I'm finally 21! It's such a nice feeling being able to get into places legitimately now, and not having to worry about being one of the few people who can't get in but, to be honest, I never really had any problems so it isn't as much of a big deal as I expected it to be.
Anyway, I'll continue from where I left off last time as it hasn't been too long since I last posted. Last Thursday I went to a speech by Maureen Dowd, who's a columnist for the New York Times. Since I've been taking my journalism class I've been becoming more sure that it's what I'd like to do after I graduate and I thought that hearing such an esteemed journalist talk about her career would be helpful. She was very funny and it was interesting to hear her take on journalism.
On Friday, me and Natalie went to the cinema to see Red Riding Hood. From the trailer I thought it looked quite entertaining but in reality it took itself far too seriously and had some of the worst acting I've seen in a long time. It was fun for a laugh but nothing more than that really. In the afternoon my friend Henry from my course in Nottingham arrived for a visit after spending most of the week in New York. That night we went to a bar called the Lionheart that I hadn't been to before but it was really good. It had most of the basics like pool tables and a jukebox, but one added bonus was a free popcorn machine which was very good quality! We didn't get back home til about 5.30 and had to get up at 9.30 to get the bus back down to NYC, which certainly wasn't fun.
That Saturday was Kegs 'n' Eggs in Albany which is the student celebration of St. Patrick's Day. The name signifies the fact that people get up at 3 in the morning to start drinking (kegs) and then all eat breakfast while drunk (eggs). Anyway, we obviously couldn't go because we had to get back to New York and we were actually probably quite lucky to miss it. A huge group of students went crazy in a residential area and caused loads of damage - smashing up cars and throwing household appliances from toasters to fridges from balconies on to the street. Six students were arrested for rioting and assaulting police officers, one person was stabbed and the neighbourhood was left in a terrible mess. The police have been analysing videos that people have put on Youtube so they can arrest more people for vandalism and other crimes. The reputation of the university has been degraded and one of my friends said she was worried that her degree would be seen as less worthy - so all in all, not a great day for the University at Albany!
Anyway, we missed all this and went to NYC on Saturday morning. We left Henry at Penn Station so he could go to Newark to catch his flight back to South Carolina and headed to the Indian that we'd been to the week before for a cheap lunch which was once again very nice. We spent most of the afternoon on Fifth Avenue, and Natalie decided to buy a necklace from Tiffany's. We decided to stay in a hotel next to JFK Airport because Natalie's flight was at 9 on Sunday morning and the journey from Manhattan would have taken too long. We arrived there around 8pm and had to order Domino's pizza because the hotel was on a major road, and it was impossible to walk anywhere for food. We had to get up at 6 in the morning to catch the shuttle bus to the airport at 7. I left Natalie as she was about to check in and caught the train back to Manhattan and got the bus back to Albany at 8.30.
The days before my birthday were quite uneventful as I had an exam to revise for and some other work to do, so it was nice to be able enjoy my birthday with most of my work done. I didn't do much during the day but one bonus was that the sun was out and it was 17°c which was the hottest it had been since October from what I can remember. I went to WT's with Emma and Ellen at 7ish to get food - we had to wait for a while because it was busy due to it being an Irish pub on St. Patrick's Day but we eventually got a table and the food was very nice. Emma and Ellen surprised me by getting the waitress to bring out a slice of Bailey's cheesecake with a candle after we'd finished which was a delicious treat! On the downside, I went to get my free bottle of champagne which they give people for their 21st but the bartender refused because I'd been in so many times before - this saddened me! Everyone else joined us afterwards and we stayed until about 11.30 then we went downtown to Bomber's, where they give you a free giant margharita. It was ridiculously sweet but I managed to drink about half of it before having to give it to everyone else to finish.
On Friday afternoon, me Emma and Ellen drove to Boston. We were staying with Ellen's friend Mallory who we'd stayed with last time. When we arrived, Mallory hadn't finished work yet so we went down to the city centre to go shopping and get something to eat. We found a Wagamama, which I didn't realise existed in America and decided to eat there. Afterwards we walked around trying to find a liquor store and ended up having to ask a group of police officers where one was - information they would only give us after Ellen declared that as a New Yorker she had no allegiance to the New York Yankees or New York Giants! After we'd bought some alcohol we went back to Mallory's and got ready to go out. We went to a bar called Lansdowne which was next to Fenway Park where the Boston Red Sox play. They had a live band who looked like a bunch of career criminals who had reached middle age ungracefully but they were actually really good. They did a nice variety of songs including Laid by James, Dynamite by Taio Cruz and, to end with, Enter Sandman by Metallica. We did a lot of dancing and then took a taxi home, in which you could see the map of the route on a screen in the back, and I could clearly see that the driver was going a long way round to get more money....
On Saturday morning we went for breakfast at The Breakfast Club, an 80's themed diner that we went to last time we were in Boston and it was as delicious as before. Afterwards, we went on the train to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Museum and Library which was out of the city centre. The museum was really good but was quite sad when it got to JFK's assassination and then the assassination of Robert Kennedy. The views at the end were amazing as the museum was situated on Boston Harbor and you get an amazing view of the Boston skyline as well as some of the islands surrounding Boston. We went back to the city centre and went to a frozen yoghurt shop called Pinkberry which was very nice but very busy and expensive. Afterwards, we headed back to Mallory's apartment, said our goodbyes and went for food before heading back to Albany.
