End of a journey :(

I really can't believe my time here is pretty much over. It's crazy. I kinda feel like I have lived here forever, definitely going to miss my Kentucky life :(

The girls and I had our leaving night last night. Pretty standard night for us - all of us absolutely pissed, me falling, crashing at Sam's instead of coming home. However, I popped my getting-kicked-out-of-a-club cherry, so at least that is something. Managed to sneak back in though cause I am a BADASS. Har har. But yeah, had a really good night from what I remember of it!! Memory is definitely blurry. Note to self: Do not start drinking at 5pm, it ends in disaster. I have bruises all over me, a sore ass and skinned knees. Again, pretty standard. As you all know, I lose all function of my legs when I drink too much.

Not really got much planned for the next 4 days, will probably just be getting ready to move out. Say my goodbyes to people. :( SAD TIMES. Not going to be fun.

Right now I definitely have mixed feelings, so excited for my traveling but it's really sad at the same time. This is going to sound so cheesy, but I really do think I've learned a lot while being here. HOWEVER not going in to all that just now, will make a post about that when I'm home!!

Ahhhh can't believe I will be in LA in less that 4 days!!! SO EXCITING. We're going to a recording of the Jay Leno show which will be fun! And I'm also going to Disneyland and going to try to do a helicopter tour at some point. AND I AM GOING TO DO SOME CELEB SPOTTING hahha. Can't waitttttt. Pretty much all sorted for Florida too, got my Disney tickets the other day but still need to get Universal ones. Park tickets = EXPENSIVE! Oh well, it will be so worth it. Also going to go see The Lion King on Broadway when I go to NYC. BEST SUMMER EVER I THINK SOOOOOOOOO!!

Also hopefully going to Ireland for a weekend when I'm back home. Friend from work (ilu Collette) suggested doing something as a kind of welcome home thing, so I was like K LETS GO TO IRELAND. I swear I can't stay put in one place haha.

Anyway, this probably won't be updated again until I'm home. Will be too busy having fun for the next month!! You will all stay updated on Facebook though :)

Where has my time gone?

So, my darling angel Gemma pointed out this status update to me today, which is something I said way back in December (and yes, that was your shout-out, Gemma).

Leanne Coyle
just had a mini freak out session. 6 months? i'm nuts. calmed down now though haha! who is going to console me in two weeks time when i'm a complete wreck?

It's funny looking back and reading that, and remembering how SCARED I was to come over here. It felt like 6 months was going to be forever, and I'd want to go home. Yet here I am, almost at the end of my time here and all I can think about is how much I DO NOT want to leave. As much as I whine about the weather and how much I miss everyone at home, I'm just not ready to go. I know I still have 6 weeks in total, but 4 of them are being spent traveling. That leaves me with 2 weeks left to spend here. I have met SO many great people here, it just really sucks that my time with them is almost over. This place has been my home since January, each and every day has been amazing. I am going to cry buckets of tears when it is time for me to pack my things and go. :(

I'm definitely going to come back though. There's still a lot of places in the US I want to visit, so in a few years time I'll organise another trip, and will come back here to visit people. You all know me, I can't stay in one place for too long haha.

Quiet week

It has been a REALLY quiet week, haven't really been doing much! We've had some gorgeous weather, so I've been out and about with some friends but besides that, nothing has happened! Realised today that I haven't seen the girls in like 3 weeks, need to pay them a visit some time this coming week!

It will be 4 weeks on Sunday until I head to Los Angeles. I really can't believe how quickly this term has gone in. Every time I think about leaving, I get butterflies in my stomach. Really not ready to leave yet, think I'll just stay here! A girl can wish, right? I've made so many friends, it's going to be so hard to say goodbye. Need to stock up on the tissues before I say bye to anyone I think. I'm the biggest baby in the world, so many tears will be shed. Sorry guys, but prepare yourselves for it!

One of my friends invited me to her house for Easter dinner. She has 2 kids and they always do a big family thing, so I'm really looking forward to that. She mentioned it to me in class the other day, and it just further proves to me how welcoming people are over here. I mean, I know that my parents and friends would do the same if I had people from here come visit, but it still never ceases to amaze me. Although I'm not religious and don't particularly celebrate Easter, it will still be really nice to be in that whole family setting. And I'll get to meet her two boys who are ADORABLE. Excited!

