"Come on, it'll be a laugh"- 80s Roller Disco!

Ouch, Ouch, Ouch, OUCH. My bum hurts! Although, It could be worse as after the 3rd or 4th time of my legs flying out from under my body and landing smack bang on my behind in front of a group of men dressed in florescent leggings and mock mullets, I did learn to land in a way that was slightly less painful. I mean, didn't quite learn to skate but at least I perfected the falling process.

I admit though, despite the initial trepidation it was pretty fun!  I was convinced by my lovely friends that we 'absolutely had to' go to the  80s roller disco and get that authentic American experience. Once we arrived we were greeted by disco balls glistening in time to Culture Club's Karma Chameleon. We stepped out onto the floor and as many whizzed off I took the slightly more cautious approach of stumbling around the edge a few times with a death grip on the railings. After about four trips around however I was getting a bit of a feel for it and by the time Eddy Grant came on I was getting really into it, clearly thinking that I was unmistakable for a professional as I went smack into the wall and ultimately onto my, soon to be rather bruised, behind. I soon found a good balance though and only falling over every other circuit i'd say the night was a success. Might even go again... maybe...

Wrightsville Beach

Finally, a trip to the beach! I can't quite believe that I've been in this wonderful coastal town for a week now and haven't yet managed to get any sand between my toes. The whole way down to the beach I was insufferably excited, bouncing up and down in the taxi like a four year old child on the way to Disneyland. I was not disappointed. The area around the beach was a surfer paradise with beach huts and cool beach bars (that i'm too young to go in but not the point). We then walked onto the white sand and were greeted with possibly the most welcome sight in the world. Bright blue skies, the sea was the perfect combination of blues and greens and soft white sand as far as the eye I can see. Me and the girls looked at each other with huge smiles, dropped our bags and ran into the sea. Heaven.

Photos from Wrightsville Beach

The International House aka home!

 

 Hey guys, thought you might be interest to see the I-House aka my home for the next four months!

Red Cup Party!

Alcohol exists! Ahh.. (I'm not an addict, honest).Two nights ago we went to our first all-American house party. Well, we went to another one but that turned out to be just someones house...abit awkward. Anyway, the way it works here is that at about 10:30pm someone will come into the common room and say "Hey, there's some party tonight, we're getting the taxi in twenty minutes, wanna come?" so we have to decide if we want to stay in or quickly throw on some mascara and head to the taxi. The latter option is definitely more fun. When we're in the taxi we genuinely have no idea where we are heading but when we arrived it was a classically southern American home made from white wooden slates with big shutters over the windows and invariably a porch with at least one rocking chair and an American flag. The party was packed with 'college' students and before we knew it a skinny blonde guy called Gunner, or something like that, sidles over readily handing out red cups to the girls and eventually to the men after a sneaky $5 charge. We then walk over to a massive bowl full of some bright pink concoction affectionately refereed to as PJ (Party Juice) and it was yuuuuumy. The night ended with a walk to Cook Out which is a drive through just off campus where we queue up with a couple of monster trucks for a delicious burger and curly fries.

Let the classes begin...

Hey Y'all! (this never gets old).
I'm still having a fantastic time here, despite that fact that today I had to break my pattern of denial and acknowledge that I'm here to attend university and not on holiday.
First on my schedule would be the dreaded Social Research Methods and then Sociology of Aging, shortly followed by Sociology of Deviant Behaviour. Me and Livi, who is in all my classes, set off down Chancellors walk until we got to the Sociology and Social Psychology building (left) which was a beautiful building with red bricks and roman-esk pillars, so pretty in keeping with the rest of the campus really. We filed inside the building coming to a halt outside the water-cooler (eek) before settling into our first lesson. After a brief introduction to the course we were asked to turn around and introduce our self to the two people sat directly behind us. In my case Austin, and, I kid you not, a guy called Landon. I've got to  admit i'm secretly enjoying being foreign as it makes it so easy to make friends as Americas seem to be bizarrely enchanted with the English accent. This seems hard to understand in contrast with their southern drawls i'm coming to love! I've come across some fantastic names so far, to name a few: Parker, Kendel, Bret, Zac and Bryce. I sat chatting to Austin and Landon who were asking me about the Olympics (a reoccurring topic of conversation) before moving onto the best parties and the easiest way to get hold of alcohol. Slightly awkward when it came around to saying what we've learnt about our new friends. "Hi this is Austin and he thinks we should check out the slightly dodgy mexican place across the road, oh and he wants to join the FBI". That was the other thing, every one in my classes seemed to want to join the FBI or some form of secret service. Things went on this way for the rest of the day, meeting guys with backwards caps and girls with sorority t-shirts (no exaggeration). Everyone was so nice and i'm feeling good about things. All my professors were great and answered any questions I had with a reassuring "why yesss mam".