I don't have much to do this week besides work but I'm hoping of booking a trip somewhere for the week after. We haven't decided where to go yet but it's gonna be between Charleston, South Carolina and Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee. On a sour note, we found out today that the university is cancelling Fountain Day which is a huge party in April when the huge fountain gets switched back on. This was one of the major reasons I wanted to come to Albany and something that everyone was really looking forward to. The president of the university says that he doesn't want anything to damage the reputation of the university even further but I think it's completely unfair to punish so many students who had nothing to do with what happened last week. I don't know what's going to happen but everyone is really unhappy and people are planning to celebrate at the fountain even if the fountain isn't turned back on. It really isn't fair and I'm so angry!!! Anyway, that's all for now...
Sunday, 20 March 2011
Thursday, 10 March 2011
The Passenger
Hello, I'm sorry I haven't written for so long but I've been very busy!
I'll pick up from last time, on Friday 18th February we set off on our road trip. We had 2 cars because there was 7 of us, I was in a Chevrolet Impala which was a pretty big car. The first day we drove to Buffalo which is about 4 hours west of Albany. The temperature reached 15°c while we were on the way there which was lovely surprise. Some of my friends went to see a NHL (ice hockey) game but I wasn't really interested and it cost over $60. The rest of us went to a small restaurant to eat and it was really nice, afterwards we met up with everyone else in a bar and played a few games of table hockey, which was like table football but only with hockey!
Early on Saturday morning we left to head to Niagara Falls, which was only 25 minutes away, but as we got there, the weather turned and there was awful fog and heavy snow. The border crossing was really easy and only took about two minutes then we drove down into the town. We got out of the car but the view was really bad, you could barely make out the waterfalls even though they were only about 100 metres away. We decided that we would come back on either Sunday or Monday in the hope that we would have a better chance of seeing the waterfalls. We then drove 90 minutes north to Toronto, around the western side of Lake Ontario. We checked in but had a problem as we'd accidentally only booked two single beds in the room when there was four of us, so we had to pay extra to get a camp bed in our room. Later that afternoon, the weather was really nice so we decided to head to the CN Tower, Toronto's most famous landmark and one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. The views were amazing and at one point we were 1400 feet in the air. We went to a bar for dinner then went to bed because we were really tired.
The next morning we decided to head back to Niagara Falls because the weather forecast was a lot better. When we finally got there, the sun was out and the sky was blue which meant that the views were absolutely incredible. There was a mist in the air which was the spray from the waterfalls so you got absolutely soaked and my friend's hair actually froze! We took lots of photos and went for lunch then drove back to Toronto. We'd aimed to go shopping when we got back but it was late Sunday afternoon and all the shops were closing so we just went for dinner then to a bar. On Monday morning we set off and got back to Albany around 8 hours later.
For the next few days, a group of us went to stay at my friend Jonathan's house in Saratoga Springs, which is about 40 minutes north of Albany. Some people went skiing everyday but I just stayed at the house with a couple of others because I've never skied before so we just had some lazy days. We got back home on Thursday night then on Friday we went to the cinema to see Unknown with Liam Neeson which was a pretty average popcorn movie but entertaining nonetheless. We went to New York on Saturday for Emma's 21st birthday. We went to a club called Home Sweet Home which was really good and more like the clubs that I'm used to from home. It was a really good night and I wasn't as sick as last time I went out in New York.
Last Wednesday, I went to see a speech that Bill Clinton gave at our university. He talked about lots of different things but mainly about how we need to use our initiative to make the world a better place. Apparently he was paid $200,000 by the university to speak which he donated to his charitable foundation. His speech was inspirational but I'm not sure if it was worth that much money but I suppose if it inspires people to do better, it was worth it.
On Thursday I headed back down to New York as my friend Natalie from Nottingham was coming to visit me for 10 nights. My plan was to meet her at the airport at about 8.30pm but when I was on the bus I checked the internet and saw that her flight had been cancelled! We couldn't really contact with each other because she couldn't receive texts or calls from me so the only way was for her to use payphones whenever she came across them or to text me, but as I said I couldn't reply. Eventually she arrived at JFK at 11.30 the next morning and I was there to meet her. We went back to the hotel then had lunch and went to Central Park, Fifth Avenue and to the top of the Rockefeller Center. We decided that we would go to see a show on Broadway and settled on Chicago as we wanted to see one where we knew most of the songs. The show was a bit odd because they had the orchestra on the stage with the cast performing around them but it was still really good.
The next day we went to the south of Manhattan and went on the Staten Island Ferry so we could see the Statue of Liberty without having to pay, and the view was just as good as the one you get from paying for a special ferry. Afterwards we walked around and saw the Stock Exchange, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Seaport and Chinatown. In the evening we went for an Indian at a restaurant near the hotel which was really nice then just had a walk near the hotel because we were really tired. We got the bus back to Albany at Sunday lunchtime and didn't do much else on Sunday. On Monday we went to the mall and I had classes all day on Tuesday so we didn't get up to much. Last night we went to The Cheesecake Factory which was amazing but I felt sick afterwards. When we'd finished there we went to look in a few shops and I bought some fancy dress for St. Patrick's Day.
We're heading back to New York on Saturday morning because Natalie is flying back on Sunday morning. Then next Thursday is my 21st birthday which is very exciting! I'll update the blog after my birthday but at the moment my plans are to have a night out in Albany on my birthday then go to Boston for the weekend because I really like it there. Bye for now!!!
I'll pick up from last time, on Friday 18th February we set off on our road trip. We had 2 cars because there was 7 of us, I was in a Chevrolet Impala which was a pretty big car. The first day we drove to Buffalo which is about 4 hours west of Albany. The temperature reached 15°c while we were on the way there which was lovely surprise. Some of my friends went to see a NHL (ice hockey) game but I wasn't really interested and it cost over $60. The rest of us went to a small restaurant to eat and it was really nice, afterwards we met up with everyone else in a bar and played a few games of table hockey, which was like table football but only with hockey!
