So I am now home safe and sound in England, and it has snowed more in the last six hours here than it did the whole semester in Boone. CRAZINESS!!!
We started out in Boone at the LLC at 8.00am on the 17th December. We left on a bus to Charlotte airport. We had to go back to pick up James and Evelien who we had left behind, but apart from that the first part of the journey went without a hitch. They told me at the airport that they would check my bags all the way to Heathrow, meaning I wouldn't have to collect them and recheck them at JFK. This made my day so much easier! A few of us went to get bagels and OJ for breakfast, then Marcella and I said goodbye to everyone and boarded our flight to JFK. This flight went fine, no problems.
We arrived at JFK, and went to Terminal 4 on the AirTrain where Marcella had to check in. She checked in on Air Lingus, then we went to have some food. We saw three creepy crawly bugs crawling along the wall which was kind of gross, but we were fine. We then took the AirTrain to Terminal 8 where I had to check in. I checked in, then by that time it was time for us to go our separate ways... We said goodbye on the AirTrain platform, then I went to find my gate and have some food before the flight. We boarded late because they hadn't finished cleaning the plane yet, which delayed us by about half an hour. I don't know if it's because it's near Christmas, but everyone was abusing the baggage policies, taking on three times their allowed amount of carry-on luggage. As a result, there was no room in the overhead bins for me to put my bag, so I had to put it under my seat which meant I couldn't stretch my legs out... Other than this, the flight was OK. I started watching District 9 and promptly fell asleep. I woke up and ate some crappy aeroplane food, then watched Band Slam. I then started watching Julie and Julia, and got about halfway through that before I fell asleep again... I watched an episode of Bones while I ate my croissant and drunk my OJ. By this time we were ready to land, , but we arrived about an hour later than planned because there wasn't a gate with a tunnel open for us to get into the airport. We had to go down the steps and into buses, which took us a very long way round and then dropped us off in an entrance where none of the escalators were working. The people with three carry-on cases were not happy about this. Serves them right for abusing baggage policies.
I got through customs fine, and picked up my luggage which came round the carousel extemely quickly. Then I walked down the pathway like you see in the movies where everyone's family is waiting for them, except my family actually WERE waiting for me. It was so nice to see them again and get big hugs :) I missed them a lot, maybe in the future they'll invent a Skype that gives you real hugs... hmm... But yes, I am back in Blighty and it is snowing and Christmassy and lovely, and we have a fire and the Christmas decorations are up and my room has been repainted and I have had three cups of tea. Everything is lovely :D
I guess seeing as my four month long journey to Appalachian State University and back is over, this will be my last blog post. It seems so sad to think that everything is over and while I'm really happy to be back home with my family, I will miss seeing everyone at Appalachian State every day... it seems so weird to think that I can't have storytime with Meagan or go down the corridor to see Liz, or hang out with my favourite internationals at Macados... I will miss everyone but I'll never forget the time we spent together and I have so many good memories that I will cherish forever :) Thanks to everyone who made my experience at App AMAZING!!!
Friday, 18 December 2009
Monday, 7 December 2009
The One with Sir Purr
This weekend my awesome wonderful roomie invited me home with her because they had an extra ticket to the Panthers game (her sister has finals so couldn't come home) and she wanted me to meet her parents. We set off at around 11 on Friday morning. Meagan has a Volvo and it's very nice with leather seats and nothing falling off anywhere :) It also smelled nice, unlike other Volvos I have been in previously (sorry Dad!) It only takes around two hours to drive from Boone to Charlotte, but Meagan kind of lives on the outskirts on the other side, so it took an extra half hour to get to Meagan's house.
First thing when we got in the door we were greeted by 1) her amazing fluffy soft cute dog called Casey and 2) her lovely Mum with a VERY strong New York accent. Firstly, I was shown Aisling's room which has two beds so I got the one they dont normally use (Aisling is Meagan's sister, pronounced ASH-LING). Meagan's house is GORGEOUS. It's really nice, everything is decorated nicely and she has so many awesome things. Upstairs she has a "playroom" which has a sofa and a chair which are suede and are the kind that recline and have a footrest, and a cupholder in the armrest. She has a MASSIVE tv in there with a PS2 and another console I think. She has Guitar Hero World Tour which has drums and a bass as well as a normal guitar. Downstairs is a lovely big kitchen with one of those tvs that come down from under the cupboard, and a big dining table next to french doors that lead out onto a lovely wooden deck with a chair and a barbecue. They also have a living room which they don't use much, a dining room ditto, and then a "den" which is like another lounge with comfy chairs and a big tv and a fireplace. I LOVE Meagan's house :)
On Friday we spent the entire day lounging on the awesome chairs upstairs watching TV. We had fajitas which her dad cooked on the grill outside which were delicious. We also watched Jeopardy which is like a family tradition in their house, it's a game show and it's fun because the questions are quite hard so it's a challenge. Meagan and her dad are RIDICULOUSLY fast at answering, my brain's not that quick! We went to bed after watching Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (they get it on BBC America here).
On Saturday Meagan and I got up and had breakfast, then went shopping. We went to Target, Borders and Harris Teeter (a supermarket) where we bought eggnog (I'd never had it before). Boone has no decent shops, so having proper shops was very exciting. We returned home and then watched a bit of TV. Then we went to church (I'd never been to a Catholic mass before but it was quite interesting) and then out to a really nice Italian restaurant for dinner. When we got back we watched more Jeopardy and then the 25th anniversary concert of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
On Sunday we woke up, had breakfast, then set off for the game. We were going to walk through the downtown area of Charlotte first to show me around. We saw the Bank of America building where Meagan's Dad works, and lots of other big bank buildings (Charlotte is North Carolinas financial capital even though Raleigh is the actual capital). The Christmas decorations were beautiful, and there was a cute little ice skating rink in the middle. We got to the stadium, called the Bank of America stadium, and we had to walk up lots of ramps to get up to the second tier which is where Meagan's family's season ticket seats are. They go to pretty much every game so they are always prepared. They brought seat pads for everyone (it's a thing here in America, because usually the seats are cold and hard, so you have seat cushions with your team on them). We had our Panthers seat cushions x 4, our Panthers baseball caps (because we were on the sunny side) x 4, scarves, gloves, coats, jumpers, we were really warm and snug as bugs in a rug. It wasn't that cold at the start of the game but it got worse towards the middle of the third quarter.
At the start, there was an address from a local Rabbi, then the national anthem was sung by TAYLOR HICKS!!!!! He won season 5 of American Idol and he was actually quite good. He's playing Danny in a Broadway version of Grease now. The Panthers have a mascot called Sir Purr (a panther) and their team of cheerleaders are called the Top Cats. There were lots of goings on at the beginning, the usual warm-ups and presentations of awards and stuff... I was loving it. Being so high up meant that we had a view of the whole field. This really helped me to understand what was going on even more because I could see exactly where penalty flags were being thrown down and which yard things were happening at. I feel like I can understand football quite well now. The stadium is MASSIVE, with 73,778 seats in total. Not all the seats were full, but it was still a pretty good turnout. The Tampa Bay Bucanneers from Florida were supposedly a good team, but we beat them with the final score of 16-6. Although it was quite a low scoring game, it was still REALLY exciting. I had a really good time, I didn't think I'd ever properly enjoy football but being at this massive stadium watching a proper NFL game was awesome! There's a "kickoff specialist" on the Panthers from Dover called Rhys Lloyd so I was rooting for him :)
After the game we went back to the car and went to a noodle place for food (we were all hungry by then). It was delicious. We then finished packing up our stuff and left to drive back to Boone. We knew it had snowed on Saturday, so we saw lots of snow still on the ground and the temperature dropped from around 40 in Charlotte to 29 in Boone. There is still snow on te ground this morning, and it looks very pretty :) So I had a really amazing weekend, Meagan's parents were really nice and her dog was so cute!
