Saturday 8th October
Kicking off the MAMMOTH update is something i never thought i'd say. As soon as I woke up, i went to the gym. Yes you heard me right, THE GYM.
instantly i hear you thinking "Hahaha, Phil, in the gym, ur having a gilaugh (giraffe and laugh)". Well yes i have decided that in order to survive in this high-fat society, i'm going to need to offset my inevitable weight gain. I'd been to the gym twice before this, so i knew what i wanted to do.
I proceded to go to this cross-trainer, except stride length could easily be altered, rather than tradtional cross trainers which are fixed. Plus it has a 9' screen with 13 channels. Big help this is, 6 are news channels and 4 are spanish only channels.
I spent an hour, burning off 800 calories, 300 of which were put pack on due to the sports drink i took and the granola bar afterwards.
For those who remember the previous day, i had a wheatgrass shot, which has had time to work through my system. Lets just say, despite feeling very healthy, i also felt like i spent the whole of yesterday eating like a cow (eating grass, not lots and lots)
A few hours were wasted in front of the pool, where 4 of us decided to stay for a while :) (inevitable Marco Polo reference) also discussing math problems. Yeah thats what you need on 'a day off', discussing school work.
Afterwards, we all freshened up and made our way down to Carl's JR, a better version of McDonalds (if better is even possible). The place was deserted apart from the group of 8 we had assembled. for $7.50 / £5 i got a burger which would probably be about an XXXL in the UK plus XXL fries, and unlimited soft drink.
Luckily, we had a 20 minute walk back to let it settle. After that, village square was calling and total annihilation of everyone in pool and Fuusball. Eventually the Residential staff kicked us out. Why it was midnight already :(
Heading back, i had an epiphany. I decided i'd go to the gym again tomorrow morning, assuming i haven't stiffend up (no dirty jokes please, there are children present)
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
The long awaited updates (not quite yet)
Howdy partners'
Now that the 'day of hell has passed', I can safely return to updating the blog. Unfortunately as I write this, it is half 12 in the morning. I should have recapped upto last night by the end of wednesday, meaning by Thursday you'll have loads more material to read (if you can REALLY be bothered about it)
Just a little longer........
Now that the 'day of hell has passed', I can safely return to updating the blog. Unfortunately as I write this, it is half 12 in the morning. I should have recapped upto last night by the end of wednesday, meaning by Thursday you'll have loads more material to read (if you can REALLY be bothered about it)
Just a little longer........
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
An apology.........
Very sorry guys
No, I'm not getting rid of the blog, that would be too much hassle on my part :p
Nah i'm kidding, i've just hit a VERY stressful part of my studies, in that I have 2 Midterm tests and 2 presentations on international management and cross-culture communication.
As such, I won't be updating for a while, but rest assured that when this period is over (due to finish 18th October) I willl be writing a FULL update.
That means I will personally be writing in detail the events I haven't recapped on (this doesn't imply that I outsourced the work to the rabid monkeys on the top floor). This may also include an overview of my research/presenting/test writing period
Sorry for the delay, and I will be back ASAP
Regards
Phil Bowes (Yorksh...american)
No, I'm not getting rid of the blog, that would be too much hassle on my part :p
Nah i'm kidding, i've just hit a VERY stressful part of my studies, in that I have 2 Midterm tests and 2 presentations on international management and cross-culture communication.
As such, I won't be updating for a while, but rest assured that when this period is over (due to finish 18th October) I willl be writing a FULL update.
That means I will personally be writing in detail the events I haven't recapped on (this doesn't imply that I outsourced the work to the rabid monkeys on the top floor). This may also include an overview of my research/presenting/test writing period
Sorry for the delay, and I will be back ASAP
Regards
Phil Bowes (Yorksh...american)
Sunday, October 09, 2011
Leaves a sour taste in your mouth
Friday 7th October
Today is an adventure, Or at least it was, but i hadn't planned any of them. A late morning wake up, was abruptly interrupted by a call.
"Hey Phil, u wanna come mess around"
(a mess around doesn't mean cause mischief and certainly doesn't represent a sleazy club)
"Yeah sure, i don't really have anything planned"
(semi-true, i just had a project and a lot of reading to do)
Meeting up with Amaka and Roxy, we headed down to CVS (the American BOOTS), after which we went next door to the smoothie shop. Now I had been here before and got a 32oz (about 940ml) MEGA smoothie. Since that filled me up last time, and that i only had a granola bar at this point; I decided to go for the same. This time i was allowed a free 'boost' to super-charge my smoothie for free. Being that i had mainly chicken and beef related meals with minimal salad, i opted for the Vita-Boost, just so i don't collapse from deprivation. I'm clear of one C, i don't wanna be clear of Vit C. (apolagies for the health joke. Like any medicine, it's in bad taste)
In addition, I was offered a free shot of Wheatgrass (I say free, it was paid for by my guests). Wheatgrass is claimed to be a super-food which is equivalent to a kilo of vegetables. So i had a 32oz Big Berry Combo AND a 2oz shot of wheatgrass. Despite necking the slimy green shot of wheatgrass, even after the 32oz smoothie, i could still taste the wheatgrass aftertaste. At this point I though i would have the mouth of a sheep. I just need to walk on all 4 and grow a lot more hair and i'd be set :)
A few hours after the BAAAAAAAD wheatgrass incident, we decided to dip into the pool. Given that it was 82'F/ 27.5'C it was a good idea. However the only fact we didn't consider was the pool. Normally its semi-heated to about 70'F, but today it was roughly 50'F. Needless to say, we didn't stay long in fear of hypothermia.
