Unbelievably Behind

Sorry dearest readers for the delay on this, been nearly a month since my last post, or it might even be a month today.  Not really been a busy bee, just haven't felt the desire to write on here for a while, and now a quick download.  Been really tough few weeks, getting closer to getting home lowers my motivation to work and I find myself urging myself forward to December 18th.  Still, my time here has been wonderful this semester, and when I look back instead of the inevitable looking forward, I realise how much I have achieved and done.  Yellowstone feels like a million years ago, it is important I don't forget such events.  Been skiing on a couple of occasions, which has just been awesome, loved it!

Bloody amazing skiing here, I feel very lucky to be able to do it... will definitely be going at the beginning of next semester to lap up the fresh christmas snow.

Otherwise, things have been pretty quiet, had a lovely thanksgiving meal at the Nagel's which was just delightful - my first American Thanksgiving was a success, the Nagel family was very welcoming to Joe, Grant and I and their generosity was grand.  Great food, great company and some beers.  What a great few days.

Been thanksgiving break here this week which has meant everyone who is american at CSU has gone home, and I was left for a few days alone with nowhere to eat but fast food restaurants.  I ate my own height in subway over three days, which was not too great for me, and unfortunately the amount of work I have to do has limited my time in the gym over the week and this weekend.  Back on it tomorrow.  Very much looking forward to coming home now, new car, seeing Hannah and all sorts of other exciting activities will make it one of the best christmasses ever, bring it on.

In the meantime, the next three weeks and the mood I feel currently is best reflected through a song I found today, I'll put the link here so you can all sympathise/empathise/get excited for my return.

And I leave you with a photograph I took of a sunrise last week, a stunner (though A little edited on the bottom, the top is exactly what the sky was like.

Biking Road Trip

So today, Joe, Grant and I decided to go on a biking road trip to Wal-Mart, a surprisingly long way away!  It was great though, I borrowed a bike from one of the Aussie lads who in turn rents it from the library, and what a steed it was!

It was great, there was something about the evening that added something new to America for me.  The change in season meant that it was cold, but still so sunny.  The sunset this evening was breathtaking.  It really reminds me currently of the October I was in New York with the Salesian boys... there's something about it that really gets to me, mellows me out.  I love it though, it's the perfect mood to write in, and just take in the world around me.  I feel very calm when it's sunny autumn, not sure really why that is, but it just is wonderful.  Was only a short excursion, but we're going to do it again, because it really was a lot of fun!

More Grades!

Well I got the rest of muy midterms back, all 2 of them, and achieved (in UK grades) a 58 for my Ethnic Lit module, and a 75(!!!) for my British Fiction.  Nailed it!  Looking at very high 2:1s-1sts for all of my subjects this semester.  Winner!

All for now, off to the gym to distract myself from life and it's troubles

Much love
xxx

More of my journey of discovery

Well folks, it's been too long since I las posted some news up here, and there is enough of it!  Had midterms this last week, the majority of which went really well!  One of them didn't go too well, but that's to be expected because of the fact its the one class I haven't been doing the reading for.  I get my result for that tomorrow, so we'll see!  Otherwise, midterms have been good, got a 94% in my Native American Lit class, which equates to an A-, and a big 72 at home, that's right people, a 1st!!!  So pleased and proud I've actually been making a real effort!  Here's a grade rundown of my three most important modules, there are some missing but you can see the current %age at the bottom of each!

So I'm not doing badly at all!!

Other events, went to Boulder last weekend to have a look around the shops, and for the most part it was a good day out, change of scene etc.  Boulder is lovely, and at only 40 mins away it is nearly a convenience for America!  Didn't buy anything though, as there weren't any shops I fancied buying at, so I saved my money.  Grant bought a brand new macbook pro, the same one as me, as they are so much cheaper here than at home (both Aus and Eng).  He's very happy, Tommy and I should be on commission, we are great salesmen for Apple!