First thing when we got in the door we were greeted by 1) her amazing fluffy soft cute dog called Casey and 2) her lovely Mum with a VERY strong New York accent. Firstly, I was shown Aisling's room which has two beds so I got the one they dont normally use (Aisling is Meagan's sister, pronounced ASH-LING). Meagan's house is GORGEOUS. It's really nice, everything is decorated nicely and she has so many awesome things. Upstairs she has a "playroom" which has a sofa and a chair which are suede and are the kind that recline and have a footrest, and a cupholder in the armrest. She has a MASSIVE tv in there with a PS2 and another console I think. She has Guitar Hero World Tour which has drums and a bass as well as a normal guitar. Downstairs is a lovely big kitchen with one of those tvs that come down from under the cupboard, and a big dining table next to french doors that lead out onto a lovely wooden deck with a chair and a barbecue. They also have a living room which they don't use much, a dining room ditto, and then a "den" which is like another lounge with comfy chairs and a big tv and a fireplace. I LOVE Meagan's house :)
On Friday we spent the entire day lounging on the awesome chairs upstairs watching TV. We had fajitas which her dad cooked on the grill outside which were delicious. We also watched Jeopardy which is like a family tradition in their house, it's a game show and it's fun because the questions are quite hard so it's a challenge. Meagan and her dad are RIDICULOUSLY fast at answering, my brain's not that quick! We went to bed after watching Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (they get it on BBC America here).
On Saturday Meagan and I got up and had breakfast, then went shopping. We went to Target, Borders and Harris Teeter (a supermarket) where we bought eggnog (I'd never had it before). Boone has no decent shops, so having proper shops was very exciting. We returned home and then watched a bit of TV. Then we went to church (I'd never been to a Catholic mass before but it was quite interesting) and then out to a really nice Italian restaurant for dinner. When we got back we watched more Jeopardy and then the 25th anniversary concert of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
On Sunday we woke up, had breakfast, then set off for the game. We were going to walk through the downtown area of Charlotte first to show me around. We saw the Bank of America building where Meagan's Dad works, and lots of other big bank buildings (Charlotte is North Carolinas financial capital even though Raleigh is the actual capital). The Christmas decorations were beautiful, and there was a cute little ice skating rink in the middle. We got to the stadium, called the Bank of America stadium, and we had to walk up lots of ramps to get up to the second tier which is where Meagan's family's season ticket seats are. They go to pretty much every game so they are always prepared. They brought seat pads for everyone (it's a thing here in America, because usually the seats are cold and hard, so you have seat cushions with your team on them). We had our Panthers seat cushions x 4, our Panthers baseball caps (because we were on the sunny side) x 4, scarves, gloves, coats, jumpers, we were really warm and snug as bugs in a rug. It wasn't that cold at the start of the game but it got worse towards the middle of the third quarter.
At the start, there was an address from a local Rabbi, then the national anthem was sung by TAYLOR HICKS!!!!! He won season 5 of American Idol and he was actually quite good. He's playing Danny in a Broadway version of Grease now. The Panthers have a mascot called Sir Purr (a panther) and their team of cheerleaders are called the Top Cats. There were lots of goings on at the beginning, the usual warm-ups and presentations of awards and stuff... I was loving it. Being so high up meant that we had a view of the whole field. This really helped me to understand what was going on even more because I could see exactly where penalty flags were being thrown down and which yard things were happening at. I feel like I can understand football quite well now. The stadium is MASSIVE, with 73,778 seats in total. Not all the seats were full, but it was still a pretty good turnout. The Tampa Bay Bucanneers from Florida were supposedly a good team, but we beat them with the final score of 16-6. Although it was quite a low scoring game, it was still REALLY exciting. I had a really good time, I didn't think I'd ever properly enjoy football but being at this massive stadium watching a proper NFL game was awesome! There's a "kickoff specialist" on the Panthers from Dover called Rhys Lloyd so I was rooting for him :)
After the game we went back to the car and went to a noodle place for food (we were all hungry by then). It was delicious. We then finished packing up our stuff and left to drive back to Boone. We knew it had snowed on Saturday, so we saw lots of snow still on the ground and the temperature dropped from around 40 in Charlotte to 29 in Boone. There is still snow on te ground this morning, and it looks very pretty :) So I had a really amazing weekend, Meagan's parents were really nice and her dog was so cute!
Sunday, 6 December 2009
The One with Spiel Stevenberg
The week leading up to Thanksgiving break was CRAZY!!! We all had soooooo much work to hand in, papers and presentations and short papers and proposals and AAAAARGHHHH!!!!! But we managed it all, even Marcella (from the Netherlands) who was still working on a paper the day we were supposed to leave so we ended up leaving a few hours later than planned... but it worked out ok :)
We (Marcella, Becca, James and I) left at around 3.00 on the POP 105 bus to the car hire place. We got our car (a Chevy something-or-other), and with Marcella driving, Becca navigating and James and I providing the music, we left down the mountain to Columbia, South Carolina. It took us around three hours (with a quick stop at Wendy's for food). We were going to drop James off with his second cousin who he had never met before and then continue on to Charleston. We got to Bill and Marge's house after a lot of wrong turns and directions from people in a dodgy gas station, but we made it eventually. Marge (James's second cousin) and Bill were really welcoming and friendly. Their house was gorgeous, really homely and warm, and they have a beautiful dog called Cheyenne. They had set out supper for us, and they had PROPER ENGLISH TEA, and TATE AND LYLE GOLDEN SYRUP and MARKS AND SPENCERS LEMON CURD!!!!! They have travelled all over the world, but they especially love Cornwall. They work with an organisation called CLC Ministries as Christian missionaries setting up Christian bookshops all over the world. They had so many fun stories to tell :)
We spent the night in their lovely extension which has a bedroom, a living room with a sofa bed and its own bathroom and kitchen area. We had breakfast there the next day (MORE TEA = YAY!!!!!), then we left James there and set off for Charleston. Our girly road trip was about to begin!!! We had a pretty uneventful drive to Charleston as it was only about an hour and a half from Columbia. We arrived and went to the visitor's centre where we picked up leaflets and brochures so we could decide a plan of action. We went to find some food and while we ate we planned what we were going to do. First we went to the slave museum, the aquarium and a few other places along the way. We checked in to our Best Western hotel and then rested for an hour. We drove back in to Charleston to eat at a restaurant called Vickery's. We then decided to have an early night, so we went back to the hotel and slept.
