seeing one, so maybe it's not all that important. I visited the uptown area which I appreciated as I feel a bit French Quartered out... it's  fun there but definitely a bit of a tourist trap. The morning after we ate breakfast at 'Camellia Grill', a very American diner organised rather like a bar. I enjoyed a BLT sandwich and the surroundings..

•  Felix and I, the British among our circle, introduced pancake day to the other Europeans and Americans, unlike many other things of English tradition bought over here, Lemon and Sugar went down well. 

•  We've booked Spring Break. Us European girls are going to Texas... Corpus Christi via Houston :D March 9th, so two weeks time!

I've been so busy the past couple of weeks, we've all agreed there has been a dramatic shift in classes this semester, more enjoyable but tougher workload. I have been up to fun stuff too though

A week and a half ago was the Superbowl which was an interesting experience. The game itself was pretty boring but the adverts were fun (they really should be considering the companies are spending millions for half a minute) it was a funny experience, we watched it in Mugshots-a sports bar with an Orwellian amount of TV screens- and people really hooted and cheered at the commercials. I felt very British. I also ate a lotta food. Being off the meal plan has given me back an appetite.

just TVs within a couple of metres

Hattiesburg also had its own Mardi Gras parade pass through on Thursday. It was much more family orientated than I imagine New Orleans to be... I caught a bead necklace with my ear. Well, one was thrown and I was busy taking a photo and it landed on my ear, but I still think skill is required there.

It was actually a lot busier than I expected it to be! I'm not sure if I have it in me to go to New Orleans this Mardi Gras weekend... I know it's a one-time-chance thing but NOLA is messy-crazy on a regular weekday morning, every time I've been there it has been mental. I imagine Mardi Gras would be as shambolic as going through an antique shop on a skateboard, backwards, wearing a suit of armor, holding a fish tank. I'm happy to have a 4 day weekend though :D

Next Tuesday I will be celebrating pancake day. It's one of my favourite days, or at least it was until I found out that while Britain hosts a day of fun by eating pancakes prior to the 40 days and nights of lent, the rest of the world throws carnivals and parades. England, the land of not pushing the boat out.

I also came across some American Cadbury's items in Walmart. The packaging concerned me a great deal and if I saw them in a shop in England I'd imagine them to be fake.

American creme egg Left, British (I bought some with me) Right)

surplus stock from the 80s?

Anyways I'm having a lot of fun still. This semester is turning out to be very different to the previous but still very, maybe even MORE enjoyable! I'm already jealous of the students coming from Keele here next year.

I've heard from many people that the weather in Europe is terrifyingly cold and icy. I'm very glad I'm not at Keele, the land of cold, right now. I'm still quite unamused about the first time I visited it with the Mum, after I'd accepted an offer.. "brrr it's cold here today!" I turned and said to her, "Oh! It's always really cold here, didn't you know that?" she said with a mad grin on her face.

Well Hattiesburg certainly isn't cold, it's actually reminiscent of British mid-summer right now...

... with Manchester rain. We put our laundry in the dryer, ten minutes later Noah's Ark 2 began and we haven't collected it yet :|

 

But life is more than just weather... this week I've had a LOTTA fun (and did a lot of work, don't worry I am studying)

I'm so glad we got an apartment, it has allowed us to have people round whenever we want, the opportunity to bake cakes AND we can walk around our rooms past 9pm without a creepy note appearing on our door asking us to be silent from the people below.

My friend Jill asked me to try out an American accent, I'm not as good as it as I thought