*Maryland Dhoom is The University of Maryland’s competitive South Asian Fusion Dance Team.*
Dancing used to be a hobby and now it’s a passion of mine. Therefore, before travelling to America, I knew I wanted to join a dance team. However, I didn’t know whether to carry on doing Bollywood and Bharathanatyam (Indian classical) or experience every American college girl’s dream- getting on to the cheerleading team.
I decided to audition for a few teams before auditioning for Maryland Dhoom. Pretty much all the teams rejected me because they required at least one year commitment and I am only there for a semester. It was upsetting because I spent so much time and effort to prepare for the audition (especially the cheerleading one) and for that to be dismissed for a reason that I have no control over.
Due to the previous experiences with auditioning, the first thing I asked at Maryland Dhoom’s teaching day was “Can I join even though I am only here for a semester?”
“Of course you can!” said one enthusiastic Maryland Dhoom member.
After this moment, I felt so excited to dance! I took off my hoodie, placed my phone in my bag and started to stretch a bit.
“Before we start teaching you the dance, let’s sit in a circle and introduce ourselves” said one of the captains. I sighed. (There was about fifty people in the hall). When it was my turn: “ Hi, my name is Thul-”, the biggest reaction happened. A lot of gasps, a lot of “oh my gods” and a lot of “ she’s British!” When I tell you the Americans love the British accent, they LOVE the British accent.
Other than that, the audition process went smoothly and our team had our first social the following week. I felt like a grandmother at the social. Everyone apart from the captains were freshmen (first year students). But it felt wholesome. I felt like I was going to be part of a family.
Rehearsals were taken pretty seriously. Every week I had ten hours of dance rehearsals. It was very organised too because usually they use Fall semester to prepare for competition season ( Spring semester). Unfortunately, I would not be able to travel to different states and participate in competitions as I was only in America for the Fall semester. But I still had a few exciting events to look forward to: dance team photoshoot, audition filming day, Dhoom Venmo challenge and an exhibition performance in Washington D.C.
A few of the photos from the dance shoot.
You’re probably thinking what ‘audition filming day’ is. We dedicate a day to film our audition tape. The audition tape needs to perfect as it determines Maryland Dhoom’s competition season. There are more than 100 bollywood/ fusion competitions in America. And the more you attend and place, the more points you get and the more likely you get to the Nationals (the final stage). This is the overall picture, obviously there are more rules.
Let me be honest, audition day was stressful. If someone made a mistake midway through, we had to start again. And after a few times, it did annoy people. Also, it was humid that day too; that did not help at all. But it was a good bonding experience. * A few hours later * we got two perfect takes!
Warming up before filming our audition tape
You’re also probably thinking what is “dhoom vemo challenge”. It’s such an innovative method to raise money. So, Maryland Dhoom came up with a few dares with prices (the more daring the higher the price) and posted it on their social media. Friends and family of Dhoom members can venmo (the American version of Paypal) money along with the dare and who they’re daring.
Here are a few:
A few of the venmo challenges
When November commenced, rehearsals started to become intense as we only had a couple of weeks left until show day. The week before show day was called ‘hell week’. (Literally hell week for me because I had two mid-terms that week too!) We had practise every evening, and we would rehearse until the captains were satisfied. Ex-captains and the captains’ friends would come in too to help out. A variety of things were involved during hell week: improving stamina by repeating routines with 30s breaks, improving techniques by getting into partners and criticise.. costumes, last min changes to the routine and formation, and a lot of drama ! The hell week was worth it though, I could tell that everyone improved dramatically!
16th November 2019. It was show day! But to me, it felt like a girls’ day trip and night out! It was so fun. We spent the morning getting ready together, drove to get lunch together, and then got to the venue. Everything was going so smoothly, and then it came to our turn to have the stage rehearsal.
A couple of the dancers slipped on stage and injured themselves, formations weren’t perfect, and it didn’t meet the captains expectations. So obviously there was some tension in the room. However, we pulled ourselves together and did last minute touch ups on both our dance routine and make up. We sat in the audience before performing, and boy, I was so excited to see the performers. I was literally on the edge of my seat. The energy levels were INSANE! The costumes and the use of props were too phenomenal. I didn’t want to stop watching but then they called up our team. I remember being so nervous backstage, especially after watching the other performances. But when I got on stage, the vibes were surreal! Soon after our performance we hurried to get to the after-party. It was a fun night out with the girls but my legs were dead by the end.