The next morning was Thankgiving. We had heard that there was an event called the "Turkey Day Race". It was a race which lots of people took part in, so we had breakfast at Starbucks and watched the action. We also observed a mother on the table behind us who had dressed her baby up in a turkey outfit... scary. We then decided to have a carriage ride. Our horse was called Zag, and it was a very fun and informative ride, we learnt a lot about Charleston. One of the strange things was that because there were quite a few carriage companies operating in Charleston, they had to have a way of telling them which routes to go so as not to cause a congestion problem. The way they decide this is with a little bingo machine outside a hut, and every time a carriage pulls up to it they spin it and whichever colour ball comes out is the route they take. We happened to get a blue ball. We saw some of the typical houses in Charleston called "Charleston singles", which are very narrow on the street side of the house but very long, so the square footage was still pretty high. This was just to save space. We also learnt that many houses in Charleston have spaces on the side of their houses which we assumed were porches, but are actually called piazzas. A piazza is built into the architecture of the house, whereas a porch is added afterward. Apparently Obama mentioned the "porches of Charleston" in his inauguration speech, and the people of Charleston were not amused. We saw a couple of houses with pineapples on their gateposts. These were used in the 1800s and early 1900s as a way to tell people you were back from holiday and were ready to receive visitors.
We then took a stroll in Waterfront Park. This is a beautiful stretch of park along the shore where there are beautiful fountains, grassy areas and (the best bit of all) a wooden promenade with swinging benches. We had great fun on these. We also saw some massive birds which turned out to be pelicans. The waterfront was absolutely gorgeous in the sunlight, with all the palm trees we were sure we had taken a wrong turn and ended up in Florida! Rainbow row is also a famous landmark in Charleston. It is a stretch of houses near the waterfront which are all painted an assortment of pretty rainbow colours. It was really awesome in the sunshine :) Another feature of Charleston we liked was that lots of houses had little lamps outside their doors which had flames in them (gas powered, the council helps them with their gas bills if they purchase them because they add to the charm of the city). In a pub called Tommy Condons (Irish) we had our first ever Thanksgiving dinner. We ate roast turkey, green bean casserole, candied yams (sweet potatoes - really sweet and tasted like they had spices in them) and stuffing/cornbread (we couldn't tell which it was). It was nice, but strange. We also did a ghost walk in Charleston, led by a weird woman who was talking more about the energy of people who have passed than actual ghosts themselves. She was talking about the science behind why people see ghosts, which was kind of interesting...
The next morning we set off for Wilmington, North Carolina. It was around a five hour drive, but we stopped at various places. Most memorably we stopped at a place called Myrtle Beach, which is about halfway between Charleston and Wilmington. Myrtle Beach is like a bigger, more American version of Blackpool or Skegness. It is extremely touristy, although most of the hotels had closed until March. We just wanted to see the beach really, so we wandered along it. It was a beautiful beach, with proper white sand and really blue water. The weather was yet again gorgeous, and we really appreciated the sun. We spent about an hour in Myrtle Beach, then continued on to Wilmington. When we arrived in Wilmington, we parked up and wandered up the main street, then along the pier. Wilmington is GORGEOUS. I could actually see myself living there, it seems really quiet and friendly, and everything is beautiful. Marcella happens to be a massive Dawson's Creek fan (a TV show) and I am a massive One Tree Hill fan (a TV show) which both happen to be filmed in Wilmington, so we were in heaven. Everywhere we walked, we saw places that we recognised from the show. It was AMAZING!!!
We got sheets from the tourist information place telling us the main locations from both shows, so we set about finding the main ones we wanted to see. We had lunch at a place called Hells Kitchen (from Dawsons Creek) which made Marcella ridiculously happy. We saw the bridge and the river court (basketball court) from One Tree Hill, which means my life is now officially complete :) We saw various other places including one of the shops used in OTH, the pier restaurant used in DC, and the record store used in OTH (I bought a CD there!). We also had a boat ride, which took us across the Cape Fear River to the Battleship North Carolina (one of the most haunted ships in America). We had a Hollywood location tour from a guy who called himself Spiel Stevenberg (he actually was the spitting image of Steven Spielberg). He showed us around various locations around Wilmington which were used in films and TV shows (films filmed in Wilmington or "Wilmywood" include 28 Days with Sandra Bullock and Viggo Mortensen, Black Dog with Patrick Swayze and Meatloaf, Blue Velvet with Dennis Hopper and Isabella Rossellini, Weekend at Bernies, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1&2) and Raw Deal with Arnie himself). It was a really funny yet interesting tour, with lots of interesting locations including a diner FILLED with Coke memorabilia, everything down to the napkin holders and the bar stools, but they only sell Pepsi.
We also had a ghost talk the same night from the same person (this time dressed as a pirate calling himself Captain Wilder). We walked around Wilmington (supposed to be one of the most haunted places in the US (one of the programmes I watch called Ghost Hunters has filmed there three times)). It showed us a different side of Wilmington, and we saw a lot more of the city. We ate the second night at a restaurant they used in Dawson's Creek called Elijah's. It was on the waterfront and we sat at the window so the view as the sun was setting was beautiful. Whilst in Wilmington we also took two carriage tours, one the first night and one the second night. We had the same horse both times, called Harry. The tour company save horses who were used by the Ahmish but were too slow for what they needed them for. The carriages were really cute, they even had blankets for everyone to cover up when it got cold. We had two different tour guides but they were both really interesting and we went on different routes both times so we got to see more of the city. Seeing a city at night on a horse-drawn carriage with all the Christmas lights on was pretty magical. We all three agreed that while we loved both places, we would rather visit Charleston and live in Wilmington.
We set off on Sunday morning to Charlotte where we were going to pick up James (Bill dropped him off at Carolina Place mall, which gave us a few hours to wander around the mall before they arrived). We tried out $1 massage chairs, which was a painful but hilarious experience. We ate lunch and spent about an hour in Barnes and Noble, which is a famous chain of bookstores here in America. We picked James up, exchanged gifts with Bill (they had gotten us Christmas gifts of books and we got them gifts to thank them for letting us stay (a candle holder with a Christmas tree on it, cinnamon candles and a bag of baked dog treats from a special bakery called the K-9 coastal bakery in Wilmington which were shaped like gingerbread men and Christmas trees). We drove back home, stopping at Applebee's for dinner. We were so tired that we just fell straight to sleep. All in all, an awesome Thanksgiving break with two of my favourite internationals :)
We (Marcella, Becca, James and I) left at around 3.00 on the POP 105 bus to the car hire place. We got our car (a Chevy something-or-other), and with Marcella driving, Becca navigating and James and I providing the music, we left down the mountain to Columbia, South Carolina. It took us around three hours (with a quick stop at Wendy's for food). We were going to drop James off with his second cousin who he had never met before and then continue on to Charleston. We got to Bill and Marge's house after a lot of wrong turns and directions from people in a dodgy gas station, but we made it eventually. Marge (James's second cousin) and Bill were really welcoming and friendly. Their house was gorgeous, really homely and warm, and they have a beautiful dog called Cheyenne. They had set out supper for us, and they had PROPER ENGLISH TEA, and TATE AND LYLE GOLDEN SYRUP and MARKS AND SPENCERS LEMON CURD!!!!! They have travelled all over the world, but they especially love Cornwall. They work with an organisation called CLC Ministries as Christian missionaries setting up Christian bookshops all over the world. They had so many fun stories to tell :)
We spent the night in their lovely extension which has a bedroom, a living room with a sofa bed and its own bathroom and kitchen area. We had breakfast there the next day (MORE TEA = YAY!!!!!), then we left James there and set off for Charleston. Our girly road trip was about to begin!!! We had a pretty uneventful drive to Charleston as it was only about an hour and a half from Columbia. We arrived and went to the visitor's centre where we picked up leaflets and brochures so we could decide a plan of action. We went to find some food and while we ate we planned what we were going to do. First we went to the slave museum, the aquarium and a few other places along the way. We checked in to our Best Western hotel and then rested for an hour. We drove back in to Charleston to eat at a restaurant called Vickery's. We then decided to have an early night, so we went back to the hotel and slept.
