Welcome to Oregon

After 36 hours, 3 planes, 2 airport floors and 1 retired federal agent I finally arrived at Oregon State University to start my American College exhange year.
OSU is a fairly large university in a small american town, where frat parties are the place to be and the 'football' team are religion. After my first week of orientation I have now fully immersed myself into american college life. This was kicked off by a convocation which is essentially a formal welcoming to all new students but it is a bit of a serious affair with the national anthem, speeches and saluting of the flag, all very american.
Its the norm out here for those living in dorms to have a roomate, my roomate Rudi is a future american football player from Inglewood in LA and out here in Oregon we have become quite the pair on campus, the tall blackman from LA and the englishman in a prodominatley white american university.
The accent does work a charm and already people seen to know me even if I've never met them before!
Anyway I will leave it there for now, dont want to give too much away to soon. More on the frat parties and 'football' games to come.

By
William Dunford
Studying Civil Engineering at OSU for a year

Go Wildcats!

Hi everyone,

My name is Sam and I'm currently studying Chemistry at the University of Arizona. I was a little apprehensive about being out here with all the problems Arizona is having with Mexico but I haven't seen anything that would make me think there are any issues.

I arrived the day before Undergraduate orientation started so I would be getting very sleepy in the afternoons due to jetlag but I quickly got over that.

There were two things I knew I'd have to get used to very quickly: the heat and the size of the place! It has been 100F almost every day here which makes a stark difference to when I left England. The actual city of Tucson is very spread out so public transport is a must! The campus is a lot busier than Nottingham with a lot more bikes so you always have to be alert..otherwise you'll get run over!

I went to my first American Football game last night. I couldn't believe how many residents of the city came out to support their team as well as all the students. The marching band, who performed before the match, were amazing. They would form various formations such as the shape of Arizona and an 'A' for Arizona. The atmosphere every time our team scored was amazing. Everyone went crazy!

The university system here is so different from back home. I'm in classes with people who have been studying for their bachelors degree for almost 5 years! There is a lot more work than I'm used to with exams every couple of weeks!

The university has set up a system where International Students are paired with a Tucson family. I will see my host family every couple of weeks. They've turned into my tour guide while I'm here and are happy to take me sightseeing to any places that I want to go. They've also said that I can come and take advantage of their pool and home cooked food!

I'm meeting with any Arizona students who want to come and study at Nottingham in a couple of weeks. I'm hoping to get lots of them to sign up so other Nottingham students can experience what I'm experiencing here!
I'm so glad I took up this opportunity!

Hi everyone,

What with it being induction week for international students here at Nottingham I thought it would be as good a time as any to report back on my trip to the States.
I had a great time! Sitting here watching the rain pour down outside it is quite hard to remember the blistering heat I experienced everywhere I went but sunburn doesn’t lie. It just hurts.

I started out in Boston and got lots of research done at the JFK library, ably assisted by the library staff. It can be quite difficult to get work done at the JFKL because the research room looks out over the bay and on a sunny day has a lovely view of the water. I also managed to see a friend’s band play in Cambridge, which is a lovely area, although due to time constraints I wasn’t able to visit any of the Harvard museums but the campus in general seemed very scholarly (and privileged). I also met up with a really nice Nottingham-bound student and did my best to put a friendly face to the University. I hope she has a great time now she is in Nottingham and settles in quickly.

My next stop was in Binghamton, NY, to stay with a friend from my undergraduate days. Once again I had a great time, although there isn’t really too much to do in Binghamton. Still, we indulged in some baseball (like rounders but a bit harder), football (proper football, as in soccer) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer reruns (old school). We even went to a beach, albeit an overcrowded manmade beach on a lake. I met lots of great people who made me feel very welcome in spite of my crazy Nottingham accent.