I myself went shopping to the Foothills mall down the road yesterday - borrowed Joe's bike as he's away in California for the weekend seeing the UFC heavyweight championship, lucky boy!  About twenty minutes away its actually a really nice place, very American!  Bought a few things at Hollister, and was offered a modelling job too!  Unfortunately because of my Visa I am unable to work off campus, as I'd need a work permit, which is $340... Not sure I'd even earn that back!  Still it's nice to be offered eh!?

Went on a nighttime wander with the boys last weekend too, and ended up looking around a Frat House which was awesome.  They seem like really solid guys, all about the charity work and looking after each other, the brotherhood and all that.  They had a theatre room there which was awesome, massive projector and these stage seats:

It looks shabby, but who cares when you're in a frat house and its AWESOME!

It was Tommy's 21st birthday on tuesday, and we went out to a bar called Sundance which let anyone 18+ in for a small cover charge.  Was a good night, Tommy was really quite merry but wasn't ill which is nice!  He didn't want us spending any money on him so i made him this:

He loved it and is looking forward to using it... please excuse the awful Australia spelling mistake... shhhh.

It's been all about the work these last couple of weeks, so nothing major to report, though I have had a stinking cold, just recovering from it but it wiped me out yesterday afternoon!  Just lay in bed and felt sorry for myself.  Did buy Hannah's birthday present yesterday though, having it sent over to her in time to have it for her Leicester celebrations, won't tell you what it is in case she reads this, but its lovely.  Missing Leicester and all it could be offering me right now, but still enjoying Colorado, looking forward to the snow!

That's all for now guys, as I can't really remember what else of importance has occurred...  Will update again soon.  Much love and take care,

OH! AAAAAND... I went for a haircut at the very lovely Molly's salon just across the street, and we were talking and she said, 'Hey, if i give you a free haircut, will you record the salon voicemail for me?'  SO now, if you call Molly's salon and no-one is there the answerphone will cut in and you will hear my sultry tones advertising it!!  How awesome is that! INTERNATIONALLY VOICED STEVENS is what they now call me.  It isn't, but you get the picture.

Jack
xxx

Morning Sunshine

Morning Sunshine, originally uploaded by Jack Oliver Stevens.

Took this the morning we went to Pengree Park, at about 7am when no-one was around! I have a second one which I will add into the actual Pegree blog post.

Apologies!

Dear readers!  It has been well over a week since my last blog post and for this I must sincerely apologise.  When I started this blog I had hoped to not slip into the habit of missing weeks out or taking too long to write, and so I will endeavour to avoid this happening again...  I'm not sure how many readers this reaches, so perhaps it was less of a big deal that I had initially thought!

Anyway, we went to the Colorado Rockies vs San Fran Giants last week, and was apparently one of the worst performances the Rockies have produced this season, go figure.  It was a VERY hot day and I got significantly sunburnt as we were in the highest stands in the full face of the sun.  We really enjoyed ourselves though, and it was great to see a major league baseball match in its country of origin...

It was a pretty epic view.  We were driven to the Coors Field in denver in a few cars by the cultural mentors, those Coloradians who help us "adjust" to American life...  They have basically become our friends and the boys are taking a trip to vegas with some of them in november.  I looked into going too, but there just isn't anything for U21s to do while you're there.  I will perhaps take a trip out there for my 21st birthday, but we'll play that by ear.

Grades are still up, my lowest average %age at the moment is 85%, but I will be bringing that up over the course of the next couple of weeks as it is my British Fiction class and I have an important mid-term coming up next week, which is 35% of my grade.  Loving it though, and find myself increasingly engaged with that which I am studying.  It is my belief here that the level of teaching well exceeds the level of students, as there are some that would put "Cheating on his wife" on a test instead of "Adultery".  I was aghast, and this level was highlighted when I was given a sheet of literary terms in my Native American Lit class, that had things explained like "imagery" - things english kids would have learned back in year 9.  The teachers are great, they obviously love their work over here, it's not just a job to them; my BritFic teacher has written something like 9 novels, 250 short stories and has a regular column in The Denver Post...  It's refreshing to know that these guys are always learning and writing too.

