Of Hurricanes, Classes and the BEACH!!!

Hello once again all of my avid readers...clearly my inner mind theatre is working overtime, but hello all the same and greetings once again from USM! I'm really sorry that this post is a little late but I've been ill with a delayed bout of Fresher's Flu...the horror! It's been an exciting couple of weeks here in Maine to say the least. First there was a hurricane, then class and eventually a nice long weekend at the beach!

The hurricane first though. Hurricane Irene decided to come and pay us a visit here at USM and staff were planning for the worst case scenario. The local news even came and interviewed one of the students from Winchester University (now a huuuuge in joke with the international crowd) and filmed us all walking so we're famous!! I myself was rather excited as it was my first ever hurricane and I wanted to take some cool pictures. That, and I really wanted to do that thing where you fall back in to the wind but the wind is so strong it keeps you up. I was sorely disappointed. The night before Irene hit it was downgraded to a tropical storm. My first hurricane turned in to a bit of wind and rain....I managed to salvage it a little by dancing in it though.

Of course, being in an American university means that classes start about a month before those at Keele. It's a little exhausting to be in lectures that last for two and a half hours but I have surprisingly gotten used to it now. The classes are also super interesting; from learning about the Supreme Court in relation to the Constitution to religion in the Roman Empire. The only thing I wasn't totally prepared for was the amount of out of class work! In the first week alone I was set so much reading and a paper to write. The work is definitely more than I was used to at Keele, but thankfully I'm getting used to it.

Old Orchard beach in Maine

On 5th September we had the day off of classes for Labor Day and so all of us living on the international floor thought it would be a great idea to go to the beach, whilst the weather was still good. It was amazing and well worth sitting in the cramped cars of the awesome American friends who drove us! Not only did we play American football and try not to drown under the huge waves but we even went to the amusement park there. So. Much. Fun!

The International Floor at Old Orchard Amusement Park

There are so many things happening in such a small space of time that it's difficult to remember them all, but other highlights include climbing on forts and rocks on Cape Elizabeth and Campus Safety Scavenger Hunts (which the Keele gals won!) Although we all work hard we definitely play just as hard too! We even went to our first ball game: Portland Sea Dogs vs New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Although what was rather humourous was that they kept everyone up to date with the Boston Red Sox score. The game itself was rather stop/start and boring though. However, it was a great experience to have!

At a ball game L-R Jen (from
Winchester), Me, Katie and Mike

The weather is still really nice here and we're hoping to take trips to both New York and Boston before we leave, and I've even been invited to Chicago with one of the American students. Everyone is just so friendly and I thankfully haven't felt the dreaded culture shock yet. It's going to be so sad when we leave and already none of the Keele people want to.

L-R: Me, Katie and Amy on the
Campus Safety Scavenger Hunt

I'm sure there are things that I've forgotten to mention but hopefully there will be more excitement and awesomeness to come in a couple of weeks. Ciao for now!