Halloween and November

So a lot of different things have been going on lately and I've been having an amazing time! Well, to start off, Halloween is one of the craziest holidays celebrated here and it definitely lived up to its expectations. Throughout the week prior to Halloween, I visited a haunted battleship, a haunted house, haunted farm and a haunted hallways event. The haunted hallways was a student run event on campus which was hilarious. At midnight on Halloween, the theater media students put on a production of Rocky Horror Picture Show where they played the film while acting out the movie below the screen and yelling swear words and profanities at the screen. It was one of the funniest nights so far. For Halloween, everyone got into the spirit with ridiculous and very revealing costumes. It was a great week and I'm so happy that my exchange happened to be during this time of year.

A week later, a friend of the international students organised a paintballing trip. It was great fun and some people left with some pretty wicked bruises. What's great about getting to know Americans is that they know all the great activities that you can do around the area and they're willing to take you out and experience it all.

The weather here is AWESOME! Because the seasons are switched, we are heading into wintertime yet I went to the beach the other day in mid-November. We're only a few days off from winter and it still gets warm enough to head to the beach. Great weather, so I'm really loving it at the moment.

One great thing thats a must-do while on exchange here in Wilmington is to head to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (about a 2 hour drive) to go see a live band at the House of Blues. On friday, me and some friends went down and saw a triple act of Anberlin, Taking Back Sundays, and All-American Rejects. It definitely was a fantastic night and I'm really happy I went to see them.

Now that it's coming to the end of the semester, everyone is trying to cram in all the activities in these last weeks. There are only 2 more weeks left until we finish school and it's starting to get hard for a lot of us who don't want to leave. For me I am really looking forward to coming home and seeing my family and friends again but I'm very lucky to have my boyfriend come and travel some of America in two weeks before I fly home. The most frustrating part of these last few weeks is knowing that its ending and having other people constantly mention how short the time is.

Anyway, better go do some study.

Cheers.

October awesomeness

Hey y'all,

So, it's been a while again and I'm real sorry. But there's a lot of stuff to tell this time round.

About a month ago in my Crimes Against Humanity class we had a visit from four marines. All had served time in Iraq and although they didn't really say much about their experiences over there, it was interesting to meet them and see the reactions of other students because soldiers in Iraq, whether currently deployed or returned, are highly admired in America. Most of these boys were my age or a little older so it was a really fascinating experience to be able to hear of what they've seen and what occurred.

So this was before my big roadtrip to Nashville which I mentioned before...

Firstly, the roadtrip was AWESOME! Me, Irene, Taz and Melanie headed on a drive firstly to Ashville, NC. The trip took 5 hours so by the time we arrived, we only had a quick tour around town then the girls fell asleep at 6pm. Everyone was exhausted but we were all looking forward to the next day to Nashille, Tennessee!

The drive to Nashville was amazing. To get from Ashville to Nashville you have to drive through the Appalachians and the scenery was beautiful. It took another five hours to get there but when we did it was NOT what we expected. We were thinking there'd be cowboys walking around, buskers and just a small town. That's a bit stereotypical but whatever. Our first view of the city was mindblowing. Skyscrapers and buildings everywhere. We had managed to find ourselves in the Financial District and the man at the Marriot was not helpful in pointing us towards Honky Tonk Town. (This place is for real, I didn't make up Honky Tonk Town)

Anyway, we managed to find a nice accommodation that we could afford then we all headed down to the Country Music Hall of Fame!!!

I loved it there. There was an exhibition on Hank Williams and there were framed records everywhere. Unfortunately I was the only one on the trip who likes country music so the others were a little lost as to who all the people were.

After the Hall of Fame, me and Irene dropped Taz and Melanie off at the hotel because they wanted to sleep so we set out in search of Honky Tonk Town ourselves. When we found it, it was EXACTLY what we expected. Neon lights, guitar pictures, cowboy hats and saloons! We had fun in all the gift shops and tried on hats, then we found a sports bar to have lunch at. So by the time we got back to the hotel it was getting close to dark and was time to pick up other girls and head back down there.

