Gun Fire or Road Works?

Anyone who is familiar with America's gun laws would also be familiar with the terrible tragedies they cause, mainly those in schools as they are usually the most shocking. Although we hear about it and pray it will stop we never think these things can happen to us. Until one day you're forced to realise they can...

January 22nd 2014 was your average cold winter day at the University of Oklahoma. On Wednesdays I had only one class at 11.30am so took the bus to campus as normal, walked to class as normal, sat down and waited for my professor as normal. When my professor arrived late he apologised as he had been held up by police running around campus blockading the walkways, commenting on how strange that was he was interrupted by the whole class as everyone started receiving emergency alert texts from OUPD urging us to stay inside as there had been gunshots on campus. Moments later a professor from down the hall came in telling us to lock the doors, so we did. Our professor told us to keep our phones out while we carry on with class until further notice... Within ten minutes we could hear helicopters circling above, several sets of sirens and radios but thankfully no shouting. An hour later when our class was scheduled to finish our professor decided "Due to the nature of these crimes in this country I'm going to keep you all here until we get the all clear" It was in that moment that it finally hit me how dangerous the situation could be and I was genuinely terrified for the first time in my life. 

Thankfully half an hour later we all began to receive texts explaining it was a false alarm and the University's President (Mr Boren) would be addressing the University later in the afternoon. It was then that I left campus to meet my American friend at a local cafe. She explained that during the lockdown she had been walking to class until she was ushered off campus by staff clearing the streets and had waited for me in the Cafe since then. She also explained how she had never experienced something like that before and that a few days prior there had been a real shooting in Indiana therefore all Universities were on high alert. I hope that she never has to experience anything like that again, false or otherwise. The reality of people carrying guns hit everyone on campus that day.

One thing I can wholeheartedly commend the University of Oklahoma for is their rapid response time and amazingly efficient alert system; we all knew what was going on at all times. The president did a great job of assuring us that the shots heard and reported were actually noises from a machine backfiring. Much to my surprise during his address a student asked whether this scare would cause him to change current regulations forbidding firearms on campus to which the president responded "That would be the worst thing we could do". The reason the scare occurred was because people are allowed to carry firearms, if the places in which they are allowed to carry them (such as universities) was increased, I am confident there would be many more needless scares. Thankfully there are people like President Boren in charge. 

Twister 101.9 a.k.a Country Music FM

If living in Oklahoma has given me anything to take away, it has given me country music. From this day forward whenever I listen to Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Toby Keith or any other famous Oklahomans I will be transported back to the endless car rides filled with nothing but country music for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles...

Now before my year in Oklahoma I had listened to one or two mainstream country songs that made it across the pond which, by the way, are far different from real country songs. It wasn't until my first night out in Norman that I had my first true country music experience. I will never forget ten exchange students crowding around my laptop during a pre-party at my new apartment, one of which was a huge country fan from Austria, looking up the best and worst of Oklahoman music. The scene looked a little something like this below... Our facial expressions say it all.

I can't say I have been hooked since that fateful night but I can say that after a year a special place for it has grown in my heart, after all it did teach me "y'all", "nawh" and other useful terminology! Country music also gave me the opportunity to learn both the two-step and line dancing, neither of which I thought I would be participating in at nightclubs, obviously I had not experienced Oklahoma nightlife. Unfortunately I did not get the opportunity to make my mark on the club aptly named 'Cowboys' in which live bull riding is participated in on the hour every hour. Yes, real bulls. Only in Oklahoma. However I did give the bouncer of our only local club 'Logans' a chuckle when I was complaining outside about the continuous playlist of the same songs that have been played in the same order every weekend for the entire year (and probably the year before that) to which he replied 'You're so English', actually I'm Welsh. 

My favorite memory has to be of my first trip to Texas in October. Shortly before this trip I had begun to forget what British radios playing pop music sounded like, as there is only one channel that does not play country music in the state of Oklahoma. It wasn't until we were an hour away from Dallas that we began to pick up what I would call 'normal' stations and the second we did the car full of Europeans erupted into praise for Texas... Something as an honorary Oklahoman I thought I would never say. Its not until you've driven for miles through the middle of nowhere in states such as Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma with nothing but Spanish or country music to listen to that you begin to appreciate even the monotone nonsense of BBC radio discussions...  

And on that note I will leave you with the wise words of Elvis himself "Well I've never been to Heaven, but I've been to Oklahoma"

Camp Sunrise

Its rare that I come home from an event and immediately write a blog post about it but this weekend is an exception! Today I got home from three days volunteering at Camp Sunrise (Click to watch video) in Guthrie, Oklahoma. Camp Sunrise is a Christian camp for brain injury survivors, and the people I met truly are survivors in every sense of the word.

I arrived at the campsite in the middle of nowhere with a borrowed sleeping bag, duffle bag full of what I thought I might need, and no idea of what to expect. Immediately I was greeted by a larger than life man, Dennis, whom although wheelchair bound just wants to share his love with you, talk to you and if you're a girl, braid your hair. So after my hair was braided I headed into the main cabin to register and found out I was to be assigned a camper to share the weekend with and assist where I could.

My camper, now my friend, was Mike. Immediately upon meeting him I knew I had so much left to learn about life and what it means to live. Mike was born with two arms but only one wrist and one hand but that didn't stop him from rock climbing his way across the states! His experiences and stories are amazing, however his last climb caused his injury as he was free soloing with no ropes or support and fell 50ft putting himself in a coma. As he says, God saved his life. After nine days he regained consciousness however had to re-learn how to eat, talk and walk with his two new prosthetic legs. He tells his story with confidence wanting everyone to know he did a 'stupid' thing and is so thankful to have his life. His speech is perfect however his memory fails him at times, this I learnt is a common problem for brain injury survivors. Mike taught me that you can live without fear and conquer your personal challenges but you are not invincible... Wear a helmet.

