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!

Perdido Key, Florida

This week some American friends and I went camping on a beach in Florida. It was a national park so we had to walk a distance from where we parked the car and there were no facilities to use- pretty primitive! (And also tiring since we had to carry everything)

Perdido Key is a small island in Pensacola, we camped at Johnston Beach where the sand was white and the sea was clear and it was pretty close to the Naval Aviation base so we got to see the Blue Angels train every morning. There was heaps of wildlife
I saw
-a sea turtle
-pelicans
-stingrays
-a small shark
-hermit crabs
-dolphins
-fish jumping out of the water

The first time stingrays swam by us, only a couple felt/saw them, they screamed and ran out but the rest of us thought they were playing a prank and continued swimming. Later we saw around 35 swimming along the shore haha.

It was cool in the morning so I was stupidly lax about suncream and although I only went an hour before I started applying it, my face is red and really swollen, except where my sunglasses were, which has left me looking somewhat like a Thundercat. Unfortunately there was no shade so I think the lack of shelter made it a bit worse, but at least it'll fade!

look at the bird print next to my foot print :o

On the last night there was a sudden, large thunder storm that passed over us. Pretty scarey considering we were on a flat beach in a tent, after twenty minutes it had passed along and the sky above us was clear so we made a fire... it was really beautiful sitting under the stars, toasting marshmallows on the fire, seeing the sky around us lit up with great forks and clashes- felt rather mystical!

On the way home we went to the Naval Aviation Museum and saw lots of planes, blimps, space stuff and helicopters. I saw a bit of the moon, sat in some cockpits and stood in the Presidents helicopter (it was Pres. Nixon's/Fords, not the coolest presidents, but still a pretty swanky helicopter)

So overall it was a great little adventure!

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

Ah the '4 weeks left of the semester' mark has passed, meaning a lot of work combined with the emotion of leaving :'( it's all getting busy and stressful!
I've booked the end part of my post-semester trip- LA and NYC.. I've even got tickets to a screening of Paper Moon presented by its director and Tootsie with Geena Davis introducing it- both shown in old Los Angeles theatres! As a film geek, this is very exciting for me.
But I still need to organize what to do the fortnight before...

So in addition to organising fun times there's been stuff a-happening.

For Easter my room mate Sybs and I donned our Sunday best, went to Church and cooked a Sunday lunch

my melted egg

This week also bought some other niceties- I'm being awarded the 'Ed Wheat American Studies Award'! There's a ceremony tomorrow/Wednesday (for people other than me, it's not that special) which is quite exciting- an award! For me! I've never been awarded anything much before.. except a medal of enthusiasm at a sports camp the parents sent me to one half term.

I rarely touch on the academic side of my year abroad but studying at Southern Miss has been a privilege- there are always interesting lectures available which I regret not having been able to take advantage of due to class clashes or deadlines. In the last weeks there have been a Supreme Judge given a discussion, a renown Psychologist visiting and there was a panel talk on The Help: really awesome opportunities. In my classes I have been fortunate to gain unique perspectives on my subjects. In Politics & Protests we've had people from outside given talks- such as a young women born in America who was moved to a Middle Eastern country and rebelled against the strict, sexist, corrupt rule by holding fashion shows which were deemed illegal (I did pay attention, I'm just being flaky on the details as I don't think I've got authority to publish them here), one of my post-grad classmates also worked for the Bush Administration during his election campaign, she's a noted liberal and involved in the Occupy movement so it's all very interesting and opening my mind- I'm learning a lot about the world. In Vietnam War we've had veterans speak and possibly may visit the nearby Camp Shelby to have an understanding of combat- all fantastic opportunities of education that I would not have necessarily gained in England.

Plus England is so tight with given people recognition- I'd never ever get praise in the form of an award there ;)

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!

So this week is turning out to be quite interesting. Saturday night we went to a party where 4 police cars turned up to break before it was even 11pm due to a noise complaint. Cops busting a party is a cliche! It was a pretty calm gathering and considering it was a Saturday night, not actually that late and in a student apartment complex, I was a bit miffed. British culture maybe very reserved and unemotional but greater allowances are made for people having fun.

Sunday, I went to a baseball game. I much prefer fast paced sports to the stop/start routine of American Football and the organ music makes me giggle. Southern Miss won against Troy- I'm not sure who Troy are or where they come from but woohoo! VICTORY!

Monday, I received an email from Keele University warning of toxic bead bracelets made from seeds that have a similar chemical structure to a warfare agent and thought 'cripes!'. Then a couple of hours later I received an email from USM warning of a bank robber roaming on campus... confirming that everything really is always bigger, brighter and more dramatic in the states. It transpired into a bit of a joke with a mock twitter page created, a collection of very precise details about the robber emailed out and I found it hard not to laugh when a policeman came into the library with a piece of paper I can only presume had a description of the criminal, holding it in the air as he looked at people. The man got caught after a 'foot chase'.

