These past few days have definitely brought the whole study abroad experience down to reality. It's so weird having all my friends back home move back to Keele and me not be there with them.
I'm starting to see pictures from freshers week now and that's made it really sink in.
I arrived back from the mountains (I'll explain later) to a late birthday package from Jane and it couldn't have come at a better time. The one weekend I'm missing being at uni, I get all the things that make me feel at home from her. Milk tea being the main one. She introduced me to the stuff and I'd always go down to her bedroom whenever I fancied one. Since it's Hong Kong style tea, it's a lot different than normal cuppas you'd be used to, but something about sitting here drinking it, with the rain pouring outside makes me feel very much like I'm back at Keele even though I'm 4,507 miles away.
I skyped the girls at the new house a few days ago while they were planning Jasmine's 21st birthday party. I've already missed a lot of developments in that house, for example Larry the house hamster. God help the poor thing when I get back, apparently he lives in between mine and Jenny's room, and we've been known on occasion to get quite rowdy.
Skyping Haruka this morning was a lot stranger since she lives in the block two away from where we lived last year. It was nice seeing her new room filled with posters I'd given her early last year (SHINee related of course) but also made me really sad when she said she keeps expecting me to keep popping in like I always would. I miss that girl a lot, and I can tell she will a lot more this week since we usually drunkenly snuggle in her room after a night out!
Snuggling ties me in nicely to our weekend in the mountains, a trip to CSU's Pingree Park organized for the internationals. It's about two hours away so we had to be up bright and early, and the day started great for me since I'd spilled an entire flask of hot chocolate on my jacket before we'd even got on the coach. We headed there, wonderful mountain roads causing us to all feel a bit sickly, and got stuck into the days activities as soon as we arrived. The low ropes course was a bit patronizing and reminded me of PGL back in the day, but Caragh and I (okay, mainly me) spent the majority of the day staring at the attractive leader in our group called Shane.
In the late afternoon we walked along a small trail through Pingree and managed to get some pretty dodgy looking sunburn from that, Caragh, quote Leif, resembled a battenberg, he had a sunglasses tan and I had a pink rim around my hairline. The Keelites looking as sexy as ever.
We had a cultural talent show later, and in all honestly had no idea what to do. So the Australians (Eleni, Chrissie, Harry & Liam), the Keelites and the rest of the English kids (Jack, Megan, Jonny and Carly) decided to join forces and become "TEAM COMMONWEALTH". The Aussies taught us a dance called the Nutbush, which I can only describe as something similar to the Macarena or Saturday Night being played at the SU. We did it flash mob style, with two of us adding to the dancers every so often. We killed it, even if people stole our flash mob idea later on, and the video of it has proven Jack's amazing ability to exit the stage in a suave fashion.
After the talent show, we headed to a campfire where we sat and made smores under the stars. The sky was super clear, and with us being at 9,000ft you could see way more stars than usual, it actually looked like a 3D painting. We then headed back to the dorm and spent the night laughing over smuggled alcohol.
The next morning, we had to be up super early again, and I think Caragh and I were the only ones who got a good sleep since we had the bright idea to snuggle all night for body warmth. Start of a great friendship right there. It was such a cool place to have visited and as I'm writing this, we're actually planning to go camping again this weekend before it gets too cold.
Now for the sorority update! Short and sweet this time, but I went on yet another owl pal date for fro yo and got informed that I apparently have a huge amount of the girls wanting to go on dates with me. Obviously being the only Brit they've every had is an exciting thing for them! On Friday night we had our new member retreat, which was an optional sleepover, but I couldn't do that due to the weekend in the mountains. We shared stories about things sentimental to us, so obviously I took my Pooh Bear and told them how I take pictures of him everywhere I go. Afterwards we painted mason jars, which I did surprisingly well with since I'm not the most artistically talented of the lot.
All in all, a good weekend!
Blogging has been taking a back seat lately, especially since I have midterms coming up in the next few weeks. A lot of the stuff have been doing this past week has been Chi O related, since the girls in the pledge classes above us want to get to know us.