Early on Saturday morning we left to head to Niagara Falls, which was only 25 minutes away, but as we got there, the weather turned and there was awful fog and heavy snow. The border crossing was really easy and only took about two minutes then we drove down into the town. We got out of the car but the view was really bad, you could barely make out the waterfalls even though they were only about 100 metres away. We decided that we would come back on either Sunday or Monday in the hope that we would have a better chance of seeing the waterfalls. We then drove 90 minutes north to Toronto, around the western side of Lake Ontario. We checked in but had a problem as we'd accidentally only booked two single beds in the room when there was four of us, so we had to pay extra to get a camp bed in our room. Later that afternoon, the weather was really nice so we decided to head to the CN Tower, Toronto's most famous landmark and one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. The views were amazing and at one point we were 1400 feet in the air. We went to a bar for dinner then went to bed because we were really tired.
The next morning we decided to head back to Niagara Falls because the weather forecast was a lot better. When we finally got there, the sun was out and the sky was blue which meant that the views were absolutely incredible. There was a mist in the air which was the spray from the waterfalls so you got absolutely soaked and my friend's hair actually froze! We took lots of photos and went for lunch then drove back to Toronto. We'd aimed to go shopping when we got back but it was late Sunday afternoon and all the shops were closing so we just went for dinner then to a bar. On Monday morning we set off and got back to Albany around 8 hours later.
For the next few days, a group of us went to stay at my friend Jonathan's house in Saratoga Springs, which is about 40 minutes north of Albany. Some people went skiing everyday but I just stayed at the house with a couple of others because I've never skied before so we just had some lazy days. We got back home on Thursday night then on Friday we went to the cinema to see Unknown with Liam Neeson which was a pretty average popcorn movie but entertaining nonetheless. We went to New York on Saturday for Emma's 21st birthday. We went to a club called Home Sweet Home which was really good and more like the clubs that I'm used to from home. It was a really good night and I wasn't as sick as last time I went out in New York.
Last Wednesday, I went to see a speech that Bill Clinton gave at our university. He talked about lots of different things but mainly about how we need to use our initiative to make the world a better place. Apparently he was paid $200,000 by the university to speak which he donated to his charitable foundation. His speech was inspirational but I'm not sure if it was worth that much money but I suppose if it inspires people to do better, it was worth it.
On Thursday I headed back down to New York as my friend Natalie from Nottingham was coming to visit me for 10 nights. My plan was to meet her at the airport at about 8.30pm but when I was on the bus I checked the internet and saw that her flight had been cancelled! We couldn't really contact with each other because she couldn't receive texts or calls from me so the only way was for her to use payphones whenever she came across them or to text me, but as I said I couldn't reply. Eventually she arrived at JFK at 11.30 the next morning and I was there to meet her. We went back to the hotel then had lunch and went to Central Park, Fifth Avenue and to the top of the Rockefeller Center. We decided that we would go to see a show on Broadway and settled on Chicago as we wanted to see one where we knew most of the songs. The show was a bit odd because they had the orchestra on the stage with the cast performing around them but it was still really good.
The next day we went to the south of Manhattan and went on the Staten Island Ferry so we could see the Statue of Liberty without having to pay, and the view was just as good as the one you get from paying for a special ferry. Afterwards we walked around and saw the Stock Exchange, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Seaport and Chinatown. In the evening we went for an Indian at a restaurant near the hotel which was really nice then just had a walk near the hotel because we were really tired. We got the bus back to Albany at Sunday lunchtime and didn't do much else on Sunday. On Monday we went to the mall and I had classes all day on Tuesday so we didn't get up to much. Last night we went to The Cheesecake Factory which was amazing but I felt sick afterwards. When we'd finished there we went to look in a few shops and I bought some fancy dress for St. Patrick's Day.
We're heading back to New York on Saturday morning because Natalie is flying back on Sunday morning. Then next Thursday is my 21st birthday which is very exciting! I'll update the blog after my birthday but at the moment my plans are to have a night out in Albany on my birthday then go to Boston for the weekend because I really like it there. Bye for now!!!
Sunday, 13 February 2011
Superbowl and Letterman
Time for the weekly update.
Last Saturday it was my friend Mehdi's birthday so he had a party at his flat and we went out afterwards which was quite fun. On Sunday it was the Superbowl which is the biggest sporting event in America. Green Bay Packers took on Pittsburgh Steelers. I find American football a bit confusing but I enjoyed the game, I chose to support Green Bay and they eventually won 31-25. They'd been leading 21-3 at one point and it looked like Pittsburgh might steal it at the end but Green Bay just about held on. Personally I found the adverts and the pre-game and half-time shows more entertaining. Christina Aguilera sang the national anthem but messed it up badly which was quite funny. The Black Eyed Peas performed at half-time and although their vocals were terrible, the show itself was spectacular. The adverts cost up to $3 million for 30 seconds so some of them were very entertaining!
Monday and Tuesday were boring as I had lots of work to do, but on Wednesday I went to New York to see Late Night with David Letterman. Before the show we ate at an amazing Mexican restaurant where they made the guacamole in front of you! We arrived at 2 and lined up for about 15 minutes then got given our tickets and were told to come back at 3.30. We eventually got into the studio at about 4.15 and a warm-up comedian told a few jokes then introduced the orchestra who played a couple of songs before David Letterman came out. It turned out that it was 47 years to the day since The Beatles had made their American TV debut on The Ed Sullivan Show in the theatre that we were sitting in! The guests were Elton John and Anderson Cooper, who's an American journalist. At some points it was difficult to see because of the huge cameras but it was still very entertaining!
