The study abroad experience may have ended, but that doesn't mean it's not still with me!

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!

First week & Labor Day weekend.

Well it's official, classes over here work very differently to how they do back at Keele!! I love my Criminal Investigations and Law Enforcement and Society classes, the instructor is a hoot. Quote "I want you to make SWAG in class, which stands for sophisticated wild ass guesses".My other classes are good too, but the dynamic is a little weirder. Strange assessments and senior friendship groups I have to weave my way into, but I'm sure that'll happen over time!
This week has been pretty quiet in the social aspect, but I did go to a burger place called Stuft on Thursday with a group of the internationals. Easily the best burger I've ever eaten in my life, you can build your own and naturally I named mine "The Scouser". However I did notice you could also have a warm glazed doughnut as a bun for your burger, not something I'm ever willing to try.

Yesterday was the Rocky Mountain Showdown, the college rival football game against the University of Colorado which is a big deal! The traffic was manic, and it took us almost 4 hours to make it to Sports Authority at Mile High Stadium in Denver, but the atmosphere inside was definitely worth it. Watching the games live is such a better experience than just watching on tv, so much so Caragh and I are planning to go to as many home games as we can :D The CSU Rams beat the Buffs 31-17, which was pretty hilarious. By the 4th quarter came around almost all of the CU fans had left the stadium out of shame.
On Saturday I went to experience Tour de Fat with Leif and Caragh. It's a bike parade in Fort Collins where everyone wears wacky outfits and then drink as much beer as they want from the various local breweries. I didn't realize you didn't have to have signed up in advance to be a part of the parade, but it's probably a good thing since I would have been a major hazard! We also came to the conclusion we should probably start planning our Halloween outfits now, because we really need to step up our game if we're going to compete with the Americans! I'm definitely glad I experienced it though, even just by walking through the parade since it's such a highlight of Fort Collins' events.
That night Caragh and I went to a sorority party. Never in my life have I seen such stereotypical American white girls grinding on any frat boy they saw. Needless to say we stayed out of that and got talking to some pretty cool people, the Brit card really does work.

On Sunday I went to Old Town Fort Collins with my roommate Olivia to do some exploring. We got dinner at this amazinnnggg sub place called Cheba Hut, which is obviously a Colorado run business since the sandwiches come in nug, pinner and blunt size. Once we got back (after getting lost since Olivia apparently doesn't trust my sense of direction) we headed to Leif's room before going to a few parties. I met some guy from my International security class, so I'm finally starting to branch out! I also got an invite back to our friend Missy's house for Thanksgiving and she's offered to take me snowboarding too.
But for now, I'll be using Labor day to recover from the weekends events and prepare for my classes. Au revoir!