So I've almost been at Temple and in North Philly for almost a week now (it's 30th August - 14:47 here), so it's about time I updated the blog (sorry for the wait!) One thing to note though, before I go into any detail, is that I love it here. The weather is incredible (I wish I wasn't so pale) and the people are great. Big up to the 8th Floor massive!
To start off the trip, the airport was depressing. I hate good byes and I despised having to say farewell to my family and Ella. I cried, which is not unusual, but thankfully I had Flo there to help me through it. The plane journey was long, boring and delayed too which didn't help. And then when I got to the customs desk Stateside I was convinced that the man was going to reject me as I always seem to have problems with the fingerprints. But, you'll be glad to know, it went smoothly, and I got in the country without a glitch! Hurrah! However, complications weren't dodged there. When I got to Temple, I was given the wrong key and my roommate had taken my room accidentally. It's alright though, it's been sorted and everything's now on track!
I thought I'd be sharing a bedroom with my roommate, Tara, but we have our own rooms and share a little living room space and kitchen! Yay. However, the words 'microwave oven' do not seem to mean the same thing here apparently, so we're stuck with just a microwave and a hob - no oven, so I need to be inventive. My first meal was a burrito and I wish I could say I made it myself but then I'd just be lying. But I may as well make use of the lovely little mexican place next to my dorm!
The campus itself is great too. The neighbourhood isn't the safest place, as me and Flo nearly found out when we thought the taxi driver was going to drop us outside a crack den, but luckily the area is overrun with students as the campus is about the same size as Norwich! No wonder the North don't like Temple students very much.
On to
Day Two...Me and the girls bought a Starbucks coffee (how very American!) and I had my first discussion with a Starbucks employee about England and the accent. Becca was told she looked like Posh Spice (twice in two days may I add!) and Flo tried a blueberry bagel. I tasted a little bit of it and it was delicious, so go try one, England! We then explored campus and went to two international orientation meetings where we met four German students and two ladies from Puerto Rico, who told us they would teach us salsa at some point. This has yet to happen, but I'll keep you posted. Jaime, the international advisor, did say, however, that she has a zumba class on Tuesday evenings downtown, so next time you see me, kids, I may be a zumba pro! I'd actually never heard of it in my life before, so I'm learning a lot here. We later met Becca's roommate, Adrienne, who is from a place not far from Philly and she filled us in on the American way. Apparently a lot of transfers go to Temple, which we seem to be discovering everyday!
Day Three - I went to my first convocation! For those who don't know, it's an introductory assembly welcoming Freshman (yes, Freshman, not Freshers) to the University. I was like a child and got very excited at the sight of the Dean, the Temple President and all the other important University figures in graduation-style gowns and hats. And to make me even more hyperactive, the welcome speeches was followed by a music student singing an operatic version of the American National Anthem and then a PEP RALLY! You've got to love the Temple Owls. However, me and the girls felt a little lost when everyone started singing the team song, so our only option was to watch on in awe and try and sing along. A day or two later, I managed to learn the whole thing and it goes a little something like this...
"T for Temple U...U - niversityyyy. Fight fight fight for the cherry and the white. For the cherry and the white we'll fight fight fight!"
The first American football game is next Friday against Villa Nova so I'm going to be singing my little heart out!
Oh and check out Temple's symbol in the background!
Later that day, after joining in with the jubilee on Liacouras Walk and watching the crazy sorority dancers/steppers, we headed to City hall and Market Street in search of bedding and all I can really say is that the city is beautiful. Check out this peg [see below] that stands at the side of the street. So, word of advice, visit Philly at some point in your lives as it's great and very cultural! After shopping at K-Mart and then ending up much further North than we intended on the SEPTA ride back to Temple, we ate meatballs and had a nice little chat with Adrienne and her friend, Adam. Adam was thoroughly intrigued to learn about England and to be taught a few English sayings. This then led to a lengthy discussion regarding the differences in food between America and England; we recommended a good Sunday lunch and the obvious fish and chips and they told us to try a Philly Cheese Steak. Geno's or Jim's seem to be the popular vote amongst the Temple bunch! Oh and another interesting word to note: 'Hoagie'. It's Philly slang for a sub, or a huge sandwich!
The peg.
Later that night we met Dan and Chad who live at the end of the corridor (leaving the dorm room door open whilst eating and chatting works a treat when you want to meet people!) and then went to Greasey turf field and played Tug of War where we became part of 'Team Edge', challenging the other dorms to Tug of War battles. It was the most inventive and mental activity that I've seen in a Welcome Week and I even managed to graze my foot amongst the excitement. The Edge came third though, so my injury wasn't for nothing! The Freshmen certainly know how have fun here.
Friday - This was the day we met the our little 8th Floor group. All it took was socialising amongst ourselves in the corridor for a while and suddenly we were surrounded by about 10 people, all of which are so interesting, so unique and so American! Most of them are from Pennsylvania, Tanairi is from NY and Yeoun Joo (or Jeezy as she is now aptly named) is originally Korean and moved to America a few years ago. That girl had guts considering she didn't know a word of English before arriving here! We later had dinner with them all (I had an amazing stromboli) and then hung out in one of the dorm rooms. It was so fun getting to know more Americans and to trade slang and other cool bits of information between the cultures; they all love the English accent so that's always a good starting point! We then went to see a hypnotist and I can safely say that it was one of the most hilarious things I have seen. One guy from the audience was even hypnotised accidentally. The best part of the show, however, included the volunteers thinking that a belt was a snake and going absolutely crazy, one girl trying to count down from 10 to 1 and missing out the number 5 each time, followed by her attempting to convince the audience that her and another volunteer were not dating or intimate even though he kept saying 'Yes!' or 'Oh Yeah!' every time the hypnotist questioned him about it. Oh and the show ended with the "victims" thinking that an audience member had stolen their bellybuttons. So you can see why I had a great time. Tanari, on the otherhand, remained cynical.
As we met some friends, Flo, Becca and myself thought it would be nice to hang out the next day so we went to City Hall and South Street with Morgan and Tanairi. A hell of a lot of walking was involved but it was worth it. The area is stunning, varied and a little bit vintage. We went into a thrift store, a cool poster place, we saw Macy's and Mr William Penn on the top of City Hall, cool cobbled streets that looked a bit English and Philly's Magical Garden (a garden and house made of mosaics!):
This was so cultural and so beautiful. Probably one of the best pieces of architecture I have seen.
After dehydrating ourselves and feeling utterly exhausted we went back to The Edge, ate and then partied with the gang. The Americans certainly drink differently to what we do - Thank you Jeezy! We also had a free ticket to go and see Wale (pronounced Walaaaaay) who is apparently "the best thing to come out of D.C". We weren't so sure about that so we left in search of a party. No luck there either so we called it a night.
Sunday was Target and Ikea day. Becca was in her element. Travelling on a yellow school bus from Temple's Student Center to Target was my personal highlight! We then went back to our dorms and I got a knock on the door from Morgan who had made me two CDs :) Beautifully decorated and a lovely welcome gift:
The night came to a close by going to a mini luau (well not really a luau, but there was pork, Welch's grape soda and cookies) in front of our building. This was
free food may I add, which can be added to the mass amounts of other freebies that we've acquired this week, including T-shirts, bags, pens and even a set of IPod speakers!
I then proceeded to get very scared about my classes on Monday so I decided to go and get a little stressed out in my room and try to get myself prepared. It's now Monday and my class doesn't start til 5:30pm! Crazy, crazy. I've been bricking it all day! I'll let you know how it goes.
Until next time...