On Thursday we went to WT's as per usual then on Friday we went for dinner at Chipotle which is a Mexican which is halfway between fast food and a restaurant. Afterwards, everyone was going to see The King's Speech at the cinema but me and Emma had already seen it so we went to see True Grit, which I had already seen but I preferred to The King's Speech. On Saturday I went to the cinema again, this time to see Made In Dagenham, which was a comedy drama about female workers at Ford's Dagenham factory in 1968 who went on strike for equal pay. I really enjoyed it but it was very strange hearing Dagenham accents in America, and I'm sure the main character partly based herself on Stacey Solomon! At night we went out to a couple of bars.
Next week, it's Winter Break so we have a week off. From Friday to Monday, I'm going on a road trip with some friends to Buffalo, Toronto and Niagara Falls which is all very exciting. It's only costing about $130 each for car hire and hotels which is an absolute bargain! I don't have much else planned for this week so I'll update the blog after the trip - bye for now!
Last Saturday it was my friend Mehdi's birthday so he had a party at his flat and we went out afterwards which was quite fun. On Sunday it was the Superbowl which is the biggest sporting event in America. Green Bay Packers took on Pittsburgh Steelers. I find American football a bit confusing but I enjoyed the game, I chose to support Green Bay and they eventually won 31-25. They'd been leading 21-3 at one point and it looked like Pittsburgh might steal it at the end but Green Bay just about held on. Personally I found the adverts and the pre-game and half-time shows more entertaining. Christina Aguilera sang the national anthem but messed it up badly which was quite funny. The Black Eyed Peas performed at half-time and although their vocals were terrible, the show itself was spectacular. The adverts cost up to $3 million for 30 seconds so some of them were very entertaining!
Monday and Tuesday were boring as I had lots of work to do, but on Wednesday I went to New York to see Late Night with David Letterman. Before the show we ate at an amazing Mexican restaurant where they made the guacamole in front of you! We arrived at 2 and lined up for about 15 minutes then got given our tickets and were told to come back at 3.30. We eventually got into the studio at about 4.15 and a warm-up comedian told a few jokes then introduced the orchestra who played a couple of songs before David Letterman came out. It turned out that it was 47 years to the day since The Beatles had made their American TV debut on The Ed Sullivan Show in the theatre that we were sitting in! The guests were Elton John and Anderson Cooper, who's an American journalist. At some points it was difficult to see because of the huge cameras but it was still very entertaining!
On Thursday we went to WT's as per usual then on Friday we went for dinner at Chipotle which is a Mexican which is halfway between fast food and a restaurant. Afterwards, everyone was going to see The King's Speech at the cinema but me and Emma had already seen it so we went to see True Grit, which I had already seen but I preferred to The King's Speech. On Saturday I went to the cinema again, this time to see Made In Dagenham, which was a comedy drama about female workers at Ford's Dagenham factory in 1968 who went on strike for equal pay. I really enjoyed it but it was very strange hearing Dagenham accents in America, and I'm sure the main character partly based herself on Stacey Solomon! At night we went out to a couple of bars.
Next week, it's Winter Break so we have a week off. From Friday to Monday, I'm going on a road trip with some friends to Buffalo, Toronto and Niagara Falls which is all very exciting. It's only costing about $130 each for car hire and hotels which is an absolute bargain! I don't have much else planned for this week so I'll update the blog after the trip - bye for now!
Saturday, 5 February 2011
Back For Good
I realise that I've done a very bad job of maintaining the blog but I'm going to summarise what's happened in the 3 weeks that I've been back in Albany, then I'm going to try my best to update the blog weekly. This is not going to be in any logical order because it's far too difficult to remember what happened when!
First of all I have to talk about the weather! I've never experienced such cold temperatures and huge levels of snow in my entire life! It's snowed quite heavily a few times since I've been back but the most surprising thing is the piles of snow on the sides of the roads. At the mall car park they must be at least 15 feet high! A couple of weeks ago, the temperature dropped to around -25°c which was unbearably cold, so now when it's -8 it feels perfectly fine - that certainly wouldn't be the case if I was in England! There was a terrible snowstorm that hit most of the country on Tuesday and Wednesday and we were supposed to get it really bad on Wednesday so the university called a Snow Day. This annoyed me because I don't have any classes on Wednesday so it made no difference to me whatsoever, but the storm faded out before it reached the North East so it wasn't really bad here.
Since I've been back I've been on a couple of trips. One afternoon I went to a shopping outlet in Massachusetts which was just under an hour away from Albany. Apparently it was quite small compared to most retail outlets but I got a pair of Hilfiger jeans for $13 and a gilet from Gap for $12 so I was very happy. Last weekend I went to New York for a night out with some of my friends. My friend Emma had a friend visiting from England so they were staying in an apartment for the weekend so we all just stayed there. Unfortunately, I inexplicably got very drunk and can't remember any of the night besides being sick. Needless to say, the journey back to Albany the next morning was very difficult!
I'm enjoying my classes this semester more than last semester. I'm taking American Foreign Policy, Roosevelt to Reagan, Issues and Images of Diversity and Introduction to Report Writing. The last two are my favourites so far.
On Wednesday I'm heading back to New York because I've won tickets for The Late Show with David Letterman. The guest is going to be Elton John which should be very entertaining! I've also got tickets to see Bill Clinton give a speech at my university in March.