Mike and I, along with his other volunteer Michael (it got pretty confusing), had a weekend full of great activities... The first evening kicked off with hotdogs and roasting marshmallows on an open fire, which I was terrible at setting all our marshmallows on fire. Luckily I was forgiven as they didn't taste that bad when you peeled the black parts off.

We ended the evening with a talent show that I couldn't convince Mike to sing in anymore than he could convince me. The show truly touched everyone when Martha, a courageous woman wheelchair bound, sung Amazing Grace. That was the first, but certainly not last, time I genuinely felt the endless spirit of the people I was surrounded by when everyone joined it at the chorus.

On the second day we started off with a horseshoes competition, a game I had never tried properly but was roped into participating in by Mike and Mike. Needless to say I did not qualify for the finals of my category however Mike not only qualified for his finals but won it to! This was his first year taking home the trophy and I am convinced it will not be his last. We went paddle boating after lunch and enjoyed free snow cones. It was over snow cones I had the pleasure of meeting Jay, ex navy personnel, who told me all about his time in Japan, struggles and conquests in life. We skipped fishing, because Mike didn't like it and I was no good, and headed straight over to archery. It was at archery that I witnessed first hand the sheer joy miracles can bring... At first Mike refused to participate because his legs were tired and he only has one hand however we convinced him he could still do it. With myself and another volunteer (who is also a survivor) holding him up Mike played assisted archery, and actually did very well at it! I wish I could describe the look on his face when he realised he was playing archery properly for the first time in his life but it was something you had to see and an energy you had to feel.    

In the evening after playing bingo a disco was set up in the main hall. Those in wheelchairs were lifted up to have the chance to dance and I was lucky enough to dance with Mike and a lovely man called Randy, a survivor of a car accident, who taught me how to two-step (a country western dance). The last day was slightly more chilled out as we got to watch a dog agility show. The best part about that was getting to play with all the dogs at the end, despite wanting to take at least three of them home with me. We ended the weekend with a hayride (photo to the left) and a beautiful closing ceremony that didn't leave a dry eye in the building.

I won't share each individual's story that touched me because it would take me all night but I will say that there was something different to learn from each and every one of them. They were all brought together by a common denominator however each injury is different as the brain is an incredible, complex organ. I hope that after this experience I am able to work daily on not taking my health or my life for granted and I will honestly keep all of those people in my heart forever.

Middle of Nowhere Continued...

Carlsbad Caverns

On the second night of our trip we stayed in El Paso, Texas (as there was no civilisation in South of New Mexico for us to find shelter) and headed off early in the morning to Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico.

By now we were getting used to long drives through miles of nothing (literally not even a petrol station for over 100 miles) and this drive was no exception. We had a few hiccups with the GPS early on, you know the usual telling you to 'please make a U-turn now' in the middle of the highway, no big deal. But after an hour we were pretty sure we were going in the right direction... You can only imagine my confusion when suddenly we were fast approaching a series of flashing orange lights on the side of the road directing us to a station just off the road... Which brings me to:

Border Control 

I reluctantly pulled into the shelter guarded by men in uniforms carrying guns and also armed with HUGE sniffer dogs whom didn't look like they could be bribed with our sweets. All five of us immediately started freaking out as we joined the queue of cars just waiting to be deported. Naturally we assumed we were going into Mexico, and under NO circumstances could we go into Mexico, our visas wouldn't allow us back into the U.S. All sorts of things were running through my head, how could we escape? Was it too late to turn around? Should we ask them to turn around or just do it? Does the control station count as crossing the border? HOW DID WE GET TO MEXICO?

We get to the front of the queue and the conversation goes a little something like this:

Man with gun: Hello mam, can I see your driving licence?

Me: Of course, can I just ask if we're going in the right direction? We're trying to get to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, our GPS hasn't been working, where are we? (by now this is word vomit trying to get out as much as physically possible before we're stuck in Mexico for the rest of our lives)

Man with gun: No man, you're going into Mexico

Me: Mexico?

Man with gun: Yes mam this is the Mexico border

*all of us look like we're about to cry*

Man with gun continues: I'm only joking mam, this is the border to New Mexico, are you all U.S citizens?

Me: No, none of us

So I pull over to where I thought he told me to pull over (turns out it was the wrong place and we ended up causing an even larger queue than before) and we all get out our documents, he no longer thinks we're illegals and he lets us on our way while I try to recover from the minor heart attack he gave me. We're back on track to...

Carlsbad Caverns

Now I learnt that day that these caverns contain over 118 limestone caves, although we only got to explore the largest one. We took a self guided tour that taught us about all the animals that still live in the caves, such as bats, however it wasn't the right season for them and they wouldn't be back until Summer, such a shame. The cave was HUGE and it took us almost 4 hours to walk all the down and around the bottom. Surprisingly it wasn't cold inside, I don't know much about caves but I expected to be freezing! It was well worth the crazy drive. 

Cadillac Ranch

After our day at the caves we made our way back to Texas, staying in Lubbock, a small University town very similar to Norman, Oklahoma. On the way back to Oklahoma on the Monday we stopped by Amarillo, Texas to see the famous Cadillac Ranch. I had read about it before coming to the states and put it on my list of 'random things to do around Oklahoma'. The ranch is quite literally an empty dirt field with maybe 8-10 old style cadillacs lined in the center of it. You are legally allowed to decorate them artistically with spray paint (a.k.a graffiti, vandalism) and it is so much fun! I met a nice Texan lady while we were there who explained that a 'local eccentric billionaire' placed the cadillacs there a number of years ago for this exact purpose, to be painted. 