Maryland Dhoom doing the “Dhoom face”. A snapshot of the performance in D.C.
After the performance we did not have any rehearsals but we had a Christmas special social event. It was so wholesome: we watched Wizard of Oz (that’s Dhoom’s competition theme), did Secret Santa and had ordered take away. We undertook secret Santa with a little twist, instead of writing the person’s name on a tag we had to imitate our person and the others had to guess it. When it got to my turn I got so emotional because they gave me a goodbye present too. It was so heart-warming and honestly I will miss them so much.
That’s when I realised: joining Maryland Dhoom was one of the best things I did whilst studying abroad. I made some good friends outside of my class and it made me feel less home sick. It gave me an opportunity to carry on doing what I love, on campus. Also, in hindsight, I saved a lot of money too, because if I didn’t join the team I would have spent my free time travelling around America, splurging on sightseeing activities. (I have a few friends complaining now that they spent too much on travelling).
I loved being part of Maryland Dhoom and I will cherish the memories I made with my Dhoomies. To those thinking about studying abroad, join a society – it’s worth it!
I study Chemical Engineering, and I am only taking Chemical Engineering modules at UMD. So the differences listed below are based on what I have experienced. (It may be different for other courses at UMD).
1.Everyone writes in pencil here! Over the past few weeks, I have realised how much I cross out with pen and waste so much paper.
Let me tell you a funny story. In one of my classes, I decided to take notes on paper using a pencil instead of pen. I had to erase something, but I did not have a rubber in my pencil case. So, I turned to the person next to me and asked quietly if I can borrow her rubber. She stared at me weirdly, and obviously I was confused. What did I do wrong? Oh, maybe she didn’t hear me I thought. Hence, I repeated myself “can I borrow your rubber?” and pointed at the end of her pencil. She gave it to me like she didn’t want to give it to me. For the rest of lesson, I was just baffled. My next class was in the same room; I sat next to my friend and I told her about the awkward situation. She burst out laughing! I was even more confused. She immediately went on her phone and showed me a page on urban dictionary: “ Rubber: (American English) a condom, (British English) an eraser”.
Now it all made sense! From then on, I am very careful on what words I use, yet I am still curious if there are other words like this!
2. As a chemical engineering student, you are expected to be good at unit conversions. As a US chemical engineering student, you are expected to be good at unit conversions both in imperial and metric system. The conversions that my Year 7 teacher told me to memorise have finally become useful.
3. I feel like I am back at school! We get homework every week, and they get graded and count towards your final grade! (There is no such thing as catching up/cramming for exams during the holidays here :’) ). Also, during the semester, we have mid-terms and presentations to do… so you really have to be on top of your work. One of my friends said that a lecturer said, I quote: “if you’re not ahead you’re behind”.
4. In most UK Universities to achieve a 1st class you need to obtain an overall grade of more than or equal to 70%. Whereas to get a grade equivalent to a 1st in the USA, so an A+, you need to obtain an overall grade of 94%. I have realised when I was studying at The University of Manchester, I was not aiming for perfection, I just wanted to get a good understanding of the topic and be able to answer questions. But here, I am driven to be a perfectionist. My work ethic has changed because of the different criteria.
5. You are allowed to bring your dog to class here! (If the lecturer and all the students in the class are okay with it). In my Protein Engineering class, most of the students are dog lovers, so we’ve had at least someone bring their dog to class a few times so far this semester!
6. I assume that Universities all over the world take cheating in exams or homework very seriously. In my opinion, I feel like UMD are a little over the top with “academic dishonesty”. For every mid-term exam or quiz I have sat, as well as writing my name and module on front of the paper, I have had to write “I pledge on my honour that I have not given or received any unauthorised assistance on this examination/assignment”.
7. Being a chatterbox is fine in the US! You get credit for it. It counts towards your final grade. At the University of Manchester I am used to having 80% of my final grade being based on my exam and 20% based on my coursework. Whereas at UMD, (it varies from class to class) the grades get weighted as: 30% final exam, 20% homework, 20% midterm, 20% presentations and 10% participation.
