In light of my impending travels, I figured I would make amends to my shocking blogging towards the last month of my semester at CSU so I am fully up to date. My trusty camera broke on the train back from San Francisco, so although there's not as many pictures, it's been fun-filled to say the least.
The last month was easily one of the best I had out there, as it was a time when we all grew closer since we knew our time left together was limited. I've mentioned "Team Commonwealth" before now, and a bunch of us from that group really bonded, As a result, we narrowed it down and began referring to ourselves as DELTA SIGMA WINE, or just Delta Sigs for short. This new 'fratority' consisted of myself, Leif, Caragh, Jack, Leni, Chrissie, Megan, Jonny, Robbie, Phil, Katy and Carly. We even took it upon ourselves to get some letters made, and we actually did convince a few Americans it was an International Sorority/Fraternity since there were that many of us with matching hoodies.
I couldn't make it to our original initiation ceremony (candle-lit and super inappropriate I might add), so mine was scheduled to be on the first night of our Winter Park ski-trip. We took the entire thing super serious, and there were "going to be punishments" if we wore our hoodies before that night...
The ski trip was an experience in itself. Day 1 started off with me, Caragh and Megan taking a lesson which seemed to go quite well. I definitely peaked too early, with my first wipe out happening when I was heading towards a ledge by a ski lift, then later in the day I got to the end of a run an had to get rescued by Leif after becoming entangled in a safety net.
Day 2 was even better. I got cocky and did my first huge flip early in the day that resulted me in smacking my head, both skis coming off and my goggles shifting to enclose my nose. At least when I fall, I fall. To top it all off, I managed to take a wrong turn and lose everyone, ended up at a dead end and my only option was to get a ski lift up another 2,000 feet. I wasn't amused since I had to make it to the bottom alone, while getting over taken by 4 year olds and almost having a mental breakdown. Never have I been so happy to see Leif's hat flapping in the breeze and getting myself onto flat ground. I mean I'm happy I went. but let's just say I would have happily had the entire weekend getting drunk in a hot tub and having a rowdy night in the hotel room like we did the night before.
The last few weeks were pretty hectic with finals coming up, but the entirety of Delta Sig spent so much time together revising, making forts and final visits to Sundance and various other food joints. That just made leaving this mad bunch so much harder, because we actually felt like a little family. We even took Christmas pictures because we're just that weird.
I couldn't have been happier to have gained such good friends, in Leif and Caragh especially. Having them back at Keele this semester helped so much with the "re-intergration" into life back at home. Even though the 12 of us have been split up for the past few months, worldwide skype dates are always on the cards, no matter how hard it is to organize. I'm so excited that during my trip this summer, I get to reunite with Chrissie, Leni and Katy when I go to Australia, and once I'm back home for third year, then entire English division of Delta Sig will be back on home soil ready for a tour of hometowns and unis. So with that, I think this proves that it didn't matter who I met or when I did, but the fact we all managed to find people equally as weird as ourselves during our time at CSU, and that made the entire experience all the more amazing. Watch out world, you never know where Delta Sig will make an appearance next!
This past week winter came early to Fort Collins with temperatures reaching -20ºC... yes that's celsuis. Despite the fact it was bloody freezing, it was a nice chance to get to see campus looking all wintery once fall was ending everywhere lacked a bit of colour. One evening Leif, Chrissie, Jack, Leni and Katie decided we wanted to go and see what downtown looked like after class, and what a bright idea that was! We ended up having a huge snowball fight, which some people like me not prepared with waterproof gloves, and had to walk home feeling extra chilly. By the time we got back to change before a little study session, my legs were glowing pink where I'd been pelted, not pleasant to say the least!
The next day Leif and I went on a little scout of a tattoo parlour where he was planning to get his own little design done. Since it was so cold on the walk back, we decided to go to Lucille's for a chai to warm up. We both knew it wouldn't just be a chai whem we saw the menu, and we felt like we were cheating on Caragh since she wasn't us. Sadly, I couldn't be there for his actually tattoo appointment the next day since I had to leave to meet my parents at the airport.
We headed into Denver, ate some good food then went to see the Black Keys at the Pepsi Centere. The highlight had to be some guy smoking a spliff in the middle of the arena, something I didnt realise I considered normal until I saw their faces! The weekend in Breckenridge that followed was stupidly cold and blizzard like, so what did the Puzzars do? Go in an outdoor hot tub... bright idea until you want to get out but have to face snow with no shoes on.
I couldn't spend much time with them while they were in Fort Collins because of my classes and crazy workload, but I did get to show them the Chi O house, something I'm pretty happy about :) On that note, it also got confirmed this week that the national president of Chi O is letting me be initiated early which I am so excited about :D I'm so grateful to Bree and Sara especially for their hard work in making that happen, and it was definitely worth it to hear my pledge classes reaction to the announcement after our Christmas photo taking!
Finally, the last dayof my parent's visit ended with a trip to Sundance! We brought along Leif, Caragh, Megan, Jonny and Carly... all fun and games until my dad posted a video of Leif and I line dancing without our knowledge. What can I say, after learning the dance to Footloose and it not being played, we weren't going to let that hard work go to waste!
I actually wrote this last Monday intending to get something up before my midterms, but obviously that didn't happen. I've now learnt the error in my ways regarding the very unreliable CSU wifi, which is also a hassle when you're trying to watch Netflix. So here's my 'flashback' post, written while I sit in Caragh's room having a 2000's music flashback session to complete the theme.
Last weekend actually started off in a pretty chill fashion, with Caragh and I going on yet another date for froyo (that girl is obsessed). After a night of more snuggling, we woke up Saturday and decided we'd be going to the football game at Hughes Stadium that afternoon.
