Meg

I have been stateside for nearly a week now and there are finally American students here! I’ve met some really great people so far and talked about everything from the Beatles to Gossip Girl to the train system at Atlanta Airport. I’m starting to get a routine in place and to know the best ways to get from A to B. There are multiple ways to cross the river and thanks to a very handy map I was given earlier this week I’ve worked out the quickest route across via the small back paths that run behind the residence buildings. There is also a free University bus called the Cambus whose route and timetable sound devilishly complicated to master when you speak to current students, but like everything nowadays, there is an app for that. It’s called Bongo and informs the user where the stops are, when the next bus is due, where it goes to and even provides a little map to show you where you are. I made use of it today and am entirely thankful I did because moments after I stepped on the bus the most almighty downpour began and now, back at Quad, sopping wet and huddled in my towel, I can feel the walls and floors vibrating with the strength of the thunder. I’ve never heard anything like it before! The noise seems to roll across the sky endlessly till it has crashed and rumbled itself to some other part of Iowa. For future days like this, I will most certainly be availing myself of the Cambus services.

I love walking around the campus, there is so much to look at and to see. I’ve been within a metre of a chipmunk and they are so utterly adorable! I’ve seen loads of grey squirrels – they’re very tame and are happy bouncing around the trees and watching you wander by. I also saw a gorgeous black squirrel. I’ve never seen one before and it was so much sleeker and more graceful than its grey counterpart. There is a lot of wildlife along the back path I use to cross the river and there is also this strange blue pillar. It is an emergency point, for people walking alone who feel unsafe. You press the button and you are instantly put through to someone who can assist. They’re all armed with CCTV as well. They are scattered all over campus, particularly in areas that are more remote. I haven’t yet decided if I feel happy knowing that they’re there if I need them, or if I feel disturbed that someone felt there was a need for them there.

I have my timetable now and I am really looking forward to getting started, I just wish the courses came sans the exams and the essay deadlines. I have two 8am lectures that I am not thrilled about but seeing has I handpicked the courses myself I’m hoping the content of the course will be enough motivation to make me attempt to climb out of my bed – whoever thought ladder-less bunk beds were a sensible idea needs a good talking to. In a morning I’m barely functioning, it is not good idea to then make me navigate coming down from a great height as well.

I’ve got the dining hall cracked which was possibly the most daunting thing I’ve done to date. It’s a ginormous room filled with multiple counters serving a variety of foods. If you’ve been to a Cosmos Restaurant you’ll understand what I’m trying to describe. There are counters serving Italian foods, pizza and two types of pasta with a tomato or meat sauce. There is a Wok counter serving rice and noodles with a chicken, beef or vegetable dish to accompany. Taco stations, deli counters, bagels and croissants, make your own waffles, salad bars, chilli with nachos, lots of different types of fresh fruit, a smoke house station serving different meats and every type of way you could serve sweetcorn as well as a counter serving burgers and hotdogs. Drinks are also available in a wonderful variety including Iced Tea, chocolate milk, French Vanilla coffee and Cherry Coke. I was thoroughly overwhelmed when I first ventured in, I spotted the sign saying bagels and made a bee line to it as I knew what a bagel was. My tea that night consisted of an untoasted bagel with a layer of low fat Philadelphia on it, topped with a single slice of a gherkin on one side followed by a little bit of ham and little bit of turkey and then sandwiched with the other half of the bagel. I also found some sort of sweetcorn mixed with black beans and roasted red peppers. I have since made my food choices slightly more coherent. The grilled chicken is very good, as are the bulgur wheat salads, the sweet potato wedges and their sweetcorn concoctions, also their lemon squares are pretty amazing too. Not sure where those came from but I’m wondering where to enquire for the recipe.

Last night I attended my very first On Iowa event. On Iowa is the equivalent to a British Freshers Week except that it only lasts Wednesday to Sunday and due to the drinking laws here, all alcohol free. I was seriously surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I asked two girls who had just moved into my corridor if they fancied going with me. One declined and the other accepted. We went together and found the event in Hillcrest where there was loud music playing and people chatting and dancing. We got into a line and made our own tie dyed t-shirts and then proceeded to acquire these fetching hats that we attacked with artistic enthusiasm.

Unfortunately, I didn’t realise at the time, but the letter I on my hat isn’t quite central and now it bothers me every time I look at it. Other than that, I am very pleased with it. After that we decorated cupcakes with ‘frosting’ in the Iowa colours. Then we ate them. And they were good. We watched the dancing for a while before we headed back – I was suffering from jet lag and my new dorm mate had had a long day moving in. It was a good welcome event and I’m looking forward to the rest.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 26th, 2014 at 3:13 pm and is filed under General, . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.