People have asked me which education system I prefer…. during the start of the semester I said I liked the UK system as I am used to it. However, now that I am half way in, I am starting to like this system; I have immensely improved my work ethic and time management because of the consistent stress throughout the semester. Moreover, it has made me into a perfectionist which in my opinion is a benefit in the workplace (let’s get them bonuses!). Best of all, I do not need to spend this year’s Christmas break revising aka cramming for January exams (except for one distance learning module). #onemonthoffreedom
I noticed that I have the habit to compare new places with the place I am familiar with. This includes Manchester where I have been living for 3 years.
Maryland is so strikingly different from Manchester.
By Madeleine Taylor (University of Maryland, College Park, USA)
I honestly cannot believe that it has been almost a year since I left Maryland and College Park. My time studying abroad sometimes feels like it was all a dream, and when it doesn’t it certainly feels a lot more fleeting than it actually was. When I think about it in relation to my whole three years at Manchester, the six months I spent abroad seem like a minuscule slice of time. But somehow those six months have managed to represent some of the most prominent and enjoyable of my time at university.
At first settling back into Manchester was a little difficult, not only in terms of academics, but also in terms of simple things like remembering the bus numbers I could use (which was especially challenging as a new route had been added to the Magic Buses, which I soon found out the hard way). But after a few weeks everything returned to normal, which kind of scared me. With each passing day my experience abroad and the things it has impressed upon me seemed to be fading as Manchester became normal and familiar again. But of course nothing had faded, it had just fallen into the background as I returned to a previous norm. I find myself impacted by my experiences abroad almost every day whether that is chatting with my long-distance friends or having a different perspective on US news. I wouldn’t go quite so far as to play into the cliché of ‘it has fundamentally altered my world and changed me as a person’, but my time abroad has definitely had a positive impact on my everyday life and aspects of myself. For example, before I went abroad I was quite shy and not very confident within myself. While these two traits didn’t disappear completely, whilst abroad I definitely learnt to overcome some of the barriers of my shyness and am a much better person for it.
And now here I am, mere weeks away from graduating for good (gulp) and I couldn’t be more delighted about the choice I made to study abroad. I’ll be seeing my old roommate this summer (I am so excited), and two of my classmates are coming to visit so that I can return the favour and take them on a European adventure.
All the best to anyone embarking on study abroad in the future,
By Gavin Dunn (University of Maryland, College Park, USA)
Well, it’s a few days before I start my trip to the University of Maryland, College Park, and to be honest, it hasn’t hit me yet. I’m definitely nervous, but being back in Manchester to finish work has really got me thinking I’m going to be starting my second semester here. Generally, most of my ‘to-dos’ on my to-do list have been crossed off, but I still feel so under prepared. With alternative assessments taking up the majority of my time over Christmas, there hasn’t been much time for anything else!
Overall, this exchange has been around a year of organising. Applying to the International Programmes Office in Manchester, being accepted. Applying to the University of Maryland, being accepted. Applying for an American visa, being accepted. A lot of paperwork, a lot of time, but finally I am now preparing to go. My thoughts are now on how I’m going to cope with America East Coast winters. With temperatures going into the minuses I think I’m going to need some boots, a big jacket and obviously the trusty Manchester University bobble hat we’ve been given.
I guess I’m nervous about a few things. Being away from my friends and family for the longest time in my life. Moving to a country that I’ve only visited once before. Sharing a room with someone I haven’t met. However, this is an opportunity that I won’t ever get again. I am excited to actually visit the country I am doing my degree on, but I think there will be a culture shock. I’m definitely going to have to get used to their slang like pants being trousers, biscuits being something completely different, even the spelling. But these things will come in time, I’m just going to have to go out there and do it!
The next time you hear from me I’ll be in the big U.S of A!
Leaving The University of Maryland was really hard. I knew it would be difficult to leave new friends behind and to let go of the travelling bug I’d caught during my time abroad. But what I didn’t expect was to find it so difficult to understand leaving. It felt almost as if I had started over and built a new university experience because everything was so different and exciting. So when it came to the end it was hard to comprehend the fleeting nature of my time abroad, and to let go of everything I had enjoyed so much. I’m the type of person that loves change – I moved around a lot as a child, was constantly switching schools, joining new clubs and fitting into now spaces. I took on Maryland just as I took on any new change, but this was one of the hardest places to leave behind. You feel special when you’re abroad; everything is exciting and everyone is excited with you. You learn to act within and relish in a new framework. I loved all of my classes, I loved the campus, I loved the friendships I made, I loved the atmosphere. So leaving was a hard pill to swallow.