Had a lucky couple of days over here as classes were cancelled for a couple of days thanks to the English department reading day, which will have been useful to catch up on work.  Did house-keepy stuff today like my laundry and tidying my room, so tomorrow is study day.  I find that I can't lay in here, though I was never really any good at that in Leicester either, but I wake up between 7 and 8, get up, have breakfast, shower and get a bit done before Tommy even stirs.  I would feel so guilty getting up at the same time he does, I feel like half the day is gone any later that 9!  Early nights are nice though, as the training I'm doing leaves me shattered.  Attempting a daily indoor triathlon; 10mins row, 10mins run and 10mins cycle on the spin machines.  It's brutal, and then a weights workout afterwards.  I'm working hard but need to remind myself that I will not see instant results, and while I don't feel any bigger or look any leaner in my eyes, I reckon that you guys will notice a difference at home... I hope so anyway, otherwise what was the point in all this.  I miss ULBC circuit training though, there's no equivalent here which makes me sad.  Still, I'm putting in some effort, going to try and add a minute a week to each section of the triathlon, so I will see how that goes.

Last weekend we took a trip up to Pengree Park, the CSU campus in the mountains at 9000ft.  Had to be up at the very lovely 6 am, and was treated to a sprinkler display in the rising sun:

It was a lovely setting there, and we were expecting a bit more than what we got, which was effectively international team-building of the cheesiest and most cliche'd kind, which of course I could not take seriously.  There were also fun games to play.  Horseshoes (throwing large horseshoes at metal spikes in the ground), Volleyball and Basketball.  I tell you if it wasn't for the people I was with I would have had a rubbish day.  It was a laugh however and great to do something different.  Nice to tick something else off the list.

Not a lot happening this weekend, Grant offered me a trip to Denver to visit a family he knows there, but with midterms beginning next week and my effective day off today, I can't afford the time.  I feel I let him down but there will be other opportunities to go to Denver I'm sure.  I'm very excited about the weekend after that, when we are hopefully driving to Boulder.  Going to take my Mac in for a health check to the Apple store there, and Grant is going to buy a mac.  Will do a bit of shopping, I need some more socks, boxers and a well fitting hoody.  Nothing expensive (I hope) just functional.  Bought some shorts to send home to Han today, am going to save getting CSU branded clothing until next semester, when I'll have stable finances and have been through Paris.  Don't want to spend money I won't have.  Also, why would I want to wear clothing that says I go to a University people see me at daily...  I need to internationally advertise, not advertise somewhere people have already signed up to!

Missing Leicester this week, everyone arriving back and the photo's and facebook updates about how amazing the Union is, but I'm sure it will survive without me.  What is disappointing is that the Union has already hired a new photographer, Ollie Millington, to do the events and whatnot.  That would have been my job, but I suppose I shut that door to open the one that led me here - and I'm not regretting that decision at all.  The AmStudies folks at Leicester said that my experience here would be like a U - up at the start, then my excitement and mood subsides, then up again when I realise how amazing it is.  Feel I'm fairly low down at the bottom - missing home etc, but I find I can get around it by going to the gym and taking time out for myself.  My own space has always been important, and in a country that doesn't fully appreciate that its my low times that are really tough.  It's all tough, but it's all equally amazing.

After such a picture dominated post last time, this one must seem really chatter heavy, but it's nice for me to write down whats going through my head sometimes, pretty therapeutic.  I'm sure you'd agree Mum.

I will have missed something out,  but if I remember I will add them in later.

Much love to all reading, rest assured I am missing you lots :)
xxxx

The Past Week!

