Spring Break

A much needed holiday came this week. My brain had given up working a fortnight ago and I got pneumonia so my body was pretty shoddy, a trip away was definitely required!

The French girls (Sybs et Claire), the German girls (Tanja und Anna) and I rented a car and headed to Texas. You see some interesting sites on the road and we passed through a couple of odd small towns. We also encountered a lot of police cars at one point, then discovered later that two convicts had escaped from jail! Ahhh!

Our first stop was in Houston, which turned out to be rather boring! It was raining buckets and everything was closed.. the only people we encountered were homeless or groups of high school girls dressed in sports clothes presumably traveling to play in some tournament. The main problem was finding the epicentre of things and I wondered if the city shut down at the weekend like the financial areas of London do? Either that or it was a city that came alive at night (vampires...?)

one of the very few pictures I took in Houston

We did go to a very large mall in Houston, where we were dry! It was the largest mall in Texas but full of the more up price, high end market shops... my mother will be pleased to find I didn't buy a load of clothes! I did purchase a Lego storm trooper keyring though

 I think it was good that we went to Houston first and I think the weather really effected our opinion of it. I did expect more spaceships...

Then we headed to Corpus Christi, which was BEAUTIFUL! When we arrived we wandered along the harbor outside our motel, then found a restaurant (called the Railway restaurant? I'm not sure) where I ate the most wonderfully fresh shrimp salad. The weather was wonderful

Corpus Christi had a very different atmosphere to the rest of Texas, like most beach towns it's more relaxed and it had many art galleries and museums.

The next day we explored the beaches, firstly the city beach named 'McGee' which was nice but when some clouds came we decided to drive half an hour to Mustang Island and explore the beaches there. We soon found where the stereotypical spring break was happening... you can drive your car (and park it) along the beach (which felt weird) and we drove past many partying youths, wearing neon, blasting RnB from their trucks. It was a very weird, very American site to see and as the majority of them looked under 18, it made us uncomfortable and we drove on, parked and laid in the sun.

parachuters

There were many souvenir shops with a giant shark entrance. I think more shops need giant shark entrances in England

We were going to break our journey up in two on the way home but ended up just driving the full 11 hours, which must have worn Tanja and Claire (our drivers) out but they're troopers!

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 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

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!