I've booked a cruise for Spring Break which is the thing I'm most looking forward to at the moment. We leave from New Orleans and go to Belize, Honduras and two places in Mexico. I don't think it's a young persons cruise but I'm more bothered about relaxing in the sun than getting really drunk! My mam, Brian and Matthew are coming to visit the week before I leave and I'm going to stay with them in St. Louis for a few nights before I go on the cruise - all very exciting!
That's all for now but I'll write another post next weekend. Bye!!
First of all I have to talk about the weather! I've never experienced such cold temperatures and huge levels of snow in my entire life! It's snowed quite heavily a few times since I've been back but the most surprising thing is the piles of snow on the sides of the roads. At the mall car park they must be at least 15 feet high! A couple of weeks ago, the temperature dropped to around -25°c which was unbearably cold, so now when it's -8 it feels perfectly fine - that certainly wouldn't be the case if I was in England! There was a terrible snowstorm that hit most of the country on Tuesday and Wednesday and we were supposed to get it really bad on Wednesday so the university called a Snow Day. This annoyed me because I don't have any classes on Wednesday so it made no difference to me whatsoever, but the storm faded out before it reached the North East so it wasn't really bad here.
Since I've been back I've been on a couple of trips. One afternoon I went to a shopping outlet in Massachusetts which was just under an hour away from Albany. Apparently it was quite small compared to most retail outlets but I got a pair of Hilfiger jeans for $13 and a gilet from Gap for $12 so I was very happy. Last weekend I went to New York for a night out with some of my friends. My friend Emma had a friend visiting from England so they were staying in an apartment for the weekend so we all just stayed there. Unfortunately, I inexplicably got very drunk and can't remember any of the night besides being sick. Needless to say, the journey back to Albany the next morning was very difficult!
I'm enjoying my classes this semester more than last semester. I'm taking American Foreign Policy, Roosevelt to Reagan, Issues and Images of Diversity and Introduction to Report Writing. The last two are my favourites so far.
On Wednesday I'm heading back to New York because I've won tickets for The Late Show with David Letterman. The guest is going to be Elton John which should be very entertaining! I've also got tickets to see Bill Clinton give a speech at my university in March.
I've booked a cruise for Spring Break which is the thing I'm most looking forward to at the moment. We leave from New Orleans and go to Belize, Honduras and two places in Mexico. I don't think it's a young persons cruise but I'm more bothered about relaxing in the sun than getting really drunk! My mam, Brian and Matthew are coming to visit the week before I leave and I'm going to stay with them in St. Louis for a few nights before I go on the cruise - all very exciting!
That's all for now but I'll write another post next weekend. Bye!!
Saturday, 11 December 2010
Piece of Work
I had a bit of time on my hands so I thought I'd do a quick update of what's happened this week. On Tuesday, I went to the library and got 6 pages of my essay done (I'd already done 3 so only had 1 left), I was pleased with my effort because it meant I had very little to do on Wednesday. However... when I went to the library on Wednesday morning to finish it off, it turned out that I didn't save it to the computer, so all of Tuesday's work was for nothing. This was 4 hours before the deadline so I was very flustered. I emailed my professor and she was very understanding and gave me until the next day but I eventually got it finished that afternoon. I went home and cheered myself up by ordering a MacBook Pro. I'd been trying to do it for a few days but had found it really complicated to order one in America because Apple wouldn't accept UK cards, I added it up on the UK store and it turned out that it was only going to be slightly more expensive than in America because the student discounts were much better (I'd originally expected it to be about £400 more to get it in the UK).
Classes finished for this semester on Wednesday so I spent Thursday relaxing after the stress of the last couple of weeks. In the evening we went to The Pub for 'trivia' which was fun but we didn't do particularly well, then we headed to WT's for an hour or so. Friday was another relaxing day, in the evening we went to see our friends Giulia, Natalie and Naomi perform in a dance show which was fun, although some of the dances were terrible. Afterwards, we headed to the coffee shop for its official opening party. They'd hired a DJ to play dance music but for me, it didn't really work out, as it seemed like a club that only served coffee... So after a while we went to WT's where we could actually get alcohol.
Today (Saturday) I went downtown with Paola and David in the morning as we'd never been all the way downtown in the day. We took lots of photos of the Empire State Plaza which is where all the political buildings are situated. It was really deserted which was creepy but I think it'll be nice in summer when there's people around and the fountains are turned on. We also went down to the Hudson River to have a look but there wasn't much to see. It's really different to England because all the shops are in the mall so there's nothing at all to do in the town centre. In the afternoon I watched the first part of The X Factor final. It was very nice, Cher was eliminated but I still think she's going to have a huge career. I want One Direction to win! In the evening we went to the mall, and went to a diner for dinner, it was fun watching the staff dancing to Respect by Aretha Franklin, then we went to see The Tourist with Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. I had very high hopes, but in all honesty it was probably the worst movie I've seen since I've been here, and had one of the most convoluted plot twists I've ever seen! When we got out Macy's was open late and I found a Calvin Klein wallet for $20 which was a nice surprise.
That's about it for now, I have a couple of exams in the week then I'm going to New York for the weekend before flying home. I booked my hotel for Saturday night so there isn't much left to organise now. It's only 9 days until I'm home!
Classes finished for this semester on Wednesday so I spent Thursday relaxing after the stress of the last couple of weeks. In the evening we went to The Pub for 'trivia' which was fun but we didn't do particularly well, then we headed to WT's for an hour or so. Friday was another relaxing day, in the evening we went to see our friends Giulia, Natalie and Naomi perform in a dance show which was fun, although some of the dances were terrible. Afterwards, we headed to the coffee shop for its official opening party. They'd hired a DJ to play dance music but for me, it didn't really work out, as it seemed like a club that only served coffee... So after a while we went to WT's where we could actually get alcohol.