Well a week ago (i.e. saturday) Grant, Joe, Tommy and I took a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park:

We were going to hike a two mile long route which would elevate us 2000ft from our starting altitude of about 10,000 ft, and would eventually drive up to the top of the mountain on the highest road in America.  This was an amazing hike, the wildlife was so friendly, some ground squirrels took a shine to us:

This one was called Alvin, and it turns out our mountain mix would attract both squirrels and birds, which in turn would then fight each other over the dried fruit.  I'm glad it wasn't mountain meat mix, otherwise we would have probably had bears to contend with.  We continued climbing eventually reaching a lake called Emerald Lake, which was beautiful - the picture I briefly included in my last update was emerald lake, and Grant and I decided going for a swim was a good idea!  Tommy encouraged us, apparently the water was great for swimming - but he said he wasn't coming in because he didn't have the right shorts on... I should have been suspicious from then...  Nevertheless in Grant jumped and his retreat from the icy water was faster than a fast thing on fast pills.  Now up to me knees I thought Ah this doesn't feel too bad, Grant's just being a wimp so in I hopped too.  The water hit my head and I was instantly in shock, it was SO COLD!  What Tommy had not told us was that it was glacier melt water, and was probably under 10 degrees.  It was freezing!  I will include the video Tommy took when I can get it off him, the swine.  Afterwards he told Grant and I that he had been "Trying to get people to do that for ages".  After drying off we ambled back down to the car, and drove up to the highest road which was very high and scary indeed.

Up there we encountered a bell end who declared that "This isn't a playground" and that he "couldn't wait to get to the ranger's office" so he could tell on us.  Nice one mate, perhaps you should not be in someone's personal space when Grant and I are playing around.  NO FUN ALLOWED was a sign we must have missed.  Knob.  We drove back to Tommy's for some home cooked food, burgers etc, which were banging.  Cindy is a dream, she just wants everyone to feel like they're at home and it was so welcome :) .

Other news this week includes my continued and surprising academic success, and my even stranger enjoyment of my courses.  I feel really engaged with what I am learning about, and am already starting to pull ideas together for my dissertation.  The attempt at getting ahead while I am out here is working, and considering how easy it is to get a B- out here (equiv. 62 and a 2:1 at home) I think working hard here is definitely worth it.  Ordered shed-loads of books online and saved roughly $100 by doing so.  Funny story, I bought a used book from the college bookshop, and was charged $12.  Looking on the back the book was originally sold for as new: $11.95.  Someone please explain the justice in that.  Thievery!  Now amazon has the pleasure of my money, rather than The Man.  Take that authority.

Finally too this week: CLOUD AND DRIZZLE!  This was my happiest day, while the sunshine is nice, I do love a good reminder of English weather, and earlier on this week thunderstorms and rain really brought my thoughts back to home, which is lovely :) .

More pictures for you, some gym ones, just showing you how awesome it is:

 These are some of the freeweights, there are more all over the place.

 These are the benches, last week I spotted a guy pressing over 300lbs, roughly 150kg.

These are small glimpses of the cardio room, which is ginormous.

Went to an American football match today: CSU Rams vs Idaho Vandals, and what a game it was!  So close all the way through, and just when we thought it was over, with 3 seconds to go, CSU scored a field goal which edged them into the lead by 2 points... mental.  Our first win of the season, and considering we have our toughest opponents coming up, Texas Christ, it's about time we found some form:

 They take it all rather seriously out here...

I don't.  It's all a bit ironic for me.

I love it here.

Last night went to our friend Tucker's birthday bash which was messy for a number of people.  I'm staying true to my word and not drinking nearly as much as I could, and hitting the training hard.  I think it's starting to pay off...

Lost my crown of beer pong though, and with it unfortunately went the Beer Pong ashes I'm afraid, England.  Tell the Queen I'm sorry and that I will retrieve them.

