A Severe Case of Wanderlust

Term is rapidly coming to an end here in South Carolina and if I could sum up in one word the past few months here it would be Wanderlust…

In that I seem to have a severe case of it. The absence from this blog has been in most part due to my inability to stay in one place for more than a week or so. Since leaving you last I have been to Washington D.C, the Blue Ridge Mountains in Georgia and Tennessee. I have become very aware of my desire to be on a constant voyage of discovery, to visit new places and meet new people. Whilst I am thoroughly enjoying my studies here at USC they are not what have shaped my time here in America so far. It has not been the fact that I can recite the history of the past 20 Presidents or being able to engage in a debate on whether reconstruction and race relations have succeeded or failed since 1864, but it is the travels I have gone on and the people I have met who have made this semester some of the best months of my life.

Anyhow enough of the sentiment and onto the real deal, where I went, what I did and who I saw.

Washington D.C

So a few months ago I travelled with three friends to the Capital City itself. We visited all the touristy places along the Washington Mall; the State Capitol, Lincoln memorial, (If there is one thing Washington does well its erecting some of the most beautiful and thought out memorials and monuments ), American History Museum (I can still geek up whilst travelling!) and my personal favourite the White House. Although we were a little disappointed that there was work being done on the water feature between the Lincoln and Washington Memorial. At least it didn’t say “closed for refurbishment” and we could still get the view from both.

My favourite part of this trip however was exploring Georgetown. A small, compact and walkable district with a distinct European feel. Some shops brought me right back to London and even the British highstreet with Zara, H & M and even Jack Wills! I was in my element and had a lovely afternoon shopping and browsing, okay more browsing than shopping... I hate being a student, especially one abroad!

The prize for restaurant of the Semester, or should I say Café, goes to La Madeline. A traditional French café, we stopped here for a coffee but could have stayed all afternoon. It was continuing the European flare with quiche and pastries and had a lovely atmosphere, something which I have missed among the sports bars and rather generic grills that seem to define American dining. Sometimes I don’t want to watch sports, look at license plates and drink soda... finding a bit of class in America is like being in a thrift store, you have to look past all the tack to get to the good stuff.

Blue Ridge Mountains, GA

My next adventure was a spontaneous weekend trip up to the Blue Ridge Mountains although I’m not sure you can really call them mountains, more like rolling hills, but with the leaves starting to turn golden it was b.e.a.utiful! Ten of us stayed in a lovely cabin complete with pool table, fire pit and hot tub and although not a particularly busy weekend we did fit in a walk to the waterfalls. In general though we just enjoyed a relaxing weekend away. Highlight of the trip was finally getting to try a smore (biscuit, chocolate and roasted marshmallows) downside of the trip.. realising I really don’t like smores!

I would like to point out (for the purpose of my parents reading this) that although I have had some great trips and travels over the past few months I have still been working hard… okay disclaimer in I can now continue..

Oak Ridge, TN

Lastly this past week I was invited by my friend Kate to celebrate Thanksgiving at hers in Tennessee. Although I was not feeling so great on the car ride up due to a very well celebrated 21st birthday the night before once there I had a great time! I would also like to interject at this point and say we stopped by a Southern staple, Cracker Barrel, on our journey... I had heard only great things about this place, their breakfast in particular and I must say it wasn’t bad!

Anywho back to the week.

Kate lives in a real mountain home complete with veranda, rocking chairs and stone fire place, it was great to be in a homey environment and sit on a proper comfy sofa! Her parents, Pam and Hal, treated us to some great home cooked meals and made us very welcome. For Thanksgiving itself we ate a hearty dinner at her grandparents which her grandmother had made historically traditional in light of us international visitors. A decision which did lead to a in depth debate as to whether potatoes could be served as whilst not traditional to the first pilgrims dinner a great side dish to turkey... unfortunately the potatoes lost out this time but despite this the meal was delicious! Other than Thanksgiving we toured downtown Knoxville, ate at a “British Pub” and visited the Museum of Appalachia. All in all a fabulous week!

And that brings us up to date where now I am in the midst of finals and spending my days in the library wishing away the days ‘til my next adventure a Christmassy visit to New York City with the brother!

But that will have to wait for another post which I hope won’t be as late as this one!

Boarder Retreats

As ever life at here in Columbia has been as hectic as ever! Not that I’m complaining I absolutely LOVE it but I have been a little MIA from campus as Mum and Dad came to visit, so this blog post will be a quick catch up on the past two weeks and our travels to the boarders of South Carolina.

The best thing about having the parents come out and visits (other than the lovely restaurants and little shopping trips) is having a car! Whilst the campus itself is walkable and in a city, having a car to go off easily and explore was great and definitely helped with food shopping too!

Mum and Dad flew in and for the first weekend we headed up to Table Mountain on the boarder of North and South Carolina. There we stayed at The Table Mountain Inn where the lovely inn keeper Karen had made freshly baked cookies and apple cake upon our arrival. There were also other little touches such as handmade soap and knitted quilts. It was a lovely home away from home and something different from the bog standard Holiday Inn.

