Halloween Weekend

And by weekend I mean from Thursday to Monday. 

First snow fall

Actual Halloween is today (Monday) but in America, or UMass at least, it’s a weekend-long event. Our Halloween weekend started with snow! On Thursday night as I walked home from dinner it started snowing, and being that all my friends are from Europe and America they didn’t quite understand my excitement.. But my German friend Julienne was kind enough to take pictures of me enjoying the snow. Woo!

Mr Ramen

Then later that evening we had some people around to our suite to celebrate the beginning of the Halloween weekend. We asked everyone to dress in their weirdest attire (as our area of campus is known for having lots of weirdo’s, it seemed fitting) We decorated Allie’s room to be sufficiently Halloween-y, including “Mr Ramen” the skeleton! We played a few games, including the donut game where you have to eat a donut that is hanging off a piece of string without using your hands! Very fun night.

Mario and Luigi at the hockey!

On Friday night we got into our real costumes! Allie and I dressed as Mario and Luigi! Very fitting because we play a lot of Mario Kart on Allie’s Wii. We then went down to the hockey game. UMass was playing Boston University, which is apparently a big rival. We drew, 2-2, even after over time! Loads of people were in costume; we had the Incredibles, Flash, Top Gun, an alien, a zombie.. The people in the row behind us were all characters from Cluedo!

Take a wild guess at which one's mine

On Saturday it snowed a whole lot more! I loveeed it. Lisa, Julienne and I decided to carve pumpkins, as one of the dorms was providing free pumpkins, carving tools & snacks. I’ve never done it before, and neither had Lisa, so it was heaps of fun. Julienne is a pro. I underestimated how hard it would be to get all the pumpkin out! And I may have also cut the hole on top a bit too small, making it even harder for myself. But I was very pleased with my end result. My pumpkin’s a cutie.

Trees fallen!

Saturday night it was really snowing. Like really really snowing. I was in one of the dorms with a bunch of people, all dressed up and ready to go out (this time in a bumble bee costume!) when we were informed that there are no buses running, no taxis, and essentially everything had been shut down due to the snow. Trees were falling (two massive ones fell right outside my building!) and eventually we concluded that we should probably just stay in. So there was a large group of us  in the halls when, around 11pm, there was a blackout! We spent the rest of the night using phones as our only source of light. 

Allie jumping into the snow..Because why not?!

The power didn’t return until 9am Sunday morning, which we later learned was only because UMass have their own generators. Almost the entire state spent Saturday night and all of Sunday without power. That means no internet, no TV, no lights, no heat. No fun. There was at least a foot of snow. More than I’ve ever seen! Allie and I went for a drive on Sunday which meant that first we had to clear her car of snow. Over about an hour’s worth of driving we only saw two restaurants, one gas station and one supermarket that were open. And you wouldn’t believe the queues coming out of them all! 

Today, Monday, is a snow day due to the fact that most of the area is still without power. So, no classes! I slept in, went for a walk to discover that about a billion trees have fallen, and intend to spend the rest of the day watching Disney movies. Currently they’re undecided as to whether there will be classes tomorrow..  Fingers crossed!

Here's some more happy snaps of people in costume:

Kate as a zombie, Lisa as one of the Incredibles

Karsten as Flash!

Lots of costumes :)

Long weekend in NEW YORK!

Times Square!

I have just spent the weekend in New York with a group of girls! It was so much fun! Except for the accommodation. In an effort to save money (and due to lack of availability at last minute) we rented out an apartment in the Bronx. The seven of us who went together were split over two apartments that we'd rented from the same guy. He failed to mention that there was a cat at one and a dog at the other- but luckily no one had allergies to either. I was in the one with the cat and it was CRAZY cat. A kitten, actually. He pounced, and used his sharp claws, and bit me. We had to put our bags up against the door at night to make sure he didn't come in under the door.

Also the guy we rented it from was a bit of a creep. Moral of the story? Pay more for accommodation. Pay much more.

Anyway, we didn't let that ruin our weekend!

We were there Friday afternoon til Monday night.

