I'm So Happy

Yes Mother, That Is Me Cooking!

Happy Happy Boy!

My good friend Jon has given me the greatest gift from God. Tonight we are having a meal with two German girls, Hongi and Stefanie at Hongi's house. Jon's job was to bring beer, and the nice little Australian remembered the fact that I was pining for some Strongbow. Whilst shopping, he remembered my need and supplied me with some golden nectar. After a day of cramming my work that is due for tomorrow, a home cooked meal and a cold can of Strongbow is exactly what the doctor ordered. Thankyou Jon my convict Aussie friend. It is strange however as we have Hongi - a Vietnamese German. Stefanie - German. Erik - Swedish. Jon - Australian American, and myself, the Brit! It's like the G8 summit over here

Football & Drinking - I Should Feel At Home

I'm slowly but surely getting up to scratch with the American way of life, although I don't understand it whatsoever. To begin with drinking is very different over here to at home. Apparently, if you go to the pub regularly for a couple, it is considered that you are drinking away problems. If that's the case, then my football team back home are repressing more problems than the Greek economy.

I've befriended an Australian who has lived here for the past 10 years and in doing so, have found a drinking buddy! This is both good, and bad. Good that I have someone to drink with, bad in that he drinks like me and we tend to have to carry each other home. For example, going for a couple at 3pm, resulted in us both staying until closing at 2am. Then returning the following day at 8pm until closing once again. On this day however, we got cut off for being there too long. Not that we were staggering or slurring our words (which we weren't) but simply for being sat in the same place at the bar for too long. This baffled me more than anything I've ever come across before. Jeez, I've seen someone throw up on the bar back home and still get served. I am persevering with the American beer, but I do miss Strongbow. Even to the point of dreaming that I found a shop here that sold a 75 crate for $100. Sad yes, but I do miss it. Until I find it, I'm just going to have to stick with Bud and Miller. There is only 1 pub in walking distance from campus and we are already friends with the bar staff (who attempt to speak in an English accent when I get served) and no longer get asked for ID at the door. Probably a bad sign, especially as I've only been here a month.

$9 Every Saturday

I recently joined a 7-a-side football team that the University set up. The season only lasts one month and you must have 2 girls on the pitch at all times. Originally I set up to play in the competitive league, but for some reason, the team that I play in got moved into the inter-mural league. When our first game arrived, I was slightly embarrassed. I don't think these people had ever played before, or if they had, not very much. Jon (the Aussi) has played at a decent level in the past and scored at will before subbing himself. I ended up clearing some poor lad out going up for a header and they didn't have a shot on goal for the entirety of the match. I could say that it's down to my perfect defending, but I think it's more to do with how poor they were. I think we finally won 7-0 but I would have sooner played in a game where it was tight and competitive. They couldn't even take a throw-in properly. Each time someone committed a foul throw, a part of me died. I even felt that I couldn't commit to the tackle properly. 

I went to watch the University play today in their first home game of the season. Very strange. They are very good technically, their touches are very good and their control, but there is no tempo to the game at all. Players are very rarely put under pressure and I think there was 1 slide tackle in the entire match, also dominant defending headers were a no show. The pitch is that 3G fake grass stuff and perfectly flat, probably why controlling the ball is so much easier. Also both sets of defenders seem to play extremely deep and, apart from the goalkeeper, talking was minimal. The game is so different compared to back home, if I played I would probably get sent off early doors for being too physical.

I'm getting on OK over here and I'm enjoying every minute, but if that barmaid cuts me off again I will not be held responsible for my actions.