Today (Saturday) I went downtown with Paola and David in the morning as we'd never been all the way downtown in the day. We took lots of photos of the Empire State Plaza which is where all the political buildings are situated. It was really deserted which was creepy but I think it'll be nice in summer when there's people around and the fountains are turned on. We also went down to the Hudson River to have a look but there wasn't much to see. It's really different to England because all the shops are in the mall so there's nothing at all to do in the town centre. In the afternoon I watched the first part of The X Factor final. It was very nice, Cher was eliminated but I still think she's going to have a huge career. I want One Direction to win! In the evening we went to the mall, and went to a diner for dinner, it was fun watching the staff dancing to Respect by Aretha Franklin, then we went to see The Tourist with Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. I had very high hopes, but in all honesty it was probably the worst movie I've seen since I've been here, and had one of the most convoluted plot twists I've ever seen! When we got out Macy's was open late and I found a Calvin Klein wallet for $20 which was a nice surprise.
That's about it for now, I have a couple of exams in the week then I'm going to New York for the weekend before flying home. I booked my hotel for Saturday night so there isn't much left to organise now. It's only 9 days until I'm home!
Monday, 6 December 2010
Counting Down The Days
I've just counted and I've been in Albany for 107 days - in some ways it feels a lot shorter but when we talk about things that happened in the first few weeks it could honestly have been a year!
I spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday last week studying for my American Legislatures final exam - it was quite difficult but I'm glad I put as much time in as I did. On Thursday night we went to WT's for our first proper night there for the best part of a month - it was a nice relaxing night.
Ever since I've been here, especially in the last few weeks, I've been craving Indian food so Joe arranged for us to have an Indian lunch buffet on Friday as he considers himself as a bit of an Indian connoisseur. Eight of us went to a little restaurant which was surprisingly busy considering it was quite unattractive from the outside. The food was good, better than the bad curry I had in Boston, but still nowhere near as good as British Indian food. A few people who I've talked to said they've had Indian food when they've been in Britain and it's the best they've ever had. On Friday night, a few of us went to a surprise party for Joe's room mate Alex that his girlfriend had organised to celebrate his graduation, he was pleasantly surprised which was nice. Afterwards, we went to a coffee shop that Joe, Ellen and Austin's friend had opened that week. I met him in the first week and he said then that he planned to open it within a fortnight but he's had a lot of trouble renovating the property, but it's finally open and it's very nice!
I spent Saturday afternoon watching The X Factor. I don't think it's been as good as last year but I'm still absolutely hooked. I'm happy for anyone but Matt to win but I think he'll probably win! In the evening, I went to the cinema with Ellen, Joe and Josh to see 127 Hours. It was directed by Danny Boyle and was about a man who went rock climbing and got stuck alone in the middle of nowhere so had to resort to cutting his arm off after realising that no one would find him and that he would soon die because he had no water. It sounds really gory but it was really well made and it's probably my favourite film I've seen since I've been here. At night, we went to Ellen's intending on going to Bayou at about 12.30 but just as we were about to leave I got some horrible stomach pains that I get occasionally so I couldn't go with everyone. A few others chose not to go, even Ellen couldn't go because she got a serious migraine. The pains stopped after about 20 minutes so we went to the coffee shop for a while before I went home.
I spent Sunday and Monday trying to do my 10-page essay that's due in on Wednesday but I always work best under pressure so I expect to have a heavy work session on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning! After that's handed in, I have a 3 page essay due in for Monday and exams on Tuesday and Wednesday then my first semester in Albany is over work-wise! The weather at the moment is quite awful, it's generally around -3 (26F) no matter what time of day it is and it tends to be quite windy which makes it feel even colder. We haven't had any snow besides the one day in November but today there was snow floating around in the air all day like dust, although it didn't settle - January and February are supposed to be the worst months for snow. Exams finish on Friday 17th so we're planning on having a goodbye party on the Friday night then travelling to New York City on the Saturday where everyone who's going home will stay until they fly. It's going to be really sad because a lot of my closest friends here are only staying for one semester so we have to say goodbye in less than two weeks! On the other hand, I'm very excited to come home, as the title of this post suggests! My friend Natalie who I lived with last year in Nottingham has booked flights to come to visit me from the 3rd to the 13th of March next year which is very exciting and I'm considering going to visit her in the Caribbean for Spring Break in April!
That's all for now, I'll try to blog again before I leave to come home for Christmas, but as you can tell it's going to be a very hectic time! Bye for now!
I spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday last week studying for my American Legislatures final exam - it was quite difficult but I'm glad I put as much time in as I did. On Thursday night we went to WT's for our first proper night there for the best part of a month - it was a nice relaxing night.
Ever since I've been here, especially in the last few weeks, I've been craving Indian food so Joe arranged for us to have an Indian lunch buffet on Friday as he considers himself as a bit of an Indian connoisseur. Eight of us went to a little restaurant which was surprisingly busy considering it was quite unattractive from the outside. The food was good, better than the bad curry I had in Boston, but still nowhere near as good as British Indian food. A few people who I've talked to said they've had Indian food when they've been in Britain and it's the best they've ever had. On Friday night, a few of us went to a surprise party for Joe's room mate Alex that his girlfriend had organised to celebrate his graduation, he was pleasantly surprised which was nice. Afterwards, we went to a coffee shop that Joe, Ellen and Austin's friend had opened that week. I met him in the first week and he said then that he planned to open it within a fortnight but he's had a lot of trouble renovating the property, but it's finally open and it's very nice!