So spending 2 hours just chatting by the poolside, but not actually in the pool, we discussed.... pretty much nothing. There was some talk about degrees, the price of gas (petrol) and somewhere down the line, a turkey sandwich found down the back of a sofa. Once the sun set at about 7pm, 7 of us decided to get changed from our now dry swimsuits, and meet up for a 'Diner date'. This meant we'd all be walking 15/20 mins down to a diner, just to eat, which personally was a good idea, since i was both hungry and needed a short walk to increase this hunger.
It eventually paid off when i visited one of the places i have been told so much about. Carl's Jr, favo(u)red by students for the burger and fries. Since it was highly reccomended (and i'm in this for the long haul) it was worth a try.
(in Texan accent) For $9 i got a burger the size of Nantucket and sizzling steak fries, yeeeaaaa haaaarr
(as myself) For $8.29 + tax, i got a pretty big burger (double cheese 'n' bacon burger) and chunky fries.
Overall: it was pretty darn good. but the night wasn't over. 2 of the 7 didn't eat a burger, but instead went to a 'frozen yog(h)urt' shop. If they didn't kill off their hearts by eating a burger, they were definately gonna do it by consuming soft ice cream topped with maple & caramel syrup, gummi bears and fudge pieces. Despite being almost half the price, there was probably the same amount of calories and the same amount of flavo(u)r
By 10pm, we all had our fill, and retreated to our own living quarters. At my building however, by the time i got back, a fire alarm had just been turned off. Everyone waiting outside just to find out that, AND I QUOTE "We'd like to say thank you for your patience, you can blame someone in 6211 who BURNT NOODLES"
Now i'm no masterchef, but HOW THE HELL CAN YOU BURN NOODLES. and what is even more surprising was that as far i can tell, 4 Asian students live there. I probably would have expected that from either myself or some of the Europeans down the hall for me, but not the Asians. (I see them as great cooks, and please don't mistake me for a racist, because I am NOT.)
Mabye I should just calm down and review my progress later.......
Today is an adventure, Or at least it was, but i hadn't planned any of them. A late morning wake up, was abruptly interrupted by a call.
"Hey Phil, u wanna come mess around"
(a mess around doesn't mean cause mischief and certainly doesn't represent a sleazy club)
"Yeah sure, i don't really have anything planned"
(semi-true, i just had a project and a lot of reading to do)
Meeting up with Amaka and Roxy, we headed down to CVS (the American BOOTS), after which we went next door to the smoothie shop. Now I had been here before and got a 32oz (about 940ml) MEGA smoothie. Since that filled me up last time, and that i only had a granola bar at this point; I decided to go for the same. This time i was allowed a free 'boost' to super-charge my smoothie for free. Being that i had mainly chicken and beef related meals with minimal salad, i opted for the Vita-Boost, just so i don't collapse from deprivation. I'm clear of one C, i don't wanna be clear of Vit C. (apolagies for the health joke. Like any medicine, it's in bad taste)
In addition, I was offered a free shot of Wheatgrass (I say free, it was paid for by my guests). Wheatgrass is claimed to be a super-food which is equivalent to a kilo of vegetables. So i had a 32oz Big Berry Combo AND a 2oz shot of wheatgrass. Despite necking the slimy green shot of wheatgrass, even after the 32oz smoothie, i could still taste the wheatgrass aftertaste. At this point I though i would have the mouth of a sheep. I just need to walk on all 4 and grow a lot more hair and i'd be set :)
A few hours after the BAAAAAAAD wheatgrass incident, we decided to dip into the pool. Given that it was 82'F/ 27.5'C it was a good idea. However the only fact we didn't consider was the pool. Normally its semi-heated to about 70'F, but today it was roughly 50'F. Needless to say, we didn't stay long in fear of hypothermia.
So spending 2 hours just chatting by the poolside, but not actually in the pool, we discussed.... pretty much nothing. There was some talk about degrees, the price of gas (petrol) and somewhere down the line, a turkey sandwich found down the back of a sofa. Once the sun set at about 7pm, 7 of us decided to get changed from our now dry swimsuits, and meet up for a 'Diner date'. This meant we'd all be walking 15/20 mins down to a diner, just to eat, which personally was a good idea, since i was both hungry and needed a short walk to increase this hunger.
It eventually paid off when i visited one of the places i have been told so much about. Carl's Jr, favo(u)red by students for the burger and fries. Since it was highly reccomended (and i'm in this for the long haul) it was worth a try.
(in Texan accent) For $9 i got a burger the size of Nantucket and sizzling steak fries, yeeeaaaa haaaarr
(as myself) For $8.29 + tax, i got a pretty big burger (double cheese 'n' bacon burger) and chunky fries.