First stop was the Wildhorse Saloon where we ate true American food, learnt to line dance and laughed at the horses on the ceiling (they really were on the ceiling). After that we managed to find Coyote Ugly! We were so excited about it. The bartenders danced on the bar, bootscootin' and all. It was such a fun night. We went to two other bars that night before heading home. We all had such a blast and it was great to have a break from living on campus.

The next day we were pretty tired and were meant to head to Charlotte, NC for the night but we were so exhausted and the weather was bad so we decided to do the full 10hr journey back to Wilmington. Even though the trip was cut short, I couldn't imagine it being any better.

So, that's basically the short and sweet version of our trip and once we got back to uni it was back to studying...

The week after our roadtrip, one of the groups on campus had organised an American Home Tour through three homes. It was really great because we were invited into the homes of three lovely families, were fed traditional Southern food and received that well talked about Southern hospitality. It was a great experience to properly see how Americans live outside the university culture.

Later in the week, we had a huge day filled wih ice hockey and a pep rally. Me, Matt, Karen, Mat, Adam and Rebecca all went to the UNCW ice hockey game. I LOVE ICE HOCKEYYYYYYYY. I had SO much fun at the game, yelling at the ref, bashing on the glass and watching my friend Kevin out on the ice. It definitely was a great experience to go and see some American sport. After the ice hockey game, the school hosted its pep rally called "Midnite Madness" which basically is a huge carnival to introduce the basketball teams. There was the pep band playing, cheerleaders, and singers performing before the teams came out... It was just like in the movies. After this, there was a carnival outside with jumping castles and games and a live band. Me and my friend Matt (recently graduated from CSU) had a race through an inflatable obstacle course... winner got a free t-shirt. It was ON! And yes, I won and am wearing that t-shirt proudly!

It was a really fun night all up.

Finally, the one other thing that's happened is today i went on a tour of Pender Correctional Facility in Burgaw, NC with the Sociology and Criminology Club. I was really excited and it was definitely an experience. To let you know a bit about the prison, it is a medium-security prison that houses persons committed of murder, sexual assault, drug offences and other serious crimes. It was really daunting at first since none of us in the group knew that we were actually being taken into the yards when the prisoners were there. We were shown their sleeping dormitories, the security areas, the segregation ("the hole") and the education facilities. I found it really fascinating and after the initial anxiety of entering the grounds, its surprising how safe you actually do feel. The prisoners stared a lot but there was no comments or abuse yelled which we had been warned about so it was really good to go in and see how the prison system is run. At the end of the tour we actually spoke with two prisoners about their lives living behind bars and it was interesting to see how prison time had reformed them. The most interesting thing I took away from our talk was Darrell (serving a 26 year sentence) said "Most of these men aren't bad people, they're just people who made bad choices." I think he had a really valid point there, it's just sad to see that many of the men in prison don't believe that themselves which leads them back down the same criminal paths as before.

Anyway, hope I didn't bore you but it's been a pretty action-packed month for me.

Thanks to everyone who's been following my blog!

Cheers.

Life at UNCW

Ok, so some of this i've already spoken a bit about but I thought I'd say it again but explain a bit more.

I thought I might just talk about life in general on campus instead of all the crazy stuff I get up to.