And eventually we found ourselves back in Oklahoma wondering how we could ever beat that trip... At least that was until Spring Break came along!

The Definition of 'The Middle of Nowhere'

During the first week back from our Christmas travels we were informed that Monday January 20th was a public holiday (Martin Luther King Day) and so decided to book another trip! This time it was a road trip through New Mexico.

Now if you live on a farm in the middle of the Gower, or a small retreat somewhere in Yorkshire or even in the Valleys, the Highlands etc, you do not live in the middle of nowhere. If you live in New Mexico on the other hand you hold every claim to that title. New Mexico is the land of tumble weeds, deserts, caves and mountains... And pretty much nothing else. 

The Drive

This was my first experience of renting a car and it all went surprisingly smoothly. That is as smoothly as 5 foreign exchange students renting a car to drive 1676.7miles in 4 days could go. The first hiccup was when we rolled up to a gas station for our first top up. Picture five girls in a tiny blue Ford Focus, two carrying coffee, two (one being me) fussing over which pump to use and the other attempting to swipe her dutch credit card at the pump and failing miserably... This was the view of the attendant who soon had the pleasure of dealing with our payment problem. Some fifteen minutes later we finally had petrol in the tank and were able to leave. 

The second hiccup was around midnight when I finally turned off the straight road we had been driving along for over 5 hours. The GPS lead us onto a side road, on which we were the only car, there were no buildings or street lights on either side of the road for the entire 50 miles we were on it. That was disheartening enough without the fact that the GPS estimated time of arrival was 00.08 and there was no way we were driving 50 miles in 8 minutes. We had planned our petrol stops around the ETA of 00.08 and so I really started to panic when I noticed the petrol gauge was approaching the red zone.. With all the girls in the back sleeping I didn't want panic to set in so decided to suggest to my roommate in the passenger seat that we should probably look for a petrol station soon... To which Julliane from behind shouted 'WE'RE OUT OF GAS?' turning the next ten minutes into a car ride full of screaming girls trying to plan our quick escape out of the wilderness. Luckily Marion spotted a button on the steering wheel which would bring up how many miles we had till empty and we were in the clear again. So far that it second my list of most frightening moments of my entire life. 

Santa Fe

Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico, was our first stop after we recovered in a Super 8 Motel from the ordeal the night before. Santa Fe is beautiful but is like stepping back in time 100 years... The houses and buildings all look like the ones in the photo to the left and the whole town is what I can only imagine Mexico looking like (having never been there). It was warmer than Oklahoma but still not hot, although we were surrounded by desert.

The town was very artsy with statues, churches, paintings and galleries everywhere. In the main square (which was very small) they had a Saturday crafts market where several locals were selling their hand made goods, a lot of which were native American Indian pottery/jewellery. One of the jewellers asked me if I'd come from England to study Native Indians, I laughed and said yes, he pointed to himself and said 'well you're looking at all of them' the truth behind the joke was quite sad and I could see it was a topic they would usually take quite seriously.

We got to visit the oldest foundations of a house in the USA... I can't imagine why all those years ago no one decided to stay and make New Mexico the capital of the new USA. Similarly we saw the oldest church, which was not as small as I expected considering the size of the house and how tiny its doors were, anyone taller than me would have no chance going in, and that pretty much rules out 90% of the worlds population.

White Sands

The next stop was White Sands, located towards the south of New Mexico, and is exactly what it says on the tin; an area covered by white sand dunes that has been turned into a national park. It is awesome. Despite the fact the photo may look photoshopped - it is not - the park is just that picturesque. Being the cheesey travellers we are we stayed until sunset and it was beautiful although it got cold, fast. 

While the sun was still up we took the chance to re-live our youth and slide the dune in toboggans... The race was Wales against Sweden, both set off at good speed but it was a sad day for Wales when Sweden finally won. Wales got scared half way down and decided to stop for a bit of sightseeing before being peer pressured into finishing the race.  

By now the second day had come to an end, still two more to go, which will be covered in the next post :)

The Red River Rivalry

So its been almost two months since I last spoke about American football which means this post is well overdue... I'd like to take you back to Saturday October 12th 2013 when the Oklahoma Sooners played the Texas Longhorns in Dallas, TX. This game is known in this small part of the world as The Red River Rivalry after the river which runs through the two states.

This is the famous game I have mentioned time and time again for which the whole University is given the Friday before the game off in order to travel down to Dallas ready for a Saturday morning kickoff. This is undoubtedly OU's biggest game of the season. And for the privilege of attending this game I paid $130, which believe it or not was one of the cheapest student options available! We were perched right at the top of the stadium, one step backwards and I would have fallen over the rail and into the crowd outside. Yes there was a huge crowd outside watching the game on TV, every time someone scored we could hear the crowds from roar inside the stadium echoed five seconds later by the crowd outside.

Now you have to imagine the stadium was packed with fans! Granted there were more OU fans than UT (university of Texas) fans but still we each had to stay on our own Uni's designated side. The atmosphere was crazy: we were all on our feet for 3/4 of the four game in 25 degrees heat shouting our heads off! One side of our area would shout "TEXAS" and in response the other side would shout "SUCK". It was nice to see maturity always prevails... Although with OU being the favourite to win after beating Texas for the previous three years we had too much riding on this game to be mature. Pride meant we had to win!

Some people, especially those at home, have criticized me for paying so much for a college football match but you would have to have been there to really appreciate how well spent that money was. For me even the lead-up to the game was warrant enough for the big spend - our local radio station here in Norman, Oklahoma 'KJ 103' released the best rendition of 'blurred lines' I have ever heard, you have to check it out: Everybody say 'BOOMER SOONER'. If this didn't get everybody riled up for the game I don't know what would have! My favorite lines would be "You'll be saying well there our season went, we'll shut you down like the government" or maybe "you suck you know it". Clearly lyrical genius'.