Overall: it was pretty darn good. but the night wasn't over. 2 of the 7 didn't eat a burger, but instead went to a 'frozen yog(h)urt' shop. If they didn't kill off their hearts by eating a burger, they were definately gonna do it by consuming soft ice cream topped with maple & caramel syrup, gummi bears and fudge pieces. Despite being almost half the price, there was probably the same amount of calories and the same amount of flavo(u)r
By 10pm, we all had our fill, and retreated to our own living quarters. At my building however, by the time i got back, a fire alarm had just been turned off. Everyone waiting outside just to find out that, AND I QUOTE "We'd like to say thank you for your patience, you can blame someone in 6211 who BURNT NOODLES"
Now i'm no masterchef, but HOW THE HELL CAN YOU BURN NOODLES. and what is even more surprising was that as far i can tell, 4 Asian students live there. I probably would have expected that from either myself or some of the Europeans down the hall for me, but not the Asians. (I see them as great cooks, and please don't mistake me for a racist, because I am NOT.)
Mabye I should just calm down and review my progress later.......
Saturday, October 08, 2011
MEGA recap v1
Before i kick things i want to apolagise for the lack of posting. As i write this, it has been 5 days since i updated the blog. As you can imagine, i have been pretty busy, but it has been in the boring kind. There really isn't anything major to report in the 4 days i will be covering in this post. (nothing that you'll be interested in anyway). So once again, I apolagise for the lack of updating and also for the potentially boring post to follow.
Monday 3rd October.
Today, since i had nothing planned, and i was 5 days behind in blog updates, i decided to do a massive catch up. Seriously, it took me about 8 hours (including interruption to write 4 updates). Between the blog writing, I even had time to do all my laundry. $1.75 for a wash and dry, not too bad, but had to pay $7 for detergent (which should last the full year). Then went to the village square to relax, and beat some more people at pool. The end of the first day....
Tuesday 4th October
Starting at 11am, I skyped my mum, who had come back from a 'mixed' holiday. When we discussed the weather, I looked outside to gloat about the sunshine. Instead i find it absolutely chucking it down with rain. This was to continue for 2 full days. Fun times trying to walk (or in this case, run) to my classes. Just imagine being in your shower with all your clothes and you get the picture (only you can't change the temperature)
At 8pm when my classes finished, I got a lift down to Wal-mart, to stock up on a few essentials (snacks mostly). Enjoying the walk back, walking besides 4 lanes of traffic in the black of night, the '35 mins' to walk the 1 1/2 miles back to my room. Things weren't too bad, since my flat-mate had some spare pasta bolognase he shared with me. Certainly beats spending $5 for a burger. After cleaning up after him and his German/ Canadian friends, we all sat down to watch "How I Met Your Mother". You just don't value a mother tongue until you watch a movie in English with people who learn english as a 2nd/ 3rd language.
Wednesday 5th October
As part of the discussion post movie, we agreed to an early morning gym session. And I mean EARLY. I never thought i'd be going to the gym at 7:30AM. Luckily I had recovered from that charlie-horse the friday before. Anyway after an hour or so burning some calories, i'd work on an assignment, the one you get on Tuesday and it's due of Wednesday night. Not a problem for me, i have Wednesdays free, but some people i know will have full days on Tuesday AND Wednesday (unlucky for them hehehehe).
Plenty of reading and homework later, a trip to Village square for more relaxing and pool (day result Won 4 Lost 1)
Thursday 6th October
Boy did I feel stiff this morning. That morning session won't be repeated soon. A nice lie in, leading on to some academic reading. On the way to getting my pre-lesson meal, i checked the mail-box, to find a card from Mum. Granted it took 10 days to get here (better than I thought, I was expecting 2 weeks +) it was still a welcome note, which even brought a tear or 2 (Man i'm a big wuss)
6 hours of lessons, more homework and top it all off with a village sq trip.
(I told you these 4 days weren't interesting)
Hopefully I can do better next time....
Monday 3rd October.
Today, since i had nothing planned, and i was 5 days behind in blog updates, i decided to do a massive catch up. Seriously, it took me about 8 hours (including interruption to write 4 updates). Between the blog writing, I even had time to do all my laundry. $1.75 for a wash and dry, not too bad, but had to pay $7 for detergent (which should last the full year). Then went to the village square to relax, and beat some more people at pool. The end of the first day....
Tuesday 4th October
Starting at 11am, I skyped my mum, who had come back from a 'mixed' holiday. When we discussed the weather, I looked outside to gloat about the sunshine. Instead i find it absolutely chucking it down with rain. This was to continue for 2 full days. Fun times trying to walk (or in this case, run) to my classes. Just imagine being in your shower with all your clothes and you get the picture (only you can't change the temperature)
At 8pm when my classes finished, I got a lift down to Wal-mart, to stock up on a few essentials (snacks mostly). Enjoying the walk back, walking besides 4 lanes of traffic in the black of night, the '35 mins' to walk the 1 1/2 miles back to my room. Things weren't too bad, since my flat-mate had some spare pasta bolognase he shared with me. Certainly beats spending $5 for a burger. After cleaning up after him and his German/ Canadian friends, we all sat down to watch "How I Met Your Mother". You just don't value a mother tongue until you watch a movie in English with people who learn english as a 2nd/ 3rd language.