The next morning was Thankgiving. We had heard that there was an event called the "Turkey Day Race". It was a race which lots of people took part in, so we had breakfast at Starbucks and watched the action. We also observed a mother on the table behind us who had dressed her baby up in a turkey outfit... scary. We then decided to have a carriage ride. Our horse was called Zag, and it was a very fun and informative ride, we learnt a lot about Charleston. One of the strange things was that because there were quite a few carriage companies operating in Charleston, they had to have a way of telling them which routes to go so as not to cause a congestion problem. The way they decide this is with a little bingo machine outside a hut, and every time a carriage pulls up to it they spin it and whichever colour ball comes out is the route they take. We happened to get a blue ball. We saw some of the typical houses in Charleston called "Charleston singles", which are very narrow on the street side of the house but very long, so the square footage was still pretty high. This was just to save space. We also learnt that many houses in Charleston have spaces on the side of their houses which we assumed were porches, but are actually called piazzas. A piazza is built into the architecture of the house, whereas a porch is added afterward. Apparently Obama mentioned the "porches of Charleston" in his inauguration speech, and the people of Charleston were not amused. We saw a couple of houses with pineapples on their gateposts. These were used in the 1800s and early 1900s as a way to tell people you were back from holiday and were ready to receive visitors.
We then took a stroll in Waterfront Park. This is a beautiful stretch of park along the shore where there are beautiful fountains, grassy areas and (the best bit of all) a wooden promenade with swinging benches. We had great fun on these. We also saw some massive birds which turned out to be pelicans. The waterfront was absolutely gorgeous in the sunlight, with all the palm trees we were sure we had taken a wrong turn and ended up in Florida! Rainbow row is also a famous landmark in Charleston. It is a stretch of houses near the waterfront which are all painted an assortment of pretty rainbow colours. It was really awesome in the sunshine :) Another feature of Charleston we liked was that lots of houses had little lamps outside their doors which had flames in them (gas powered, the council helps them with their gas bills if they purchase them because they add to the charm of the city). In a pub called Tommy Condons (Irish) we had our first ever Thanksgiving dinner. We ate roast turkey, green bean casserole, candied yams (sweet potatoes - really sweet and tasted like they had spices in them) and stuffing/cornbread (we couldn't tell which it was). It was nice, but strange. We also did a ghost walk in Charleston, led by a weird woman who was talking more about the energy of people who have passed than actual ghosts themselves. She was talking about the science behind why people see ghosts, which was kind of interesting...
The next morning we set off for Wilmington, North Carolina. It was around a five hour drive, but we stopped at various places. Most memorably we stopped at a place called Myrtle Beach, which is about halfway between Charleston and Wilmington. Myrtle Beach is like a bigger, more American version of Blackpool or Skegness. It is extremely touristy, although most of the hotels had closed until March. We just wanted to see the beach really, so we wandered along it. It was a beautiful beach, with proper white sand and really blue water. The weather was yet again gorgeous, and we really appreciated the sun. We spent about an hour in Myrtle Beach, then continued on to Wilmington. When we arrived in Wilmington, we parked up and wandered up the main street, then along the pier. Wilmington is GORGEOUS. I could actually see myself living there, it seems really quiet and friendly, and everything is beautiful. Marcella happens to be a massive Dawson's Creek fan (a TV show) and I am a massive One Tree Hill fan (a TV show) which both happen to be filmed in Wilmington, so we were in heaven. Everywhere we walked, we saw places that we recognised from the show. It was AMAZING!!!
We got sheets from the tourist information place telling us the main locations from both shows, so we set about finding the main ones we wanted to see. We had lunch at a place called Hells Kitchen (from Dawsons Creek) which made Marcella ridiculously happy. We saw the bridge and the river court (basketball court) from One Tree Hill, which means my life is now officially complete :) We saw various other places including one of the shops used in OTH, the pier restaurant used in DC, and the record store used in OTH (I bought a CD there!). We also had a boat ride, which took us across the Cape Fear River to the Battleship North Carolina (one of the most haunted ships in America). We had a Hollywood location tour from a guy who called himself Spiel Stevenberg (he actually was the spitting image of Steven Spielberg). He showed us around various locations around Wilmington which were used in films and TV shows (films filmed in Wilmington or "Wilmywood" include 28 Days with Sandra Bullock and Viggo Mortensen, Black Dog with Patrick Swayze and Meatloaf, Blue Velvet with Dennis Hopper and Isabella Rossellini, Weekend at Bernies, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1&2) and Raw Deal with Arnie himself). It was a really funny yet interesting tour, with lots of interesting locations including a diner FILLED with Coke memorabilia, everything down to the napkin holders and the bar stools, but they only sell Pepsi.
We also had a ghost talk the same night from the same person (this time dressed as a pirate calling himself Captain Wilder). We walked around Wilmington (supposed to be one of the most haunted places in the US (one of the programmes I watch called Ghost Hunters has filmed there three times)). It showed us a different side of Wilmington, and we saw a lot more of the city. We ate the second night at a restaurant they used in Dawson's Creek called Elijah's. It was on the waterfront and we sat at the window so the view as the sun was setting was beautiful. Whilst in Wilmington we also took two carriage tours, one the first night and one the second night. We had the same horse both times, called Harry. The tour company save horses who were used by the Ahmish but were too slow for what they needed them for. The carriages were really cute, they even had blankets for everyone to cover up when it got cold. We had two different tour guides but they were both really interesting and we went on different routes both times so we got to see more of the city. Seeing a city at night on a horse-drawn carriage with all the Christmas lights on was pretty magical. We all three agreed that while we loved both places, we would rather visit Charleston and live in Wilmington.
We set off on Sunday morning to Charlotte where we were going to pick up James (Bill dropped him off at Carolina Place mall, which gave us a few hours to wander around the mall before they arrived). We tried out $1 massage chairs, which was a painful but hilarious experience. We ate lunch and spent about an hour in Barnes and Noble, which is a famous chain of bookstores here in America. We picked James up, exchanged gifts with Bill (they had gotten us Christmas gifts of books and we got them gifts to thank them for letting us stay (a candle holder with a Christmas tree on it, cinnamon candles and a bag of baked dog treats from a special bakery called the K-9 coastal bakery in Wilmington which were shaped like gingerbread men and Christmas trees). We drove back home, stopping at Applebee's for dinner. We were so tired that we just fell straight to sleep. All in all, an awesome Thanksgiving break with two of my favourite internationals :)
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
The One with the Old Mountain Jug
To start off this post, here is a random fact: My roomate is ginger yet is allergic to carrots. I find that this gives me hours of amusement and is very ironic.