So into the stadium we all went, expecting a great win (like usual), only to set off to a terrible start. After a great season we lost our touch during the only game that really mattered. The only game I paid a small fortune to watch. The game we had bigged-up all year. We lost. Miserably. To this day I still believe the worst part of the entire atrocity was the lack of dedication in the fans, as soon as a comeback was out of the question half the OU fans left the stadium. I think it would be fair to say us international students were close to the last ones standing. I think the biggest regret was that of the guy to my left who spent the first half of the game throwing his guts up over the edge of the stadium thanks to the hangover of the century... And he dragged himself to the game to watch his team lose. Poor Fraternity boy partying too hard in the big city.

But... Texas still sucks.    


 

Sooner Scandals!

Despite the name there is nothing scandalous about this post... Apart from maybe the breaking down of social 'cool' barriers, but thats kinda what I like about it.

Sooner Scandals is an annual show hosted by the Greek community of Sororities and Fraternities on campus and performed throughout the last week of March. Each participating Fraternity must ask a Sorority of their choice to team up with them in creating a 12 minute musical for the show... A sorority may get one, none or several invitations from different Fraternities. Its almost like having to choose a date to prom every year, accept you are rejected by over 200 girls with just one 'no', brutal. This year my Sorority (Gamma Phi Beta) accepted an invitation from the Fraternity Alpha Tau Omega.

Each year a panel of judges is put together to release a theme for the show, this years theme was 'And So It Was Said' challenging the groups to created a mini musical based on any famous quote of their choice, ours was one from Eleanor Roosevelt;

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

Once the theme has been released the teams have 3 months to create their musical, auditions are held at the Sorority houses and all members are allowed to audition. In the fall semester they hold a similar show called 'U-Sing' however only freshman are allowed to participate.

What I loved so much about Scandals was the fact that men and women studying an array of subjects outside of performing arts still had a chance to perform and show off their amazing voices/dance skills/acting skills (whatever it may be) without having to dedicate their academic career to it. For those of you who don't know, I studied dance as a subject during college and for me dancing died as a hobby when it died as a subject. If this kind of opportunity had been available I would have jumped at it, and i'm sure i'm not the only one at the University of Hertfordshire who thinks this way. The real problem however is not the lack of opportunity at home but the lack of acceptance, it is not 'cool' for a 20-something year old woman or man to want to perform in a cheesy musical in front of their peers - here it is very cool (cue the 'Oklahoma' musical jokes). I was lucky enough to see the opening show on Thursday, which was sold out, primarily by members of the sororities/fraternities there to support their talented friends.

Once each team has written their musical, chosen their stars and rehearsed it a few times they have to try out for the show.. Only 6 teams make it to the show. This year was an important one for Gamma Phi Beta as they made the show for the first time in several years and one of my close friends Katie was a dancer/singer so I was very excited for the chance to see her perform!

Most of the performances were cheesy with beautiful messages, one was a newer version of Les Miserables (which I kinda think was cheating as they're meant to write original scripts but it was still an amazing performance, probably the best although I shouldn't admit it). Ours 'Camp Arrowhead' was about a boy fulfilling his dreams during a week at summer camp, hence the quote. It was fun and colourful and I honestly really enjoyed it, it made me really miss watching school performances and really appreciate the opportunity to still feel young enough to enjoy these sorts of things.

The Right Side will ALWAYS be the Wrong Side

So as most of you know, the Great British Empire in all of its wisdom decided that we will drive on the left side of the road. Despite the fact the majority of people write with their right hand, especially in those days when children were forced to use their right hand despite their natural instincts. So forever more we are forced to struggle when driving around most of the rest of the world. My first personal encounter with this problem was in early October of last year during my first semester on this adventure in the States. We were all given the Friday off University to travel to Dallas, Texas to watch the OU American Football team play the University of Texas on the Saturday (more on this in the next post). Before you ask, yes you did read that correctly, our classes were cancelled in the name of a football game. Thank you America.

As you can imagine I was more than happy to be a passenger during this simple three hour trip… Especially when it turned into a not so simple five and a half hour trip due to traffic made up entirely of OU college students racing to Dallas. It wasn't until Monday night when we were travelling back from Houston that it was my turn to take the wheel, being chauffeured for six hours was apparently too much to ask for, who would have known? So lil ole me hopped up in the front of this huge Cadalliac four wheel drive and took on the Texas highway, on the wrong side of the road. For the first twenty minutes the radio was banned, my new and improved personal speed limit was 50mph and no one was allowed to speak. I think I made the top of around 752 truck driver’s hit list that night, but we made it home in one piece and my fear was broken. Since then I've acquired more millage on the wrong side of the road than I have the right side. And trust me, you’ll hear all about that later.

Moral of the story: However familiar it is for the rest of the world, the right side will always be the wrong side. 

The Time America Froze Over

So after almost two weeks of enduring endless cold and snow I decided it was time to return to the more temperate climate of Oklahoma... This involved a flight from New York via Chicago during one of the worst snow storms and harshest winters the US has seen in years.

I booked my flight for the 2nd of January in an attempt to escape before a snowstorm was due to sweep through New York City on the 3rd. As per usual the weather tends to be oblivious to its own time schedule and this time decided to arrive early, bringing with it the blizzard of the century, at precisely the time my plane was due to take-off. Needless to say my flight was delayed by an hour before American Airlines deemed it safe to fly (although by this time the storm was well underway). A panicked voice came over the tannoy ushering us "as fast as you can" to board the plane so we can take off before the conditions worsen and they grounded all planes for the night. That was enough for me, I basically ran through people to get to my seat. In the meantime the voice proceeded to hurry us explaining it was unnecessary for us to waste time placing our carry-ons in the overhead lockers before take-off, instead it was recommended we hold them to save time and organise ourselves and our baggage after take-off. I can imagine that is what it would be like if we were preparing an escape from a zombie apocalypse. I'm still not entirely sure how qualified the voice was to suggest such chaos but follow the instructions we did... At least for half an hour until it was clear the plane was still not taking off and we were given the go-head to place our carry-ons where they belong, which I can assure you is not piled on top of me. After sprinting to get on the plane we were grounded for around an hour whilst it was sprayed with some kind of snow-repellent and finally took off after a two and a half hour delay. I was just thankful we were in the air.