White Water Whale Of A Time

My Eyes Might Be Closed, But I Know Exactly What I'm
Doing Here

CCSU In A Rare Attack

So my trainers are wet and my sunburn has been topped up, but what a fantastic day White Water Rafting. I've never done it before, and to be honest, I wasn't expecting to have half as much fun as I did. It's too bad that England is so cold because I would really like to do it some more. The bus drive to Massachusetts was about an hour and a half, but unfortunately for Erik and I, the seats were built for children. Now, I suffer back home on public transport, but this was just silly. We're both sat there with our knees touching our chins and the couple in front of us would have been better situated in a private motel room than on a crowded bus. There and back. Once there, we were split up into rafts of 6 and allocated a guide who would sit on the back, steer and order us to paddle forward, backward or rest. Due to our size Erik and I were made to sit at the front of the raft as this is where the paddling is most effective. We sat on the edge of the raft and wedged our feet into the side to help support us and stop us falling out. I can happily say that I survived the entire trip inside the raft. The trip was really good, starting out with some level 2 and 3 rapids before moving up to high level 3 and level 4. Sitting at the front resulted in an absolute soaking and a bumpy ride, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone.

The School Band Play Before The Game & At Half Time

After a huge BBQ thrown in once we had showered and changed, we made our way back to Connecticut. Absolutely shattered I somehow fell asleep in my confined space on the bus, my head leaning on the seat in front of me, hopefully disturbing the annoying lovey dovey couple in front.

Half Time Dancers

The day before the rafting trip, I went to see my first live American Football game. It was the University's team and to be honest, they aren't very good getting well and truly beat. What I found strange about this experience though was firstly, how big University sport is over here, and second,  ow different the support are in comparison to football back home. A large number of people left at half time when the score was 0-21. I've seen Blackburn Rovers 3-0 down against Arsenal in the first 10 minutes but stayed to watch the full game. Also, they don't exactly sing. The only chant I heard was the University's chant of 'C...C....S....U' over and over and over again. They don't seem to have any creativity or humour in their songs like football fans back home do. The opposition players were yards away from the student support, yet there wasn't the slightest bit of heckling from the crowd; No teasing, nothing. I think I was the only one to shout during the game when two players began to fight after partaking in handbags for the past couple of plays. What I also found funny was that game day happened to be random weather day, where it decided to hurl it down with rain for five minutes every so often. The crowd was more animated during these minutes of rain than at any point during the game, with umbrellas being put up and shirts being placed over heads. They really need to go and sit on the front row at Ewood and see how it feels.

After the game, the winds picked up and the rain came down a bit more consistently with tornadoes being reported 2 hours away in New York. I later learnt that Erik told his mum about the tornadoes scaring the life out of her. He failed to mention that they were in New York.

A funny thing that I've noticed here is the irony in America's attitude towards butter. They don't seem to butter their bread when making a sandwich. When I asked why they don't, they responded in all seriousness, 'Butter is unhealthy for you.' At first I thought they were joking. I think they're ignoring the fact that they are on their third cake in a matter of minutes, butter is hardly going to make it worse.

Carroll Cobras

On returning from Cape Cod back to Carroll Hall, I was unpacking and settling back into Uni life when it sounded like my door was being broken down. When I opened it, there stood two girls representing the Carroll Council. Apparently they are organising a birthday board for the entrance way with all the residents' birthdays on it. I was then told about the Council Meeting that everyone must attend. I have just now returned from said meeting, and all I can say is that my attendance was pretty pointless. I turned up, ate the food on offer, listened and left. My dad has always told me to keep quiet at meetings like this so that you don't accidentally volunteer to do anything. Apparently they have a budget of $X for the year and want to know how we want it spending. Ideally it would be nice to have some form of air conditioning in our rooms like the other halls, but I'm guessing that's out of the question. In each tiny room are two adults and two computers as a minimum. Others have televisions, printers, games consoles, fridges etc resulting in sweaty rooms in an already sweaty climate. Air conditioning would be helpful. Instead we get to have Carroll Cobra clothing if we turn up to each and every meeting! In fairness to them, they have organised trips to Washington, Philadelphia and other cities in the past. Hopefully this year they'll do something similar.