Wednesday 5th October
As part of the discussion post movie, we agreed to an early morning gym session. And I mean EARLY. I never thought i'd be going to the gym at 7:30AM. Luckily I had recovered from that charlie-horse the friday before. Anyway after an hour or so burning some calories, i'd work on an assignment, the one you get on Tuesday and it's due of Wednesday night. Not a problem for me, i have Wednesdays free, but some people i know will have full days on Tuesday AND Wednesday (unlucky for them hehehehe).
Plenty of reading and homework later, a trip to Village square for more relaxing and pool (day result Won 4 Lost 1)
Thursday 6th October
Boy did I feel stiff this morning. That morning session won't be repeated soon. A nice lie in, leading on to some academic reading. On the way to getting my pre-lesson meal, i checked the mail-box, to find a card from Mum. Granted it took 10 days to get here (better than I thought, I was expecting 2 weeks +) it was still a welcome note, which even brought a tear or 2 (Man i'm a big wuss)
6 hours of lessons, more homework and top it all off with a village sq trip.
(I told you these 4 days weren't interesting)
Hopefully I can do better next time....
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Most people see 2 weeks as a holiday....
Sunday 2nd October
I won't lie. Sunday started out as a quiet day. I'll skip straight to 2pm for both our sanity.
I recieve a text saying there was a pool party at 2pm. Hell yeah i was down for that, despite the fact i was still suffering from the last stage of the Charlie-horse I got on Friday. Refering to that, pool parties weren't my thing if this was to be the norm.
Setting off to meet with Zack for the pool party, we arrived to find.....NOTHING. The place was deserted. I've heard the phrase "fashionably late" so we decided to give it some time. And why not, it was 90'(....oops i mean 32'C) and glorious sunshine.
By about 3pm there were a few more people. Then all of a sudden, about 30 people came along. This would be a better pool party. When all of a sudden
"Excuse me lads, what fraternity u in?"
"Ummm, none. Why?" we asked
"This is a Greek life meeting, for Frats and Soro's only i'm afraid"
"Oh.........ok"
So we exited and decided to kick back in the Village Square. Plenty of pool games, all of them victories of course, and a few hours of watching some weird shows on the TV. it was time to head back and catch up on some course reading. After getitng my fair share of global marcommunication, i was invited to watch a movie. Turns out the movie was 'Shattered Glass' about a journalist who fabricates stories for a journal. He ended up being fired and it taught us all a lesson on plagerism.
Late night lesson over, I called it a night....
I won't lie. Sunday started out as a quiet day. I'll skip straight to 2pm for both our sanity.
I recieve a text saying there was a pool party at 2pm. Hell yeah i was down for that, despite the fact i was still suffering from the last stage of the Charlie-horse I got on Friday. Refering to that, pool parties weren't my thing if this was to be the norm.
Setting off to meet with Zack for the pool party, we arrived to find.....NOTHING. The place was deserted. I've heard the phrase "fashionably late" so we decided to give it some time. And why not, it was 90'(....oops i mean 32'C) and glorious sunshine.
By about 3pm there were a few more people. Then all of a sudden, about 30 people came along. This would be a better pool party. When all of a sudden
"Excuse me lads, what fraternity u in?"
"Ummm, none. Why?" we asked
"This is a Greek life meeting, for Frats and Soro's only i'm afraid"
"Oh.........ok"
So we exited and decided to kick back in the Village Square. Plenty of pool games, all of them victories of course, and a few hours of watching some weird shows on the TV. it was time to head back and catch up on some course reading. After getitng my fair share of global marcommunication, i was invited to watch a movie. Turns out the movie was 'Shattered Glass' about a journalist who fabricates stories for a journal. He ended up being fired and it taught us all a lesson on plagerism.
Late night lesson over, I called it a night....
Monday, October 03, 2011
Try explaining this to the boss
Saturday 1st October
Ah Saturday, my unofficial communication day with everyone. Despite the fact most people are 8 hours ahead of me, which limits their time, unless I wake up earlier. But come on, it's the weekend, Who's gonna get up early on a weekend.
Well in this instance, me. With the wrath of the police stil ringing in my ears, i barely had 4 hours sleep. I recieved a text from one of last nights partygoers. Apparently the host is in a LOT of trouble. she's being accused of providing to minors, which would be disaster for her since she only has 3 quarters to go before graduation. the plan was to meet with her and just get our heads around what had actually happened.
To protect identities and potential incrimination, I will say no more on that subject.
By the time we had finished, it was 9.30am, which gave me plenty of time to scrub up well and prepare for the incoming calls.
11am: A call home to 'daddy', hiding most of the details of the night before. hopefully things will have blown over by the time this is read
11:50am: A call to the grandparents. the last one for 4/5 weeks while they go on holiday. (I'm not jealous, this is a working holiday for me, and mine lasts longer)
12:30pm An online text chat to 'Auntie' Chrissy on how i'm doing and inviting me to meet the family in 3 weeks time and also an invite for Thanksgiving. I don't believe i have given them the credit they deserve, because Christine and Greg are two of the best people I have ever met.