Although a little on the chilly side as Autumn decided to peak a little early we were able to do some walking trails. Whilst we skipped on the six hour hike up to the top of the mountain we took a three hour hiking trail down along the valley floor that ran parallel to the creek and saw the spectacular waterfall. It was great on the way down but I was very glad to see the car after we climbed back to the top! Whilst the scenery was beautiful and the hospitality unfaltering the surrounding towns were lackluster with little character and few restaurants. We spent an hour driving around trying to find something nice for dinner... only to end up one mile from the Inn at “Aunt Sues” which wasn’t the best.

For the second weekend we headed south to the boarder of Georgia to the historic city of Savannah. Established in 1733 it had a lot of significance in both the Revolutionary and Civil War (the history buff in me loved this!). During our day here we did a Segway tour, which was such a great way to see the city and very fun, as well as toured one of the historic houses. It is not as pretty or scenic as Charleston and is full of more touristy gimmicks and overpriced restaurants but still a good day out.

On our last day we headed down to Hilton Head Island which looked a little like Centre Parcs to me but is the more exclusive area of the State. Picture houses amongst the pine trees, tennis courts and quite a few people cycling around. Dad was happy as there was a habour and although it was only a brief stop we climbed the lighthouse and even saw some dolphins in the bay on our way out.

All in all it’s been a great two weeks and I’ve now pretty much covered all the main places in South Carolina. Next weekend is Fall Break so I’m moving further afield with a trip up to Washington DC with some friends, I can't wait! With all this traveling though I think maybe this weekend I should catch up on some work!

Fire Ants: The Red Devils

The Fire Ants was a nickname for South Carolina’s football team in the late 1980s, nicknamed due to their garnet colours and fiery defense they would "swarm the field like ants defending their turf".

This was an interesting fact that I happened to stumble across earlier this week, yet unfortunately it was not the football team that I was trying to research.

Coming to South Carolina I had been warned about the cockroaches. They usually come out at night and if you’re wearing flip-flops they will crawl over your feet. I had heard the stories my first week of the girl who found one in her shower and the ones that crawl into your sheets and under your doors. However gross they are I seem to be coping well and at least they aren’t spiders! I have probably seen around 50 cockroaches yet only one spider, life was going well on the insect front... but not for long, it seems I was not warned about the fire ants!

These little buggers have created some serious issues for me this week. It was Monday evening, I was just returning from class and I bump into a friend on the path home. Not wanting to be in anyone’s way we step to the side to continue our conversation. Approximately two or three minutes into the conversation I start to feel my feet burning as if they were on fire, no joke! To my horror I look down to find my feet covered in fire ants. After screaming and running to the grass on the opposite side of the path and frantically swiping at my tootsies (I'm going to admit I was FREAKING OUT!) I had to return for my flip-flops which were now also completely covered in ants. With my feet on fire and my friend trying to help me brush the rest of the ants off the realization came that alas I had been standing right smack bang in the middle of the fire ants nest. Needless to say I cut our conversation short in desperation to get to my antihistamine!

Two days later my feet are very red, very sore and itch like CRAZY! Each fire ant will bite several times and release venom which causes the intense burning sensation. My week has consisted of a lot of antihistamine, sleepless nights and left some very unattractive welts. Only native to the Southern States of the USA I should have considered New England and gotten as far from these nippers as possible!

I guess spiders really are the least of my worries here!

This One Time at Band Camp…

Oh yes it’s an American Pie reference, arguably (and I use that term loosely) the most authentic film to American college life there is with its portrayal of the college band no exception. Football here is huge but so is the band and don’t I know it. My room happens to be located next to the bands practice field and let me tell you they practice a lot! Nothing can describe the experience of studying and falling asleep to sleep to the sound of a 100 man marching band.. so here is a video:

Don't All Rush At Once: Bid Day @ USC

Being in a sorority or fraternity are big deals here at USC. The Greek Life has a big presence on campus and over 1000 girls began the process of rushing this year.

If none of this makes sense, don't worry I had no idea what a sorority, rushing or bid day was until about 2 weeks ago when my housemate told me she would be rushing this year.

A brief overview; a sorority or fraternity is a group of guys or girls who have common interests and who organize social events, charity fundraisers and parties.

To be in one of these groups you have to "rush" which is a two week process where each rushee will view the Greek houses (where the richest of the sorority or frat members live) and talk to each group at various functions. At the end of the two weeks the girls (frats are far to cool for this kind of event) find out which sorority they have gotten into and attend Bid Day. Just a note, not all girls make it and can be dropped from the process if none of the groups want them.. its quite a harsh and judgmental process and to top it off you have to pay for the privilege of both rushing and then joining. Its not a cheap way to make friends!

Finally at the end of the process you have Bid Day where the girls adorn their new Greek letters and do the historic run through the horseshoe here on campus.
It is a crazy event with lots of screaming, cheering, singing and whistle blowing. I've never seen anything like it.. luckily my housemate got into the sorority she wanted (Phi Mu) and we got to see her Bid Day run!

Here is a video I took of Bid Day at USC 2011:

To view in HD click the 320 icon at the bottom of the player and select 720.