I'm proud.  To be.  (on) A CSU Ram:

For now dear readers, I leave the excitement there!  Film night with the boys tonight, and tomorrow I'm going to a Baseball game - the Colorado Rockies vs the San Francisco Giants.  We iz gonna beat thoze battyboyz.  Fun times, somewhere in there I have to fit in the gym and reading a couple of books... bring it on!!!

Much to all with the time to read this,

Jackus Maximus.
xxx

Rockies HDR

Rockies HDR, originally uploaded by Jack Oliver Stevens.

I took this photograph yesterday at the Rockies National Park, and have already had some good reviews. Will update after I've slept!

Well! An overdue update!

We dearest readers, there is so much to cover!  Nearly two weeks since my last update, how horrible you all must think me.  I guess it's a sign of how busy I've been.  Overview: rowing; yellowstone; classes' assessments; gym.

First up, ROWING!  We all know what a huge part of life rowing was back in the UK, and since my last post I have actually been out on the water here in Colorado.  We row here:

This is a massive reservoir called horsetooth, and it is stunning.  Set in the foothills of the rocky mountains it was hard for me to avoid being distracted by the scenery.  I appeared a week ago today for the first meeting of the rowers, both novices and seniors, and was quickly put out in a quad with 3 other lads, one of which hadn't sculled before (he picked it up really fast though).  It was a cracking outing, I seem to have the third most experience out of everyone, and so i was thrust into stroke seat - quite a big privilege for a chap none of the others had rowed with before!  The pressure was on!  Overall it was a good outing, short but good, the boat was fairly well set, though I cannot express the difference the altitude makes to a man's fitness!  Such hard work!  Its a struggle to get the boat in and out of the water as we have to wade waist deep into the glorious water of horsetooth to avoid damaging the rudders, nevertheless it was incredible, and I would love to row there regularly.  HOWEVER... the training Mark (north American ex-Olympian coach) has asked of everyone is a water outing EVERY day, 5-7pm... Those who know me well know that these are my favoured hours of work, and so I have had to make a tough decision.  I will not be rowing competitively here in Colorado *gasp*.  Instead I am contemplating joining fort collins so I can train in a single whenever I like...  we shall see, though at the moment there is no let up on the work front... Busy busy!

Next big thing is our group's trip to Yellowstone National park, home of Yogi and BooBoo!  We left last friday early am on a brutal 7 hour drive which would take us across Wyoming, a vast and barren state, the journey looked like this:

As you can see, this journey took us merely seven hours, compare that to the size of america and you get some sense of how HUGE it is.  The drive was epic, plains, mountains, plains again, then canyons and more mountains.  We mostly followed the Yellowstone river once in Wyoming, and to see how it carved its way through the landscape was incredible:

We eventually reached our campsite at roughly half past ten at night, and the challenge was to get our tent erected in the dark.  Alistair (Aussie) had the bright idea of using the car headlight.  Win:

No wood for a fire that night meant that we were cold immediately, and it was an early night for all.  I love camping and so it took me a while to settle down, after many rollings over the others in the tent I snuggled down in my amazing sleeping bag - capable of protection down to -20degrees (whether that's F or C i have no idea... still it would keep me warm even in the chuffing cold!  The university has an awesome camping rental service where we could rent sleeping bags, mats and even tents if we needed.  We didn't as Lindsay had everything we needed.  Including a hatchet which provided much jolliment:

Whoever says that they can throw one of these at a tree and get it to bury itself in the trunk is lying.  if I can't do it, no-one can.  This was quickly confiscated as I was apparently a danger to myself and everyone else. :-( sad Jack.  Our campfire was epic, and the whole weekend we marvelled at the way in which Grant showed us to cook eggs:

Putting the eggs in a hole in slices of break was for me a stroke of genius.  Tasty bacon fat fried break nomnomnom.  Big fan of that.  We took a trip to the YS Grand Canyon, which provided us with our fair share of both smelly sulphur and wonderful waterfalls (oh hello alliteration):

The raw power of nature was expressed in no ambiguous terms here at YS, you found yourself feeling that humanity should know where we stand.  There was one let down: Old Faithful, the geyser, which was not as incredible as the million people waiting for it to erupt suggested (having said that there is nothing in the UK to come close... apart from going to the loo after a night out...):

Then of course, it started snowing.