So, the reason why I haven't blogged in so long is because I have been SUPER busy with papers to write before Thanksgiving. My mother accused me of not blogging, so therefore to make her happy I will blog at half past seven in the morning when my eyes are still half closed and i really feel like jumping back into bed...
This week was the gig I have been excited about for quite a few weeks now - Anberlin, All American Rejects and Taking Back Sunday. It was doors at seven, so I dropped my stuff off in Becca's room, and then Becca, Marcella and I headed to the dining hall. We met Evelien, Riina, Emma, Lena and Maria there, had some food, then headed to the Convocation Center (about five minutes walk down Rivers Street). We had to wait in a line but it didn't take that long to get in. You have to have bags searched but not many of us brought bags luckily so we got in pretty quickly. We went to the restrooms then headed down to the floor (we had standing tickets). We got a space quite close to the front on the right side (stage left i guess), and stood around until eight when Anberlin came on. They were ok, they got the crowd going quite well but they were a but too heavy for my taste. It was good just to hear live music again though :)
The All American Rejects came on after a half hour break, and they came on in a very dramatic fashion. The lead singer was wearing black, tight glittery jeans and he was topless, but he had a design painted on his chest and back in glitter which looked very cool under the lights. They played all of their most popular singles, plus a few old ones and a couple off their newest album. It was a really good show - I think the singer was on more than adrenaline though, he looked crazed and was talking crazy talk. He called us his "little apples" because we're APPALachian state.... anyway, it was an awesome set and everyone was really loving it.
Taking Back Sunday were on last, and the singer is from Greensboro, North Carolina so I guess they were the favourites because they were kind of local. Their set was OK but I wasn't really familiar with any of their songs. There were loads of empty seats and space on the floor which I was surprised about, considering the tickets were only $20 I thought there would have been more people there... but it was still a very enjoyable show. After the gig we walked home, and ordered food in Becca's room. Her roomate is obsessed with the show Golden Girls, so we were subjected to that for a bit. I then left and walked up to the library to do some work, where I stayed until 7.30 in the morning.
At 12.15 the next day, having overslept because we had cinema tickets for the 1.00 showing of New Moon, I had to get dressed super fast and run up the hill to the bus stop. I got there in plenty of time though so it was all good. Becca, Marcella and I were very impressed by the film. It was such an improvement on the first one, and eveyrthing about it was better. At American cinemas apparently it is the common custom to clap at the end of films... strange if you ask me - it's not like it's a play and the actors can hear you...
This Saturday was the last scheduled home game for the Mountaineers. We had food in Trivette hall, then headed up to the stadium. We got seats right in the middle section, so it was a really good view. The atmosphere in the student section is always mental, everyone stands on the bleachers and most people are drunk :) It's all good fun though. It was only the second time I have stayed the entire game, because for some reason this game seemed to go quicker than usual - only 2.5 hours as opposed to 3/4 sometimes. We won the Battle for the Old Mountain Jug (a historic game between us and Western Carolina which is played every year.) The winning team gets a "jug" decorated with both team's mascots and logos on. It was a really good atmosphere at the end when we won :)
These past few days I've been trying to finish papers so I can have a stress-free Thanksgiving break. We're going on a little road trip, to Columbia SC first, then to Charleston, Myrtle Beach and Wilmington NC. I am most excited about Wilmington because we're going to visit some of the locations where One Tree Hill is filmed :D eeeeeeeeee!!!!!!! I'm really excited!
So, the reason why I haven't blogged in so long is because I have been SUPER busy with papers to write before Thanksgiving. My mother accused me of not blogging, so therefore to make her happy I will blog at half past seven in the morning when my eyes are still half closed and i really feel like jumping back into bed...
This week was the gig I have been excited about for quite a few weeks now - Anberlin, All American Rejects and Taking Back Sunday. It was doors at seven, so I dropped my stuff off in Becca's room, and then Becca, Marcella and I headed to the dining hall. We met Evelien, Riina, Emma, Lena and Maria there, had some food, then headed to the Convocation Center (about five minutes walk down Rivers Street). We had to wait in a line but it didn't take that long to get in. You have to have bags searched but not many of us brought bags luckily so we got in pretty quickly. We went to the restrooms then headed down to the floor (we had standing tickets). We got a space quite close to the front on the right side (stage left i guess), and stood around until eight when Anberlin came on. They were ok, they got the crowd going quite well but they were a but too heavy for my taste. It was good just to hear live music again though :)
The All American Rejects came on after a half hour break, and they came on in a very dramatic fashion. The lead singer was wearing black, tight glittery jeans and he was topless, but he had a design painted on his chest and back in glitter which looked very cool under the lights. They played all of their most popular singles, plus a few old ones and a couple off their newest album. It was a really good show - I think the singer was on more than adrenaline though, he looked crazed and was talking crazy talk. He called us his "little apples" because we're APPALachian state.... anyway, it was an awesome set and everyone was really loving it.
Taking Back Sunday were on last, and the singer is from Greensboro, North Carolina so I guess they were the favourites because they were kind of local. Their set was OK but I wasn't really familiar with any of their songs. There were loads of empty seats and space on the floor which I was surprised about, considering the tickets were only $20 I thought there would have been more people there... but it was still a very enjoyable show. After the gig we walked home, and ordered food in Becca's room. Her roomate is obsessed with the show Golden Girls, so we were subjected to that for a bit. I then left and walked up to the library to do some work, where I stayed until 7.30 in the morning.
At 12.15 the next day, having overslept because we had cinema tickets for the 1.00 showing of New Moon, I had to get dressed super fast and run up the hill to the bus stop. I got there in plenty of time though so it was all good. Becca, Marcella and I were very impressed by the film. It was such an improvement on the first one, and eveyrthing about it was better. At American cinemas apparently it is the common custom to clap at the end of films... strange if you ask me - it's not like it's a play and the actors can hear you...
This Saturday was the last scheduled home game for the Mountaineers. We had food in Trivette hall, then headed up to the stadium. We got seats right in the middle section, so it was a really good view. The atmosphere in the student section is always mental, everyone stands on the bleachers and most people are drunk :) It's all good fun though. It was only the second time I have stayed the entire game, because for some reason this game seemed to go quicker than usual - only 2.5 hours as opposed to 3/4 sometimes. We won the Battle for the Old Mountain Jug (a historic game between us and Western Carolina which is played every year.) The winning team gets a "jug" decorated with both team's mascots and logos on. It was a really good atmosphere at the end when we won :)
These past few days I've been trying to finish papers so I can have a stress-free Thanksgiving break. We're going on a little road trip, to Columbia SC first, then to Charleston, Myrtle Beach and Wilmington NC. I am most excited about Wilmington because we're going to visit some of the locations where One Tree Hill is filmed :D eeeeeeeeee!!!!!!! I'm really excited!
Monday, 2 November 2009
The One with the End of Fall
This past week or so has been quite an eventful one. School was boring, just the usual stuff, plus I had an exam on tuesday in US-Latin American Relations. I think it went ok, will get the results back tomorrow.