I know I said in my last entry that all my summer plans are finalized, but I'm going to state it again. Because I can. My summer plans are finalized. And no, I'm not going to get tired of making you all insanely jealous. I'm loving every minute of it. Wish some of you were coming with me though. ♥ There has been one new development though, 3 of my days in Boston are going to be spent in New York!! NOSDNKJGNDSKJGKDGHD. That just about sums up my reaction to that. And we're going to go see a show on Broadway. SO. EXCITED. New York and Broadway have been calling my name since I was a child watching Miracle on 34th Street, I honestly cannot wait. This whole summer is just going to be the best time of my life.

tl;dr Boring week, but still loving life.

Indiana

Not much has really happened the past couple of weeks since I last updated. Just been busy with school work, getting near the end of the semester now (5 weeks left) so tests and coursework deadlines are creeping up!!

This weekend I decided to go to Indiana to stay with my friend Amanda. She picked me up on Friday, and we drove to her place in Cambridge City. Such a small town, it was so cute!! I had mentioned I wanted to go shooting at some point while I was here, and her boyfriend goes hunting. So on Saturday morning we headed to her boyfriend's friends house for some target practice! I got to shoot loads of different guns which was so much fun! Definitely found myself a new hobby....

Amanda had told me about this cute little pizza place named Clara's, so we went there for lunch. Inside, it has this big double decker bus which you can sit inside to eat. It also has tables with swing seats, so cool!! When you place your order, you use a phone to call the waitress then they bring you your food. I found this hilarious, but it is SUCH a good idea. Means you don't have to wait for a waitress to finally come take your order!!

Amanda placing our order!

Afterwards, we drove around Richmond for awhile so Amanda could run some errands, then we went to the best chocolate shop ever. Now, I HATE American chocolate, it is horrible, but this place was a real chocolatier shop and omg it was delicious. Ended up spending $24 dollars on a few little chocolates and a cake. So worth it though.

 Delicious!

After our trip to the chocolate place, we headed in to Indianapolis which is about an hour away. We did a bit of shopping (I bought some shoes - of course. Flipflops though for the summer!!), then we walked around for about 2 hours looking at the different sites. Not a huge city, but really pretty! Had an awesome weekend :)

Scottish Rite Cathedral

I got my summer plans 100% finalised today, so excited!! I feel like I'm about to burst every time I think about it haha. I leave here on May 8th to spend 10 days in LA, from there I go to Orlando for 7 days, Boston for 5 days, and Chicago for 4 days. Definitely going to be the best summer EVER!! Never going to want it to end. :(

Still trying to organise a New York trip, will hopefully get that done this week. If my friend can't make it, I think I'll end up just going myself. I can't be here and not go to NY at some point, I'd never forgive myself!!

Boston!

Okay, wow. Lots to update on, mainly all about Boston though!


I arrived at Boston airport on the 5th March, and was met by Heather's husband, Mike. He drove me to their house, being the perfect tour guide on the way by pointing out different buildings and colleges and such! They live about 40 minutes out of Boston, so it was a bit of a drive! It was good though, meant I could switch my brain off for awhile because omg flying is so stressful.


When we arrived at the house, I was greeted by Heather, and her two kids, Abby and Logan. Two of the cutest kids ever!! It was a quiet night, we had dinner then Heather's parents came over to drop off their car so we could all go to the aquarium the next day!


The next day, which was the Sunday, we all headed out to the aquarium. While there, we met Heather's brother Jerry and his girlfriend Keegan (who works with the penguins!! cool, huh?), and her uncle Lenny and his wife Andrea. We had a really good day, had so much fun and the kids absolutely loved it! Loved meeting Heather's family too, they are all so kind and caring and made me feel so welcome.

Outside the Aquarium



On Monday, Heather, the kids and I took a trip to Rhode Island to go to Providence Mall. When we arrived we were all hungry, so went to the cheesecake factory and got lunch there which was so good! We also got some cheesecake to go, cause there's just no way we could have eaten it there (sidenote: we ate it a few days later and omg it was the most delicious cheesecake I have ever tried). We spent a few hours shopping, then headed back home. Had a really good day and didn't spend too much money haha!