Firstly, campus is just about the nicest well-kept area I've seen. The maintenance people are always blowing leaves off walkways and trimming the sides of the sidewalks too. Everything is immaculate. Chancellor's Walk is a big central lane that everyone uses because class buildings are lined up along the whole walk. As I mentioned, the buildings are the stereotypical red brick, white pillar buildings. At the end of Chancellor's Walk is a series of ponds/lakes, bridges, the library and the clocktower which chimes every half hour. It really is unbelievable to think that this is where I've been living for the past two months. I still haven't been able to make it to Historical Downtown Wilmington because it's about a $15.00 taxi ride but the area around the university is interesting anyway. Just a bike ride away from Walmart. :)

Classes are fantastic, the teacher's are really quirky and interesting in their own ways. Like I've said before, the workload is very different... instead of having 3 or 4 major assessments, I sit 16 small exams and only around 4 actual writing assignments. It sounds intense but it's quite easy because the workload and study is broken down into smaller parts. So far I've learnt about Native American history and the American colonisation from Europe, American corrections, genocides in Africa, and learnt about 6 or 7 different countries government and political systems. Everyone here has really fascinating subjects and you really do learn a new perspective on things compared to the Australian education system.

Dorm life is great! I've already become really close with all the international students and some American students. Living in room share accommodation definitely has it's ups and downs, but it's good because it teaches you how to get on with others living in such an enclosed space. Cooperation is key. My roommate is hardly ever in the room because she studies at the library until after I'm in bed and then she likes to go out and party on weekends. So almost all the time I have the place to myself.

This weekend me and my friends Irene (Ecuador), Taz (England) and Melanie (Perth, Aust) are heading to Nashville, Tennessee for Fall Break on a road trip which should be amazing but I'll write about that when I get back.

Cheers.

So far in the US of A

I know, I know. It's been a while, I'm sorry. But now that uni has started all of the craziness has settled down into heavy studying. So, since the beginning of school there have been a few parties, some interesting frat house parties and many trips around uptown Wilmington with the International girls. One night we decided to have a girls night out for dinner and a movie so we went to a place called Outback. This place is AWESOME!!! An "authentic" Australian steakhouse that represented only the truest sterotype of the Australian outback, I was expecting Crocodile Dundee to jump out and start wrestling a croc or something. One thing about Outback is that it's everywhere!!! It's a massive franchise so we're pretty bloody popular here in America.

At the uni, there's a rock climbing wall which has pretty much become my second home. They hold belay clinics and kayak clinics and surf clinics and any other sports clinics they can conjure up. Anyway, I'm really loving all the sports facilities here and can't wait for the basketball season to start.

A few weekends ago, my friend Chelsea took me to the Appalachian mountain area and to her home up there for a few days. It was a really good trip with heaps of sightseeing. The mountains here are so beautiful. It's such a breath taking area and me and some friends are returning there next month to do a proper camping/hiking trip in the mountain region.

So far, like everyone warned, time has flown so fast. I can't believe it's almost been two months already. I feel like I haven't got much time left here. Homesickness sets in a lot more now that there aren't crazy excursions everyday and I guess you have more time to think about what's happening at home. But, the study keeps you pretty busy of course. This semester I have to sit 16 exams/quizzes along with a EU consultation and pop quizzes. So, basically if you fall behind your readings, your screwed. But it's manageable and the work is very intersting. Last week I sat an exam about Native Americans so I'm learning heaps about American history and culture in class.

The other evening I went to a talk by Chris Abani, an author and victim of the Nigerian conflict, which was fascinating. He spoke about his experiences and his books. The university puts on a lot of presentations from guest speakers and it draws a MASSIVE crowd. So many people came to the talk. He was so interesting to listen to I ended up getting one of his books... which I have yet to read...

Anyway, I think that's most of the gossip for now, I'll try and talk more next time. :)

Cheers.

First day of school

I guess the first thing I can say about the first few lessons of school was that it was absolutely terrifying. The desks are set up examination style, all facing the front and unadjoined. No one spoke to each other, just sat and waited for the teacher. When the teacher came in, they knew a lot of the students so there was general conversation, inside jokes and complete confusion from me. There's about 12-50 people in each of the classes and most classes require class paticipation as part of your grade, so when they started talking about American history and their governmental policies, I guess it's a bit intense when they look at you for an answer or opinion and you just respond with the most blank expression possible. But once the teacher's heard my accent they realised and didn't ask me anymore questions about American history.

