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

I may have only heard of Hattiesburg once I was told I was coming here, and despite the fact it's a small town there's a surprising amount going on.

Last weekend hosted 'HubFest' where stalls were set up selling food, drink and miscellaneous items (including jellyfish in glass paper weights :/ ) and bands played. It was a really lovely sunny day and I had fun.

Eight Things I've Learnt This Week

1. It's common in the south for people to call any soft drink a 'coke'
2. Southerners also have a stronger allegiance to Coca-Cola over Pepsi due to the fact it comes from Georgia (though I imagine if you go to North Carolina this changes)
3. Some swimming pools are salt water. I discovered this one thanks to Sybs splashing water at me whilst I was yapping away.
4. The writer of Eddie Murphy films Coming to America and The Nutty Professor graduated from USM in 1972
5. Cockroaches like hiding in cupboards and surprising European girls unfamiliar with them. Guys are no better at dealing with them then hysterical girls.
6. USM has some really great study abroad programs. I've had two presentations in classes this week and they've managed to make me want to go to countries I've never had interest in haha 
7. The reason American chocolate tastes so different is because it is made to have a higher melting point than European. Sybs and I discovered this through gifts we received (thanks to parents and grandparents)...all her Lindt bunnies look dead, then some investigation via google proved Hershey's is designed to stay solid longer. I'd rather have a wibbly wobbly Cadbury's bar
8. American's, or at least a massive proportion on this campus, love Doctor Who. I'm not sure how they all discovered it but I think I've met more people who really love it here than I have back home. A crazy amount. Some with Doctor Who tattoos...

I've been rather behind on this! Everything got very busy all of a sudden... here is a rundown on different occurrences in my life

St Patricks Day
America with its Irish pride takes this day very seriously. I've never actually ever celebrated it before this year (even though I'm a quarter Irish) but I joined some friends for the occasion, donned some green and drank some beer in a couple of pubs. We also went to the Irish-Italian festival at the St Thomas Aquinas church, which hosted a lot of food stalls, music and fun stuff: it was so busy and had a good atmosphere. It was interesting in that it was attended by hundreds of people not members of the church- in England, it's incredibly unlikely any event would have such high attendees from people who are not members of that doctrine. Some of my friends that I went with who have had a Baptist upbringing thought it was really crazy to have alcohol served at a church event which also made me smile. There's more info on the link above

Assignments Galore
I've had so much work this past week and a half, the end of the semester is really starting to impend with assignments coming at me from every angle.. but I'm really not looking forward to the next 6 weeks passing, even if it does mean I'm free from work. I'm still having the best time here!

Exploring more of Hattiesburg
Even though the town is very small I've still found there's different places to explore. This past week I went to Hattiesburg Zoo, which was actually a pretty cute little zoo. I looked a bit like a plum when I pointed in the water and very excitedly said 'Oh wow! Look turtles!' to which the person I was with replied 'Oh, they're wild... they don't even put them there, they just appear' haha. We also went to T-Bones which is a pretty cool record store cafe, it also hosts comedy nights and gigs.

this monkey looks pretty sad but he did smile at us

Claire turned 21
So we went to some bars and had a party. It turned out to be a French themed party, with Anna and Tanja creating berets out of paper plates, foreign language music and a lot of guys drawing slim mustaches on. Sybs also baked a rather incredible olive and ham bread/cake thing.

Anna being French

Onions et wine

apparently French people don't hug but they aren't all French

So things are well!

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.

back in the 'burg

After leaving my friend Claire's London apartment at 7am GMT and arriving in Hattiesburg at 2am CT- 24+hours of traveling- I'm happy not to get on a plane again for a while!

This semester Sybs and I have moved into an apartment. Technically it's 'off campus' but it's actually closer to where my classes are than when I lived in dorms... and considerably cheaper! $575 shared between two each month and water is included. That's at least 1/3 less than what I would pay in England! It's also nice to have a room to myself, windows that open and not to have the rather revolting meal plan forced upon me.

I'm quite please at how we managed to decorate the place, it came unfurnished but Walmart supplied us with a cheap sofa bed and lamp, plus some wall stickers were on sale in Barnes & Noble. Quite minimalistic, we decided it was vaguely 60s in style and I felt this was an excuse to dance the twist.

my bedroom view- we have a pool!

Shopping for food has been a bit tricky, one thing that is clear from the grocery aisles in Walmart is that Americans like their meals quick and convenient- 'Just Add ______' kinda thing. Fresh goods weren't so great; I bought a squash (which the cashier had to ask what kind of vegetable it was) and an avocado, both of which were overpriced and appeared to be wood disguised as food.

Classes started yesterday, I think I've got a good bunch- Vietnam War, Politics & Protests, Intellectual & Cultural History of America and Philosophy through Science Fiction. One of my assignment options is to start or join a political movement... I've got over-passionate about projects in the past so I think I should probably avoid that as I imagine it might reflect strangely on my university back home if they hear I chained myself to something. I think Philosophy through Sci-Fi may blow my mind a bit.

So I've been here less than a week, settled well and everything is going good!