On Tuesday, we had made plans to go to the Blue Man Group. I had heard of it and had seen clips, so I was really excited about seeing it. Jerry and Keegan also came along, and we all went out for dinner before the show. The show was amazing. Nothing like I had ever seen before. People keep asking what it was like and I really have no way of describing it. All I can say is that I imagine it is what an acid trip would feel like! So crazy. After the show, Heather, Keegan and I got a ride to the car in a pettycab (I think that's what it was called?!). It was absolutely freezing, but so worth it!!

Keegan, me and Heather - we met the blue men!

Me, Keegan and Heather on the petty/peddy cab!



On Wednesday, Heather and I took a trip in to Boston and went to Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market. It's like a big market place, and in the summer there's lots of street entertainment and stuff. Was way too cold for it that day though lol! This was the first day I actually got to see Boston in daylight, so I was so amazed with all the really tall buildings. Glasgow just does not compare in any shape or form. After we had shopped around, we headed for lunch. We had passed this place called Dick's Last Resort, and Heather explained that it's a restaurant where the waiters are mean to you - it's what the call a themed restaurant. I decided I'd like to eat there just to see what it was all about, and it was absolutely hilarious. It wasn't that busy when we went either so I can only imagine how funny it would be if there were more people around! When you go in, the waiter gives you a hat with a dirty/rude comment on it. Definitely my ideal job!


The next day we went to the outlet malls. Spent $100 on shoes. Oops? This was also the first night I tasted lobster, thanks to Mike's fabulous cooking!! I've never really been much of a seafood person, but I think that was just plain stubbornness on my part, not really wanting to try it. I did want to taste lobster though, just so I could say I had, and I loved it!! Will definitely be eating it again.

Hmmm can't really remember what we did on the Friday, I'm drawing a bit of a blank haha. I know we went to the cinema at night and saw Hall Pass which was hilarious! I think we just chilled out during the day.

On the Saturday, Lenny and Andrea invited us around for dinner. The live about 40 minutes away, so we left the house around 3pm and were at theirs for 4. They live in a beautiful house, and have the cutest cat ever! He has one eye! We chatted for awhile before dinner, and they are just the nicest people ever. I felt so welcome in their home even though I had only met them once before! Genuinely nice people, and I really hope I get to see them again. (I will, I will definitely be returning to Boston!)

Sunday brings us to my last, and one of my favourite days. Heather and I headed back in to Boston, with the main aim of going on the Duck Boat Tours (tour bus which turns in to a boat and goes in to the water). Well, we got there and found out that they actually hadn't started running yet, they didn't start for another 2 weeks. So we ended up going on another tour bus, called the Boston Trolley, and honestly I'm so so glad that we did. I had such a good day. It took you around all the main sights - Fenway Park, Cheers, Boston Commons, USS Constitution, Copley Square, Newbury Street, Prudential Center, MIT, Harvard Square - the list goes on and on! We got off at Cheers and went for lunch there, the food wasn't that great but it was a cool experience anyway! We also took a walk around Boston Commons (which I imagine will look gorgeous in the Spring/Summer), and walked around Little Italy, where we found a bakery which looked like the Boston equivalent to Carlos Bakery. A customer in the shop said that we had come at the right time, usually the queue goes right down the street! It was so weird though, cause inside the shop was really busy, but there was no queue, everyone just pushes forward until they get served haha. I bought a real Italian cannoli, and it was so so good!!

I'm pretty sure that sums up everything that we got up to, but I will definitely go back. Most likely in 2 years or so, but will go in the summer. Had one of the best weeks of my life!

As for what is going on back in Kentucky, just the usual. Going to class etc, but now I only have classes Tuesday/Thursday. SO GOOD! Me and the girls went out on Thursday for St Patrick's Day, but I'm not going to discuss that. Mainly because I remember very little from it, and we were all absolute disasters. Except Rebecca. Poor Rebecca had to get 3 drunken messes home. SORRY!

I'm hoping to go to New York with my friend Jackie soon, we're gonna try to plan something tomorrow. So exciting! New York City is one place on Earth I've wanted to visit for as long as I can remember, so that fact that it's actually happening just makes me act like a 4 year old in a sweet/toy store. Pretty much skipping around with glee. ALSO I BOOKED MY TICKETS TO LOS ANGELES AND FLORIDA TODAY YAYYYYYYYYYYYYY!! Oh my god I have literally never been this excited in my whole life. Spending 10 days in LA, 7 in Florida then I have to decide where I'm going for my last week. Will probably be between Washington DC and Chicago, unless I go to Chicago during term time.


