Homecoming

 I just wanna apologise for the spelling, grammar etc. I write these posts in a rush, you see get off my back parents.

This past weekend was Homecoming which I'm still not exactly sure what is about. It was explained to me as the first game of the season post Fall Break, when all the alumni come back. I maybe wrong.

Anyway there was the parade downtown and the game which was all fun, colourful and very American. The British girls and I that watched couldn't find it inside our English selves to wave back at the students on the float without feeling awkward.

We didn't, however, feel awkward about picking up the bead necklaces and sweets they threw out... YAY FREE STUFF!

The parade started with police men (or cops, getting with the lingo, yo) on motorbikes, revving around and swirling about, then there were these posh convertible cars with the Mr and Mrs Southern Miss/Homecoming queens etc people things on them. I'm not sure who they were exactly, nor their different roles (there were a few) but they were all dressed in ball gowns and suits and for the past month you got bombarded all around campus asking if you'd voted and I think they win scholarships and prestige.

I really should research this stuff more before I write about it.

Mid time at the Football game they had a big presentation for them. There was also a dance by the Dixie Darlings past and present, it featured many alumni from the past few decades and even one lady from their establishing year- 1954 (!)- was up there shaking her thing!

Anyway the parade was really impressive and full of school spirit. Living here does make you realise how very reserved Britain is.

Next weekend is Halloween, which I am very excited about. I love it and am so happy to be in a country that will overdo the heck out of it. It appears to be starting Thursday (at least that's when the first party commences) so I'm going to have to sort out my outfits asap.

What to expect when there are a lot of expectations

I don't want to do the easy thing of comparing the USA with England but GOLLY GOSH books are expensive here! If I were to buy all my textbooks for my classes from any nearby bookshop it would cost me at least $400! Loan them from the library, you may ask- well it appears the campus library holds many, many books but not a single one was an edition I needed- it did make me wonder what the books in the library are actually used for- since a not a single subject has provided an outside reading list ....?

My classes have all been very different from anything I'd have in England. It seems that it's normal for students to  barely acknowledge each other in class which meant a few of us made a faux pas of sitting directly next to a random person causing them to sit up and look confused. Teaching is also very different; there's less emphasize on interpretation and comparisons. It's considerably more straight forward, but there's still a big workload. Apparently a tropic storm is on its way, which has already cancelled 'Friday Night at the Fountain', freeing up time to make me sit down and actually read :/


This week has also been the week where I have found certain stereotypes are true or false...

GUESS THE STEREOTYPE: F or T ?

'Southern folk will never discuss Religion or Politics'

A common thing I had been told or had read about was that Southerners will rarely discuss religion or politics. I got chatting to some people at a party and within several minutes both had been the subject of conversation- and not instigated by the British girl!

'PARTY! I'll bring the red plastic cups'

A cliche I expected to only exist within movies was people drinking out of red cups! I'm not sure why red holds the front in the plastic disposable drinking utensil market but the reason behind them is to conceal alcohol with regards to drinking laws regarding open containers.

'Mississippi? You're gonna need a larger Bible belt!'

And lastly, before I arrived in the 'Bible Belt', there had been warnings on how invasive religion might be, but it appears, so far, to be another inaccurate assumption about Mississippi. There are items in a lot of shops that would never be found in commonplace England though. These 'craft crosses' were available in Wallmart; I think if any supermarket in the UK sold them, there would be complaints. I'm not sure what exactly they're for, or why anyone would need 24 of them but they're a good demonstration of the noticeable differences I think

If the Storm Lee doesn't strike too hard I should be able to report on a football match next.. Southern Miss To The Top!