Arriving at Chicago O'hare in the nick of time I had half an hour to run from gate H-something to gate F-something before my connecting flight to Oklahoma left its most important passenger behind! I arrived at the gate, my laptop and camera in arms, backpack almost toppling me over, with just ten minutes left to board only to be told there was a gate change and I was obliged to run all the way back to where I came from in order to make my flight. Knowing that not even Usain Bolt would make that flight I decided to take a leisurely stroll and regain feeling in my back... However, luckily for me my flight was delayed by an hour anyway (I'd run a small marathon for no reason).

I was sat waiting for my flight watching the only TV channel available to us - Fox News - report on how Chicago was drowning in snow... I looked outside to find clear runways and cloudy skies... I'm not sure what Chicago they were looking at but it certainly wasn't the one outside my window. The consensus I came to was that JFK wanted us all out before we were forced to line the hallways in our sleeping bags whereas O'hare was trying to keep us there until the snow started failing and they could legitimately keep us hostage.
(In case you didn't sense the sarcasm, I appreciate there was a real reason for my delay however after hours of being convinced The Day After Tomorrow was finally coming true I was a little on the bitter side)

So after a total of 7 hours delay I finally arrived in Oklahoma around 3am... A week later we were also covered in snow.

Central Park at Midnight

2013 was one of the milestone years in my life. I successfully completed my second year of university meaning I was officially half way towards graduation, I got a chance to work at the marketing office at University, I turned 21, oh and I moved to Oklahoma. It was a real journey, not one without great lows, but also one with amazing highs. I met some incredible people and built friendships that I know will last a lifetime. Not only do I have these beautiful new people in my life but I also realised how strong and resistant the friendships I built at home are, I have never felt closer to my friends than I have being thousands of miles away. I also never thought I would be writing my life like it was some corny book but alas here am I doing exactly that and I couldn't be more grateful.

I would love to say that these are the things I reflected on while standing in Central Park singing Auld Lang Syne and watching the fireworks but being a 21 year old tourist in New York City with a bunch of her friends needless to say the vodka cranberry had dwindled my sentiment and all I could think about was how happy I was at the exact moment, not why or how but simply how happy I was, and how loud the fireworks still were from so far away. I also distinctly remember asking myself why one of my friends was carrying an ironing board around with him and I'm still not quite sure I know the answer.

My New Years Eve didn't begin as exciting as it ended, but more excitingly than any previous New Years Eve has begun. I started my day by going to the top of the Empire State building followed by a visit to the Library, a good few hours of shopping on 5th Avenue, a visit to Grand Central Station and eventually meeting my friends to party on 9th Street. Naturally we all bought something stupid from the street vendors to make ourselves more festive and believe it or not I still have those glasses in one piece! It wasn't until around 11.30pm that we thought it would be a good idea to walk several blocks to Central Park in the freezing cold - but it was so worth it - and I'm pretty sure thats where the ironing board comes in...

After being stuck in Oklahoma for four months where the bars shut around 1.45am we certainly made the most of a 4am closing time that night. I'm not quite sure what time we strolled in all I know is it was a difficult task to get up and into Manhattan before noon for our trip to the top of the Rockefeller Center.

Bringing in 2014 in Central Park is certainly going to be one of my greatest memories for years to come and probably the most retold! Within the days that followed I said goodbye to a lot of dear friends that I couldn't imagine my time here continuing without and it was very hard but like most difficult things you go through you still live to tell the tale. I'm still here and I'm still having the best time of my life never forgetting the friends that have touched my heart who I will see sooner than I know.

The amazing journey I started in 2013 was not over when we were celebrating the end, little did I know then that it had only truly begun.

The HUGE Apple!

New York was everything I wanted it to be (except warm) and more. It was new and exciting but at the same time very homely, it reminded me immensely of London, a city I've grown to adore. It was nice to feel like I could be back there. But it was also amazing to know I wasn't there - I was in NEW YORK. Now before I get into the nitty gritty of it all I'm going to give you a quick lesson, one I wish I had been given before I arrived there...

New York survival 101: 

• The green man does not mean it is safe to cross, it is never safe to cross. 
• When you think you have enough layers on, add one more or possibly two, you can never be dressed 'too warm'. 
• Times square at New Years is over rated. They don't allow alcohol or let you use the toilet for eight hours, don't do it to yourself. 
• Plan your trip ahead of time, way ahead. The subway system is great but the signs suck. You have a lot to learn New York.



The tip top of the Empire State Building 

• The food is good so eat, calorie count tomorrow. 

Although I was only there for three short nights I got to see the must-haves of the city but still I can't wait to go back! We rented the downstairs of a small apartment in Williamsburg owned by a lovely couple, a man from South America and a woman from Canada. My only regret it that is it was a fifteen minute walk from the subway station in below zero temperatures and taxi's in Williamsburg are not existent despite how much I was willing to pay to avoid frost bite. But as they say you get what you pay for and being students we don't want to pay for much... Next time I will definitely stay in Manhattan, and would recommend that to anyway who has the money to do so. Williamsburg is full of youngsters and who wants that!

