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.