In fact, while we're on the subject, i'd like to share part of an e-mail i recieved a few days after arriving in California. The e-mail is from my mum, and the first time i read it, i cried for ages. Even as i write this now, theres a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye
Thank you Mum for that, I'm sure you have no objection to me repreating this. Moving on, before I flood the floor.....
The majority of the rest of the day was, unfortunately wasted away. I managed to post 1 blog update, and about 200 words of the 1000 word essay due in 3 days. By 7pm, i was almost doing nothing. Almost, though, i was stil typing about a word a minute between all the texts I was recieving. 4 of us planned to drive down to the nearby diner, which would take 3 minutes by car or 20 minutes walking.
FarmerBros, sort of like...nothing we have in the UK, sort of like a fast food / cafe really. after 5 minutes of staring at the menu, i suddenly felt homesick. Why you might ask? The simple answer
"FISH AND CHIPS"
$9 for a large portion (also large portion in the UK) or $12 for a mini-platter (super-sized portion). After realising they used Pollock rather than cod or haddock, i went for a signature bacon cheeseburger, WITH SALAD, (mum wanted me to eat healthily). The actual bowls of salad, not the small one that came with the meal had almost the same amount of calories as the burger AND were more expensive. They really don't want you to eat healthily do they?
(just a picture of the 4 of us eating away)
(from L-R, Zack, Me, Roxanne (Roxy) and John (Juan the 3rd)
After 2 hours of chatting away, abusing the free-refill drink policy, we decided to head home and have an early night, which once again resulted in a 3 hour binge of online games and Youtube, Fun fun fun.......
Ah Saturday, my unofficial communication day with everyone. Despite the fact most people are 8 hours ahead of me, which limits their time, unless I wake up earlier. But come on, it's the weekend, Who's gonna get up early on a weekend.
Well in this instance, me. With the wrath of the police stil ringing in my ears, i barely had 4 hours sleep. I recieved a text from one of last nights partygoers. Apparently the host is in a LOT of trouble. she's being accused of providing to minors, which would be disaster for her since she only has 3 quarters to go before graduation. the plan was to meet with her and just get our heads around what had actually happened.
To protect identities and potential incrimination, I will say no more on that subject.
By the time we had finished, it was 9.30am, which gave me plenty of time to scrub up well and prepare for the incoming calls.
11am: A call home to 'daddy', hiding most of the details of the night before. hopefully things will have blown over by the time this is read
11:50am: A call to the grandparents. the last one for 4/5 weeks while they go on holiday. (I'm not jealous, this is a working holiday for me, and mine lasts longer)
12:30pm An online text chat to 'Auntie' Chrissy on how i'm doing and inviting me to meet the family in 3 weeks time and also an invite for Thanksgiving. I don't believe i have given them the credit they deserve, because Christine and Greg are two of the best people I have ever met.
In fact, while we're on the subject, i'd like to share part of an e-mail i recieved a few days after arriving in California. The e-mail is from my mum, and the first time i read it, i cried for ages. Even as i write this now, theres a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye
"forgot to tell you - last week when you were all down at breakfast I prayed that god would look after you and get you to your Uni safe & sound. On the way from the airport, dad was messing with all the radio channels & eventually settled on Magic FM. within 5 mins they played Boyzone 'No matter what' - that's the song we always associate with you. i knew then it was gods way of answering my prayer and he did + with bells on by meeting Chrissy !!
Now that's faith !!"
Thank you Mum for that, I'm sure you have no objection to me repreating this. Moving on, before I flood the floor.....
The majority of the rest of the day was, unfortunately wasted away. I managed to post 1 blog update, and about 200 words of the 1000 word essay due in 3 days. By 7pm, i was almost doing nothing. Almost, though, i was stil typing about a word a minute between all the texts I was recieving. 4 of us planned to drive down to the nearby diner, which would take 3 minutes by car or 20 minutes walking.
FarmerBros, sort of like...nothing we have in the UK, sort of like a fast food / cafe really. after 5 minutes of staring at the menu, i suddenly felt homesick. Why you might ask? The simple answer
"FISH AND CHIPS"
$9 for a large portion (also large portion in the UK) or $12 for a mini-platter (super-sized portion). After realising they used Pollock rather than cod or haddock, i went for a signature bacon cheeseburger, WITH SALAD, (mum wanted me to eat healthily). The actual bowls of salad, not the small one that came with the meal had almost the same amount of calories as the burger AND were more expensive. They really don't want you to eat healthily do they?
(from L-R, Zack, Me, Roxanne (Roxy) and John (Juan the 3rd)
After 2 hours of chatting away, abusing the free-refill drink policy, we decided to head home and have an early night, which once again resulted in a 3 hour binge of online games and Youtube, Fun fun fun.......
Wake me up, when September ends
Friday 30th September
I fancy a break from playing pool, a record of 21W to 1L is good enough for now. However there was another pool i was particularly looking forward to....the pool party this afternoon.