Life is sweeeeeeeeeeeet!


Some random Boston pics:

Cutie pie!

Also a cutie pie!

Alive, uncooked lobsters!

Boring week!

Last week was a very boring week, so this update won't be very long!! Honestly, nothing happened at all. The girls headed out to Blackfinn's on Tuesday because Ronnie from Jersey Shore was there. I really wanted to go, but I've had the cold all week and felt really ill that night so just decided to give it a pass. While we're on the topic of Jersey Shore, I'm going to paste something Rebecca wrote on her blog which pretty much sums up my week.

"It can be a bit of a love or hate type thing but before I came to America, even though I knew what Jersey Shore was, I’d never really properly sat down and watched it. I’m now fully aware of each and every event, drama and character that there has even been, so when the girls and I heard that Ronnie (standard Guido, juicehead gorilla) was gonna be appearing at Blackfinn, we could barely hold Caitlin back! JOKES!"

Honestly, for the past 4 days or so I have been on a Jersey Shore marathon. I'm now all caught up to the latest season, and I'm loving it. It's the lamest thing I have ever watched, but it is SO good. Snooki is my favourite person in the world.

 Besides that though, nothing has happened. Just been going to classes and hanging out with some friends. Booked tickets to go to Boston over spring break, really looking forward to that!! Going to stay with a friend and we've got plans to go to the aquarium, we're going to see the Blue Man show, and I'm sure we'll do loads more while I'm there. Perhaps visit the Cheers bar??

My friends and I also got our Florida trip sorted this week. Villa is booked and paid for, and the majority of people have their flights booked! I just need to wait and see what is happening about New York before I can book anything, need to figure out my plans for the summer first :/ Will get that done as soon as I know about New York!

After my Boston trip I'm sure I'll have loads to update you all on. And spam up this blog with some cool Boston pictures haha!

Until then, bye! x

PS. Major love for Toni and her beautiful little boy! Can't wait to meet him! xx

Hmmm...

I've decided I'm going to try to update this every Sunday. I'll probably still suck at getting it done on time, but I shall try haha.

Not much has been happening this week. Been hanging out with a friend who lives in my dorms quite a lot, but otherwise there's not all that much to say! Hadn't seen the girls all week until last night, when we headed out to Passage (the doormen recognise us now hahaha). Had a really good night, foot got really sore towards the end though! Sore foot + heels = ow. I remember Caitlin and I running around after a taxi, minus our shoes. Classy as always. We had a table again which was really good, though we did spend most of the night dancing. Mind that time we had to pay a $30 service charge even though we served ourselves?? Pffft.

I booked flights to go to Boston over spring break. Really looking forward to it!! Caitlin and Stacey are heading to Panama City, but I felt that I didn't really want to do the whole party holiday thing again. I'm sure it will be amazing, but I'd rather use my time to go visit somewhere I really want to see. I leave on the 5th March and return on the 10th. Had plans for the 11th/12th/13th to go to Indiana to see a motorbike thing, but I think those plans may be off now. But oh well, still got loads to look forward to!

I've been doing pretty well with my school work/tests. Have gotten loads of A's and some B's, so impressed with myself haha! Got 97% for a group presentation that I took part in, was so happy! Have a couple of tests coming up this week (never ending, I swear) but hopefully they will go well. Got a paper to finish (read as: start) for Tuesday...really should get on with that. I just keep telling myself it's only a page and a half, double spaced, so it's really not all that much haha.

Really can't believe I have been here 7 weeks, it has gone in so quickly. The next 3 weeks are going to completely fly in too, with me going to Boston and stuff. Kinda crazy. Really looking forward to planning my traveling for my last month, can't do it though until the Florida trip is sorted! HI GUYS GET YOUR TICKETS THANKS.

I've kinda realised this week how much I'm going to miss everyone I've met here. Saying goodbye is definitely going to be emotional, however on the plus side, I can totally come back and visit/have people visit me, so all is good!

tl;dr: I am loving life.

USA USA!

Once again, it has been forever since I last updated. I'm so bad at this. Trying to remember what we have been up to is so difficult!

Okay, two Thursday's ago we were going to go out, however we left it so late that we realised we weren't going to get in anywhere. So instead, we headed to our friend Sam's house and had our own little party in there. Was a really good night, we ended up staying the night then they took us for breakfast/lunch the next day. Went to this cute little diner named Pepper Pod for breakfast, then to Chipotle's for lunch (wasn't impressed with either!)