The lead-up to Halloween has been crazy but quite fun. Walmart has had decorations up pretty much since we got here in the middle of August, then there was a period where they had both christmas stuff and halloween stuff, now i'm sure as I write this they are decorating the entire store with enough tinsel and fake snow to cover the entire state of North Carolina. If there's one thing America know how to do well it's commercialism. I've enjoyed celebrating Halloween in America though, just to see how crazy they really do go. I'm looking forward to the run-up to Thanksgiving and Christmas, mostly Thanksgiving because we don't really celebrate that in England. They don't have bonfire night here which is extremely sad, but they have their fireworks on the 4th of July...
Anyway, so on Wednesday, Meagan and I got 'booed'. This is not what it sounds like. People did not boo us in the literal sense of shouting booooo at us, apparently 'booing' here is different. It involves leaving two Halloween treats outside two doors in your dorm, and leaving a note on their door saying 'we've been booed' and also a note with the treat detailing instructions on how to 'boo' two more people. We got left a little Halloween basket filled with candy, so we made our own, which I artfully coloured in, and filled them with candy, and left them outside two more doors. The goal is to boo everyone in the dorm by the end, and the LLC had quite a few by Saturday :)
For my Popular Culture class we had to sign up to help with the kids in the community center and the library for Halloween, so on Saturday I headed out to the Watauga County Public Library. It was the 10th annual 'Boone Boo', where kids from the local area dress up and come with their parents to downtown Boone and do lots of fun Halloween activities. We started in the library making crafts (including dangly monsters, pumpkins and bats, all with googly eyes). The kids had fun and we had fun helping them and handing out candy from purple pumpkin baskets. Costumes here included twin boys dressed as dragons, twin girls dressed as cats, spider girl, Jack and Sally from the Nightmare Before Christmas and a scarecrow (the father) carrying around their baby who they had dressed as a hot dog (mildly disturbing). My witch hat kept falling off but it was fine, as long as I didn't wear it ouside because of the wind. The other girl from our class who was there (also called Holly) had a much more creative costume - a Sun-Maid raisin box. There were meant to be more people from our class there but everyone else bailed (however we got extra credit, so they missed out there). After clearing up the path of destruction the kids had left (it was like a whirlwind had hit a crayon factory) we headed over to the community center which was set up like a haunted house, with a maze going through with spooky noises and a ghost that jumped out at you. Some of the kids were quite scared, but only one kid cried and that was in the library, for about two seconds until we distracted him with a pumpkin. We cleared up all the decorations and put them in the attic, then Holly gave me a ride home.
I had a rest and did some more revision whilst watching Halloween TV with Meagan, then she headed out to a party at seven. Mine didn't start until ten, so I hung out until quarter to ten when we got picked up by Alaine and Michael. They took us to Alaine's apartment where the party was, and we had a really good time with jell-o shots and good music. It got a bit crazy because there were lots of people in a very small space, but it was a really good night. Costumes at this party included scary clown, Audrey Hepburn, Grecian goddess, gangsters, Amy Winehouse, Indiana Jones and Juno (pregnant teenager from famous movie of the same name). Emily gave us rides back to our dorms at around 3am. I was so tired that I just collapsed into bed and slept until twelve (actually eleven because the clocks went back - this confused me immensely for a while).
Apparently Fall has now officially ended (even though it hasn't) but according to the town planners it has, because the signs that said 'Fall in love with Boone' which were up on every lamppost in town have now been replaced with a sparkly snowflake light on every lamppost. Whilst they are very pretty, i can't help but feel sorry for Fall, because technically it should get an extra month before its decorations get taken down. Oh well, pretty snowflake lights it is then :)
This week I have two exams and a paper to write where I have to find a Latin American immigrant and interview them. I have yet to find said immigrant, so that should be fun...
The lead-up to Halloween has been crazy but quite fun. Walmart has had decorations up pretty much since we got here in the middle of August, then there was a period where they had both christmas stuff and halloween stuff, now i'm sure as I write this they are decorating the entire store with enough tinsel and fake snow to cover the entire state of North Carolina. If there's one thing America know how to do well it's commercialism. I've enjoyed celebrating Halloween in America though, just to see how crazy they really do go. I'm looking forward to the run-up to Thanksgiving and Christmas, mostly Thanksgiving because we don't really celebrate that in England. They don't have bonfire night here which is extremely sad, but they have their fireworks on the 4th of July...
Anyway, so on Wednesday, Meagan and I got 'booed'. This is not what it sounds like. People did not boo us in the literal sense of shouting booooo at us, apparently 'booing' here is different. It involves leaving two Halloween treats outside two doors in your dorm, and leaving a note on their door saying 'we've been booed' and also a note with the treat detailing instructions on how to 'boo' two more people. We got left a little Halloween basket filled with candy, so we made our own, which I artfully coloured in, and filled them with candy, and left them outside two more doors. The goal is to boo everyone in the dorm by the end, and the LLC had quite a few by Saturday :)
For my Popular Culture class we had to sign up to help with the kids in the community center and the library for Halloween, so on Saturday I headed out to the Watauga County Public Library. It was the 10th annual 'Boone Boo', where kids from the local area dress up and come with their parents to downtown Boone and do lots of fun Halloween activities. We started in the library making crafts (including dangly monsters, pumpkins and bats, all with googly eyes). The kids had fun and we had fun helping them and handing out candy from purple pumpkin baskets. Costumes here included twin boys dressed as dragons, twin girls dressed as cats, spider girl, Jack and Sally from the Nightmare Before Christmas and a scarecrow (the father) carrying around their baby who they had dressed as a hot dog (mildly disturbing). My witch hat kept falling off but it was fine, as long as I didn't wear it ouside because of the wind. The other girl from our class who was there (also called Holly) had a much more creative costume - a Sun-Maid raisin box. There were meant to be more people from our class there but everyone else bailed (however we got extra credit, so they missed out there). After clearing up the path of destruction the kids had left (it was like a whirlwind had hit a crayon factory) we headed over to the community center which was set up like a haunted house, with a maze going through with spooky noises and a ghost that jumped out at you. Some of the kids were quite scared, but only one kid cried and that was in the library, for about two seconds until we distracted him with a pumpkin. We cleared up all the decorations and put them in the attic, then Holly gave me a ride home.
I had a rest and did some more revision whilst watching Halloween TV with Meagan, then she headed out to a party at seven. Mine didn't start until ten, so I hung out until quarter to ten when we got picked up by Alaine and Michael. They took us to Alaine's apartment where the party was, and we had a really good time with jell-o shots and good music. It got a bit crazy because there were lots of people in a very small space, but it was a really good night. Costumes at this party included scary clown, Audrey Hepburn, Grecian goddess, gangsters, Amy Winehouse, Indiana Jones and Juno (pregnant teenager from famous movie of the same name). Emily gave us rides back to our dorms at around 3am. I was so tired that I just collapsed into bed and slept until twelve (actually eleven because the clocks went back - this confused me immensely for a while).
