One Week into my American Dream

7 DAYS IN THE U S OF A

I have now been here in New York for over a week, so thought I would share some photos and highlights of the week. 

It's important to point out that my first week hasn't been full of high points, and at first I was quite homesick. I arrived late Saturday night, hungry and very tired, and then no where was open for food on campus and so I went about 22 hours without eating and this made me feel so miserable. Luckily two of the girls I'm sharing an apartment with were so welcoming, and cooked me some pasta which made the situation a bit better. There also has only been international or exchange students here this week, and until the other girls from Lancaster arrived, I did feel a bit lonely. I didn't believe my Mum when she said it would get better, I just wanted to hop on the next plane back home. One week later, it has got SO much better (I should have known- Mums are always right) and I have had so much fun already. 

On Monday, we set out to go to Target, forgot to press the stop button on the bus, and ended up at Walmart. Still, Walmart did the job, and it was rather exciting being in such a huge supermarket- other customers must have thought we had never been in a shop before we said 'wow!' , 'what!!' and 'whoaah!' so many times. 

On Tuesday, we had our first exchange student 'trip' and went to lunch at a diner overlooking the Susquehanna river. I had a yummy grilled cheese sandwich, and it was lovely to meet people from over the world. I now have friends from the Netherlands, Germany, Morocco, Turkey and Korea, in addition to the other girls from Lancaster (there are somehow six of us here on exchange) and another girl from Nottingham University. In the afternoon we went back to Walmart (it really was so good the first time) and then got caught in torrential rain which we were all so unprepared for- it was 25'C and sunny 5 minutes before- and so we had to huddle under a bus shelter, praying our bus would turn up. Luckily we all saw the funny side to it, and laughed at how soaked we were. 

 View at lunch- the Susquehanna river

Huddling under one tiny bus shelter in our first rainstorm

With quite a few orientation talks and events, Wednesday and Thursday blurred into one really. We explored downtown on one evening, and checked out the sports facilities which look amazing. We also had a welcome dinner where we got to meet the university mascot- Baxter the Bearcat. 

The running track

Never in my life have I seen anything with my name on, and as soon as I stepped off the bus from NYC I spotted ELSIE'S DINER!

On Friday we went to IHOP, and consumed some incredible- but far too much- pancakes, and made a pact to come back every month when it took us 20 minutes to decide what to order as there was so much choice. Then I went to my first baseball game! The Binghamton Rumble Ponies Vs Portland Seadogs. It wasn't quite what I expected, especially after my only idea of what baseball is is from High School Musical- there was no signing and definitely no dancing. And although none of us really had a clue what was going on, it was so much fun and I can't wait to go back! 

Binghamton is famous for it's old carousels across the city, which is why their baseball team is called the Rumble Ponies

Binghamton University has it's very own Nature Reserve, so on Saturday we went for a hike  up into the glorious mountains surrounding the campus. Although quite hard work in such high heat, it was worth it for the views at the top, and beautiful pictures. 

One thing that has surprised me this week is the incredible wildlife! At Lancaster, all we really have are ducks and seagulls! So far I have spotted: a deer- every day and they are so relaxed with humans!, a woodchuck, a chipmunk, squirrels, and some kind of snake. This campus is absolutely beautiful, the facilities are incredible, the weather is amazing (although of course us Brits are already complaining about it being too hot!) and I can't wait to see what adventures this year will bring! 

 xoxo Elsie