On Saturday, we had booked a table at a club called Passage. We went to the guys' house to "pregame", then headed out later that night. The club was really nice, and was even better because we had the table. Means that if you wanted a seat you could go sit down! We met Kelsey and her friends there too, and just generally had a fun-filled night! However....we did run up a $300 tab. Oops? Ended up heading back to the guys' house and once again stayed at theirs. Definitely making a habit of this haha! However, I did fall down their stairs and pull a muscle in my foot....not cool.

Me, Stacey, Rebecca, Caitlin, Kelsey, Taylor, Kelly

On Thursday there (10th) we once again went to the guys' house. However, we had planned an American themed party. The girls went shopping on Wednesday morning while I had class, and went to a big party store. $120 later they came out with streamers, decorations, a pinata, and a big blow up beer holder. Sam picked us up that night and dropped us off at his house, then we got to decorate while everyone was out haha. The room looked pretty impressive! Had another really good night, and managed to not fall at all! Definite improvement.

School wise, not much is going on. I've had a busy couple of weeks with loads of tests, but it has calmed down a bit this week Won't be long until I have loads to do again though haha. Still loving my classes though, kinda wish they did it this way back home. For one, you learn more, and it's actually quite fun. I have a couple of projects coming up soon which will keep me busy, but oh well. Such is life!

Not too sure what our plans for this week are. The girls are heading out tonight, but my foot has been really sore today. Nothing sounds worse than dancing in a club with heels on all night, so I decided to have a quiet one. Kinda bored though! Need to watch a movie or something.

Derek has invited us to dinner tomorrow with his parents. I am so looking forward to having some home-cooked food!! Definitely sick of burgers, fries and pizzas. Loving the salad bar in the Union though, so good! But yeah, as far as plans go no idea. I guess we'll just play it by ear?

Shall update again when I remember/feel like it haha. I apologise for being bad at this whole blogging thing.

Snow fun and ham salad?

Ahhh I haven't updated in awhile, sorry guys!! Let's think about what I need to fill you all in on.....

Okay, last Tuesday me and the girls went out with Kelsey and her friends to a bar called Blackfinn's. Before we headed to the bar though, we were at Kelsey's house for some pre-drinks. Played some drinking games involving cards (still don't understand them) and played the classic Never Ever Have I Ever. That was.....interesting to say the least. I had a test the next day so vowed not to drink.....famous last words. "Not drinking" turned into falling on my ass in the middle of the dance floor (totally the heel's fault!!), and being unsure as to who took us home. Somehow managed to make it to my class at 10 the next morning, AND do really well on the test. I'm becoming a pro at this whole "let's go to class drunk" thing.

We clearly love life.

On Thursday, we discovered that we had a snow day. Derek called up Caitlin to see if we wanted to go to his friends house, Elliot, for some sledging. Elliot lives a little further out, and his parents own this little log cabin which I guess they rent out? I'm not sure. Anyway, we were told to take an overnight bag with us because chances are we'd get snowed in, and could stay in the log cabin.  During the day, we went sledging (refuse to call it sledding), which was absolutely hilarious. Definitely the best snow fun I have ever had. Elliot and Dan cooked dinner for us which was absolutely delicious. They made chicken which was stewing in beer or something. Sounds disgusting but it was so good. After dinner, we played kinect on the xbox for a bit which was also very funny. I discovered that I'm pretty good at bowling though, and Rebecca is a champion at boxing!! After that, we headed back out to the snow. Some more sledging took place, and Derek tried (and failed) to build a ramp. Failed miserably, haha. Afterwards, we all headed to bed and woke up the next morning to an amazing breakfast of goetta, pancakes, eggs...pretty much everything! So good!

Lol the chicken!

Derek being a badass

Biggest, but warmest jacket in the world!


Haven't really done too much since last Thursday, the girls have been out but I was so ill on Saturday and couldn't go. Sucks to be me! Also really busy with coursework!! Finally starting to get into the swing of things here though, was def. a bit of a shock to the system. Starting to realise it's a much better way of learning, you actually read the chapters you're supposed to otherwise you fail haha. I'm doing two 8 week classes, which means more work is crammed in to a shorter space of time. The girls keep asking me why I have so much work to do, but that's why! The good thing is though that in 5 weeks time, I'll only be doing 2 classes so will have all the free time in the world awoohoo! Can't wait until that day.