Apparently Fall has now officially ended (even though it hasn't) but according to the town planners it has, because the signs that said 'Fall in love with Boone' which were up on every lamppost in town have now been replaced with a sparkly snowflake light on every lamppost. Whilst they are very pretty, i can't help but feel sorry for Fall, because technically it should get an extra month before its decorations get taken down. Oh well, pretty snowflake lights it is then :)
This week I have two exams and a paper to write where I have to find a Latin American immigrant and interview them. I have yet to find said immigrant, so that should be fun...
Thursday, 22 October 2009
The One with Fall Break
Fall break at App is basically where you get Thursday and Friday off, plus the weekend, so many people go on vacation somewhere nice. For us internationals, that meant a trip to Washington DC :) We were supposed to leave at 6.30 am on the Thursday morning, but thankfully it got pushed back to 7.30. We all met at the LLC, and piled into two 12-seater vans. 22 internationals plus 2 drivers = lots of very squashed people. The journey there took less than seven hours, and we only made one stop at a gas station in Virginia. We had some food and then continued our journey to Washington. It was raining heavily as we arrived, and we drove down Constitution Avenue, past all the monuments and the White House. It was wet but still very exciting to be in a new city. You could literally smell the history :)
We checked into our hotel, the Courtyard Marriott in the lower East corner of Washington. We checked in, then because we weren't starting our night time tour of the monument until seven, we decided to walk to find somewhere to eat. We realised that our hotel was basically in a place which was in the middle of building sites and office complexes, so it took us a couple of miles to reach restaurants. We finally found Pennsylvania avenue, a street which goes diagonally across the centre of DC. We had a nice dinner, then walked back to the hotel to meet up with the other internationals. We took the Metro, because Navy Yard metro station was about a minute's walk from the hotel.
We got off at L'Enfant Plaza, which is a station where you can transfer to any of the four lines (orange, blue, yellow and green, of which Navy Yard is on the green). We transferred to another station which is closer to the monuments, then got off and took a tour of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Memorial, World War II memorial, and the Vietnam War Memorial. They were very atmospheric in the dark and rain, and surprisingly busy with tourists. We did a lot of walking that night, and when we got back at about 11 we just collapsed into bed. I was sharing a room with Becca, Marcella and Evelien. Marcella and Evelien were in one bed and Becca and I in the other. They were extremely comfortable, unlike the Super 8 motel we stayed in in Raleigh...
As there were four girls to shower, Marcella woke up at 6.30 for hers, then we all took turns. We were all ready by 8, and headed over to the nearby Starbucks for a coffee. We met back at the hotel at 9, and headed out on the Metro to the Museum of Natural History. I think the only place I have seen more marble is Rome. All the museums are white, and most of them are marble. One of the great things about Washington is that because most of the museums are owned by the Smithsonian Institution, they are all freeeeeeee!!!!! The history museum was really good, but kind of similar to the one in London. We spent about an hour in there, then moved on to the National Archives. There we saw the original Declaration of Independenace and the Constitution of the US, along with the Bill of Rights. It was so exciting to think that I was looking at the ACTUAL paper that their quills had touched all those years ago. The signatures were the most interesting parts, I enjoyed reading them all.
From here, we went to the Museum of the American Indian. We didn't get to spend much time in here which was sad, but we did have lunch which was AMAZING. The cafeteria was set out in different sections, from "The Great Plains" to "South America and everything inbetween. I had a lovely chipotle chicken taco. We then walked up Capitol Hill (where the Capitol building which houses Congress is situated). At the top, behind the Capitol building is the Library of Congress. We spent a lot of time in here, because it had a very nice atmosphere and was fascinating. The original library was burnt down and they lost almost all the books, so Thomas Jefferson offered to sell them his personal collection for around $24,000. They accepted, but then this collection also got burnt down some years later. They are currently rebuilding the collection, buying around 600 books every year. Jefferson's library had an amazing collection of books, and instead of organising them alphabetically or by subject, he separated them into four sections, Memory, Reason and Imagination (or History, Philosophy and Fine Art).
After leaving the Library of Congress, we headed on the Metro over the river to Pentagon City Mall for a spot of retail therapy. Boone doesn't have a lot of shops, so the girls went crazy. We spent a few hours shopping, then returned to the hotel to drop off our shopping before heading out to meet some of the guys at the Hard Rock Cafe in Chinatown. We had drinks (non-alcoholic for the under-21s) and chatted until about 1. We were all really tired, so we got the Metro back to the hotel.
The next morning, some of the group headed off to Arlington cemetery. We decided to skip this, heading instead to H&M (we don't have one anywhere close to Boone) and then on to the National Gallery of Art. I could possibly have spent all day in here, but we did spent the entire morning wandering around. We ate lunch there too, and just enjoyed the art and the fantastic architecture of the two buildings (the West building housed the classical art from Da Vinci to Monet, whilst the East building housed the modern art from Picasso to Lichtenstein). After lunch we headed for the zoo. It was still pouring down with rain, so we just saw the cheetahs, the emus and the pandas (which were the most important as I had never seen a Giant Panda before) which were closest to the entrance. We stopped at Starbucks for about the tenth time on our trip (Starbucks is also another thing Boone doesn't have). We then went back to the hotel to change because we were going back to China town for dinner and to meet James (James didn't come on the trip with us but he got a lift from Christer, another App student we know who lives in Washington).
We were yet again exhausted after arriving back to the hotel at around 2am (it took longer because a hilarious incident occurred involving Becca sending James on the wrong train home, and us trying to contact him to tell him to switch trains). The next morning, we were due to leave at 12 and whilst everyone else had a lie-in, we decided not to waste our time in Washington. We left the hotel at nine to head for the Washington Memorial. We wanted to go up on the elevator to the top, but by the time we got there tickets had already sold out until the 12.30 trip, which would have been too late for us. We got back on the Metro and headed for the Museum of Crime and Justice and the International Spy Museum, both of which were $20 dollars to get into, and since we didn't have that much time we just had another Starbucks and headed back to the hotel.
We all piled back into the vans, and the journey took a little under an hour longer than the journey there, but we were all so tired that we slept for most of it anyway. We made a couple of stops, and arrived back at App at around 8pm on Sunday night, exhausted but happy after a fun weekend, despite all the rain :)
We checked into our hotel, the Courtyard Marriott in the lower East corner of Washington. We checked in, then because we weren't starting our night time tour of the monument until seven, we decided to walk to find somewhere to eat. We realised that our hotel was basically in a place which was in the middle of building sites and office complexes, so it took us a couple of miles to reach restaurants. We finally found Pennsylvania avenue, a street which goes diagonally across the centre of DC. We had a nice dinner, then walked back to the hotel to meet up with the other internationals. We took the Metro, because Navy Yard metro station was about a minute's walk from the hotel.
We got off at L'Enfant Plaza, which is a station where you can transfer to any of the four lines (orange, blue, yellow and green, of which Navy Yard is on the green). We transferred to another station which is closer to the monuments, then got off and took a tour of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Memorial, World War II memorial, and the Vietnam War Memorial. They were very atmospheric in the dark and rain, and surprisingly busy with tourists. We did a lot of walking that night, and when we got back at about 11 we just collapsed into bed. I was sharing a room with Becca, Marcella and Evelien. Marcella and Evelien were in one bed and Becca and I in the other. They were extremely comfortable, unlike the Super 8 motel we stayed in in Raleigh...