The morning saw a lie-in (thankfully no more forms came through, nor were there any flatmates banging on my door at god-knows-what time) from 1am, all the way to 10:30 (lucky me). The days plan was focused on work until 3pm, when the pool party would kick off
But of course, the obvious happened. What i had planned had been blown to smithereens thanks to Youtube. So after wasting away for 4 hours in front of the screen, all I had accomplished was 1 blog update and about 500 views of Whose Line Is It Anyway clips. (never before have I felt sorry for my internet history list until now). Of course there was a 30 minute break inbetween to grab a bite to eat, A nice and healthy sandwich from the better version of Subway...ironically called SubVersions. A footlong turkey and ham club sandwich filled to the brim with salad (yes mum, I said SALAD) for $5, when normaly it would top $8 "EPIC WIN"
3pm came, and I met up with my friends who had arranged the party. I thought that I wouldn't take my camera, since it might get wet. In hindsight I did right by not bringing the camera, but not for that reason. At most the pool had 12 people in, and it wasn't what you would call a pool party, just a bunch of people meeting by a small body of water, chatting away and playing Marco Polo in the deep end, where the small people couldn't catch us.
At some point, we had a competition as to how fast people could swim from one side to the other and back. It was roughly 20 metres 1 way and people were taking about 50 secs to 1 minute. I thought I could easily beat that, and add that to the list that I beat most Americans at (or whoever is around me at the time)
" Ready, Set, Go" ...................................................."AAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH"
No that was not me practicing my pirate impression, which needs improvement anyway, but that i just developed a Charlie-Horse (leg cramp) as i kicked away from the wall. I'm floating around in agony as the pain ripped all around my right calf. I slowly (and quite awkwardly) made my way out of the pool still writing in pain. I normally get these when i wake up and immediately move my leg. After half an hour of relieving the pain, I decided not to continue, barely being able to walk at this time.
By about 5:30pm, everyone had enough and left. Some of us had agreed to meet up later for a small party. (this would later turn out to be the biggest mistake i had made in the 2 weeks I have been here, overtaking the decision to take a Senior level class at a Junior standing)
3 more hours passed, and i managed to complete one of my assignments. Unfortunately it was the one that was due in 11 days, not 4 like the other one. not the smartest move, but it was still progress, less work to do on Saturday i suppose.
9pm, and we all met up at someones flat. my first taste of an American house party on a tiny scale, imagine 6 people in a living room on the top floor of the apartment complex, home to about 300 students. In comparison, my complex is about the same size, but houses about 200. Ignoring that, I was aware of a bottle of whisky being passed around. Now being a minor, i elected to stay off the sauce, being that i could technically have my study visa revoked and sent back to England, to face the wrath of my parents.
Those of you who live in terraced housing or flats will probably guess what coming if i say we were making too much noise. ..... ....... ....... Yup, someone complained. it was 10:30 and despite 'quiet hours' not coming into effect until midnight, someone called the campus cops. They were only going to come to tell us to turn the volume down, but as soon as they saw 1 lad, only 18 and off his face, they assumed ALL of us were intoxicated.
They sat us all down, and made a note of our I.D. We then explained how much each person had to drink. I explained that I was sober; had nothing to drink because it would threaten my visa. In the end, all of us were escorted off the premises. Me being sober, i was allowed to leave unaccompanied, but placed on house (in this case, flat) arrest until morning. I was told to expect a letter from the campus police chief to explain myself and my involvement. To this very moment, i still haven't recieved anything, but i will be checking my inbox at least twice a day for that letter.
Still rattled from the scolding the police gave everyone, I lay in my bed trying to get to sleep. It took me about 3 hours to get to sleep, and even then I wouldn't sleep very well.
Great, Just Great. Been here less than 2 weeks and i'm already in trouble (metaphorically), this is gonna be a long year..........
Side-note: out of respect and avoiding incriminating anyone, ALL photos and videos were deleted. Shame, it had been a great party until then
I fancy a break from playing pool, a record of 21W to 1L is good enough for now. However there was another pool i was particularly looking forward to....the pool party this afternoon.
The morning saw a lie-in (thankfully no more forms came through, nor were there any flatmates banging on my door at god-knows-what time) from 1am, all the way to 10:30 (lucky me). The days plan was focused on work until 3pm, when the pool party would kick off
But of course, the obvious happened. What i had planned had been blown to smithereens thanks to Youtube. So after wasting away for 4 hours in front of the screen, all I had accomplished was 1 blog update and about 500 views of Whose Line Is It Anyway clips. (never before have I felt sorry for my internet history list until now). Of course there was a 30 minute break inbetween to grab a bite to eat, A nice and healthy sandwich from the better version of Subway...ironically called SubVersions. A footlong turkey and ham club sandwich filled to the brim with salad (yes mum, I said SALAD) for $5, when normaly it would top $8 "EPIC WIN"
3pm came, and I met up with my friends who had arranged the party. I thought that I wouldn't take my camera, since it might get wet. In hindsight I did right by not bringing the camera, but not for that reason. At most the pool had 12 people in, and it wasn't what you would call a pool party, just a bunch of people meeting by a small body of water, chatting away and playing Marco Polo in the deep end, where the small people couldn't catch us.