Apparently I was the only one excited by the prospect of waking up to a foot of snow, so the general thought was drive 40 miles back to the nearest city (Cody, WY) and find a place to stay for the night.  by this stage I was worrying about funds, and would have loved to trudge thru snow early am, but I wasn't driving home the following day, so swallowed my hopes and dreams and helped pack up.  We drove to Cody and asked at a motel for a room for the night.  They were unfortunately full but said that we could use a cabin up in the foothills for the night for the same price!  Incredible deal, this cabin was bliss.  I had a bath and a bed for the night!

As you can see I was a very happy boy to be clean - don't get me wrong, I love camping, but I also love personal hygiene, innit.  The next morning we awoke to this glorious view: 

Then the drive home was ahead of us.  We departed Cody and about an hour later we managed to get this picture:

Speeding.  That's all I'll say.  Well its not all iI'll say, Lindsay was driving and her speed control wasn't great, she got a ticket on the way there, but luckily Joey and I used our British charm to convice the officer not to give her another ticket.  We thought $230 was enough for one trip!  When we reached the next town I swapped into the driver's seat, and drove all the way back to Colorado!!  A good 5 hours drive!  Epic, this was the road trip feeling I had been craving!

Driving in the states, who'd of thought it.  We stopped at a sulphur hot springs on the way back too, which were just incredible, I loved that, water heated by the power of the earth, it's enough to make you go hippie!  

What a trip, something I doubt I will experience again!

After the trip, I booked another trip, this time to Paris!  Going to spend my new year under the Eiffel tower, and it's going to be the best new years I have ever had.  It's not got many tough one's to beat!  Apart from new year skiing in Bulgaria, that was a giggle eh Mum!?!

Since then, I've been working pretty hard, my grades are consistently good, just handed in my first major paper, which I should do pretty well on, and am probably averaging near 90% in all my little tasks.  Fingers crossed it will stay that way.  I've developed a new work ethic since I've been here... Except I've just realised I have something due for tomorrow that I had completely forgotten about, classic Jack!  had a soccer match last night which we won, which was a great laugh, and a wonderful addition to my training programme, which involves: Run, Lift heavy, relax. :-) Tip top.

For now, dear readers, that is all, as I have to go and write a question paper, I will explain all at a later date.

Much of my finest american and english love,

Jack

xxxx

Just a brief update - Crew!

Went to a CSU Crew (rowing) meeting last night, at which they detailed the schedule for training: 7 days a week WATER training - take that Leicester...  Due to my grade requirements (set by myself this year) I cannot promise to be able to do that, so what they have said, because I'm more experienced than most of the current crew, that I can use one of their many singles, train when I want and race under the CSU title, a lot like Chris Macauly up at leicester!  I think it's a step in the right direction, not any commitment and no need to pay the $500, yes, $500 dollar a semester joining fee.  REEEEEEE-Diculous!  Anyway, I'm excited about the concept of being able to get out on the water, which should be excellent!  First outing on tuesday evening, will takes some snaps and post them asap!

ALSO!!  Just checked my grades online and I've been doing little bits and bobs, small assignments like reader responses and quizzes, and I am on 100% so far for the year!  It's early days and really very insignificant pieces of work, but all the little bits add up to a lot, right?!

The adventures continue!