I spent Saturday afternoon watching The X Factor. I don't think it's been as good as last year but I'm still absolutely hooked. I'm happy for anyone but Matt to win but I think he'll probably win! In the evening, I went to the cinema with Ellen, Joe and Josh to see 127 Hours. It was directed by Danny Boyle and was about a man who went rock climbing and got stuck alone in the middle of nowhere so had to resort to cutting his arm off after realising that no one would find him and that he would soon die because he had no water. It sounds really gory but it was really well made and it's probably my favourite film I've seen since I've been here. At night, we went to Ellen's intending on going to Bayou at about 12.30 but just as we were about to leave I got some horrible stomach pains that I get occasionally so I couldn't go with everyone. A few others chose not to go, even Ellen couldn't go because she got a serious migraine. The pains stopped after about 20 minutes so we went to the coffee shop for a while before I went home.
I spent Sunday and Monday trying to do my 10-page essay that's due in on Wednesday but I always work best under pressure so I expect to have a heavy work session on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning! After that's handed in, I have a 3 page essay due in for Monday and exams on Tuesday and Wednesday then my first semester in Albany is over work-wise! The weather at the moment is quite awful, it's generally around -3 (26F) no matter what time of day it is and it tends to be quite windy which makes it feel even colder. We haven't had any snow besides the one day in November but today there was snow floating around in the air all day like dust, although it didn't settle - January and February are supposed to be the worst months for snow. Exams finish on Friday 17th so we're planning on having a goodbye party on the Friday night then travelling to New York City on the Saturday where everyone who's going home will stay until they fly. It's going to be really sad because a lot of my closest friends here are only staying for one semester so we have to say goodbye in less than two weeks! On the other hand, I'm very excited to come home, as the title of this post suggests! My friend Natalie who I lived with last year in Nottingham has booked flights to come to visit me from the 3rd to the 13th of March next year which is very exciting and I'm considering going to visit her in the Caribbean for Spring Break in April!
That's all for now, I'll try to blog again before I leave to come home for Christmas, but as you can tell it's going to be a very hectic time! Bye for now!
Monday, 29 November 2010
Many Roads I Have Travelled
I've left this far too long so the post will probably be lengthy and I'll miss out a lot but I'll have a go.
Two Thursdays ago (the night before Boston), I went to an American version of a pub quiz - called Trivia over here. We didn't win but we won a few individual rounds so we got pitchers of beer and shots of tequila for free. After that, I went to the cinema at midnight to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. It was a good film and I was a bit tipsy which made it even more enjoyable! On the Friday morning we left for Boston which took about 2 hours 30 minutes in the car. We stayed at Ellen's friend Mallory's apartment which was fun. On the Friday evening we went to Quincy Market for food (I got curry, not up to English standard) then headed to the basketball game. The Celtics lost narrowly but all-in-all it was extremely enjoyable, I saw Shaquille O'Neal who was one of the few players I'd ever heard of, he was literally the size of a bear. Afterwards, we got the train to Cambridge which is one area of Boston and met Ellen's friend Michelle and went to a really good club called Middlesex. It just had one DJ doing a continuous mix which was a nice change and he threw a lot of different things in (Human League, Lion King, The Beatles, lots of rap). On Saturday morning we went to a diner called The Breakfast Club which played 80s songs and had 80s movie posters on the walls, the food was really good and reasonably priced, I tried Eggs Benedict which was nice but a bit sickly. In the afternoon we went for a tour of Boston on an amphibious vehicle, also known as a duck, which was a bus that became a boat on water. The tour was entertaining and Ellen was allowed to drive it on the water which was entertaining. Afterwards, we met Ellen's friend Michelle and a couple of her friends and they took us to a barbecue restaurant called Soulfire for dinner, the food was so nice and there were four different types of BBQ sauce to choose from! Later on, we headed out to a few pubs but they didn't accept driving licences as ID so went back to Mallory's and sat around for a few hours before we went to bed. On Sunday, we decided to go out for breakfast again so we drove to Cambridge to look for somewhere but there was no parking so we headed to The Breakfast Club again - one benefit of driving round Cambridge was getting to see quite a bit of Harvard which was really nice. In the afternoon, we went to downtown Boston and did a bit of shopping and sightseeing then went back to Mallory's and headed home at about 4.30.
Last week was a bit disjointed because classes finished and the dining halls closed on Tuesday for the Thanksgiving break. On Tuesday night a few of us went to WT's for a meal, I got steak which was lovely. On Wednesday lunchtime, I went to the international students Thanksgiving dinner which was more fun than it sounds. The food was good then afterwards we did some folk dancing which was weird but entertaining. On Wednesday evening Ellen picked me up and went to her house on Long Island for Thanksgiving. The drive took just over 3 hours and on the way we passed signs for Woodstock, Sleepy Hollow and Amityville, all of which I wish I'd taken photos of. That night we went out for a little bit but we were tired so went back early. On Thursday, Thanksgiving day, we got up quite early and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV which is basically lots of floats and balloons going through the middle of Manhattan with a huge crowd watching. In the afternoon we went to a lovely restaurant called Villa Lombardi's for our Thanksgiving dinner. It was a buffet and there was basically everything you would expect and more, I had about 4 plates full of food and was stuffed (turkey, beef, stuffing, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes with marshmallows, pumpkin crepes, spinach, pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie, ice cream). In the evening we visited some of Ellen's extended family who lived about an hour away. They were all really nice and friendly and we listened to lots o stories and ate more desserts! On Friday morning, Ellen took me for a Long Island bagel which was very nice (spinach and bacon cream cheese) then I got the train to New York City from a place called Ronkonkoma, which I thought was a very funny name. When I got there I met my friends Nikki and Sian from Nottingham in SoHo and we walked to Little Italy for a slice of pizza then we went to Grand Central Station for a look around and headed to the Rockefeller Center to look at the Christmas tree and ice rink. After they headed back to where they were staying I met my friends Pontus and Stine from Albany and went to eat at an Italian where David Letterman once took Madonna for pizza! I got the bus back to Albany at 8.30 so was home for midnight.