A Small American Breakfast

Back in Cape Cod we went to Province Town on our last night for tea. As I said in my previous post, Province is the San Fransisco of the east. By this I meant that it is the gay district. The area is actually very twee with bars, shops, and restaurants surrounding small narrow streets that lead to the harbour. In a way it reminded me of Amsterdam with people on bicycles swerving through the crowds of people on these overpopulated streets. When I mentioned that it reminded me of Amsterdam, minus the sex shops to Connor's cousin, he told me to follow him. Confused I followed him into a tourist shop and he led me upstairs, here I found Amsterdam. Unfortunately out of the seven of us, only three of us were over 21, so we couldn't stay to soak up the atmosphere in the pubs after we ate.

One thing that Erik and I have noticed in our short time here, is that Americans do love their breakfast and their ice cream. On our way home we stopped for breakfast and found the queue out of the front door and down the street. When we tried elsewhere, it was only slightly better. The same is with ice cream shops. At 9pm on a Saturday night, you don't see people stumbling from pub to pub. Instead you find them queueing up for ice cream so big you wouldn't know where to start eating. I giggled when we went into a Starbucks and saw a sign next to a rack of muffins that said 'A Healthy Alternative' If muffins are the healthy alternative, who knows what the unhealthy food is! We do however plan to go all American one day soon and have cake for breakfast, dinner, and tea.

I have just signed up to play in the IMLeague here, which from what I gather is for people to play competitive sport against others within the university. I set up an account on the Internet and signed up as a free agent. I know that I'm not the best in the world, but surely I'm worth at least $10? I'm not sure when my first game is, but I'll keep you posted.

I have planned to go White Water Rafting this coming Sunday (9th Sept) in Massachusetts which should be fun. I'll have to let you all know how it goes. Until then, I'm off to get some ice cream.

Labour Day (With a 'U')

I'm currently writing this from Cape Cod at a friends families house right on the beach. The lad who lives in the room next door to me (Connor) kindly invited me and another exchange student from Sweden (Erik) to visit his family in this wonderful part of the world.

Flying The Blue & White Flag

Today we set off for the beach, and because Connor's dad has a pass, we were able to drive to a more secluded area and drive on the sand to set up base. Although quiet, the sand here is very pebbly but it seems that people in this area don't wear shoes. Due to this, the pebbles don't seem to bother them. Meanwhile Erik and I are hobbling across the beach cursing under our breath. There is an awful lot of wildlife in the sea here as well, with seals and whales visible from the beach itself. Unfortunately though, there have been reports of sharks in the area recently due to the high population of seals. Upon arriving we noticed a seal washed up on the shore, this one killed by a boat propellor though rather than Jaws.

Despite it being very sunny and warm, the vegetation in and around the area is very green. Now I've only really travelled in Europe where the warm countries are very brown and dusty. It makes a very nice change to drive through a sandy track with greenery either side. It is funny however, just how many houses have signs and banners in their front gardens suporting particular politicians. There was even an airplane that flew over the beach with a banner telling us to vote for someone or other. At first I thought it might be another 'Kean Out' sign, but I don't think that has reached this side of the Atlantic yet.

Cape Cod Beach

Tomorrow we are going to Province Town, traditionally a small Portuguese fishing town but apparently now is the East's version of San Francisco.

Back at University, I started lessons on Wednesday and have had to spent $170 on books that will only last me until Christmas. It's not like home where you can just take them out of the uni library when you need them, you have to take them to class each week. Luckily all my lessons are in the same building on the same floor, and is the closest building to my dorm. I can wake up with 10 minutes to spare and still get there on time. The meal plan is very good so fears of returning to England heavier may become a reality. There is a gym very close that I can use so I may have to start going.

Erik, Connor, & I

Erik and I went to the bar on Thursday night, student night, and were offered numerous drinks from randomers and invites to parties just because we were foreign. This worked out very well until we had to drive 3 hours to Cape Cod the morning afterwards. We even met an Australian who has lived here for a few years who is going to try and get us tickets to an American Football and Baseball game. Fingers crossed. It's noticeable how friendly people are here. I've been here a week and have had invites to various peoples hometowns to look around and stay. I can honestly say that I have no bad word to say about the American people.