thesethingsicapture

EXPLORING ITHACA'S WATERFALLS  I have just got back from a fantastic day exploring Ithaca, and couldn't wait to share the photos! We went with our university Outdoor Pursuits centre on a 3 Gorges Waterfall Hike; visiting Taughannock Falls Gorge, Buttermilk Falls and Lucifer Falls in Ithaca! 

A CATCH UP This post is rather late because I have been SO busy, but better late than never.   Here's what I got up to in my first month in New York.

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....

MANCHESTER > NEW YORK, NEW YORK I have never travelled on an airplane by myself before, never mind a long haul flight to the other side of the world. And I've never had to navigate myself around one of the busiest cities in the world. I was SO nervous. The night before I left I just didn't want to go, and I cried when pulling out of the drive, leaving my Mum waving on the doorstep. It didn't help that we had to leave for the airport at 4am, and was still awake cramming as much as I could into my case at 12am- it's hard work packing for 3 different climates for 5 months in one 23kg suitcase. When I waved goodbye to my Dad and Brother at the airport, turning around ten million times until they were out of sight, it felt like some scene from a movie. The whole thing felt so bizarre, I was so emotional and I couldn't help thinking what the hell I was doing! 

I’VE MOVED TO NEW YORK! Why go to university near home when you can move to one 3400 miles away? For my second year of uni, I've taken a bit of a plunge and will be studying abroad in New York!  I'll be studying at SUNY Binghamton University, a 3 hour bus journey from NYC, and is pretty close to the Pennsylvania border (note that New York itself is a state bigger than the whole of England, not just New York City- there really aren't any skyscrapers here). 

After working all week and being totally exhausted, myself and my parents decided we didn't want to do something crazy on our day off, but we had to do something so we wouldn't later feel like we had wasted our day.  We headed to a nearby town- Harrogate- as we had heard you could walk through the Valley Gardens to RHS Harlow Carr Gardens. Despite visiting the town frequently for shopping and eating out, I had never actually walked through the Valley Gardens and they took me by surprise. The Gardens were beautiful, so well maintained and as the weather was fairly sunny, hundreds of people were out and about which made for such a nice atmosphere.  Although the walk itself was fairly easy, by the time we head reached Harlow Carr Gardens we were ready for something to eat, and whats better than a Betty's stop? As a 'fancy' Yorkshire tearooms, Betty's is one of my favourite places to eat and I particularly love the Fresh Fruit ...

Now that college is back in full swing, I have little time to do anything nice or relaxing (because I don't manage my time wisely!!!). I find myself in a stressful routine: Monday-Friday at school, Saturdays I work and then I spend the whole day Sunday doing homework and catching up on sleep. After a while, this repetitive system makes me want to scream, cry, shout, and then I have no patience or energy to do anything. Last week, however, I managed my time efficiently (or much more than usual) and I was able to fit in a 'Sunday stroll' before doing homework in the afternoon. Saturday night had been one of the coldest nights in weeks, which left a cold frost behind. Although I was pretty much frozen throughout the entire walk, it felt so good to be in the fresh air and stress free (at least for an hour or two).  I went to one of my favourite places, which I have been going to for years with family and I'm lucky to have it on my doorstep: Fountains ...