Overall, now that we've had a week to settle into classes, I'm really loving them. The teachers are really nice and rather quirky, a lot of the students are more friendly now that they know I'm from Australia (it's like a super power here, you say your from Australia and then everyone wants to be your friend), and the work is quite easy to adjust to, although sometimes I still stare blankly at the lecturer.

Other than school, I think I should mention the weather... I should've researched a bit about the weather conditions here because it was interesting to find out that Wilmington has a hurricane season and good ol' hurricane Bill was sitting off the coast. Luckily hurricane Bill has passed without coming to shore but now there's rumours of a tropical storm said to hit Wilmington on the weekend, so it might be an interesting weekend. While hurricane Bill was hanging around last weekend, me and some of the other international students went down to the beach to check out the swell. We got about 5 minutes time in the water before we started to get trashed and when we got out, the beach patrol was announcing all swimmers out of the water, so it's been a pretty eventful week seeing all these new happenings.

Last thursday, my friend Chelsea took me out to the clubs. That's whats great about the clubbing area here is that although I'm underage, the clubs allow 18+ but mark your hands so that you can't purchase alcohol. It's really good because, by doing it this way, I don't get excluded from my friends and can still have a good night out.

Anyway, I think that's about it now that I've caught up on everything.

Cheers.

Orientation/bits and pieces

Sorry if this is a long blog, but a lot has happened over the past 2 weeks! So, since I arrived, they have given us a tour of campus which is absolutely gorgeous with green lawns that are trimmed and well managed, the buildings are amazing (although the interior is less extravagant than the exterior) and the sports facilities are awesome. The Recreation centre (Rec) is so high tech with a full gym, basketball courts, rock climbing wall and indoor running track! No kidding, there is an actual running track upstairs in the building. Overall, orientation was full of meetings and talks which were long, but it was mainly for the students from non-english speaking backgrounds so we had to be patient. During orientation we had an outdoor lunch which was interesting. They were serving sloppy joe's which I have been excited to try since I arrived... not so excited about them anymore. I don't know how it was made but that food is weird! So now I've tried and tested sloppy joe's and I don't think I'll try it again...

So far the experience has been amazing, homesickness hasn't set in which is good. The presenters during orientation described 4 stages of adjustment for international students: 1st is the honeymoon stage where everything is awesome, loving it, don't want to go home until... 2nd stage, the shock. The realisation that its not going to always be meeting people and attending social events, then 3rd stage is the negotiation where we will probably realise its not all great but it'll be ok. Finally 4th is the acceptable stage which is pretty explanatory.

One thing I have realised is that the weather is SO humid, but the university loves airconditioning so much that you need to wear a jumper inside. It's ridiculous! The teachers won't even adjust it so there are a lot of frozen people by the end of the lecture.

It is quite easy for me to settle into the culture because it's very similar to Australia, however, there are a few differences which have made it interesting. On campus is a dunkin' donuts store and when I ordered an ice coffee the lady asked if I wanted sugar and cream. Cream in an ice coffee sounds pretty gross so I asked for without cream. She gave me a plain black coffee...

Travel tip #2 Cream = Milk in America

It's more the little things like different names for things that is probably the hardest thing to deal with. And I was given warning before coming to call my thongs 'flip-flops', otherwise it could've been quite awkward.

One night my friend's Chelsea and Matt took me to a Hookah bar. (Matt is also from CSU but did exchange a few years back at UNCW and now lives here with Chelsea) The Hookah bar was really cool, it seems to be a really trendy thing to do here cause there are many different hookah bars around. Anyway, Chelsea introduced me to a few of her American friends and I'm starting to make more friends now that classes have started.

I'll leave it here otherwise, I could go on forever.

Another post coming really soon about school...

Cheers.

Photos

Some photos.. not many but its a start.

From top left: "Rock the Rec" carnival, Sumo wrestling at "Rock the Rec", entrance to International House (my residence),

From bottom left: My bedroom!, all international students and volunteers, BEACH BLAST!