After getting settled on Friday night we ventured downtown. We conveniently exited the subway at Grand Central Station. Sooo cool. First stop after that, of course, was Times Square!! Even though I’ve been there before, I still think it’s an exciting place to go. There’s always SO many people there, and it’s one of the most famous, most central spots in New York. And it’s right on Broadway! My favourite! Crazily, we ran into a bunch of other International Students at Times Square. Being a long weekend, lots of people decided to head to New York. But it’s still crazy to run into someone you know in such a big city!

With Allie at Grand Central Station

Then we checked out the Rockefeller Centre, the Plaza is gorgeous!! We continued to roam around this beautiful city for most of the evening.

On Saturday, we split into two groups: those going touristing, and those going to Broadway. You can probably guess where I went! I saw two Broadway shows! Priscilla and Sister Act. Both of them were really fun. Priscilla I had seen before in Melbourne, but we missed out on Anything Goes tickets, so we though Priscilla was worth a try! We got tickets through the lottery (where you go two hours before the show and put your name in, then they draw it out and if your name is called you get front row seats for $40!) Sitting so close, you can see all the little things you wouldn’t from far back. Like the fact that they don’t really have any eye makeup on, it’s a mask over their eyes! Shattering the illusion!

Then, after meeting everyone for dinner at a diner, a few of us went to see Sister Act. This time we were in the second back row, but even I could still see. The theatres in NY seem to be smaller than in Melbourne.. Not what you'd expect! Sister Act was really great! All original music, mostly pretty catchy! And the girl who played the lead was an incredible singer.

On Sunday, I went to the Harlem Gospel Choir Sunday Brunch with two others, while the rest did a Sex and the City tour and checked out Central Park. Harlem Gospel was sooo fun! We had tried to go last time I was in NY, but the hurricane got in the way. Basically it was a Southern Buffet lunch followed by a performance from an amazing gospel choir. They were incredible! And people were getting so into it- up and dancing the whole time. 

Washington Square Park

Then we headed down to SoHo, which is a cool area! We relaxing in Washington Square Park, people watching. There was a random piano in the middle of the park which people were playing. Very cool. After exploring Chinatown (dirty!) and Little Italy (right next door but much nicer!) we went to a show in the East Village.. It was a Disney Cabaret Burlesque show organised by one of Allie's friends. Something a bit different! 

View from Allie's aunt's apartment

Monday, our last day, we had to lug our bags around all day, so we didn’t do anything too strenuous. We went down to where the World Trade Centre was. There's now a memorial thing there but because it's not fully finished (there's still construction around it) they only let a certain amount of people in per day, so you have to book it online.. Which we didn't! Something to do next time. We did a bit of shopping- I got three pairs of shoes, including purple Wellies! I am now prepared for the cold and rain and snow! Woo! Then we visited Allie's aunt who lives on Park Ave. Very very very nice apartment! And incredible view.

I love this city!

Boston

Allie!

Before I tell you about Boston, I have to tell you about Allie. Allie is the crazy American who lives in the room next door to me, and she’s awesome. 

We eat a lot of ramen noodles, and sushi. We watch TV while pretending to do homework. We stay up until stupid hours every Thursday night, when we have our Thirsty Thursday celebrations (learning a new drinking game every week!). We also like random road trips.

On the weekend we decided to randomly road trip to Boston. We stayed at Allie’s Dad’s place just outside of Boston, had breakfast with her Grandma on Sunday morning, then got the train into town. 

Boston is really cool.

It’s a relatively small city, and I don’t think it’s a big “touristy” place, but that’s what I like about it. You can just roam, and enjoy the city. It's pretty.

We went to the Holocaust Memorial, which is depressing but interesting. We had lunch in Faneuil Hall, in which I took more than half an hour to decide on food, because there were just SO many options!

Following the Freedom Trail!

We then embarked on a free tour of the Freedom Trail; which is a trail through Boston of historically significant sites from the American Revolution. Turns out the Boston Massacre was one big mistake, and Paul Revere was pretty damn important! 

Before leaving Boston we had to stop by Mike’s Pastries, which Allie claimed to be the best bakery in the world. I bought a fruit tart and in the two minutes that we were walking to find somewhere to sit, at least six people asked us where the bakery was, or if it was really worth the queue, or just simply remarked “Ohh, Mike’s Pastries, good choice!!”. Turns out it’s pretty famous! And pretty yummy!

