Author: IsaacASU

After I had got back from Texas, which was a trip to celebrate the end of my exams, I arrived back just in time to celebrate Christmas here in Phoenix. This was a good chance to spend time with the new friends I have made in my first semester both from the US and abroad. All in all I cannot believe how fast the last few months have gone, and it is weird to think that I am already past hallway through my year abroad. This is a good chance to reflect on my first semester, as there are a lot of key differences between ASU and the University of Manchester. I think the largest is how much more intense the learning style is here compared to at Manchester, this is most apparent in the form of exams which I must take every couple of weeks here whereas at Manchester they are only at the end of the semester usually, which is the case with Geography anyway. Another big difference is that the lectures are usually split over two a week rather than one, and there is greater interaction in the lectures, with participation actively encouraged and even given extra credit in some classes. These are some of the differences I wasn’t aware of when I first came here, although I knew that the weather here was going to be a lot better than in Manchester, it was so warm I got to spend Christmas Day round the pool!

After Christmas I was lucky that my parents flew in to visit me from the UK on New Year’s Day. Las Vegas was one of the places they had always wanted to go and so we arranged to meet there, as it is only a quick 45 minute flight from me. After spending a few days with them there, we organized a road trip to get back to Phoenix as my classes started the following week. This road trip started at Las Vegas, and then we crossed into Arizona at the Hoover Dam and took a tour of the dam and power-plant. We then went to the Grand Canyon West Rim, and did the sky-walk there, and then went to the South rim which I think it the best place to go to see the Grand Canyon. We then went up north to Horseshoe Bend and the Lower Antelope Canyon near Page, before crossing into Utah to go to Monument Valley, which is where a lot of the old western films where shot. On the way back down to Phoenix we then went stayed in Winslow and went to the meteor crater there, which is the oldest proven meteor crater on earth. My parents then stayed an extra week in Scottsdale in the sun before leaving back for the UK, while for me classes started for my second and final semester here at ASU.

I had decided before my year abroad that I wasn’t going to come home at Christmas and instead commit to the full year and make the most of the time by seeing more of the US. To celebrate the conclusion of my first semester here at ASU I decided to take a trip to Texas, as it was another place that I had always wanted to go.  The flight from Phoenix to Dallas only took a couple of hours, most of which I spent asleep as it was during the night, and I landed at 6am local time, as Texas is an hour in front of Arizona. After a couple of hours in the airport catching up on my rest, I took a bus to the railway station and then the train to Fort Worth, which was the first stop on the trip. At Fort Worth, which was traditionally the gateway to the west, I went to the Stockyards and Cowboy Museum, and also saw a cattle drive down the main street with Texas Longhorn cattle.

Dallas was the next place I visited, which is where JFK was assassinated. At the Deeley Plaza, where it happened, a guide gave me information on the site and how the events unfolded. Just outside of Dallas I also visited Southfork Ranch, which is where the famous TV show Dallas was filmed, although I haven’t seen the show myself the tour was still interesting, and I am glad that I spent an afternoon there. After Dallas it was a short two hour bus ride to Austin, which is the state capital of Texas as well as the live music capital of the world. I visited the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum as well as the State Capitol Building, which is where I had a guided tour which took me through the history of the building and also Texas itself.

My final stop on my Texas trip was San Antonio. Despite arriving in the rain, this my favorite place which I visited as this is where the Alamo is, the site of the famous last stand at the Alamo. Taking place in 1836, it was one of the first battles for Texas Independence from Mexico and is famous as the Texans held out for 13 days despite being vastly outnumbered. As well as visiting the Alamo I also went to the Rainforest Café at San Antonio, which is located on the Riverwalk, a winding canal in the middle of the city with bars and restaurants on either side. My Texas trip ended with a night in the San Antonio International Airport, as my flight was cancelled due to a power outage at the Atlanta Airport where the plane was coming from. The next available flight was 6 am when I was originally meant to fly at 9pm, which all in all ended quite an eventful Christmas trip to Texas!

My Fall break in October was the first time that I didn’t have classes since the semester began all the way back in August. Although It was only four nights, as ASU doesn’t give a full week because it splits it up with the later Thanksgiving break, I decided to go somewhere that I had always wanted to go, the San Diego Zoo. Instead of just going straight to San Diego, I thought that it would be a good idea while I was in California to visit LA, as they are only a two hour bus ride apart. Because LA is so much bigger and there is so much to do there, I decided to split my time into two nights in LA and one in San Diego, however with the travel times included it worked out to be two full days in each, as I was making use of the Greyhound Bus system and travelling through the night.

My trip started at the Phoenix Greyhound bus station to get the 1am bus to LA, however I ended up spending the night in the station with my fellow passengers as the bus was delayed by 6 hours as they couldn’t find the driver! Despite that start the eight-hour bus ride was uneventful as the scenery was mostly desert until we reached the urban sprawl of LA. Arriving in the early afternoon, I used the subway to get to Hollywood where my hostel for the next two nights was. The rest of the day was then spent along Hollywood Blvd. The next day was spent in Hollywood, climbing up Mount Hollywood to the Griffith Observatory to get a good view of the Hollywood sign, walking along the beach and pier at Santa Monica, which is where route 66 ends, and then looking round Beverly Hills and Rodeo Dr.

The next morning involved the two hours bus ride from LA to San Diego down the Californian coast. Once I arrived at San Diego I decided to go first to the USS Midway Museum, which is a retired aircraft carrier used in the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm. On the ship there is also decommissioned fighter-jets, bombers and helicopters that had been used all the way since World War Two. The final day of my Fall Break trip was then spent at the San Diego Zoo, and because my bus ride back to Phoenix was late that evening, I decided to get up early and make it to the zoo for the opening time, so that I could make it a full day there. Named the best zoo in the world by TripAdvisor, it has over 600 rare and endangered species and 3,500 animals altogether, and so even though I was there all day I probably didn’t get to see everything! Overall my favorite animal that I saw was the Giant Panda, and it capped off a great way to spend my Fall break.