The main difference I think I appreciated the most between Manchester and Maryland was the exuberance of the Maryland students and the amount of school spirit every student had woven through them. It was so fun to be in an environment so excited about the school and so passionate about its success. It was great to watch sports games that would end up on television and wear fun Terp merchandise around campus. The school spirit made everyone seem part of one big community and it was cool to feel a part of something so vast.
The classes were great, my teachers were engaging and interested in my success. The teaching style was very different from the UK, and I found that the lecturers were mostly focused on student progression and seeing them grow throughout the course – and they were allowed to do so within the system of constant assessment. Yes, I resented this at first. Yes, I was disheartened by lower grades at the beginning of the semester. But by the end of the semester I really came to appreciate how much it helped me academically.
I think I’ve gushed about my friends enough in my previous blogs, but of course they were integral to my time in Maryland and they are all very special to me. So thanks guys.
All in all I cannot imagine having a better experience abroad. I wouldn’t change a thing about it and I would encourage everyone to take the opportunity to study abroad and run with it, because it’s an experience you’re unlikely to be offered again. I had an incredible time abroad that I won’t ever want to forget.
While I did work very hard at Maryland, and it was occasionally difficult to balance work and play, I had a great opportunity to explore the US while on exchange, and explore I did! I think an exchange really teaches you to seize the day, it feels like such a waste to sit around watching Netflix all day and so I’ve become much more proactive with my time. As a result I have had some awesome experiences while I’ve been here.
Sports at American College are a must, and so we attended a few basketball games at Maryland’s incredible Comcast Centre.
Comcast centre at UMD
Go Terps!
We explored DC, and obviously saw The White House. It was great being in College Park because of its proximity to DC and the ease of getting in on the metro! I’m sure I’ll appreciate my short trip into London much more when I get home.
The White House!
I did an 8k and a 5k run down in Virginia Beach with my family while I was here, one was for St Patricks’ day and the other was a colour run – so fun!
Shamrock 8k in Virginia Beach with my family
Colour Me Rad 5k with Annabel and family down in Virginia Beach
I visited Baltimore twice, such an interesting city with so much history and so many beautiful sights. It also didn’t hurt that we had a local tour-guide to escort us around (thanks Annie!). That is another great thing about studying abroad, and in American in particular, your friends will be scattered everywhere!
Baltimore rooftop with Annabel and Annie
My first big trip of the semester was to Philadelphia, and although it was still pretty freezing while we were there, it was great to see the city and explore.
Philadelphia! Freedom, Liberty and of course Rocky!
And then Spring Break rolled around and of course I had to jet off to the Bahamas! This was such an incredible experience, if a little strange to be in 30degree heat while it was snowing back in Maryland. And there wasn’t much of an opportunity to show off our tan when we got back, but the satisfaction of being an English Rose (nice way of saying very pale) and brown in March made up for it!
Breezes, Bahamas
Weather Difference – College Park to Bahamas. And it never even rained!
Snorkelling with Sharks and Atlantis!
And then I had my 20th Birthday in College Park and my wonderful friends came for dinner with me at our campus restaurant.
Birthday meal at Adele’s
Of course what would an exchange in America be without a trip to New York City?! We saw three plays in three days (Newsies, Once and Of Mice and Men), got into the MoMa for free, ran into President Obama and chilled out in Central park in the sun, could it get much better?
New York – Central Park, Top of the Rock, Of Mice and Men and The Empire State Building
Times Square!
And then Annabel and I took a trip to the theme park Busch Gardens, which was simply incredible.
Locked up in ‘England’
I also joined my extended family in Kiawah Island in South Carolina for (American) mother’s day and a wonderful few days of relaxing and amazing food.
Lunch with the family
And now I’m finished my exams and set to spend almost my entire summer by the beach and working by the oceanfront. I’m so so sad that my semester studying in Maryland is over, but at least my time in America is not! Now I’m going to run outside and get a tan!
(P.S. I just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who made my travels and semester possible – all of my exchange coordinators, my parents, my extended family in America, and of course all of the wonderful friends I’ve made in Maryland (yes, and you Annabel). You all know who you are – so thank you!)
By Madeleine Taylor (University of Maryland, USA).
I think one of the things most British exchanges are nervous about when studying in America is the prospect of having a roommate. I know I was worried when I arrived – what if we didn’t get along, what if they stayed up too late and were loud or messy? There are most definitely many things to worry over.
