What no one tells you about Pennsylvania is that in summer it is hot. Not beach weather and a selfie- worthy hot, but frazzled hair hot. The type that makes you look like a cross between Hermione Granger and Bella Strange. Picture this and you can picture me stepping off the plane at State College airport, looking like I had recently electricuted myself wearing long pants and a jumper because for some reason I had believed Pennsylvania to be cold.
What no one else also tells you is that just because you've flown 30 hours across the world doesn't necessarily mean anybody else cares. As I struggled to drag my 30 + kilos of luggage up the stairs into a building I wasn't even sure was mine it occurred to me - why on earth am I doing this ! A thought compounded twenty minutes later when I arrived at my dorm to discover there was a, no air conditioning and b, no doors on the shower. The inner conservative Englishwomen in me was screaming - I want to shower alone, in private ! With no prospect of my unknown neighbours family members intruding at any second !
But no, being the englishwomen that I am I calmly and quietly unpacked my things and set about my next task - making friends.
This task it turned out was slightly more rewarding than trying to tame my hair in this heat. I asked an Australian girl Sukriti on my floor where to buy a fan and all of a sudden was on my to Walmart with her uncle, Mum and two other Australians - Cam and Louisa to buy bedding and fans ! Not only did I soon have three friends but I also had my first true American experience - dorm room shopping at Walmart !
On the way back from shopping we stopped off at the Penn State Creamery for ice cream. Ice Cream which is supposedly world famous in the USA and only available on Penn State campus. I quickly realised that weight gain will be imminent when $3 got me about 5 scoops worth of ice cream, which if rumours are true contains saturated fat above the legal limit.
In the evening Cam, Louisa, Sukriti and I went out for dinner at a Japanese restaurant with two other girls we met from Hong Kong and Dubai and talked for hours.
Honestly, the first couple of hours I spent on Penn State campus were hard. I was exhausted, hot and a wee bit overwhelmed by the prison-style, laiseez-faire dorms. Yet, after a couple of hours, some new friends and a whole lot of ice cream later I am feeling much more sure that I have done the right thing ! I mean there is Starbucks, Panda Express and two ice skating rinks on campus, what could go wrong ?
What no one else also tells you is that just because you've flown 30 hours across the world doesn't necessarily mean anybody else cares. As I struggled to drag my 30 + kilos of luggage up the stairs into a building I wasn't even sure was mine it occurred to me - why on earth am I doing this ! A thought compounded twenty minutes later when I arrived at my dorm to discover there was a, no air conditioning and b, no doors on the shower. The inner conservative Englishwomen in me was screaming - I want to shower alone, in private ! With no prospect of my unknown neighbours family members intruding at any second !
But no, being the englishwomen that I am I calmly and quietly unpacked my things and set about my next task - making friends.
This task it turned out was slightly more rewarding than trying to tame my hair in this heat. I asked an Australian girl Sukriti on my floor where to buy a fan and all of a sudden was on my to Walmart with her uncle, Mum and two other Australians - Cam and Louisa to buy bedding and fans ! Not only did I soon have three friends but I also had my first true American experience - dorm room shopping at Walmart !
On the way back from shopping we stopped off at the Penn State Creamery for ice cream. Ice Cream which is supposedly world famous in the USA and only available on Penn State campus. I quickly realised that weight gain will be imminent when $3 got me about 5 scoops worth of ice cream, which if rumours are true contains saturated fat above the legal limit.
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| Passport for PSU creamery - you can stamp off every flavour you try ! |
In the evening Cam, Louisa, Sukriti and I went out for dinner at a Japanese restaurant with two other girls we met from Hong Kong and Dubai and talked for hours.
Honestly, the first couple of hours I spent on Penn State campus were hard. I was exhausted, hot and a wee bit overwhelmed by the prison-style, laiseez-faire dorms. Yet, after a couple of hours, some new friends and a whole lot of ice cream later I am feeling much more sure that I have done the right thing ! I mean there is Starbucks, Panda Express and two ice skating rinks on campus, what could go wrong ?
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| In front of the famous Old Main |
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| New friends & another photo I wasn't ready for |
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