News Flash: Irene Is Raging

First an earthquake and now a hurricane, the east coast is getting a real battering from Mother Nature this week. No sooner had the excitement of the earthquake abated but serious weather warnings and talk of evacuating coastal regions of South Carolina became the new topic of conversation. Hurricane Irene was approaching and was heading right for us.

Yet it would seem that luck (for us anyway) was on our side as Irene has narrowly missed South Carolina and headed north, hugging the North Carolinian coast. The city of Charlotte, a mere 2 hours from Columbia, has experienced severe flooding and seen the first three victims of this raging storm which occurred due to falling debris. North Carolinas outer banks have been greatly affected by 8ft storm surges which have flooded most of the low lying banks.

With a hurricane so close by there has definitely been a change of weather here in Columbia, the blazing summer heat has been dramatically softened by cloud cover and although no rainfall there has been a swift wind filling the air. The only real physical sign has been the clouds over head racing by at an unbelievable speed. It is hard to imagine the destruction being caused so close by.

It was a close call but thankfully here at USC we have not been affected by the weather. I sincerely hope Irene begins to lose momentum before destroying anymore cities in her path.

It is safe to say that nature has definitely welcomed me to the States and reminded me that we may complain about the rain in England but at least we don’t have to contend with super storms and seismic activity!

I am clearly not in England anymore!

News stories covering Irene s destruction:
http://hamptonroads.com/2011/08/saturday-morning-reports-hurricane-irene-va-nc
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/08/27/tropical.weather/index.html?iref=BN1

Welcome to USC

I survived my first week at USC! It’s been a hectic week of filling in forms, signing up for classes and meeting many many new people but it’s been amazing! I have moved into my dorm, watched band practice, drunk from a keg, played beer pong, eaten pop tarts and learnt that despite being in America there is still a language barrier, sometime I don’t feel like they speak English here at all! I am now starting to settle in and am actually looking forward to my week of classes!

Here are a few photos from around the beautiful campus. Some of the oldest buildings on the horseshoe (the original campus) were built in 1801 and are gorgeous. I love the historical atmosphere and colonial style of a campus which is situated in a more urban setting. 

Your walking 10 blocks? Say it ain’t so girl!

We all know the old stereotype that Americans are lazy and walking further than the parking garage (oh yes I’m using the lingo!) is pretty much alien to them all. So much so that when I asked directions to the federal building I was told “oh that’s 10 blocks straight down the street ma’am, I’ll give you the shuttle information.” “No no I’ll walk” I say. To this I received a look of complete shock and sympathy from the lovely but slightly overweight information lady who is still insistent on passing me the timetable.

Not only is walking strongly discouraged but being a pedestrian is just no fun. When you do actually want to walk somewhere it’s like playing chicken with every other car on the road. Even on the green man (or white here) cars are still lawfully able to turn into the road on a red light making every crossing potentially your last.

Further problems arise when you start walking along quite happily and the pavement will disappear leaving you with no choice but the walk on the verge next to the insanely busy road whilst all drivers look at you in disbelief. Countless times I have narrowly missed being taken down by cars, honked, yelled at or asked if I needed a ride somewhere.

I do not particularly enjoy the walking game here but despite its risks I did not take the lady’s advice and did walk to the federal building, getting there alive and in less than 15 minutes and was even able to wave at the people taking the shuttle on my way back home.

Packing For The long Haul

A recent study found that the average woman will over-pack her holiday suitcase with 26 items, none of which will be worn. This does not surprise me in the slightest as the usual thought of “I’ll take these... just in case” is an all to frequent one and a thought which for a 7 day holiday can probably be justified. 

Imagine my dilemma then when I am confronted with the task of packing a bag for an entire year. The “just in case” tactic is obsolete as I have to contend with packing for all four seasons as well as trying to pack my living essentials and clothes for the mundanane activities such as the gym into one bag. Not to mention which shoes to take?!

Flying US Airways I am allowed up to 23KG in the hold and 18KG as hand luggage. How anyone could fit 18KG into a bag suitable for lifting onto the plane I do not know. At 5ft it might be slightly embarrassing trying to maneuver my bag into the overhead lockers and then to tactfully retrieve it again 8 hours later without taking out my fellow passengers. Although it’s nice to know I could attempt this if necessary.

Not wanting to look like a pack horse upon arrival into South Carolina and to avoid the embarrassment of storing my hang luggage I opted for the 65L travelers backpack with one small wheelie case to take on board. I have also taken the approach of “I can always buy things out there” as let’s be honest I’m going to America, not a small island in the middle of nowhere with no pharmacy or suitable clothes stores. It also helps to be going to a city in the middle of a heatwave averaging 40 degrees meaning I am able to pack only shorts and strappy tees leaving more space for that extra pair of shoes!

Thus I have confined a year’s worth of clothes into a selection of only my finest wardrobe pieces and the necessary beauty products, I couldn’t possible go without my make-up bag and straighteners! With some economic packing and ruthless decisions I will with any luck avoid looking like a pack horse and with only 26 items in my bag hopefully I will wear everything at least once!

Sources:

http://newslite.tv/2011/07/12/women-overpack-their-suitcases.html