As you can see from the photos above I got to visit the Empire State building and climbed right to the top! (Not really, we took the lift and only climbed the last seven flights of stairs). We were roped into buying a fast-track-skip-the-queue-nonsense pack by one of the street venders that accosts you as soon as you leave the subway but it was so worth it! We got a virtual tour of New York and didn't have to stand in line outside in the freezing cold for three hours. At the top the view was incredible and I finally got the chance to truly appreciate my fantastic camera. I think what took my breath away the most wasn't how high we were but the vast expanse that is Central Park, it is HUGE. Seeing it from above forces you to realise that.

On New Years day I also got to go to the top of the Rockefeller Center, one of the main sightseeing attractions in New York due to the view from the observation deck. Despite being there, and loving it, i'm still unsure of exactly what the buildings purpose is apart from tourist use, not even google seems to have a definitive answer, so don't ask me! To the left is me, at the top, with my favorite view of Central Park behind me.

During the evening I was lucky enough to experience a night of cocktails in a speakeasy in Manhattan. For those of you who don't know speakeasy's were small, secret bars people had in their basements, houses etc during the prohibition when alcohol was illegal. Can you even imagine? Granted it was probably not one of the originals as it was towards the front of the building with too many windows but it maintained the right atmosphere with its very strict rules; no more than four to a table, no cameras, no shouting, no eating - only drinking. Essentially it was a very posh, and expensive, cocktail club. One of my friends had a met a lawyer during his stay who told him about the place, if someone hadn't told us we wouldn't have even known it existed, which I guess is the whole point. We entered through a small door, climbed some very steep stairs to a casual chinese restaurant, on the far left side of the restaurant was another small, normal wooden door. There were no signs or flashing lights (unusual for New York), just a door. Behind the door was this secluded bar with low lights, low jazz music and only a few tables. There was no waiting area, if there were no seats you had to leave and come back and you weren't allowed to simply 'look around'. I indulged myself in a chocolate whiskey cocktail after all you're only in New York once right? Wrong, I am going to be there as often as possible.  

On my last day I took a quick trip to Times Square, ooed and ahhed, got lost, cursed the subway and fell totally in love with the city just in time to leave. It is undoubtedly one of the busiest, loudest and most colourful places I have ever seen and I can only imagine how intolerable it would have been on new Years Eve! I felt quashed in the daytime let alone on the busiest night of the year, but each to their own.

The total experience:
I'll be honest, at the time it felt very surreal and hard to take in, we had already travelled to so many different places in such a short period of time that the reality of being in New York hadn't hit me yet. I look back and the photos now and I am so grateful for my experience there with great sights, great food and most importantly great friends.

The Endless Night..

As I mentioned in the last blog before we could hit the heights of the Big Apple we had to survive the lows of a 12 hour Greyhound bus ride. As with any trip reliant on public transport there were minor hitches.. Like the fact the non-stop ride actually consisted of three stops or that 12 hours really meant 14. But we got there in the end and that's all that matters right? Maybe, but I will never do it again.

My first experience of Greyhound busses in the U.S was a short (six hour) trip from Chicago to Detroit. Now despite one of the girls booking the wrong bus and having to pay extra to be on the right bus nothing really went wrong. The bus was on time, we were on time, and I was actually surprised that there was free WORKING Wi Fi onboard! We were even pleasantly surprised to find out the six hour ride was really a five hour ride due to the time difference between Illinois and Michigan - Bonus!

However we were not so pleasantly surprised to have all our bags rummaged through and our persons scanned with metal detectors before we were allowed on board. Now, seen as I am not a criminal this was not necessarily a problem for me except of course for the fact I was tired, hungry, grumpy etc etc but nothing I couldn't get over. It was just amazing to me that I had to show so much proof of ID and go through so much security just to get on a bus. Its not even that difficult to catch an internal U.S flight but obviously the roads are a greater threat, either that or they really want to protect Michigan because on the way to New York we could have smuggled whatever we liked, security was non-existent!

So we rock up to the Detroit Greyhound bus station overly excited to be going to New York only to find there were several busses departing to New York at 6.30pm and the drivers hadn't quite decided which tickets were for which bus. After much deliberation they finally decided to let us on board only to tell us the Wi Fi isn't working, he was only the bus driver, how was he supposed to know why something on his bus wasn't working? And we paid extra for this great service. I felt like I was on Mega Bus!

So I tried to sleep as best I could on a crowded, smelly bus with several stops that we weren't supposed to make, two of which we were forced to get off the bus, wait for at least half an hour and then get back on again. Needless to say a nap was in order when we finally reached our brooklyn apartment.

Now all of this may seem very trivial, and it is, I shouldn't really complain but how boring would I be if I didn't?

Detroit, MI

So after a busy, exciting and draining week and a 6 hour (or 7, I don't remember) bus ride from Chicago to Detroit we were quite ready for 3 nights of relaxation in a beautiful hotel. And it was beautiful. We'd been catering for ourselves for the past seven days, and cooking for seven people of different cultural tastes is no easy feat, and then we got to indulge in fine dining, room service and the rest at the hotel for 3 nights, it was blissful.

Other than eat, drink and be merry we decided we should probably make our trip somewhat educational, being students and all, so we took a trip to the Henry Ford Museum. Now i've never really been a car kinda girl, I mean some of them are beautiful but i'm not going to bend over backwards to see them, but this museum was really good! We not only got to learn about the start, rising and future of Ford and what it meant for America but we also got to go on a factory tour... Unfortunately all the workers were off for Christmas but it was still cool to see what goes into making a Ford F1 Truck. Living in Oklahoma I have seen enough trucks to last me a lifetime, now I also know how they're made, I am officially one step closer to being a true country gal!