Oh forgot to mention we went down to the Levee on Sunday to see The Dilemma. Was a pretty decent movie, wasn't as funny as I thought it was going to be though. Best part of the night was when Stacey spilled her popcorn...right into Caitlin's bag. Caitlin went home with about a quarter of the box of popcorn in her handbag, too funny!

I think that's all I have to say for now....really not good at this whole blogging thing. Ah well. Later.

Sidenote: Between all the hilarious snow fun, Caitlin tired to eat a pot of ham salad. The vid is on facebook, funniest shit ever.

Chad Hogan, awoohoo!

Mind that time we actually went to Chad Hogan's party?

Alright, first things first. On Thursday, it was Rebecca's 21st. We threw a little party at the girls' apartment (by little party I mean there were 5 of us), had the table all decorated and had banners, balloons and party horn things. It was the kind of party a six year old would have loved.

We then went to Brio, which is a restaurant down at Newport on the Levee. We had dinner (which was delicious), then headed to Brother's for drinks. At Brother's, Derek's girlfriend joined us and she brought two of her friends, then some of Derek's friends turned up. At one point we were sitting outside by a fire, with snow all around us. Who'd have thought? Haha. Had an amazing night, and really hope that Rebecca enjoyed her 21st!

So after the antics of Thursday, we decided to go to Lexington yesterday, which is basically a college town. Full of college houses, students and parties. Derek drove us down there, and we arrived at the party around 9ish. Absolute madness. I honestly felt like we had stepped into American Pie or something. Rebecca discovered she's pretty damn good at the game flip cup, at least until she drinks too much, projectile vomits everywhere and has to be carried to bed. Too funny. Definitely one of the strangest nights of my life, but one of the most enjoyable. Apparently that was a small scale party though, and we've to go back in a few weeks for bigger ones. Mind that time we attended Chad Hogan's party more than once??

Besides partying and getting drunk, there's not much more to report (what's new there lol). Need to work on some stuff for my classes, so I'll be doing that over the next few days. Still can't get my head around how different school is. Oh well. Until next time!

Awoohoo!

Mind that time I jumped on a plane to Kentucky for 5 months?

So, I have decided to start up a blog so that people can stay updated and mainly so that I can remember what I got up to when I get back home. No promises that this will be updated daily, actually it probably won't. I'm fickle and will be fed up with it in a week. However, I will update as much as possible and will throw in some pics to break up the monotony of the walls of text. Most entries probably wont be too long, however this one will as I have a weeks worth of writing to catch up with. Enjoy :)

The first night I arrived, I was met at the airport by a woman named Anne Perry. She's kinda the person in charge of us internationals, so she's pretty much our mum for the next 5 months. She is the nicest person you could ever imagine, so cheerful and definitely will bring a smile to your face if you're feeling down. Anyway, she and her son picked me up and took me to a supermarket to get some essentials, then she brought me to my dorm room. Which is about 1000 miles away from campus but I will come to that in a minute.

The second day, I visited Anne at her office to sort out some things, and while I was there another two girls from Cali arrived. We spent the day together, lugging around boxes/groceries/cleaning supplies and just had a brilliant laugh the whole day. Later on when we returned to Anne, Rebecca (another Cali girl) had arrived. She came with us, and we spent the night in Stacey and Caitlin's apartment, ordered in some pizza and just had a laugh. (Sidenote: We pretty much discovered that we've all crossed paths at one point or another, Caitlin was in Napa the same time as me and I have pics of her friends on my facebook. Crazy.)

The next thing that  sticks in my head is the morning we went for breakfast in Newport. Derek, who picked Stacey and Caitin up at the airport, picked us up with a couple of his friend and drove us to Newport. We went to a little diner called Gourmet Chili, where we had the traditional Cincinnati breakfast of goetta (as in David), eggs, hash browns and toast. It tasted amazing. They then took us a drive to the top of a hill, where you can overlook Cincinnati. The view was gorgeous. We stood around just admiring the view for a little bit, but seeing as it was so cold it didn't take long before we were back in the car.

