My First Week in America!

It's Monday 21st January, which means I've officially been in America for a week! I can't believe I'm actually here, it felt like it would never actually come. And even now it has come, I still can't get my head around the fact that I'm here on my study abroad semester that I've been talking about for so long.

Before I tell you about what I've been up to this first week, I'd like to write down my vision for my semester abroad. I've got a list of goals of things I want to achieve while I'm here. That way, if I'm having a day where I feel particularly unmotivated, I can look at my list and just work towards one of the goals. Or if I'm struggling and feeling homesick, I can remind myself why I'm here and what I'm hoping to get out of it! The goals are quite broad, as I don't want to put too much pressure on myself, but I do have some more specific things I want to do outside of this list as well.

1. Meet new people and develop new friendships - this one speaks for itself! I want to make sure I don't spend all my time alone in my room, and instead spend time meeting new people and developing friendships.
2. Explore the area - a lot of people focus on travelling when they study abroad, and while this is something I'd like to do a bit of, I mainly want to get to know the local area around me.
3. Get involved with clubs on campus - I particularly want to join a Christian Union and perhaps some sort of music society to develop my piano skills.
4. Work hard and enjoy my studies - I'm that nerdy student who looks forward to classes and loves studying, so I want to keep that a priority while I'm here!
5. Learn to take on new responsibilities - cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. I've never lived away from home before so this will all be quite new to me!
6. Eat 3 meals a day - one worry for me coming here is that I won't eat enough, so I'm really going to try hard to make sure I eat 3 meals a day as often as possible.
7. Invite people out to events - I've already started on this one (as you will find out later in the post), but I want to not be afraid to invite people out to stuff instead of just going by myself, or not going at all.
8. Record activities online - I'm planning to post lots of photos on Instagram and Facebook, but I particularly want to keep up this blog as a record of my trip that I can look back on.
9. Keep in touch with friends and family, but not at expense of trip - while I want to FaceTime home quite regularly, I also want to make sure this doesn’t stop me from doing things here. I’ll need to find the right balance!
10. Prove to myself I can live away from home! - up until now the idea of living away from home has seemed terrifying, so I really hope that this semester will help me learn that I am capable of living by myself!

With that out of the way, let's look at what's been going on this week!

On Monday 14th, me and my mum flew to America! This was a bit of a nightmare to be honest. After waking up at 4:30am, we first flew from Newcastle to Heathrow. Then, after a short wait in the airport, we boarded our plane to Newark, sat for 2 hours, and then were sent back into the terminal. The plane had a fluid leak that couldn't be easily fixed, so we ended up waiting 6 hours for a replacement flight. The replacement plane was a lot more big and comfortable, with a better choice of movies (I watched Tag and Tangled - both very good!), but the delay meant that I didn't arrive at my accommodation until 11pm local time. That first night in my new room was pretty scary and overwhelming; even though I'd been awake for over 24 hours, I barely got any sleep.

The next morning, I headed off bright and early for orientation! Here I got to meet the other international students and the International Engagement staff at the university, as well as getting some useful information about visas and life in America. Rocky the red hawk (Montclair's mascot) also showed up for some photos! Orientation helped me feel so much better as all the staff and students were so lovely. It showed me that there are lots of other people going through the same thing, and that there's a great support network if I need help.

That afternoon I went for lunch with Mum to the Red Hawk Diner, where I had curly fries and root beer - delicious! Later we went to a nearby Walmart to pick up some room supplies and groceries. Once we got my new things in my room and unpacked my suitcases, my room started to feel much more homely, and somewhere I could imagine living for the next 5 months. I went to bed that night feeling considerably better than the night before!

Wednesday was quite chilled out, as I went for a campus tour in the morning and then went shopping at Target with Mum to get what we couldn't find at Walmart.

On Thursday the excitement really began, as I took my first trip into New York with Mum! First we got the train (from a train station on campus, only 5 mins walk from my accommodation) into Hoboken, where we visited Carlo's Bakery. This was so awesome as we used to watch Cake Boss all the time on TV, so it was amazing to see it in real life and try some of the goods for ourselves! Then we took the ferry across the Hudson River into New York City. Although we only stayed for a few hours, we fit quite a lot in! We visited the 9/11 memorial, Times Square and the Rockefeller Center, found the theatre where Hamilton plays, and went in a few shops. I think my favourite part was the Nintendo Store, however weird that sounds. It was just a dream come true for a Nintendo fan! So much cool merchandise, and much cheaper than what it would be in England. Plus there was video game music playing the whole time and the staff were super friendly. Overall we had a really great day in New York and I can't wait to go back and explore it further!

Friday was another busy day, that started with my first FaceTime home to catch up with my brother and my dad. Afterwards, I went bowling with the other international students. This was so much fun, and I did much better than usual! The bowling alley was so retro and so American - something I've noticed being here is that a lot of stuff feels quite stuck in the past. In England things are always being updated and modernised, but this bowling alley, and a shopping mall I went to over the weekend, weren't like that at all. The screens with the bowling scores on literally said 'Copyright 1994' in the corner! We were also treated to pizza, chicken wings, Pepsi and pink lemonade while we were there.

After bowling, Mum took me to meet a lady who lives nearby that we have a mutual connection with. It was great to meet someone so nearby who I can ask for help with anything if I need it.

Finally, that evening me and my flatmate Konstantina went to see Panic! at the Disco in concert. I booked two tickets for this months ago not knowing who I would bring along, but it turns out Konstantina used to listen to Panic a few years ago so we went together. It was absolutely amazing; Panic is probably my favourite band so it was surreal to see them perform live. Brendon Urie's voice is outstanding live, and all the backgrounds and lights were so atmospheric and awesome. It was truly a magical night, and really reminded me why I'm here!

The weekend was much more relaxed, and I spent most of it getting stuff sorted in my room. Mum, Konstantina and I went to a nearby shopping mall on Saturday to get some final bits and pieces. I discovered that I am in love with Bath & Body Works and Hot Topic, and I had my first meal at Wendy's. Then on Sunday I finally said goodbye to Mum, who headed back to the airport a day early to avoid the icy weather forecast on Monday. This was hard, and we both cried, but I feel so much more content and relaxed now than I thought I ever could. Just a week ago, this trip seemed horribly overwhelming and difficult, but during this last week I've come to realise that I can do this! There are so many amazing people around me and so many exciting things to experience - I don't want to go home anytime soon!