Beer Pong, Toffee Mocha Frappucinos and Sci-fi

Who knew there could be so much emotional turbulence in one week? Apparently living thousands of miles from home does this to you.

So, this week has been interesting. A little bit of drama regarding a small dose of homesickness and a large helping of tears, but, as always, this has passed and I'm feeling goooood. I've been researching societies tonight as I've not got round to that yet, so hopefully I'll be joining a cool club soon which will get me more involved with Temple life. Watch this space. A spot of volunteering may also be occurring, me being the charitable and loving person that I am!

I've been in the library a little too much this week, so it's probably best that I do something a little more thrilling with my weekdays. The weekends are always so much fun though. Me and Flo had a nice little day in Rittenhouse Square on Saturday, chilling in the park and reading Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. Needless to say, not a lot of reading got done as we always end up having ridiculous girly chats and procrastinating. It's got to be done on a fabulous day in the big city though. I also purchased a toffee mocha frappucino to enjoy in the park and all I can say is: WOW! It's like heaven in a cup. No joke. As is a breakfast muffin from Starbuck's. Utterly delicious, if ridiculously bad for you. I promise I'm not getting fat! I've been to the gym here and everything. I also attempted Zumba this evening, but the class was filled by the time I'd got there. Apparently you have to be there half an hour before the class in America. 

You may be interested to know that there was rain today, and on Sunday! The English climate seems to have infiltrated the East. Not good. It was humid though so there's a subtle difference.

In other news, my weekend was pretty darn good. I ended up at three parties in the space of three days, two of which turned out to be incredibly fun. The third, well, not so much, but I did meet some lovely people and raided even more Philly apartments. These parties, apart from getting drunk, discussing my Englishness, being given bourbon whiskey initially hidden behind a sofa and meeting guys named Tito, are good for improving the beer ping skillz, mainly in basements of houses. I'm getting good at it! I've not quite won a game yet, but I'm playing against Americans so I think my losing is justified. I also met a guy this weekend who reads a book a day. A BOOK A DAY AND HE'S NOT EVEN AN ENGLISH MAJOR! I was thoroughly impressed.

The weekend ended with a forty minute sci-fi play on campus. It was pretty interesting actually as it had been adapted from a radio play. Name: Kaleidoscope. Writer: Ray Bradbury. Oh and let's not forget the tea, coffee and doughnuts in Bruce's room on Sunday evening. He needs to be English as he loves tea... a lot!

Interesting fact of the week: My roommate's uncle is the guy in LCD Soundsystem. She decided to annouce this on Monday and, of course, I went pretty mental. So did Ella from across the pond. :)

Paley

I've been in the library waaaay too much this week, so hopefully I'll have something interesting to post at the weekend!

I went to a Russian Festival today. Bizarre to say the least, so I thought this was pretty interesting to note. Philly surprises me everyday. Oh and the Russians have a strange dress sense, particularly their traditional get-ups.

(Me and Matt Sick - yes, that is his surname. He's learning how to speak Russian right now).

I feel uncomfortably full

Last night needed to be freeze-framed. I would love to have stepped out of myself and seen what the hell was going on.

I woke up to find 3 guitars, a bunch of cups and bowls, a lime green chair and a packet of  Bicycle cards in my room this morning. But, I am pleased to report that I have now officially tried a Philly cheese steak. Not good for a hangover and I'm not really sure I enjoyed it all that much. Geno's, I don't know whether you are really all that.

(The line for Geno's was crazy.)

I also forgot to mention my new-found love for Snapple: 

Laughter and Rocky

I'm writing this post as I sit in my room, listening to Grenouilles (reminding me a little bit of Norwich and the Birdcage after I downloaded the EP yesterday...it's good music so take a listen) and looking at all the mess from last night. A guitar on the floor, a travel guitar on the couch (yes a damn good jam session occurred last night and I met Phil's friend and Matt's friend who have both come to Temple for a couple of days) and a ton of dirty dishes and cups. Great. You know what I'll be doing later. Phil, Becca and Jeezy have just joined me in a discussion about what the hell happened last night. Oh and I don't think I've mentioned Phil (from Carlisle in PA) and Matt (from Wellsborough) before but I've been hanging out with them this week and I've never laughed so much in my entire life. Enough said, I think.

Anyway, regardless of the laughter, this week has been an emotional one. I got a little homesick, especially on Monday and the day didn't start off too well either so it was destined to be a bad one. But, this was just a minor glitch and I'm now back on track. I have to mention, though, that I'm not the only 8th Floor lodger that is feeling sad right now. Bad news to report:There was a bus accident last Saturday when a double decker bus that was going to Toronto was too tall to fit under a bridge, killing four people including Temple student Kevin Coffey, a close friend of Becca's roommate. R.I.P.

In other news, my grandparents and Dad have discovered the wonders of Skype! Hilarious experiences to say the least, but I thoroughly love Skype. Talking to people helped me feel a lot better. Classes have been interesting, but I can't work out whether I enjoy them more than those at home. They seem more school-like and I really don't like the whole raise-your-hand-when-you-want-to-speak thing. Outdated, especially at University. Oh America. But I have gained some pretty cool knowledge, especially of the photography variety. Check out a photographer named Harold Edgerton on Google. He's a dude. I also watched a film called Momento in my cinema studies class (my professor's name is Quincy Jone and he has amazing dreads -always a good combo), so I recommend that too. 

So over the past couples of weeks I've been doing random stuff including drinking my new favourite drink (Four Loco - it's a killer) and going to a few house parties (everyone I meet loves my accent!), I saw some Amish people down my street selling fruit and flowers and I got very excited, tried a Pop Tart and juicy chews for the first time (I have yet to try Swedish Fish though - boo), I went to King of Prussia mall to have a little shop with the girls (I bought some incredible chords!) and my personal highlight was running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art like Rocky! YEAH! The museum was incredible and me, Flo and Becca saw some amazing pieces of art including a replica of Duchamp's urinal!

Other interesting facts: I found out Tanairi loves Incubus and Sublime, we got a little bit into Jersey Shore the other night (woops), Matt introduced me to the wonders of Biz Markie, the Phillies are currently first in their division, I am half-way to fully understanding the rules of American football thanks to Bruce and Dan, I went to my first college football game the other week (Temple won against Villanova 31-24) and I want to write for Temple News! I'm hoping this is successful.

Today's antics will involve going to the Love Park (maybe), sitting in one of Philly's amazing parks reading with the crew, and trying my first Philly Cheese Steak. It's a bit of a crime that I haven't had one yet!

<-- One of my favourite pictures of me and the girls. :)