What a journey I am already embarking on!  The past week has been spent settling into classes, which are really interesting.  I'm here researching material for my dissertation topic: What makes American Literature American, rather than just an extension of European Literature.  I'm taking Contemporary Native American Literature, taught by a native american teacher who's enthusiasm makes the 8am lecture time so worthwhile!  20th Century British Literature, taught by David Milovski, who in the first lecture made so many digs at the English I had to say at the end of class I was english... he has since ceased, but now assumes I know everything about English history. In that class we are currently reading Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent which while slow going is interesting.  Most interesting about that class though is the way in which American's perceive English history.  They seem to think we are thieving, invading tea drinkers... How funny...  Also American Drama, which is great, we have just read a realist play called The Rabbit Hole which was an amazing look into human nature and how we cope with loss.  I'm going to try and tie this in with trauma theory, studied last year in Critical Theory.  My final class is Ethnic Literature of the US, I struggle in this one, simply because my lecturer doesn't really have a personality.  His voice has climaxes, that's all I'll say.

Extra curricular activities through the past few days have been a trip to swim at horsetooth ridge:

This was incredible, freshwater reservoir with water as warm as out of the tap.  I loved it there, sunbathing, chilling out - good preparation for a massive house party we went to that night.  This party was great, mudwrestling, beer pong, table tennis, music and more red cups!!  It is safe to say that I am beer pong champion, now undefeated in 11 games!  That was saturday night!  Friday night I attended a smaller gathering at one of Tommy's old school friends.  This was a more subdued affair, but still good fun, though we left when someone suggested there were police sat outside watching the house:

Luckily they had found someone else to pull over, nevertheless we moved back to the dorms pretty quickly.  Yesterday I spend the day recovering from the night before, I think I'm actually going to stop drinking now and really get on the training hard.  I'm in a very lucky position to be able to use amazing gym facilities for free, and food I have already paid for actually has some healthy options, so I'm going to start making the most of it!  Getting used to the altitude has been tougher than expected, but I'm slowly starting to run a mile faster and faster.  We'll get there, c'moooon six pack.  Today I'm off to classes again, my schedule looks pretty good really:

I'll include a map of campus as well so you can see how huge it is:

My halls are the towers in the top right corner.  It takes a good half an hour to walk from one end to the other, luckily my classes are fairly near me, only fifteen minutes away! Wheey!  I thought I was going to have to buy a bike at one stage, but I can save myself that money as I just don't need one!  I think the cost of living her is cheaper than at home, because so much is included in the bill for the semester, a beastly $4462.  My student loan comes in in instalments, so I did have a mad panic about whether I could actually afford to be here.  I quick phonecall to mum and dad reassured me that I would be okay - and Grandma Hobbs (mothers' mother) is sending a cheque in dollars from her American bank account.  Things look like they will be okay, though I was really worried for a while!

Made plans last night for Labor Day long weekend - ROAD TRIP!  Going to hire a car and drive with 7 other people to Yellowstone, about a seven hour drive away, so excited!  Though I have my international license, you can't hire a car under 21, so I won't be able to drive it, not until march, but Alistair, one of the Aussie exchange students will drive it.  It will work out as being about $100 dollars for the car plus food (each) which I think is really cheap.  Friday - Monday will be an experience, can't wait to see some of America!

Dad - you need to get your skype sorted, because I'm dying without being able to chat to you here.  Mum - I would love a chat soon please :) Anytime you're free just send me a text and I'll hop online!
Also, thank god for Blackberry Messenger - there is no way I'd be able to get through this without being able to talk to my special girl, this way I only feel like she's a moment away, which makes a big difference!  I do miss home though, now again again it sweeps across me.  Loving it here still, good friends, lovely working environment.  All I need now is matt to get his arse into gear and onto XBox now and again so I can chat to him!

Much love to you all, will try and get some pictures of campus up later today.
xxx
(oh and for those of you who are confused by computers - if you want to see the pictures bigger, just click on them)

This was the view from Tommy's house of the twin peaks... awesome eh!?

Also, late additions are the volleyball game we went to see:

And the college bronze ram (one of them):

And also the American football team training, who on our first wander of the campus had these water BATH boys, filling these tanks with ice for their ice bath... Also found out that they get paid to play...