Going Downnntown to Historic Wilmington

Today we were supposed to be having a "Beach Blast" but sadly they canceled it due to a 90% chance of a thunder storm (there wasn't one). Instead we decided that we'd call the Yellow Cab Company and head down town into the Historic District. The cab driver was an eccentric man who instantly started talking Japanese despite the fact that we were English and Brazilian. On the journey down he gave us a tour specifically pointing out one of the oldest churches in North Carolina dating all the way back to the 1890s. I held back mentioning that my house is older than that! It was all very beautiful and VERY american! We also drove past so many small detached houses with rocking chairs on the porches and American flags hanging out the window. Historic Wilmington itself is really quaint and has horse drawn carriages wondering around and buildings that look like they are straight out of a Clint Eastwood  movie. Stomach rumbling we headed into a the local diner and had a BBQ wrap and fries with an endlessly refilled coca-cola whilst watching the Baseball game playing on the big screen above our heads. The walls were covered with retro adverts and signatures of celebrities who had dined there. After lunch we wondered along side Cape Fear river, taking in the atmosphere and the warm air before looking inside all the little craft shops hidden within the old Cotton Exchange. 

UNCWorld- Orientation

Ask me how to "Stay safe!!!! in America!" and participate in the "honor code" and I can tell you anything. The exclamation marks are need to even begin to convey the US enthusiasm on these subjects. It's been a funny couple of days where we've  been dragged to talks by the strong allure of  a warm bagel (with strawberry flavoured cream cheese) and coffee and the most heavenly hazelnut milk that they are big on here. I'm quickly starting to learn that if they think we're not going to enjoy an activity planned they soften the blow with a free breakfast or lunch,which I have to say, works a treat. In the last two days we've been lectured on alcohol abuse as if it was only consumed by drug addicts with deep psychological trauma. It's not all bad though, we took it on and when ever we started to feel a bit lectured we were cheered up by an enthusiastic "good job!" for answering a question correctly.

After orientation had ended for the day the fun started to kick in as we were driven out to the local Walmart. There is so much to say about the worlds biggest Transnational Corporation that many writers have published books on the area, but for now, i'll tell you that it is immeasurably colossal! I mean, really, really big. We ran around like awestruck children just trying to take it all in. The most alarming thing was that if you went over to the "Outdoor Activities" section you would be greeted with rows upon rows of guns and cases of bullets. For hours we wandered around excitedly, taking in the snacks isle and mostly, on my part, people watching. I also purchased my first ever cell phone! The other thing about Walmart that definitely needs a mention is the car park where there were rows upon rows of  ginormous 4x4s and even, on a couple of monster trucks.

Reallllllly big KitKat!

Good Morning America!

It's 7am here and i've just woken up to my first full day in the States! Yesterday went so smoothly as the second we went through into the departures lounge in Heathrow we instantly spotted the other British girls heading off to Wilmington and within 10 minutes we were laughing and joking as if we'd known each other for years! The flight it's self, although long at 9 and a half hours, was very pleasant and before I knew it we were in Atlanta whizzing  through border control (not getting arrested, as I was convinced I would be, for smuggling Marmite across the border) and boarding a tiny connecting flight to Wilmington.

Upon arrival at Wilmington we stepped outside to be greeted by a gush of hot air and a bubbly, enthusiastic girl called Daisy who whisked us into her big (every thing is big!) people carrier and drove us to the University. I don't know quite what me and the others were expecting the University to be like but we were all gasping as we went through the grand entrance welcoming to The University of North Carolina at Wilmington. It is absolutely enormous, for those reading who know what Roehampton is like, the library here alone is bigger than Digby Stuart! It is like a town with extremely large roads with elaborate crossings. We were driving for a good 10 minutes before we pulled up outside the International House.

The instant we walked in we realised that we were among the last to arrive as we were suddenly in a large "getting to know you" meeting and jet-lagged, scruffy and most probably smelly I found I was introducing myself as Laura from London. Me and Livi were two of around 12 on this large floor that homes around 50 students who were international, the rest seemed to be all American guys, seriously you can not imagine how American the looked, all stereotypical in baggy shorts and baseball caps. Soon after I scurried off, desperate for a shower and most of all, sleep. Once finally in my room, which is a large space with two high up beds, two wardrobes and two desks, I met my room mate Alison, who, incidentally has just woken up bleerey eyed to my tapping away on the computer. Alison is French, speaks perfect English and is absolutely lovely!

I'll keep you updated on what the next few days bring but I can imagine it's going to be busy but don't worry if I am hard to contact. I am so happy to be here and extremely excited!!

“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life” ― Jack Kerouac

Up until now I've felt like a ever so slightly more feminine Santa Clause, writing a list and checking it twice.... thrice... four times?  It had even got to the point that I was making lists of the lists I needed to make. I've been planning, I've been thinking and now i'm going. I've spent the day checking these list and laying out what I want to pack.... then halving it. I have too many clothes yet no where near enough, it's all such a dilemma. I mean how is any one supposed to pack 4months and 3 seasons into 1 suitcase with a 20kg weight limit! In the end i've come to the conclusion  to be in denial about winter and generally any weather conditions unsuitable for the beach. My lovely cat Domino has been following me like Woodstock to Snoopy all day after witnessing his dreaded suitcase, in fact he's collapsed next to me right now, although, that's probably due to the half a pound of left over duck he just consumed after our fair-well Chinese. My flight is at 9:45am tomorrow, the 18th August, and for some mad, unknown reason my alarm is set for 3:30am so time to head to bed to excitedly lye awake all night. Wish me luck!