As there were four girls to shower, Marcella woke up at 6.30 for hers, then we all took turns. We were all ready by 8, and headed over to the nearby Starbucks for a coffee. We met back at the hotel at 9, and headed out on the Metro to the Museum of Natural History. I think the only place I have seen more marble is Rome. All the museums are white, and most of them are marble. One of the great things about Washington is that because most of the museums are owned by the Smithsonian Institution, they are all freeeeeeee!!!!! The history museum was really good, but kind of similar to the one in London. We spent about an hour in there, then moved on to the National Archives. There we saw the original Declaration of Independenace and the Constitution of the US, along with the Bill of Rights. It was so exciting to think that I was looking at the ACTUAL paper that their quills had touched all those years ago. The signatures were the most interesting parts, I enjoyed reading them all.
From here, we went to the Museum of the American Indian. We didn't get to spend much time in here which was sad, but we did have lunch which was AMAZING. The cafeteria was set out in different sections, from "The Great Plains" to "South America and everything inbetween. I had a lovely chipotle chicken taco. We then walked up Capitol Hill (where the Capitol building which houses Congress is situated). At the top, behind the Capitol building is the Library of Congress. We spent a lot of time in here, because it had a very nice atmosphere and was fascinating. The original library was burnt down and they lost almost all the books, so Thomas Jefferson offered to sell them his personal collection for around $24,000. They accepted, but then this collection also got burnt down some years later. They are currently rebuilding the collection, buying around 600 books every year. Jefferson's library had an amazing collection of books, and instead of organising them alphabetically or by subject, he separated them into four sections, Memory, Reason and Imagination (or History, Philosophy and Fine Art).
After leaving the Library of Congress, we headed on the Metro over the river to Pentagon City Mall for a spot of retail therapy. Boone doesn't have a lot of shops, so the girls went crazy. We spent a few hours shopping, then returned to the hotel to drop off our shopping before heading out to meet some of the guys at the Hard Rock Cafe in Chinatown. We had drinks (non-alcoholic for the under-21s) and chatted until about 1. We were all really tired, so we got the Metro back to the hotel.
The next morning, some of the group headed off to Arlington cemetery. We decided to skip this, heading instead to H&M (we don't have one anywhere close to Boone) and then on to the National Gallery of Art. I could possibly have spent all day in here, but we did spent the entire morning wandering around. We ate lunch there too, and just enjoyed the art and the fantastic architecture of the two buildings (the West building housed the classical art from Da Vinci to Monet, whilst the East building housed the modern art from Picasso to Lichtenstein). After lunch we headed for the zoo. It was still pouring down with rain, so we just saw the cheetahs, the emus and the pandas (which were the most important as I had never seen a Giant Panda before) which were closest to the entrance. We stopped at Starbucks for about the tenth time on our trip (Starbucks is also another thing Boone doesn't have). We then went back to the hotel to change because we were going back to China town for dinner and to meet James (James didn't come on the trip with us but he got a lift from Christer, another App student we know who lives in Washington).
We were yet again exhausted after arriving back to the hotel at around 2am (it took longer because a hilarious incident occurred involving Becca sending James on the wrong train home, and us trying to contact him to tell him to switch trains). The next morning, we were due to leave at 12 and whilst everyone else had a lie-in, we decided not to waste our time in Washington. We left the hotel at nine to head for the Washington Memorial. We wanted to go up on the elevator to the top, but by the time we got there tickets had already sold out until the 12.30 trip, which would have been too late for us. We got back on the Metro and headed for the Museum of Crime and Justice and the International Spy Museum, both of which were $20 dollars to get into, and since we didn't have that much time we just had another Starbucks and headed back to the hotel.
We all piled back into the vans, and the journey took a little under an hour longer than the journey there, but we were all so tired that we slept for most of it anyway. We made a couple of stops, and arrived back at App at around 8pm on Sunday night, exhausted but happy after a fun weekend, despite all the rain :)
Sunday, 11 October 2009
The One with Homecoming
This week has been pretty uneventful. Classes have been normal, although I did get my first 'B' on my US-Latin American Relations exam, which I was quite chuffed with. For Popular Culture this week Larry took us to Macado's where we ate nachos and talked about stuff. Not really a class, but Larry is awesome like that :)
On Thursday I went to Legends to see two local bands from Greensboro, Fear of Falling and Farewell. Meagan told me they were really good and they had been trying to get Farewell to come to App for years, so I went along, and I'm glad I did. It was a really good gig, packed with energy and really catchy tunes. They were really funny, and even though there weren't that many people there they still kept the atmosphere energetic :) I spoke to the lead singer afterwards when I went to the merch stand to buy CDs, and we were talking about England because they were there earlier this year on a tour.
The weather was beautiful on Friday, really hot with clear blue skies. We hoped it would stay the same for Homecoming, but I woke up on Saturday morning to grey skies and a chill in the air. However, I went to the Homecoming parade because it would be my only opportunity, it only happens once a year. There were various floats, the Army, the Marching Mountaineers complete with flag bearers and batont twirlers. They walked down Rivers Street then across to King Street, then each little group did a performance in front of the judges. My roommate's kazoo band won the best kazoo band award, which she was very proud of :)
Then it was the Homecoming game against North Carolina Central, and the stadium was packed even though the weather was rainy and grey. We had lots of fun watching the Marching Mountaineers, then they played the national anthem and then the game begun. We were 10 points up at the end of the first half, 24-14. Then they have a ceremony on the pitch where homecoming King and Queen are announced, and then the game commenced. We smashed them 55-21 in the end, which was an amazing victory :)
Looking forward to Washington now, but not looking forward to getting up at 5am on Thursday morning... but it should be a fun trip.
On Thursday I went to Legends to see two local bands from Greensboro, Fear of Falling and Farewell. Meagan told me they were really good and they had been trying to get Farewell to come to App for years, so I went along, and I'm glad I did. It was a really good gig, packed with energy and really catchy tunes. They were really funny, and even though there weren't that many people there they still kept the atmosphere energetic :) I spoke to the lead singer afterwards when I went to the merch stand to buy CDs, and we were talking about England because they were there earlier this year on a tour.
The weather was beautiful on Friday, really hot with clear blue skies. We hoped it would stay the same for Homecoming, but I woke up on Saturday morning to grey skies and a chill in the air. However, I went to the Homecoming parade because it would be my only opportunity, it only happens once a year. There were various floats, the Army, the Marching Mountaineers complete with flag bearers and batont twirlers. They walked down Rivers Street then across to King Street, then each little group did a performance in front of the judges. My roommate's kazoo band won the best kazoo band award, which she was very proud of :)
Then it was the Homecoming game against North Carolina Central, and the stadium was packed even though the weather was rainy and grey. We had lots of fun watching the Marching Mountaineers, then they played the national anthem and then the game begun. We were 10 points up at the end of the first half, 24-14. Then they have a ceremony on the pitch where homecoming King and Queen are announced, and then the game commenced. We smashed them 55-21 in the end, which was an amazing victory :)
Looking forward to Washington now, but not looking forward to getting up at 5am on Thursday morning... but it should be a fun trip.
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