The differences

Here's me in front of the University. I took scenic photographs for the first time since I arrived here this week

I don't want to be a party pooper but I keep seeing 'Happy Guy Fawkes Day!' and 'Celebrate Bonfire Day!' randomly over the internet etc. and I want to establish that it's Bonfire NIGHT, Americans. And hands off our holiday! It's ironic that usually I am bored every 5th of November; eventually get annoyed with the fireworks and how rubbish they are and how they go on for days/weeks/months either side of the day, but this year I feel like I'm missing out.

On that note, this week has marked the closest I've come to being homesick. I've been so lucky in having met and befriended such amazing people since I've arrived and having so much to see and do that I literally haven't been bored in three months. But I found out that chocolate Advent Calendars are a European tradition and that really threw me off! For what I understand, a few people are aware of their existence here and some posh shops sell them, but for the most part, most haven't a clue what they are.

There really is a tremendous amount of less obvious differences between the USA and UK. I haven't met a single American that has seen or even heard of Bugsy Malone. Film nor school production. It's a musical, prohibition-era gangster film starring children with guns that shoot cream, starring tweenage Scott Baio and Jodie Foster, what more could you want? I don't know how this has managed to come up in so many conversations, but it has! And I'm not sure why I'm feeling the need to spread this news but IT SURPRISED ME.

The biggest difference definitely is how people dress. The only people who wear baseball caps in England are criminals and if any student ever wore one to a lecture, they would be ridiculed by the lecturer and made to take it off. I think people do generally express themselves more through clothing in the UK and I kinda feel conscious sometimes that I'm wearing things a little less conventional here. But when I dressed up for the gym one day in a baggy T shirt and shorts, my room mate Sybs said, with strong conviction, 'You're dressed American! You look 'orrible!'. I'm happy wearing my odd British clothes.

A real thing that is causing difficulties is my strong accent which is often a little too British for everyone to understand. I know my French friends have had trouble understanding me and Sybs, spent the first few days nodding and smiling to everything I said- but a lot of Americans also have to get me to repeat things and I've found myself at times talking in a ridiculous Keira Knightley-esq diction to actually communicate with people. Below makes me laugh and expresses a lot.





The other British people haven't had such problems, although the other person from Kent was talking loudly at a party and someone asked me what language he was speaking, haha. Maybe it's the Kent accent? I don't know? But my 'bonus bucks' (credit on my student card to be spent on campus) has been dwindled at Starbucks and there's something about how I say the name 'Maddie' when they take my order, that doesn't easily register...

I quite like Mattie, maybe I'll keep it.

This isn't even a real name..

Just writing noises now

I'm not actually offended by this all, nor even particularly irritated. I know when I return to England for Christmas break I'm going to be fed up that my accent is no longer special and soon get bored of all the things I'm missing slightly and will be eager to return for Spring Semester.

And American chocolate is so bad that even if Advent Calendars were big here, I'm not sure that I would buy one.

Fall Break

This week has been a lot of fun. I've done no work but it's been A GAS. We made friendship bracelets, I cut my room mates hair,

Everyone had Thursday and Friday off this weekend for Fall Break, rather than take a trip somewhere we thought we would explore Hattiesburg some more. Since arriving 6 weeks ago, we had only been Downtown once so we decided to change that.

Wednesday we went on a random adventure and wandered about. We found an antiques mall- Calico Mall, opposite Hattiesburg Amtrak station- full of strange and exciting things...

There was also a vintage clothing section downstairs which has some interesting bits and bobs...

...it's by the same people that run Polly Esther's Vintage Clothing Store which is on the highway right next to college and has possibly the best vintage clothing to be found anywhere! Lots of bargains and pretty items- a lot better than the above.

On Thursday we went to the House of 1000 Psycho's on East Pine Street. It was very creepy and good prep for Halloween (which I'm am very much looking forward to), there was a lovely warning before we went in that the weapons were real and we had to sign a legal waiver to enter (BET YOU'RE HAPPY TO HEAR THAT MUM?)

(The waiting lobby)

On Friday we took the bus downtown. It costs 50 cents a journey, which is roughly 30p! A child's fair in England is probably more than double that. But it does host a strange crowd, including a man that looked like the evil dude from Ghostbusters (who looked into my eyes and I'm pretty sure took out my soul) and a lot of people wearing T-Shirts that preached the apocalypse. We went to the African-American Military Museum and ate at the first place we had BBQ on our first visit ever downtown (2 months ago now) it was called The Shed but is now called the Bottling Company, which confused us.

There was also a music event in the park

Then we went to a monster making event at Southern Fried Comics, a comic book shop downtown. SO MUCH FUN! I started painting mine very ordinarily until I looked around and realised it was pretty boring, then realised I wanted to make an Elvis Presley...but alas, it was too late as Elvis never wore orange and I'd already started slapping the paint on, so I decided on the next best thing: an Elvis obsessed Clarence, played by Christian Slater, from the movie True Romance

Then we went to a pub called the Keg and Barrel, then we went around a few of the bars downtown.

Saturday and Sunday... I'm not sure what we did but we had FUN

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!