Wednesday I went to a basketball game. The stadium was pretty empty as a Greek (sorority/frat, not the nation) event was taking place, but it was a good game and we won again! Apparantly it's the most successful season whilst being in Division 1 that USM has had to date.

So that's my week so far...

• 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 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

second week

• The work load this semester is very big! I'm doing more per class than what seems the entire load of last semester. Hopefully I'll manage it ok but it appears holiday mode is completely over. All my classes this term have discussions in them which I'm happy about, as I've said before, the main thing I miss from British Uni are the seminars. My nerdtastic class 'Philosophy through Science Fiction' is very Doctor Who orientated which is quite surreal, I'm surprised at how popular it is over here.
• There's a fresh batch of international students that we've met. We had a pizza evening last week and also met some people going abroad next year. There was pizza with whole cloves of garlic on it which is the kind of thing I imagine my older brother would cook when he's had a bit to drink and is hungry.
• I've been trying out different classes at the gym since I've been back. I tried yoga which I think is overrated and only felt 'in touch with my body' when we spent a few minutes in the 'corpse position' (pretty self explanatory). I also turned up to a class called 'Stretch, Tone and Balance' where I was welcomed by the instructor but also warned that the rest of the group would be a little older. I was expecting people who've just had kids to people my mums age... when they turned up it was too late to leave and they were OAPs. It was rather awkward, but exercise is exercise I guess?
• There have been massive thunderstorms lately, in the middle of the night. It's very hard to sleep through torrential rain and lightening clashing right above you :| today I'm a zombie.
• This week has marked the annoyance that many internationals have felt when Americans describe spaghetti as 'noodles'. Sybs got chicken noodle soup and was almost angry when it transpired the noodles were spaghetti. Noodles apparently describe all types of long stringy egg/flour based goods.
• Here is me with a car unnecessarily big. I do not know the owner of the car but if they don't match the scale of the automobile, I'd be disappointed

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!

Finals

The semester is coming to an end now. Last week we were wearing long sleeves and jeans, now we're wrapped in jackets and scarfs. Winter ! Classes are over but everyone is working for finals. Unlike my friends back at Keele, I still have five days until the semester is officially over and my last exam is on Thursday. It's hard finding motivation but easy finding distractions.

Noe and Rosie have been swapping style tips.

1. Last night we had a party at Tanja/Anna/Claire/Felix's new apartment in honor of the finality of the semester and Rosie leaving (emotional :'C ). We tried cooking a roast dinner but it turned out to be a proper student dish of rotisserie chicken, 'mac n cheese', ratatouille and stuffing- an odd combination. Then we drank sangria, danced and somehow, I ended up caroling their neighbours.

2. I can't really say that the four months I've been here (so far) has gone by quickly because it really hasn't and I think if I had opted to only study the one semester I would be satisfied BUT I am still having a lotta fun and I'm still meeting new people and gaining new experiences. Going home for winter break is going to be strange... the change in time zones, weather, briefly assimilating into British culture blah etc.  I just hope that I will be enthusiastic about returning again to Mississippi for January, but I'm sure if I spend one afternoon in a British high street during sales/watch the news/David Cameron does anything, it will be enough for me to head straight to the airport, regardless of whether my flight is that day or not.

3. There was a free SUSHI making class held at the cafeteria that Rosie and I went along to. The creations we made definitely were not especially authentic (steak sushi, hmmm), but we had fun!

4. Sybs and I got some belongings for our apartment next semester. It took a lot of self control (and Sybs firmly saying NO!) to not purchase a Hello Kitty toaster ($20? BARGAIN!) the greatest thing was getting a kettle, tea yay! I still don't own a mattress though :s

5. This is a rather silly coupon I was handed in Starbucks.

Thanksgiving

So last week I spent 5 wonderful days up North celebrating the American holiday of Thanksgiving. I was so glad to get out of Hattiesburg.. don't get me wrong I've had a lot of fun here, but it's a very small town and my assumption that there is little to do without a car in Mississippi has kinda been proved right.

In relevant fashion, I traveled via Train, Plane and Automobile across the country on Wednesday (I realised I actually was in 5 states in one day-MS, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Rhode Island (whilst on train) then arriving to Connecticut)

 I stayed with Alex and Harriet (and a friend of Harriet's) who I knew from childhood. They moved to America several years ago so it was a unique Thanksgiving in that it was mainly non-Americans in the household... JUST LIKE IN THE OLDEN DAYS! We also made headdresses

We had bucks fizz- or 'mimosa' by the American name (which I kept calling osmosis) in the morning. They got up so early to cook the turkey and followed a Delia Smith recipe. It was pretty darn amazing! Definately ate perfectly over these days and my stomach has not enjoyed returning to cafeteria food.