We had our formal pledging ceremony last week, in which we all repeated a pledge (hand over heart included, very American) and signed our name in the pledge book, I was so happy! I happened to be the first name on a fresh page, and let's be honest, that's the only one anyone really looks at. So looks like I'll forever be remembered in Chi Zeta (the chapter of Chi O at CSU) history. We received our new member pin and one of only 5 white carnations we'll ever receive during our lifetime, so it's considered to be a big deal. Apparently you get one on your wedding day, which I'll definitely be holding them to down the line!
Monday was our first new member meeting, which consisted of a BBQ and then the start of our new member initiation programme. That basically means we learn songs and learn more about the history of Chi O. On Friday afternoon, Sarah took me for fro yo and later on I went with a few other girls to Horsetooth Reservoir. We intended to go on a hike but instead ended up sitting taking pictures of the sunset. Finally, Sunday was our sisterhood retreat, which involved more bonding and getting to know each other through all sorts of games.
On Saturday night the Keelites went to Red Rocks Amphitheater to see Grace Potter & the Nocturnals. Even though we only knew about two songs, we all had a really good time and the atmosphere was amazing. Leif and I managed to turn Caragh into a northerner for the night, something we never expected to succeed in!
We were so lucky with the weather too since thunderstorms were forecast, and we actually got the opportunity to watch them in the distance over downtown Denver. Needless to say, we were very worse for wear the next morning, but it was easily the best night we've had in a while. I felt even worse from the fact I'd headbutted a tree at some point during the night.
I know for certain I've been missing the SU and everyone back home, which is made even harder since they're all moving back in with each other this week. Bonding with Leif and Caragh especially has definitely helped and made it a lot better going through it together!
Before I begin this post describing my fun weekend in the mountains, I feel the need to rant. All I wanted was a nice cup of tea before I wrote this and sat down to continue reading my book. I headed down to the shop to buy a few teabags and milk and came back all happy with myself. First issue, no kettle. I had to settle for the microwave to boil my water, and everything about this cup of tea is so lackluster. However, I won't let my disappointment taint the rest of this post, so I'll just sip it in silence and vow never to venture into that domain of tea making for a while.
So I got invited by my mums friend Sue to go along Trail Ridge Road in the Rocky Mountain National Park. It's the highest continuous paved road in the US, but due to the weather and its height it will get closed soon, so Sue offered to take me on a whistle stop tour so I could at least say I'd been on it.
I invited Caragh with me too, so on Friday after class we blagged a lift from my sorority friend Courtney who was driving home for the weekend and headed to Denver. It was so nice having a home cooked meal waiting for us, and some margaritas too! We got up pretty early on Saturday so we'd have enough time to do everything we planned. First we headed to Estes Park which is a cute little mountain town with so many taffy and sweet shops! It kind of reminded me of Gatlinburg, Tennesse in that sense. There was also a market going on in the town centre so we mooched at that, tried some taffy and headed off along the road.
The road actually have some really nice views, so we stopped off at the lookout points, took as many pictures as we could then headed off again. That was quiet good because those windy mountain turns in the car weren't really agreeing with me, so the fresh air was very much welcomed. The wind was absolutely freezing and there's some pretty funny pictures of us looking wonderfully windswept. Once we got to the top Caragh and I took the final walk up to the highest point, were the elevation is 12,005 feet above sea level. Pooh Bear got whipped out too for a token picture, although I had to hold on tight because there was no way he was getting blown away.
Then we headed to a place called Grand Lake, which was our last stop of the day. We didn't get to spend much time there after we ate lunch, but it's definitely a place we want to go back to. The lake had pink sparkly paddle-boats which was a selling point in itself. There's the story of my first trip to the Rocky Mountians, hopefully I'll be back there again before and after the snowfall :)
So I know I haven't posted recently, but with valid reason. I wanted to document this entire experience of the past 4 days in one go, especially since I didn't know what the final outcome would be.
This weekend was the beginning of what is known as sorority "rush", or in other words, recruitment. CSU has 7 sororities: Pi Beta Phi, Chi Omega, Gamma Phi Beta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Delta Delta, Zeta Tau Alpha and Kappa Delta.
In a very spur of the moment decision, Caragh and I decided to sign up since we knew it would be an experience we'd never get the chance to take part in again. On Saturday about 500 of us potential pledges were split into groups of around 20 and given a Rho Gamma (a sorority girl who leaves her house temporarily to help us find ours).