 

I think I’ll be coming back to Boston a few times :) 

Next weekend ... NYC!

American Football

On Saturday I went to my first American Football game! 

UMass vs Rhode Island. 

Tailgating

But the most important part about going to the football (according to everyone I’ve met) is the tailgate! Tailgating is when everyone hangs out outside the stadium a few hours before with lots of food, some drinks and a few random games/activities. My suite-mate Allie let us stuff her car full of food and we drove down to the stadium. 

Cops pulling apart the crowd

During the tailgating we roamed around, and spotted a huuuuge crowd. Next thing we saw was a couple of cops- on their horses- entering the crowd. It turns out someone passed out and they were trying to make space around him so that he didn’t get trampled on or anything before the ambulance got there. However, this attracted a lot of attention, and soon there was an even bigger crowd, full of people chanting “wake up” to the unconscious kid. The ambo’s came, he woke up, everyone moved along. 

Go UMASSS!

Eventually we made it inside the stadium, where we could see the marching band, the cheerleaders, the dance team, and lots of UMass fans. Absolutely no Rhode Island fans!  Eventually the teams came out, and we learnt a few UMass cheers. Allie kindly explained the rules to me throughout the game.. And yet I’m still confused. There is a lot of time spent waiting. The quarters are only 15 minutes – so the game should be 60 minutes, but they stop the clock every time anything happens. The game went for a good three and a half hours! But I enjoyed it, despite the cold.

Marching Band!

The highlight was half-time when the marching band did a massive performance. There were sooo many of them, and it’s all choreographed. Adourable.

   

UMass won! And there were fireworks after. Woo. 

First week at UMass

Since arriving at UMass I have eaten every kind of dessert you can imagine, met people from all over the world (but mostly Germany!), drunk many a cheap drink, been to some interesting classes, and gotten lost many times on campus.  So far.. It’s awesome.

International students were just about the first people to arrive on campus, in order to overload us with boring and mostly pointless information. On the plus side, we got a lot of free food! 

On that note: FOOD. It isn’t as bad as you think. It isn’t all fatty greasy sugary food. There are actually lots of healthy options. I’ve been to 3 of the 5 campus dining halls so far, and they’re all fairly similar, but is a bit bigger and better. All of them have pizza every day. All of them have huge salad bars (with everything you might ever want in a salad, it’s brilliant). All of them have desserts too, and fruit. Each day there are a few different options, there are usually some pastas and I’ve seen a few Mexican tortillas, wraps and sandwiches, rice dishes. You can also pick a bunch of ingredients and they’ll make a stir fry for you (so you see everything that goes in! No added crap!) Essentially, they have everything. 

So this week has been the first week of classes, which has been interesting to say the least! It’s very different to at home. Big lectures with 100+ people are very uncommon: and even when you do have a big lecture, it’s more interactive than at home. I like that! Makes me stay awake! I’m doing one graduate subject which is super super hard and I don’t understand anything.. So I might try to get out of that one... Then I have a freshmen course (first year) where he essentially said “if you turn up you’ll pass”- so I like that one!! There’s also a community service component to that subject, so I’m gonna see if I can do that in a school- cos I’d really like to see an American school. My other subject (at this point I’m probably just taking 3 subjects) is International Education, which I think will be quite interesting, and not toooo hard!

I love the campus. It’s huge, but I don’t mind the walking. The gym is incredibly amazingly humongously huge. A bunch of us went down to try out the “Box Ballet” class, but it wasn’t on! So I’m yet to try any classes.. But I will get onto it don’t you worry!! They also have their own ice skting rink here (for the hockey team) and during our orientation there was free skating! So fun!!! (and no, I didn’t fall over once!)

I still have no room mate (I'm told I might get one in the next week or two, but there's no way of knowing yet), but there's some nice people in my suite! And I've meet some nice people in my classes too.

And here's some happy snaps:

Friends

Tallest university library in the world!

Free ice skating!

Oh yes. I signed up for the Qudditch club