At some point, we had a competition as to how fast people could swim from one side to the other and back. It was roughly 20 metres 1 way and people were taking about 50 secs to 1 minute. I thought I could easily beat that, and add that to the list that I beat most Americans at (or whoever is around me at the time)
" Ready, Set, Go" ...................................................."AAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH"
No that was not me practicing my pirate impression, which needs improvement anyway, but that i just developed a Charlie-Horse (leg cramp) as i kicked away from the wall. I'm floating around in agony as the pain ripped all around my right calf. I slowly (and quite awkwardly) made my way out of the pool still writing in pain. I normally get these when i wake up and immediately move my leg. After half an hour of relieving the pain, I decided not to continue, barely being able to walk at this time.
By about 5:30pm, everyone had enough and left. Some of us had agreed to meet up later for a small party. (this would later turn out to be the biggest mistake i had made in the 2 weeks I have been here, overtaking the decision to take a Senior level class at a Junior standing)
3 more hours passed, and i managed to complete one of my assignments. Unfortunately it was the one that was due in 11 days, not 4 like the other one. not the smartest move, but it was still progress, less work to do on Saturday i suppose.
9pm, and we all met up at someones flat. my first taste of an American house party on a tiny scale, imagine 6 people in a living room on the top floor of the apartment complex, home to about 300 students. In comparison, my complex is about the same size, but houses about 200. Ignoring that, I was aware of a bottle of whisky being passed around. Now being a minor, i elected to stay off the sauce, being that i could technically have my study visa revoked and sent back to England, to face the wrath of my parents.
Those of you who live in terraced housing or flats will probably guess what coming if i say we were making too much noise. ..... ....... ....... Yup, someone complained. it was 10:30 and despite 'quiet hours' not coming into effect until midnight, someone called the campus cops. They were only going to come to tell us to turn the volume down, but as soon as they saw 1 lad, only 18 and off his face, they assumed ALL of us were intoxicated.
They sat us all down, and made a note of our I.D. We then explained how much each person had to drink. I explained that I was sober; had nothing to drink because it would threaten my visa. In the end, all of us were escorted off the premises. Me being sober, i was allowed to leave unaccompanied, but placed on house (in this case, flat) arrest until morning. I was told to expect a letter from the campus police chief to explain myself and my involvement. To this very moment, i still haven't recieved anything, but i will be checking my inbox at least twice a day for that letter.
Still rattled from the scolding the police gave everyone, I lay in my bed trying to get to sleep. It took me about 3 hours to get to sleep, and even then I wouldn't sleep very well.
Great, Just Great. Been here less than 2 weeks and i'm already in trouble (metaphorically), this is gonna be a long year..........
Side-note: out of respect and avoiding incriminating anyone, ALL photos and videos were deleted. Shame, it had been a great party until then
Skip the boring bits, just gimme the goodies
Thursday 29th September
BANG BANG BANG. At 8.30 in the morning, i thought there was another fire alarm. Panicking, i threw on last nights clothes and ran out of my bedroom door. I'll tell you now there was no fire alarm, but rather my flatmate, holding a piece of paper.
"PHIL PHIL, we got this paper and needs filling, errr, what we do?" (he's Saudi Arabian and clearly has no concept of time and sleep and not very good at English either)
It was a roommate agreement form, something that could have waited a few hours......
After filling my part and his part, i left a note for the other 2 flatmates to fill it out. After that, i headed straight for the shower, since I was already up and had some reading to do for todays classes. No sooner had I scrubbed up and down, both my body and my teeth ;B (hillbilly smilie) and everything else that needed doing, i went to put new clothes on.
"Theme from Family Guy" [my alarm]
I suppose Aziz did do me a favour by waking me up. 3 hours of preperation for the days classes and before i could fall asleep, i decided to grab a bite to eat with friends before my classes started. Luckily for them they only had 1 class that day and they had finished at the same time I went to eat (they're not so lucky though, they have classes over all 5 days. One even has a class on Saturday "FAIL")
1 hour and 3 taco's later, it was time to go to my classes.
(skipping forward 6 hours...this part isn't interesting and i'd waste everyones time trying to explain it)
[before the skipping finishes, 1 point worth mentioning was that I had my note-takers sorted {due to my disability of 1. not writing properly 2. being autistic}
(6 Hours skipping.......Complete)
"19:50 now and we return to the action replay: Our hero is walking a classmate to her car, talking about the upcoming groupwork assignment. The scene lasts 15 mintes before she gets bored and drives off, leaving our hero alone to walk the whole 200 yards to his flat"
"Oi, i thought i got rid of the Voice-over guy"
Never mind...after dropping my stuff and unpacking my course material ready for the work i'd be doing on Friday, I got a call to go to the Village square and 'chill' (call was from my phone, not my head, before anyone thinks i'm just plain lazy)
Here my British pride would be at stake. 4 guys had heard of my 'impressive' pool skills and had challenged me to a game. Luckily no money was involved, but in hindsight i wish i had, since I beat them all. (pool record is now 21W:1L) not bad for someone who doesn't know the official American Pool Rules.
Since I was rudely awakened in the morning, I retired early from the relaxation zone, now full of sound from some people watching some weird show on Nickelodeon. But of course my plans to go to sleep early fell to bits, thanks to Youtube and a few e-mails. What should have been an 11pm bedtime became a 1am bedtime. At least I could have a lie-in in the morning. Unless the management forces any more forms upon us......