Another 7 hour Greyhound trip took me to Washington DC for a fortnight of research at the National Archives. I have to say that the nation’s capital was the most impressive place I visited (sorry Binghamton!). It was really fun seeing all the famous monuments, statues, buildings and museums. Favourite museum: Natural Science, a freebie like all the Smithsonians but with a massive collection of exhibits and fossils showing the beauty of the natural world and the elegant explanatory power of evolution. Favourite restaurant: Haad Thai on NY Ave, tasty Thai food with friendly staff. Favourite monument: the Washington Monument is just awesome in that it is visible from almost everywhere, although the Lincoln Monument is so iconic particularly considering the historic speeches that have been made there (I’m looking at you Martin Luther King, not Glenn Beck); the walk around the area to see all the monuments was extremely pleasant with some wonderful views of the city. Favourite statue: Albert Einstein, an interesting depiction of one of the 20th century’s greatest figures, only ruined by a middle aged mother who insisted her daughter clamber all over Einstein to get a satisfactory photo; they took forever but I’m sure it was 100% worth it.

I was fairly reluctant to leave DC as I had a lovely time there but Austin, TX, proved to be an intriguing antidote to the business-like demeanour of DC. Unsurprisingly, it was ridiculously hot in Austin. The food was pretty good; I mostly ate Mexican, which wasn’t as hot as I was hoping for but good nonetheless. I also got to see the famous bats leaving from under Congress Bridge for their nightly feeding which was an incredible sight; huge numbers of small bats flying so fast they become a virtual blur. As ever I spent most of my time in the library but still managed to see plenty of Austin.

All in all I had lots of fun in the States and feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to visit some really interesting places. It certainly made me want to revisit these places, and explore the US in general, when I don’t have to work and have more free time to explore. Don’t know when I will get to go out there again but I’m looking forward to it!

Ben

USA, I love you!

Hi everybody!

My name is Veronika Poniscjakova, and I’m going to spend this whole year at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT.

When I left Slovakia with my uncle (obviously my family doesn’t consider me competent enough to get to the USA on my own in one piece), I was a bit scared, as I didn’t really know what to expect. Thankfully, everything turned out to be fine and I’m slowly getting used to life outside of Europe.

The first city I visited in the USA was New York. I fell in love with the Big Apple the very moment I got off the plane and I promised myself that I would move there one day no matter what! I spent five amazing days in NYC, but obviously that is not just enough!
Even though I’ve seen almost everything I could have, I believe there’s always something left to explore, there’s always something new that can surprise you!
I loved visiting the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, 5th Avenue was astonishing, Central Park was entertaining, I even went to the UN building, which was one of the best experiences I've ever had.
I guess I could easily get used to the lifestyle of 'The City That Never Sleeps' but I had to move on and start my new life in Connecticut.

The university reminds of our own university, except that it is enormous and extremely easy to get lost here.
The people here are nice and helpful (which you can appreciate after you get lost), and very open.
I didn’t find my hall too amazing though. It is one of the oldest halls on the campus, plus, having no air-conditioning in 95 °F is not exactly enjoyable either; However, I was lucky to get a nice roommate, which compensates the suffering caused by the bathroom - shared by 20 people!

The classes seem to be really demanding, I had to study from the very first day, I’m also taking Arabic, which may be challenging but I hopefully I won’t fail.
I hope that hard classes and being underage (the fact of which I’m not really fond) won’t prevent me from having an amazing time in the USA and hopefully I’ll have the time of my life here!

Cheers,

Veronika

First steps into Canada

Arrival.

As I turned out and left to go into immigration, I was pretty nervous. I had some horrific experiences from the Department of Homeland Security in the states, and was wary of much the same. Thankfully, all was fine. Got all my documents processed within 10 minutes and my immigration official spent most of his time making fun of the Quebecois. Even though I was going to Montreal, I decided to fly to Toronto and then make my way up to Montreal. I had always wanted to go to Niagra Falls, and now seemed an apt opportunity. On first impressions, Toronto is an amazing city. It has the skyscraper feel of New York, but the people seem friendlier. Hopefully my detour en route to Montreal will work out, and so far so good!