Seeing many of the first Ford cars made me truly appreciate the safety and strength of the cars I drive around in now. Seeing the way they toppled around driving along the old dirt tracks was enough for me, I would not want to ride in one. But they are beautiful.

And that would be all for Michigan, next stop was the big apple! First to survive a 14 hour bus ride... Oh the joy.  

The 24th is the New 25th

This year my life and mind have been expanded culturally, not only to American customs, but to to that of other European countries also. Although other European countries seem to be culturally closer to us than they are to America there are still some major differences I have been shamefully oblivious to my whole life. One of those things is the celebration of Christmas Day.

It was a few weeks before we left for Chicago in a casual conversation about Christmas day dinner (its also about food with me) that I discovered not everyone celebrates on the 25th, in fact a lot of European countries celebrate on the evening of the 24th. So in an effort to compromise we decided to give presents on the morning of the 25th and have Christmas dinner consisting of traditional dishes from each of the five countries we represented on the 24th around 8pm, the result was this:

My contribution to the feast was cauliflower cheese and roast potatoes! The roast carrots and smoked ham represented New Zealands, the Swedish meatballs with lingonberries and eggs were provided by the Swedes (of course), mini sausages from Austria and the Chicken I believe was generic. Our starter, which unfortunately I don't have a photo of, was a traditional Spanish cold soup with just about every vegetable you can imagine blended together with vinegar - it was delicious. Lindor chocolate was the obvious chose of desert, not that I could have stuff anything else in my stomach if I tried.

I must say it felt slightly strange not having this meal to look forward to after opening our presents but you have to try everything once!
                                                                          However. One thing I could not get my head around is if you open your presents on the evening of the 24th after being in the house all day whilst mummy and daddy prepare a huge feast how does Santa get down the chimney to leave your presents without you noticing? Quite a large flaw in the plan if I dare to say it. When I proposed this question the answer was pretty simple really - magic. 


Seen as we were just about the cheesiest bunch of international tourists making Christmas our own little was we just had to throw in some extra cheese in the form of CHRISTMAS JUMPERS!
We're just the cutest.

Once we were quite overwhelmed by our food comas we proceeded to vegetable on the sofa and watch a special hour long Christmas episode of Donald Duck.. In Swedish.. Without subtitles. Now that is being cultured. Apparently slightly different variations of this movie are aired in Sweden every Christmas Eve, most families will even plan their meal around watching it.

And that my friends was my European Christmas in America.

Super Bowl Sunday!

I interrupt this Christmas holiday catch-up with an important announcement from last weekend - It was the SUPER BOWL.

Now for most (I've learned not to generalise with 'all') American's this is one of the most exciting Sunday's of the year and I was pretty excited to experience it. For those of you unfamiliar with the Super Bowl it is the final game of thr NFL (National Football League) football season. The game was held in New York and I am told the venue changes each year. This year the two teams fighting for the championship title were the Seattle Seahawks (From Washington) and Denver Bronco's (from Colorado). Statistically the Bronco's were the favorites to win... But like always, statistics can be wrong.

I was lucky enough to be invited to an American Super Bowl party held at a girl from my sororities apartment... Like at any good American party there was chilli, chips (nachos) and queso (cheese sauce), and of course the Super Bowl. Now after much deliberation with my Scotish neighbour on who we should support in this game we knew nothing about we decided on the Seahawks as they are from the same place the Oklahoma City Thunders basketball team originated from, and everybody loves them so we should love the Seahawks right? Wrong. As I often am about these American things. I was surrounded by girls cheering on the Bronco's, who when we arrived close to half time were loosing 5-0. They powered through for the rest of the game continuing their loosing streak until the girls, like probably the rest of the country, gave up.

Half time show: The reason most people from states who didn't qualify for the game watch the Super Bowl. Last year I'm told Beyonce stole the game with her performance and this year Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers in their highly controversial outfits did the same.

Commercials: Another reason to watch the game if you have absolutely no interest in the sport. The Super Bowl commercial slots are one of the most expensive on American TV and for good reason, the whole country is watching. Therefore they are famous for being elaborate, funny, and simply something everyone can look froward too when their team is loosing, sorry Denver. This year Coca Cola caused great controversy (like any good advert) with what I believe is a beautiful commercial with people from all different cultures singing 'America is Beautiful' is all different languages. I'll leave you with this link so you can make your own mind up http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/coca-colas-multi-lingual-super-bowl-ad-inspired-a-racist-mel.

All in all it was a sad day for Denver who lost 43-8 to the underdogs of the match, I for one am glad I picked the right team, maybe next year I'll back them the whole way through!

Chicago

So far I have only complained (in true British fashion) about the weather in Chicago however i failed to mention how beautiful it is. The above photo was taken outside the Chicago Aquarium, behind me you can see the beautiful skyline perched on the edge of one of the great lake's.

When I was walking along the Navy Pier it was hard to believe the incredible mass of water in front of me was a lake, all I could see was water, a sight which to me resembles the ocean. I later discovered I was staring into the depths of Lake Michigan, only the second largest of the two great lakes, Lake Superior being the largest (who knew this would be a geography lesson). Although temperatures were below -10 the sky was still clear and the sun was up for the majority of my stay which made sightseeing a lot easier.

To the left is the Chicago Bean, formally known as the 'Cloud Gate Sculpture'... The best part about it is it acts as the perfect mirror to take photos of yourself in. All Americans seem to be well acquainted with the idea of the Bean as a tourist must-see however the first time I heard of it was when someone asked me if I was going to see it while I was there. My claim to fame came when I found out it was created by a British Sculptor, you're welcome America. It was here that we watched the Chicago Gay Choir perform an array of Christmas Carols under the moonlight - very festive indeed.