When I arrived at The University of Maryland, having received my room assignment maybe only a week before, my roommate wasn’t due to move back in for a few more days. I’d done the obligatory Facebook stalk and she seemed like she would be a nice girl. When I first walked into the room I was faced with a wall full of Doctor Who posters – ok, well at least she was into the British thing. I saw that she was a gymnast – so she would be out of the room for practice a lot. Things were looking great.
And then she arrived. I’m not going to use her real name, so we’re going to call her Amy. Lets just say that when Amy arrived most of my fears of having a roommate were realised. Every moment in the room together was awkward, every conversation seemed to stall, we had opposing sleeping habits (she got up at 4am to go on gymnastics demonstrations!), she disliked my late (midnight) nights on Saturdays – the list goes on. But, no big deal, I didn’t need to be her best friend and we could co-exist peacefully enough. Bigger but – I had no friends. So I set off into the rest of my dorm to make them. I left a note on my door saying that I was new and asking people to knock and say hello. No one ever did. I would try to strike up conversation when washing my face in the bathroom, but was mostly met with blank faces. I sat in the common areas and tried to mingle, but to no avail. Things just were not going well that first week. See, I had been put in the assigned Orthodox Jewish dorm, and had been told by many that they were not very welcoming to newcomers. No judgement, they like what they like, but it put me in a difficult situation.
Then I made the best decision I have all exchange. I asked for help! I went to the head of my dorm, explained my problems and he agreed to move me that week! Really, it was that simple. I’m not going to say it wasn’t a little awkward packing up my stuff with Amy in the room. I’m not going to say I didn’t lie about why I was ‘being forced to move’. But soon I was out and making the short move into my new dorm – Dorchester Hall.
I moved in with an Australian exchange I’d met that happened to have a room to herself and soon settled in. What a difference. My now roommate, Cinddy (I know she won’t mind me using her real name) is the kindest and most considerate roommate I could have hoped for. Sure, sometimes we go to sleep at different times, but we are always respectful and quiet if the other is sleeping, and that’s what sleep masks are made for (this is a must have item)! We are both equally a little messy and we both loathe mornings. She doesn’t get mad if I’m dying of hunger and I steal one of her tasty Australian cookies (TimTams) and I let her use the fridge my aunt Donna loaned me (Thanks Donna!). She is one of the greatest friends I have made here. And the dorm is much friendlier too. I’ve met some wonderful people (shout out to Annie, Kate, Natalie, Paulina and Jackie) in Dorchester and am so so happy I moved.
My roommate and I in New York City!
So the moral of the story? Yes, things weren’t great for me when I first arrived. But I wasn’t going to sit in my room all day with no friends and cry about it! I took action and ended up in an excellent situation. If on exchange you’re unhappy with anything, please go and speak to someone, ask how they can help make your situation better. We’re only here for a brief period of time, and thankfully I didn’t waste any more than two weeks of it being unhappy.
And now, with only a few weeks left of exchange, I’m actually quite sad to go back to my own room with no one there to moan about my day or to laugh with. I’m going to go now, before I start lamenting over my exchange coming to an end.
By Madeleine Taylor (University of Maryland, USA).
So, I really haven’t been keeping up with this blog very well lately and I am about to explain part of the reason why.
The academics here in America could not be more different than back in England. I’ll lay out the differences simply:
Method of assessment: Here in Maryland I have at least 4 methods of assessment for each of my classes, with participation (attendance, talking in class and sometimes bi-weekly response papers) usually counts for around 20% of your final grade. For me, a massively keen student, participation grades have been great – but if you’re not used to showing up for class then this’ll be a harsh change!
Volume of work: Obviously with a minimum four assessments instead of the usual two in Manchester there is a lot more to get done here. In Maryland they call it busy work – work that isn’t particularly difficult but that takes a lot of time. This is what has been the most difficult adjustment for me. I have at a minimum seven or eight hours of work for each of my four subjects a week and then on top of that any work I have to do for assessment deadlines. This may not seem like a lot, but compared to the amount of work I did back in Manchester I would say in Maryland I do triple.
Mid-terms: Almost every class will have some sort of assessment halfway through the semester, and this is usually in the form of an exam. So be prepared to revise more. However sometimes this is an advantage as teachers may choose to only put material learned after the midterm on the final exam, which means less information to cram in when it comes to the last week of the semester!