BANG BANG BANG. At 8.30 in the morning, i thought there was another fire alarm. Panicking, i threw on last nights clothes and ran out of my bedroom door. I'll tell you now there was no fire alarm, but rather my flatmate, holding a piece of paper.
"PHIL PHIL, we got this paper and needs filling, errr, what we do?" (he's Saudi Arabian and clearly has no concept of time and sleep and not very good at English either)
It was a roommate agreement form, something that could have waited a few hours......
After filling my part and his part, i left a note for the other 2 flatmates to fill it out. After that, i headed straight for the shower, since I was already up and had some reading to do for todays classes. No sooner had I scrubbed up and down, both my body and my teeth ;B (hillbilly smilie) and everything else that needed doing, i went to put new clothes on.
"Theme from Family Guy" [my alarm]
I suppose Aziz did do me a favour by waking me up. 3 hours of preperation for the days classes and before i could fall asleep, i decided to grab a bite to eat with friends before my classes started. Luckily for them they only had 1 class that day and they had finished at the same time I went to eat (they're not so lucky though, they have classes over all 5 days. One even has a class on Saturday "FAIL")
1 hour and 3 taco's later, it was time to go to my classes.
(skipping forward 6 hours...this part isn't interesting and i'd waste everyones time trying to explain it)
[before the skipping finishes, 1 point worth mentioning was that I had my note-takers sorted {due to my disability of 1. not writing properly 2. being autistic}
(6 Hours skipping.......Complete)
"19:50 now and we return to the action replay: Our hero is walking a classmate to her car, talking about the upcoming groupwork assignment. The scene lasts 15 mintes before she gets bored and drives off, leaving our hero alone to walk the whole 200 yards to his flat"
"Oi, i thought i got rid of the Voice-over guy"
Never mind...after dropping my stuff and unpacking my course material ready for the work i'd be doing on Friday, I got a call to go to the Village square and 'chill' (call was from my phone, not my head, before anyone thinks i'm just plain lazy)
Here my British pride would be at stake. 4 guys had heard of my 'impressive' pool skills and had challenged me to a game. Luckily no money was involved, but in hindsight i wish i had, since I beat them all. (pool record is now 21W:1L) not bad for someone who doesn't know the official American Pool Rules.
Since I was rudely awakened in the morning, I retired early from the relaxation zone, now full of sound from some people watching some weird show on Nickelodeon. But of course my plans to go to sleep early fell to bits, thanks to Youtube and a few e-mails. What should have been an 11pm bedtime became a 1am bedtime. At least I could have a lie-in in the morning. Unless the management forces any more forms upon us......
Saturday, October 01, 2011
Running out of funny titles (and its only been 2 weeks)
Wednesday 28th September
Not looking forward to today, plenty of work that needs to be done. No time like the present. So after the morning preperations, the semi-cold shower and the mediocre breakfast burrito, i cracked on with the work.
the work consisted of 2 parts, A review of Chapter 2 of my Management, which alone doesn't sound too bad, but the chapter has 63 pages. :(
The second, required me to solve a set of financial problems, then change the numbers in the questions and resolve them. these 'new' questions would be used on the Mid-term paper in 3 weeks time.
Anyway, this blog isn't about boring you guys to death with my academics. This is about more than that.
But alas, the only key point worth mentioning is the bowling night planned. Starting at 9, me and 4 friends met the group of 110 who would also be going. We boarded 2 coaches and headed to the other side of San Bernardino. We managed to get 3 games in 2 hours. Representing Britain, I won all 3 games from our group. My best score was 159, one of the highest scores of the whole night. Although there was one guy who managed to get an amazing score of 232 in the next lane. He won a $50 gift pack (jealous much).
When we arrived back at 1am, you can probably guess what happened next :)
Apolagies for the lack of detail in this blog, i might be knocking the content down a bit to focus a bit more on academics and all the fun stuff :)
Not looking forward to today, plenty of work that needs to be done. No time like the present. So after the morning preperations, the semi-cold shower and the mediocre breakfast burrito, i cracked on with the work.
the work consisted of 2 parts, A review of Chapter 2 of my Management, which alone doesn't sound too bad, but the chapter has 63 pages. :(
The second, required me to solve a set of financial problems, then change the numbers in the questions and resolve them. these 'new' questions would be used on the Mid-term paper in 3 weeks time.
Anyway, this blog isn't about boring you guys to death with my academics. This is about more than that.
But alas, the only key point worth mentioning is the bowling night planned. Starting at 9, me and 4 friends met the group of 110 who would also be going. We boarded 2 coaches and headed to the other side of San Bernardino. We managed to get 3 games in 2 hours. Representing Britain, I won all 3 games from our group. My best score was 159, one of the highest scores of the whole night. Although there was one guy who managed to get an amazing score of 232 in the next lane. He won a $50 gift pack (jealous much).
When we arrived back at 1am, you can probably guess what happened next :)
Apolagies for the lack of detail in this blog, i might be knocking the content down a bit to focus a bit more on academics and all the fun stuff :)
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