By Hamish Russell (University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA).

Spring break was a really nice change of pace for me; having already done the clubbing sort of holiday with my UK-based friends I was more interested in hearing the tales that others brought back, and staying clear of the fray myself. So, while many of my friends from UMass headed to Cancún for the week, I caught my flight from Boston to Philadelphia. As soon as I landed I was thrown into the culture of a new city, with new terms for seemingly trivial things replacing the new words I’ve become accustomed to while in Massachusetts. I was told off for being difficult with the security people at Philadelphia Airport for insisting I didn’t have any tennis shoes with me, but it turned out that any form of sports shoe is known as a tennis shoe across Pennsylvania – which I did have. Even sandwiches have different names, ‘grinders’ in Massachusetts and ‘hoagies’ in Pennsylvania; any food confusion was avoided however as my uncle was keen to use me as an excuse to break the strict diet rules that my aunt tries to make him follow – making Philly Cheese Steaks our first choice for lunch.

While staying with my aunt and uncle, I visited the town of Gettysburg, the site of the US Civil War’s Battle of Gettysburg. You’re allowed to drive around the battlefield without a tour guide, stopping at points of interest crucial to the outcome of the battle. While similar to visiting First and Second World War battlefields, this site has a different feel – you can easily visualise each attack and movement.

After Gettysburg, I visited the city of Philadelphia itself. The National Constitution Centre, Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and Reading Terminal Market were my main stops. Reading Terminal Market is Philadelphia’s answer to London’s Borough Market, with a plethora of stalls, stands and choices. However my lasting memory of it will, unfortunately, be being knocked from behind into a small girl sending her slice of pizza flying… I apologised to almost the entire market before buying the girl and her brother some replacement pizza before leaving as quickly as possible, my face burning red with embarrassment. Needless to say my other stops are much less painful in the memory, and all incredibly interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I spent much of the remainder of the week in the safe confines of the golf course, trying not to humiliate myself too much or lose too many balls to the hazards. Very few of the rules of golf were followed, and the rounds were dominated by stops at the various refreshment stands placed around the course and small wagers on holes – meaning scores were patchy to say the least, but the rounds were huge fun.

Getting back to UMass at the end was good fun, being able to catch up with people after a week away and hear their stories, especially when the first one told was that one of the guys was missing in action having been asked to get off a plane in North Carolina on the way back from Cancún… Still not 100% sure about what happened with that.