Ship Island, MS

So I returned and spent my last two weeks in Mississippi but they've been pretty fun filled, adventures have included
-Hitting golf balls across a large stretch of land (not playing golf, just whacking the balls. It's fun and as stress relieving as you'd expect)
-A quick trip to New Orleans
-Making beignets (I ate too many and think I'm beignet-ed out for a long time)
-Being all sophisticated and having a wine and cheese evening, complete with the Jazz music channel supplying smooth sounds. I actually drank white Zinfandel and sprite, as I have yet to develop a great taste for the ol' Merlot
-Watching Miss USA with scones+strawberry jam. The Americans enjoyed the scones a whole lot more than they did Pimms and Marmite
-Today (my last day) we're going to Landrum's Country, a small recreation of the Old South

A couple of weekends ago a group of us went to Ship Island, off the coast of Mississippi. I'd actually learnt about the place in my first semester when I took Mississippi History, as the island was used as a fortress back in the day when land was fought neck and limb for.

We took one of the two ferries that went out each day, it was a short journey and we saw dolphins and a lotta water. 

The beaches were sandy (and VERY hot, I felt like a cartoon character yelping as I tip-toed across the burning sand) ... we bought some kites with us and flew them in the slight breeze. Someone actually attached theirs to fishing rope and let it fly until no one could see it anymore... it took about an hour to reel in.

The when we arrived back in Gulfport, we went to the USM coastal part of campus and visited the FRIENDSHIP TREE!

all a bit beach-swept

So that's the end of my American adventure... I really have had the best time possible, met so many great people and am so glad I had such an amazing opportunity!

As of Wednesday I'd officially completed my year as a USM student. Since then has been the mixture of
-relief that work is done
-frustration of packing, sorting things for third year abroad, making sure I'm organised etc
-stress of everything that comes with a year ending, let alone one abroad.

A friend took Anna and I shooting in the woods on Thursday, which was loud and not easy. I tried one shot and it blasted me backwards haha!

A lot of people have left or are leaving tomorrow, I've said many goodbyes in the past few years and I've fallen into the routine of sucking in all the emotion and just hugging someone as if I'll see them in a couple of months. Maybe it's the British in me not wishing to express any sort of feeling. It'll probably hit me at some point and I'll be a watery mess. But I am excited about my last year at Keele! But I have also started having nightmares about waitressing.

Looking forward: I don't return to England for a month and between then and now I am camping in Florida, going to Vegas, Los Angeles then finishing in New York... so a road of adventure.

Looking back: my year spent at Southern Miss has been beyond all my expectations. I've gained so much and changed in so many ways, I can't even begin to explain. In addition to learning a lot about myself and what I've been taught in classes, I've learnt a enormous amount about British culture and what it means to be Southern. Life in Mississippi has been great, interesting, weird... and I've gotten two different perspectives of college living on and off campus. I would strongly recommend studying abroad to anyone, it's the best opportunity I've ever had and something I will remember and talk about forever...

Some pictures of my favourite memories

Arrival

 View from the window

I have been in America for a whole week now but it feels like an age.

My flight wasn't bad! I was sat next to a friendly yet talkative chap who had read up on the wikipedia entry of the airbus we were traveling on and was keen to share that it was one of a breed that had mysteriously crashed on a couple of occasions, so it wasn't exactly relaxing! However the trashy inflight films, as always, allowed my mind to decay for those several airborne hours.

And here I am in Mississippi. I'll do the quintessential British thing and remark on the weather, which has been extreme! The heat is beyond anything a heatwave in England has ever offered and the humidity gives you the sensation of walking into a steamy bathroom all the time. Somehow though, perhaps due to a long cold English summer spent longing for warmth, I've found it bearable so far. We did a walking tour of Hattiesburg today though, which tested my endurance.100 degree heat is exhausting.

We- the international students- have done a variety of things these past days leading up to classes. All first year and transfer students are welcome to join in with 'GEWW' activities which basically involve bonding exercises, learning school chants, tours and orientation. A couple of us tagged along with a group and ended up running with a group of freshman through a giant inflatable helmet across the football stadium, cheering, which is something that would never be experienced in the UK. Perhaps one of the most surreal things imaginable but the lack of students photographing or filming the events led to me assume it was pretty routine in the life of an American Teenager.

A video I took from said event.

Another sharp contrast to the English University Campus is the architecture and scenery. Keele may have Keele Hall, picturesque lakes and the countryside but the student accommodation is about as glamorous as a muddy puddle (which you get a lot of with the considerable amount of rain)
My hall, or as it's called here, my dorm, has pillars!

Rather pretty, yes?

And inside the corridors we were welcomed with cute names on our doors and balloons!

So that's some of my week!