Another must-see for us travellers was the view from the ninety second floor of one of Chicago's tallest towers. While we were there it was only polite to treat ourselves to very expensive, and very strong, cocktails. Speaking of cocktails their menu had the craziest cocktails I had ever heard of, some of which even contained actual bacon (I naively assumed from the menu description they didn't mean the cocktail would contain two floating pieces of streaky bacon, alas I was wrong) but I stuck to the classic Long Island Iced Tea. To your right is the best view in the restaurant which is where the designers made the natural decision to place the ladies toilets.

My personal favourite part of Chicago is the Cultural Center! The building we strolled into thinking it was the library was in fact so much more than just a library. The first floor was dedicated to all different pieces of artwork by different artists, a cafe, tourist advice center and a public area for everyone to sit and warm up for free (a must-have). The second floor had some visual light art, very contemporary and fun, and a huge room with a dome roof  decorated with contrastingly old style stained glass. The third and my most favourite floor held an exhibition of Chicago street art which I learnt is an escalating trend in the city. There was a DJ playing all different kinds of music (taking requests) from hip-hop to Jazz and a dance floor where people of different ages and cultures were just dancing, amazingly well, to this music that they so clearly loved and connected with. It was an amazing scene, I could of stayed there and watched all day.

And that, in a very small nutshell, is the beauty of Chicago.

The Windiest Windy City

These past few weeks I have been so busy (with studying, obviously) that I haven't had a chance to update my blog on all the amazing places I visited during my Christmas break... So this is the first of many to come.

Chicago

Now for you to fully appreciate my devastatingly cold experience in Chicago, Illinois you have to try and imagine (because unless you've lived here you will never understand) the extent of the wind in Oklahoma. It is windy every day, every single day, if not all day then for at least half of the day, and those are the good days. I am aware that Chicago has always held the title of 'windy city' but what amazed me was the amount of Oklahomans who said to me 'oh its windy there' when I mentioned I was going over Christmas.. Have they been outside in the state they live in? It is windy here! Geographically Oklahoma is right smack bang in the middle of 'Tornado Alley' so it must be able to hold its own in the rank of windy cities. What I was unaware of, and grossly unprepared for, was the cold  freezing temperatures of the winds in Chicago! No amount of British or Oklahoma weather could have prepared me for the -13 degrees celsius temperatures with winds to match. In a bar one night the barman said to me 'you should be used to the cold!' and I simply laughed, he has no idea, Chicago at Christmas is a different level cold, I have never been that cold in my whole life. Coming back to Oklahoma after 2 weeks on the East Coast was like seeing the sun for first time, breathtaking. 

One brisk day we decided to do some shopping, I mean we'll be inside all day so it can't be that cold right? WRONG. Even walking the few short meters between shop doors was unbearable.. Trying to hail a cab that evening around 6pm I honestly was questioning how much longer I could handle the cold for, it was only the thought of the warm apartment awaiting me that kept me on that pavement.   

Aside from the possible frost bite and wind scratched cheeks there is also an upside to the cold... A white Christmas! On December 25th 2013 I had my first proper white Christmas. There was snow on the ground when we arrived in Chicago on the 19th and the sky had spat snow at us every now and again in the days that followed however on Christmas morning we woke up to a lovely white scene (not too thick) outside and when we took our after lunch stroll to find a coffee shop it began to snow.. And it was beautiful. The next day we left Chicago for the slightly milder Detroit, Michigan. 

All in all I think Chicago wins my vote for the windiest windy city. 

The Art of Souvenir Shopping

As promised my first post back in Oklahoma after my travels is about all the (pointless) souvenirs I bought for myself.. 

Now before I begin, the array of shot glasses is not the product of a drinking problem but is to add to a collection I started when I was 18 on my first unsupervised holiday abroad in Tenerife. 

From Texas:

Naturally the first thing I bought was the cowboy shaped shot glass which reads 'Everything is Bigger in Texas'.. Which believe it or not is true. The trucks are huge, the plates of food are huge, the cowboy hats, cowboy boots, pickles, roasted corn, all HUGE. A rumour which circulates Oklahoma is that even the parking spaces in Texas are drawn out larger than those in other states, however from talking to a few Texans I think that is just a rumour. 

Next was the jolly little Cowboy Santa tree decoration you can see perched up against the shot glasses. I saw this little guy on sale on 6th street in Austin for $5 and could not resist. I mean who could resist santa in cowboy boots and hat carrying a cactus? No one. 

Last but not least I just had to buy a black t-shirt (unfortunately not feature in the photo, but it does exist) with '6th Street' written on the front and 'Keep Austin Weird' across the back. 'Keep Austin Weird' is the capitals moto if you remember correctly from my post on Austin. 

From Chicago:  

The t-shirt with 'Chicago Bulls' written across it may be a slight give away and I may never be able to wear it around Oklahoma seen as I am obliged to support the Oklahoma Thunders basketball team at all times but nevertheless it was a must have. 

As far as shot glasses go I have 2 from Chicago, one from the city and one from the aquairum we visited it which was a secret santa gift from one of the girls I was travelling with. 

From Detroit:

Nothing. Unfortunately (or fortunately for my bank account) I did not find any souvenir shops.

From New York:

I managed to resit the need to buy everything in this beautiful city and settle on the cute diamante 'New York' t-shirt and two shot glasses, one from the top of the Empire State building and one from a ordinary souvenir shop (not so exciting).  

From New Mexico:

On the far right you will see a little colourful pot hand carved by a lovely native American Indian lady I met at her stall on the street of Santa Fe. There were so many big and small pots, animal shaped sculptures that it took me half an hour to decide on the one I did. My decision inevitably came down to what I could and couldn't transport home safely. 

Last but not least I bought 2 shot glasses, one from the beautiful quaint town of Santa Fe and the other from the Carlsbad Caverns located at the most southern point of New Mexico, next to the Mexican border.