Montreal

Arrived at McGill, which has an unbelievable campus. Pretty pleased with my location, as well. I have a 7/8 minute walk from my place to lectures. The view is pretty stunning as well (see picture above). First few days were a bit difficult, as I had to buy so much stuff, and it didn’t leave a lot of time for socialising. Going out on Friday night though, which should remedy all of that. Actually, I am quite excited for the start of class and to get back into the routine. Found out the gym here is amazing value, at £30 a year. Even the weather has been absolutely gorgeous, although I doubt that will continue for much longer. The only real problem I have encountered thus far is with mobile phones. Things are very different to Britain. No voicemail or caller ID unless you pay for it (and it costs a lot), and what has really upset me is that you have to pay to receive texts. I am sure later updates will be more interesting, but I’m just settling in at the moment.

So that about wraps things up, hope everyone is keeping well.

Alastair

Howdy from Texas

Hello! So a quick introduction - my name is Laurence Wilkinson, I am a third year Law Student, and I have been sent to the University of Texas in Austin in an attempt to understand the Law as written by Americans, a completely different proposition to the Law as written by Brits apparently. So, after packing my life into a 23kg suitcase, and just about surviving the 10 hour flight from Heathrow to Houston on a BA plane (that surprisingly wasn't on strike), I arrived at George Bush International Airport in the Lone Star State.

The first thing that was noticed was the temperature - arriving in from cold rainy Blighty into 40 degree humid heat was definitely a shock, but thankfully absolutely everything had air conditioning! There was still a bit of a trek to get from Houston Airport to Austin - to start with I had to get a bus from the airport into Houston central. The fare would have been $1.25, but only in change, and as the smallest note I had was a $10, and so the driver shook his head with pity and jerked his thumb to the back of the bus. On the road I marvelled at the expansive concrete freeways, which at points looked more like rollercoasters than roads, swooping and ducking and diving in order to connect the various routes to each other.

They say everything is bigger in Texas, and they don't lie. The cars there are mostly Ford, Chevrolet or Dodge trucks, twice as long as your average British motor vehicle, and pretty much twice as high. The malls on the side of the road seemed to go on forever, with megastore after megastore. The people weren't too small either - some of them tall enough to reach the roof whilst sitting down, others of them wide enough to take up most of their neighbor's seat as well as their own.

I then had to take a Greyhound from Houston to Austin, and it was quite an experience. The man sitting in front of me had a 3 hour long conversation with himself, pausing only to protest the alleged crushing of his knees inflicted by another passenger, who was told in no uncertain terms that he was to cease his 'bouncing' on his chair or else. Needless to say the bouncing was not mentioned again (although whether it had happened in the first place was debatable) and so the conversation with himself about the weather and the fishing conditions for the coming week continued.

I arrived into Austin at 9 that evening to be met by a wonderful UT girl who kindly took me to my apartment, where I was united with my fellow travelers from Nottingham, who had arrived in earlier that day. By this time jet lag had taken its toll, and after attempting to make conversation and failing miserably, we decided sleep was a good option and hit the hay.

The next morning we were fully awake by about 6AM, our brains telling us that it was now the afternoon and time to get up, and so we got up and started to sort through the items left behind by the previous Nottingham UT colleagues, and there were various things of use under piles of Law notes and countless saucepans. We then met our landlord Bill - a very pleasant man with a ponytail and numerous cowboy hats in his office. He gave us an introduction to Texas property Law, and then set us on our way to get our electricity, banking and other essential things sorted out.

We caused a stir in Bank of America - 5 Brits all crowded into a small-drive through bank to open new accounts was a very exciting prospect apparently! Many gifts were lavished upon us, and photographs were taken to record the moment. Our banker was extremely friendly, and doubled as a tour guide answering endless questions about the best place to... and the cheapest place to find... We spent the rest of the day sorting out various things, and enjoying American norms of 24-7 shopping and free refills on drinks - luxuries we were unaccustomed to back home. Everyone was we met was friendly and happy to meet us, as far as we were aware anyway.

Texas is a very new experience for all of us, and we look forward to the things to come!

Toronto in a month

Hi all,

I have not been blogging in a while and I came back after a holiday, two presentations and a hope to come to canada in a month. I have booked my fairly expensive high season ticket in July and will stay in Toronto and god knows where else for a couple of weeks and I am sure its going to be loads of fun :-)

Nastaran