College USA

Phew. Finally the post that had been long-deserving of writing - except at the moment my time has been swallowed up by this ridiculous system of 'shopping' for classes. Yes, that's right, this week is shopping week at Penn - and I don't mean we all go on a field trip down to Gap. I wish. Well, maybe not Gap, but...

Okay! Welcome to the University of Pennsylvania! Wow! This is a University that blows Melbourne Uni out of the water. Penn was THE first uni of the USA, established in the 1740s by Mister Ben Franklin himself. Penn is situated in Philadelphia, which is a little American History crazed itself - as it was the first capital of the USA, and houses the LIberty Bell and Independence Hall (two significant historical monuments that don't really appeal to me. It was where they signed the Declaration of Independence as well as the Constitution. Exciting stuff, I'm sure, but it doesn't really interest me so much. But i'm not alone - my roommate Rebecca actually despises American history, and she's American! So i guess my apathy isn't so bad. But then again, am I so interested in Australian history? Are any of us? The majority, I mean.)

Someone in Study Abroad World loves me, as I scored one of the BEST apartments around. I'm currently living in one of the three high rise apartment buildings located on campus, and sharing it with three gorgeous people. I have my own room, which is quite big, and one of my walls is actually a window, a ceiling to floor, wall to wall WINDOW, that overlooks the rest of the campus. And what a view. We have our own kitchenette, but I'm not sure how much cooking is really going to go on... And a living room, and a nice spacious dining table etc. My roommates are really friendly as well, for which I am also extremely lucky. Nadeige is from Miami, Rebecca is from New Jersey and Jess is from the suburbs of Philadelphia. I'll have a picture of them later on. I'm the only arts girl. Nareige and Jess study business at Wharton, and Rebecca studies Bio (which leads on to Medicine for Graduate School).

The University of Pennsylvania is absolutely beautiful. The buildings range from being built in the 1700s, the 1800s, and of course the 1900s. I'm still getting used to walking around everywhere and getting VERY lost, but I love just looking up and around me and smiling in the comfort of these surroundings. It's something else.

So, I actually arrived to Penn on Thursday, dragging my suitcases across the uni (all three) and recieved the key to my apartment 703. The apartment was a mess - the floor was real grotty, there were bottles of alchohol around the place without lids on them, and THERE WAS A TIOLET IN THE LIVING ROOM! Yes kids, a toilet. Somehow it disconnected itself from its rightful place in the bathroom. What's more, the shower was, erm, broken aswell, and there was muddy footprints all over the tiles.

To be quite honest I can't remember my very first reaction. I know one of the inital ones was to immedietely start vacumming (huh? does this sound like me?) and washing up. The lack of toilet and shower was a bit of a problem. So was the lack of roommates. Perhaps these girls loved to party, i actually thought for a moment. And one of their parties got so wild they removed the toilet and left in lying down in the middle of the common room. Perhaps...

But alas, I was wrong. Very wrong. It was fixed the next morning, and by the time Nadeige arrived she had no clue as to what I was talking about. Boy, did she miss out.

Over the weekend I went to First Fridays, a Philly tradition that occurs the first Friday of every month. This special Friday, the galleries of Old Philadelphia open their doors to the public and we hopped from one gallery to another, even popped into some cosy bookstores as well, and each place provides wine and food/nibbles and sometimes beer or cider. It's a really nice way of seeing contemporary art and mingling with different people.

On Sunday my mum came down from New York and I showed her around the university, my dorm etc and we went downtown for lunch (and stopped to see the Liberty Bell...well, we only just 'happened' to see it, we were waiting to be seated and took a walk around). No less it was a teary goodbye, but, I guess, this is really the beginning of this adventure.

Hope I haven't bored you all. I know this all sounds pretty bland, but so far there's not so much to report. The Americans are really friendly, the college food is pretty crap, this week is Rush week for the Fraternities and Sororities. Arghh. LIttle freshmen (first years) trying their darndest to impress the alpha phi crappa delta heirarchy. Straight from the movies. (For more detailed readings into such Greek traditions, see Legally Blonde and Van Wilder...)

Hope the heat isn't killing you. It's not so cold here, so I'm not jealous.
Yet.