Grading: Here is where the sun shines on this so far bleak account. I have been in Maryland for a little over two months now and I have yet to receive any grade below a 92% or an A-. Considering the volume of assessments I’ve had I think this is pretty impressive. And no, this is not me bragging about my intelligence – this is me saying that if you come here and do the work, you will get a good grade. Say goodbye to 65s and 68s.
Teachers: The teachers here are pretty different. I’ve found that they are much more willing to help you improve if you get a bad grade or even if you just feel a little flustered with the task at hand. They’ll give you extra credit (which is awesome: you can come out of a class with over 100%), or check your drafts, or discuss the lecture topics with you etc. Its not that my lecturers in Manchester won’t do this, its just the my lecturers in Maryland are much more accessible and approachable in these matters – they put the help out there for you to grab, rather than making you seek for it. Maybe this is babying, maybe this isn’t in the university spirit, but I sure appreciate it. They also have no qualms with knowing who you are, how engaged you appear in class and which piece of work you did and applying this to your grade. No anonymous marking here.
Getting to class: This may just be for me, but Maryland is a campus university and so I live a four minutes walk away from all of my academic buildings (yes, specifics help me sleep longer).
Breaks: Spring break (a week) is the only break you will get in your semester in America, so don’t expect the same amount of time off we get in the UK.
I hope this has been a comprehensive (and not boring) list for anyone interested in American university academics. Some things may vary institution to institution, but I hope this gives you a good idea of what to expect if you fly out here on an adventure of your own. Do not be put off, things may be different and things may seem harder or more strenuous, but I’ve found the work here to be enjoyable and engaging; anything different is exciting! It is definitely worth it! And now that my mid-terms are over I hope to update more frequently.
The prospect of flying nine hours across ‘the pond’ for eight months is pretty daunting. There will be so much to adjust to and appreciate, and so little time to do so. Not seeing my family for that long is going to be difficult, but I am excited to strike out on my own and throw myself into life at the University of Maryland. After all, my well known motto is: You are a strong, independent woman. And I plan to fully realise this alter-ego on my trip (we’ll see how that goes).
Packing was a struggle; how could I possibly fit eight months worth of stuff into two measly (when I say measly I mean behemoth duffle bags, but still) suitcases? Well I tried and I failed. Unfortunately I had to resign myself to the fact that I could not bring thirty books and a dozen nicnacks and my two dogs. Oh the struggle.
Once my packing was finished the real nerves set in. This was actually happening. I would be out of touch with Manchester life for over half a year and eventually something completely new would be my norm. I am, however, very lucky to have an amazing family living only four hours (a very short distance by American standards) from the University of Maryland, who will no doubt treat me too well and help me get settled. So shout out to my amazing family!
I have been assigned a roommate, which I am very apprehensive about, but hopefully everything will work out, and I know my move-in date. I’ve filled out all of my paperwork, checked my passport is in date and contacted my advisor in Maryland. I think everything is covered, and now all there is left to do is vegetate for nine hours whilst watching terrible movies and eating questionable food (yes, this is how I see flying) before my adventure begins. Wish me luck!
**
So I have been in the USA now for just over a week and I am stressed! I’ve sorted out a bank account and my mobile phone. I’ve studied for and taken my Virginia driving test (I passed, yay!), and re-registered my cousin’s car in my name (which I bought from her – thanks Ariel for the sweet ride!).
My cousin and I posing with my new car! (Car’s name pending…) Update – car is called Delilah.
I’ve registered for classes and bought a parking space at Maryland. I’ve checked and rechecked my train tickets from Virginia Beach (where I am staying with my family) to Maryland and checked the weather schedules. Lets halt there at the last one – there has been a polar vortex this past week, with temperatures in the US dropping to record lows. So I’ve had to constantly check the weather schedules. Fingers crossed for a week clear of snow!
**
And lo and behold, on move-in day a blizzard comes to town and the school is closed. Thankfully I was staying with my Mum’s best friend Kate in Maryland at the time, so didn’t have to worry about extending a hotel stay. We also had an awesome day shovelling snow, drinking hot chocolate and making homemade pizzas, so I’m not really complaining.
My very attractive friend Annabel and I shovelling snow! Just as a side note, my friend Annabel has come over from the UK with me, so expect to see her in many of my posts!
I am equally nervous and excited for move in, but can’t wait to officially start my semester abroad!