They then took us a little drive, at one point taking us down a street named Vine Street. Derek informed us that there are often driveby shootings here, and that people often get guns held up to their car....Nice. Needless to say, we were pretty much hiding in the backseats. However, we did spot Saks 5th Avenue, Macy's and Tiffany's! Can't wait until we can have a proper look around.

Also, did you know people can legally carry guns here? Amazing.

Later that night we went out for dinner to Applebee's. Ended up having a few drinks (read as: many) which led to us being invited to a bar. Had a hilarious night, ended up playing beer pong with complete strangers and we got told we were the talk of the place because we had accents. So funny.

On Monday, we decided to go to Ohio/Kentucky's most well know fast food place, Skyline. It's a chilli place, and it is apparently very good. We begged to differ. It wasn't good. Their signature dish is something called a 3-way (also comes as a 4-way or 5-way), which contains spaghetti, chilli, and lots of cheese. I decided to try a 5-way, which includes kidney beans and onions in the chilli. Way too much cheese, and the chilli is disgusting. Note to self: Never go there again. Here is my lovely 5-way. The name of the dish is better than the dish itself (lol mature).

Barf.


Classes started on Monday (10th) and at first I was a bit "ahhhhhhh". It's just so different here. They have so much "busy work" which involves quizzes/tests etc every other week. You need to keep up with the reading or you fail. So different to uni at home, where you go to the first lecture, don't go to the rest, and still manage to pass. I think I'll cope fine, was just a bit daunting at first! Still got some crap to sort out with the classes though, they enrolled me in an online class which means I'd have to pay for it, and eh, no. So now I have to find something else to do. Hopefully it can get sorted out this week, don't want to be stressing about being "illegal" haha. (It's illegal for exchange students to take less than 4 classes)

Yesterday, I had a bit of a crappy day. Laptop broke, and for some reason this seemed like the end of the world. Nothing worse though when you're thousands of miles away from home and have no way of contacting anyone! Rebecca was brilliant though and calmed me down, and I spoke to my mum and dad using her laptop. After realising it wasn't the end of the world, the rest of the day was pretty amazing! The girls and I headed to Newport on the Levee, which is kinda like Xscape, only not. It's hard to explain. It has bowling and a cinema and lots of little bars/restaurants, but it runs along the Ohio River so you can go outside and look over the river and see Cincinnati. The view is gorgeous. We went to an Irish bar, and found out that there's loads on for St. Patrick's day. Cincinnati runs a huge parade, and all the Irish bars have all sorts of festivities on. Really looking forward to that in March, should be amazing!! The manager of the bar offered us jobs, and gave us some free food. We have definitely discovered that our accent gets us pretty much anything we want.

We also went to a huge GameWorks, where we went on racing car games. We were in a Hummer, and it was definitely the best arcade game I have ever played. The hummer moves around as you're driving, and all we did was laugh and scream the whole way through it. Mind that time we had loads of people giving us strange looks? Haha.

Classes today went rather well, must say I'm looking forward to really getting started. Feeling as if I'm starting to "settle" now, so here's hoping things continue to improve.

Random things we have noticed that I'm too lazy to write fully about:
1. No trains. No decent buses. I take back everything I said about you, Scotrail. I miss you. :(
2. We have the same conversations with everyone. "No, we're not Australian." "Yes, we have the same music/designers you do." "We only met a week ago and already we're best friends!!"
3. People think we're weird for walking/taking cabs.
4. There's absolutely no logic regarding what classes people take.
5. We are way more open about things than people here are. We've been told once or twice not to say things too loudly or we might offend!! oooooooops! Conservative state awoohoo!
6. We need to learn American slang. "Let's hook up" does not mean "let's hang out". Lesson learned the hard way!
7. Americans do not understand the "vicky", they think it means "peace". We have introduced them to it though. Also, Americans do not put kisses at the end of text messages. Mind that time we sent everyone kisses and they were like "wtf?!"
8. And because I forgot to come back to the thing about the dorm room, I'm like a 25 minute walk from the other girls apartment. Gonna try to get a room change or something. I have met friends here though, so if I can't move then it's okay.
9. Blog name was inspired by the girls. We always say "Mind that time....?" and "Awoohoo!" Keepin' it relevant. :)

I have probably missed a lot from this, it has been a busy week and there's no way I can remember everything. But I promise I will try to write at least every few days, and if I don't, then remind me. Leave me a comment on Facebook or something.

And because I've always wanted to say this.....

Peace out.