The weekend was very quiet, I did almost nothing besides going to Giulia's on Saturday night for pizza. On the way to her apartment, the winds were possibly the coldest I've ever had to deal with - my brain felt like it was frozen and took about 20 minutes to thaw out! I've got a lot of work coming up in the next few weeks. I have a final exam on Thursday and a 10-page essay due in next Wednesday then two exams the week after that. On the bright side, this time in 3 weeks I should be at home in Workington if all goes to plan, although I don't hold much hope after the hellish journey I had on the way here! That's all for now.
Two Thursdays ago (the night before Boston), I went to an American version of a pub quiz - called Trivia over here. We didn't win but we won a few individual rounds so we got pitchers of beer and shots of tequila for free. After that, I went to the cinema at midnight to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. It was a good film and I was a bit tipsy which made it even more enjoyable! On the Friday morning we left for Boston which took about 2 hours 30 minutes in the car. We stayed at Ellen's friend Mallory's apartment which was fun. On the Friday evening we went to Quincy Market for food (I got curry, not up to English standard) then headed to the basketball game. The Celtics lost narrowly but all-in-all it was extremely enjoyable, I saw Shaquille O'Neal who was one of the few players I'd ever heard of, he was literally the size of a bear. Afterwards, we got the train to Cambridge which is one area of Boston and met Ellen's friend Michelle and went to a really good club called Middlesex. It just had one DJ doing a continuous mix which was a nice change and he threw a lot of different things in (Human League, Lion King, The Beatles, lots of rap). On Saturday morning we went to a diner called The Breakfast Club which played 80s songs and had 80s movie posters on the walls, the food was really good and reasonably priced, I tried Eggs Benedict which was nice but a bit sickly. In the afternoon we went for a tour of Boston on an amphibious vehicle, also known as a duck, which was a bus that became a boat on water. The tour was entertaining and Ellen was allowed to drive it on the water which was entertaining. Afterwards, we met Ellen's friend Michelle and a couple of her friends and they took us to a barbecue restaurant called Soulfire for dinner, the food was so nice and there were four different types of BBQ sauce to choose from! Later on, we headed out to a few pubs but they didn't accept driving licences as ID so went back to Mallory's and sat around for a few hours before we went to bed. On Sunday, we decided to go out for breakfast again so we drove to Cambridge to look for somewhere but there was no parking so we headed to The Breakfast Club again - one benefit of driving round Cambridge was getting to see quite a bit of Harvard which was really nice. In the afternoon, we went to downtown Boston and did a bit of shopping and sightseeing then went back to Mallory's and headed home at about 4.30.
Last week was a bit disjointed because classes finished and the dining halls closed on Tuesday for the Thanksgiving break. On Tuesday night a few of us went to WT's for a meal, I got steak which was lovely. On Wednesday lunchtime, I went to the international students Thanksgiving dinner which was more fun than it sounds. The food was good then afterwards we did some folk dancing which was weird but entertaining. On Wednesday evening Ellen picked me up and went to her house on Long Island for Thanksgiving. The drive took just over 3 hours and on the way we passed signs for Woodstock, Sleepy Hollow and Amityville, all of which I wish I'd taken photos of. That night we went out for a little bit but we were tired so went back early. On Thursday, Thanksgiving day, we got up quite early and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV which is basically lots of floats and balloons going through the middle of Manhattan with a huge crowd watching. In the afternoon we went to a lovely restaurant called Villa Lombardi's for our Thanksgiving dinner. It was a buffet and there was basically everything you would expect and more, I had about 4 plates full of food and was stuffed (turkey, beef, stuffing, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes with marshmallows, pumpkin crepes, spinach, pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie, ice cream). In the evening we visited some of Ellen's extended family who lived about an hour away. They were all really nice and friendly and we listened to lots o stories and ate more desserts! On Friday morning, Ellen took me for a Long Island bagel which was very nice (spinach and bacon cream cheese) then I got the train to New York City from a place called Ronkonkoma, which I thought was a very funny name. When I got there I met my friends Nikki and Sian from Nottingham in SoHo and we walked to Little Italy for a slice of pizza then we went to Grand Central Station for a look around and headed to the Rockefeller Center to look at the Christmas tree and ice rink. After they headed back to where they were staying I met my friends Pontus and Stine from Albany and went to eat at an Italian where David Letterman once took Madonna for pizza! I got the bus back to Albany at 8.30 so was home for midnight.
The weekend was very quiet, I did almost nothing besides going to Giulia's on Saturday night for pizza. On the way to her apartment, the winds were possibly the coldest I've ever had to deal with - my brain felt like it was frozen and took about 20 minutes to thaw out! I've got a lot of work coming up in the next few weeks. I have a final exam on Thursday and a 10-page essay due in next Wednesday then two exams the week after that. On the bright side, this time in 3 weeks I should be at home in Workington if all goes to plan, although I don't hold much hope after the hellish journey I had on the way here! That's all for now.
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