It was really interesting sharing details about college life in the South compared to Boston. A dry campus and visiting hours surprised them and I was surprised to discover Greek Life is pretty much a Southern + California thing. Having spent such an extensive time in one part of the country, it really opened my eyes to how absolutely different the other half is. This sounds obvious but you wouldn't imagine how different the cultures contrast.

Whilst in Connecticut I got to visit my Great Aunt Pauline. She was a GI Bride and moved to America when she was 18. It's a long way to go when you're that young and she still really misses England. It was really lovely to see her and I was surprised to discover she hasn't really lost her accent!

Sunday was spent wandering around Boston where Alex and Harriet live/study. I have really missed being in a City. I don't have the ability to walk around Hattiesburg, it's pretty flat, far from anything and with a slow pace. It was great for 3 months but I have found myself frustrated at how limited I am and really loved walking the streets surrounded by skyscrapers and people. It was a very beautiful city!

It was interesting being somewhere though where my accent was never talked about (in fact, everyone had accents!) Alex worked as a tour guide on a boat over summer so was able to give me a lot of interesting information about the city! I also got to drink tea, eat (non-American produced) Cadbury's and Wagamamas...it was nice to be able to indulge in British goods that I have thoroughly missed whilst exploring a new place.

Above is a video of some of the sites I saw (made using some awkward Ipod app called Videolicious hehe)

I've also added photographs to flickr- which there's now a link to on the side>>>>>

tidbits

 

1. I got $25 in dining dollars for taking part in a survey on Eagle Dining. We have spent as lot of time in Starbucks this week as a result. They're playing Christmas music already, which feels even more peculiar because we're all still wearing summer clothes.

2. We're starting to get small town claustrophobia and finding the inability to drive annoying. Up until this semester I have never at any point felt the need to learn to drive in my life and now I feel trapped and tempted to get in a car and see how easy it is. The bus is fine by day but stops running at 5pm. The one taxi firm in Hattiesburg runs sporadically, costs money and the cars smell of homeless people. A lot of people say 'Hey, if ever need a ride just ask' but it's not British to ask and I'm sure many of them are just being polite. I can't believe I'm wishing I could drive! The only thing to this point that has encouraged me is a) the prospect of a zombie outbreak and b)so I can steer around singing Gary Numan- Cars.

3. It's Thanksgiving break so the whole country is off- I'm going to Boston/Connecticut, yeeep! I'm a bit anxious about the cold though.

New Orleans

For the second time in a fortnight we went to New Orleans. On this occasion, it wasn't for Halloween (though we still saw a couple of people in fancy dress) and we didn't go out for the party (though we still saw many drunk people. At noon.).

When we arrived we got the most amazing Po Boys from this small little place at the outskirts of anywhere. I can't remember what the place was called but it was the best sandwich I've eaten since arriving here- bread actually tasted like bread, rather than some odd dry American brioche! I had beef, it was a dream.

We then looked around a cemetery. An interesting experience and more of the Southern Gothic. However creepy it sounds, it's an interesting cultural experience, seeing graveyards in other countries, places and religions.

We had a nosy around the Garden District; lovely posh houses, including the home of Anne Rice! I would like to live in one of these homes if anyone fancies buying me one?

 

A nice, free thing to do is the free ferry ride, it was quick but the views are just as great as from the steamboat.

The French Quarter is the part of New Orleans I'm most familiar with as I stayed there when I went on holiday (the Hotel Monteleone, where Truman Capote and Harper Lee use to drink in its carousel bar) it was particularly vibrant this Saturday with people getting their fortunes read and selling art in Jackson Square. 

 We ate Beignets at Cafe du Monde, so tasty. 

From the French Quarter we wandered into Bourbon Street, which is a difficult place to describe; A strip that is an odd hybrid of Vegas, the red light district of Paris and a British student village with amazing live music coming out of every venue, a lot of people wearing little clothing and a craving for hand sanitizer after you leave it.

 There were a couple of topless painted ladies holding signs saying 'Tits for Tips', which when I looked away I was facing the Cathedral. This was all at 4 in the afternoon, with our tutor. Surreal. 

  Anyway, I think I maybe content with never visiting Bourbon St. again as I've been a few times and it is a bit of a smelly, disordered tourist trap... I sense that New Orleans is probably full of amazing bars and venues outside the street and it would be interesting to explore these places.

We stayed in the Holiday Inn which had a pretty amazing view

The next day we went to a plantation house but it was $20 to look around so we just took sneaky pictures outside it, hohoho. These photos AND MORE are available on my flickr page!

So there's New Orleans, in all it's sober glory. It is a beautiful city and very different to a lot of other places in the South and in America. It has a really interesting history which really visible.

It kinda sucks that we missed the last Football game this weekend (there's one at Thanksgiving but I'm away and I don't think anyone is tailgating) Golden Eagles are now ranked 20th!