Off I went to the liquor store, so at 11:30am I was roaming the streets of Fort Collins with 3.5 litres of vodka smuggled into my backpack, in the hope I didn't encounter the bike police. Once I got back Leif, Caragh and I hurriedly transferred this into our new sunscreen flasks to take to the game. After all, who would question three British kids taking sunscreen to an outdoor event? Clever I know.
The game was what is known as an orange out, where people wear orange to honour the "Aggie era" of CSU. This was before the ram was adopted as an official mascot, and currently the most recognizable reference to this era is the "A" located on the mountain side above Hughes Stadium. Every year the freshman class hike to the "A" and re-paint it,but we never got the chance to go cause it clashed with plans we already had.
We met the Australians there, and in all honesty I don't think any of us paid attention to any of the game. All I know is that the Rams won, cue my loud chanting of "I said I'm proud, to be, a CSU rammm".
We headed back, raided the dining centre for scran and all headed for naps to help ourselves prepare for the night ahead. Worst idea ever. It definitely sped up whatever hangover was going to hit us the next day. We all felt very grim, but being the troopers we are, we headed to Leif's room for round 2. This was when the drama for the evening started...
We headed to a block party not too far away from campus. When we arrived the cul-de-sac was crammed with a tleast 300 students,and if I'm honest, it wasn't any fun. We tried to scout alcohol, but with no music and everyone surrounding us acting like idiots, Caragh, Leif, Jack and I decided we'd leave.
Talk about perfect timing. Once we crossed the street and reached campus, a convoy of police cars came hurtling around the corner, sirens blaring, in an attempt to control the party. As many of my friends/family know since they saw the news articles, this did result in a riot, which apparently is becoming a common thing with CSU students and parties. My favourite article the next day described how "rambunctious students wreck havoc, citizens tomato plant destroyed". Needless to say, we left with very smug grins on our faces knowing we weren't involved in the riot, and the closest claim to fame we have is we were actually there.
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 :)
Friday was my first time visiting my department, which is slightly different to how it is at Keele. I'm in the College of Liberal Arts and I technically class as someone taking a Sociology major with a Criminal Justice concentration. Super confusing when it came to me finding where to go because nobody else seemed to know either! The professors I met seem really nice and I can't wait for classes to start :D
The Keelites went to Friday Afternoon Club for a pot-luck BBQ, which is where everyone with international links from Fort Collins and CSU meet up. Then we headed back to Leif's room, since we'd been invited to a birthday party of some girl we'd met earlier in the week... being British has it's good points!
At one point Caragh and I had an entire group speaking in posh accents and using scouse slang during a game,and we also discovered the guy we beat at beer pong a few days earlier was the Student Body Vice President. Two parties later, with many new Facebook friends, we made it back after discovering the grimmest of the cheap American beers, vodka and tequila.
Needless to say, we weren't really feeling the most spirit filled the next morning, but I pushed through and made sure I was in the traditional Class of 2018 picture. You can't see me in the slightest, but I'm somewhere to the top right of the S.
There was a pep rally in the evening, and our RA, Evan, organised all sorts of body painting and stuff beforehand. I felt like an idiot, but go hard or go home right?! I got into it pretty quickly and now I'm even more excited to see the Rocky Mountain Showdown this Friday :D
On Sunday morning there was a trip organised to hike Horsetooth Mountain, which is about 15 minutes drive away from campus. Not going to lie, it killed me, but definitely worth it for the view of Horsetooth Reservoir and Fort Collins! It was nice getting to bond with the guys from Keele even more too, especially since it'll be nice to laugh over these memories when we get back home and not annoy other people with them!
Hey guys!
I've finally decided to create a blog. Long overdue but with my upcoming adventures, I thought what better time to make one and commit myself to it.
Starting this August, I'll be studying abroad at Colorado State University for one semester, or until Christmas for all you English folk. I study criminology so I'll be "majoring in Criminal Justice" once I'm over there.
It's been such a long process to get here it's actually a little surreal. In exactly 3 weeks I'll be flying into Denver, taking a bus to Fort Collins, moving into my halls and starting my orientation. Then on August 25th classes will officially start.
I don't have an assigned room yet, and the entire process of finding a roommate is, well... an experience. I've managed to find one and she seems lovely, plus it's nice having someone in the same boat as me since we both don't know what to expect. Good considering CSU has around 30,000 students, definitely not like the 'Keele bubble' at all!
I'm spending my last few days in Liverpool packing, seeing people and feeling loved when people ask me not to go. I guess that's all left to say really. I'm not sure how often I'll post, but I'll make a promise to keep the majority of my study abroad experience here rather than annoy everyone on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. So if you've bothered to read this, I hope you enjoy hearing about my experiences now and hopefully many more places in the years to come!
The last month was easily one of the best I had out there, as it was a time when we all grew closer since we knew our time left together was limited. I've mentioned "Team Commonwealth" before now, and a bunch of us from that group really bonded, As a result, we narrowed it down and began referring to ourselves as DELTA SIGMA WINE, or just Delta Sigs for short. This new 'fratority' consisted of myself, Leif, Caragh, Jack, Leni, Chrissie, Megan, Jonny, Robbie, Phil, Katy and Carly. We even took it upon ourselves to get some letters made, and we actually did convince a few Americans it was an International Sorority/Fraternity since there were that many of us with matching hoodies.
The ski trip was an experience in itself. Day 1 started off with me, Caragh and Megan taking a lesson which seemed to go quite well. I definitely peaked too early, with my first wipe out happening when I was heading towards a ledge by a ski lift, then later in the day I got to the end of a run an had to get rescued by Leif after becoming entangled in a safety net.