From 9:00am until 8:00pm that day we visited each sorority, spending 30 minutes in a whirlwind of conversations with the girls, most of mine involving "oh my god you have such a cute accent" or "wow you're from England". I embraced this, but after a while the combination of slowing my speech, refraining from using slang and shouting above the general natter in the houses took it out of me. I even got to the point where I just went along with the fact they assumed I was from London because explaining there's more to England just wasn't worth it. All in all it was a very surreal day, especially since I hadn't quite expected 40+ girls singing at me when we knocked on the front door.
Saturday night ended with us ranking all seven sororities in order of preference and waiting to see which ones we got called back to the next day. I was called back to Kappa Delta, Chi Omega and Delta Delta Delta, and this day was more relaxed in the sense we could actually discuss the values of the sorority and what their main charities and fundraising events were. I was also given the wonderful opportunity of hearing American girl logic at its best, and I quote "I wanted to wear wedges but I've just had knee surgery. What if they don't want me because I'm wearing sandals?".
We also got to have house tours, which we all know is great when you want a good nose. They were really beautiful houses and definitely gave you an insight into what each different sorority was like. That night we ranked the sororities again and awaited Monday, or what was known as preference night. This was a more formal occasion than the others, so everyone was dressed up as I went to Chi Omega and Kappa Delta. Preference night is the one time sororities share some things they do at chapter meetings, and is one of the only times you'll see this without being an actual member.
First I went to Chi Omega and already the atmosphere was different. Instead of walking in alphabetically and pairing up with the first member we saw, each member called for us personally at the front door, holding a white carnation which is symbolic for Chi-O. I spoke to the three members I had on the first day of rush, which was nice since I got to have more deep and meaningful conversations, especially about their involvement with their chosen charity, the Make-A-Wish foundation.
The night was similar when I visited Kappa Delta, but there was just something about Chi Omega that clicked with me more, and hence when we had to chose our ranking for the night, I did what is known as a suicide. Even though it dramatically reduces your chances of joining a sorority, I'd already decided that if Chi-O didn't bid for me, then I wasn't going to join another that I didn't like nearly as much.
Then came today, bid day. Everyone met on the IM fields (including frat boys that think it's hilarious to watch) as all the sororities came together and we were given our envelopes stating our bid. Once they were opened girls began running like maniacs to where they were meant to be, with lots of screaming, hugging, tears and excited jumping. Forever feeling odd in situations like this that are so alien to me, I was dodging these girls with a backpack filled with textbooks from my day of classes. Yes, couldn't get any cooler I know.
As I headed towards Chi Omega, I could see Sarah (who I later found out is my 'owl pal', Chi-O's mascot is an owl, which is perfect since I love owls) holding a paper sunflower decorated with my name. That is currently drying out on my floor as the weather was wonderfully British today in Colorado and rained on cue when we were all outdoors with no shelter. Next thing I knew I was being taken in a car to the Chi-Omega house, given my first t-shirt and being hugged and welcomed by hundreds of smiling girls who I'd barely seen before. Any girls I had met before were even more excited to see me again and were so happy to have me as "part of the family", a phrase I heard a lot this evening.
After some food we did brief introductions, which I got told afterwards the fact I was English (the only one I might add, we're taking Greek Life internationally now) and my fun fact of I'm learning Japanese "blew everyone else's introductions "out of the water". Then we went outside to carry out the tradition of all the new members standing around holding a circle of ribbon, and taking a piece as it is cut which was then pinned on us by our owl pals.
We couldn't take anything inside the houses during recruitment, but now I've infiltrated I'll be snapping away. I have my initiation this Thursday so I'll take some then and keep you all in the loop in my few months as a Hootie!
Snuggling ties me in nicely to our weekend in the mountains, a trip to CSU's Pingree Park organized for the internationals. It's about two hours away so we had to be up bright and early, and the day started great for me since I'd spilled an entire flask of hot chocolate on my jacket before we'd even got on the coach. We headed there, wonderful mountain roads causing us to all feel a bit sickly, and got stuck into the days activities as soon as we arrived. The low ropes course was a bit patronizing and reminded me of PGL back in the day, but Caragh and I (okay, mainly me) spent the majority of the day staring at the attractive leader in our group called Shane.
