Week 13 & 14: Love Me Tender

Last Friday I went on my very first road trip! Even though it was only for one night, it was 36 hours of good times shared with good friends. We ventured down to Memphis, Tennessee, the home of the king, Elvis Presley (hopefully you've made the connection with the title of this blog now and realised I am not in love). Driving through midwest country isn't the most exciting thing in terms of the view but crazy songs, conversation about our different homes and a lunch stop at a redneck McDonalds makes it worthwhile. 

After dinner on the famous Beale St, I watched my very first NBA game, Memphis Grizzlies vs. New York Knicks and we won! And when I say we, I mean the Grizzlies. The free flag at the entrance door was enough persuasion to gain my support. We were lucky enough to stay at the DoubleTree Hilton for an amazing price, courtesy of Sanjay's mum and devoured the buffet breakfast the next morning. It was one of those times when you become so excited that you consume your daily intake within half an hour. So we decided to make use of the calories and found a putt putt park. After that it was on to Graceland, where Elvis lived. Decked out in our audio guides and with cameras glued to our hands, we played the part of the overzealous tourist. 

Did you know Elvis bought his first house at 21, and his second house at 22? By his standards I should have bought a house by now. On the drive home, we stopped at the Outback Steakhouse for lols - toilets labelled "Sheilas" and "Blokes" and a dessert special called "Chocolate Thunder from Down Under". 

Besides Memphis, it's been business as usual. Studying, walking due to lack of a car, gymming, trivia night (free food as usual), another birthday (Or's 23rd), going to a party in the basement of the building next door, watching the new James Bond movie and so on. 

Edouard told me we were getting a Kia Rio. Turns out it was a Chevy. 

At our McDonalds pitstop. We all laughed for a good 5 minutes after taking this photo.... (I won't explain why)

Beale Street. 

The game - I zoomed in on this shot. We were actually about 5 rows from the roof. 

Dinner!

Our live entertainment at dinner. 

Outside the stadium - FedEx Forum

Charlotte and I going for the Grizzlies!

Putt Putt - Charlotte and Edouard are both golfers, so needless to say who won our mini golf tournament.

Having a go at the batting cages - coordination optional

Elvis' mansion - Graceland

The pool room

Apparently even Elvis had one of these!

The King

SSSSSkype IV

My favourite part of skyping my parents before they go to work in the morning. 

Ecstatic to see me! 

Saying hi to Erin and kitty ^_^

Precious

He bought a new t-shirt 

My whiteboard in my bedroom back home :O 

Pups <3 p="p">

Week 11 & 12: Revelations and no regrets

Just a heads up, this post will be rather wordy. I just feel as though I have a lot to say. 

These past couple weeks have been some what of a turning point for me. After having met so many new people and experiencing situations that have kept me constantly on my toes, I've realised how much I have learnt from this adventure and how much I still have to learn. It's as if I've only had one eye open my entire life, and now I've finally opened the other and can see twice as much. Making the decision to study abroad this semester is probably one of the best things I have and ever will do. I'd even go as far as saying it was worth the tragic trade-offs (which were not of my own choice). 

Everyone here has a different story and when you take the time to listen to them, you realise that your tiny bubble back home is exactly that. A tiny bubble. The same routine encounters with the same familiar faces. Your reactions become predictable and that creates comfort within relationships. But when you take that all away, who are you? When you surround yourself with a field of new, unacquainted personalities, you question who you thought you were. Because you don't know if they will laugh at your joke, you don't know if they'll understand your stress, you don't know if you will offend them with a question. It is brand new territory and everyone is creating common ground. And so you wonder then, if you are creating a new you, at the same time. Perhaps. But it all feels rather natural and unforced. It's who you are, here and now. Although, the moment I speak to someone from home, I immediately revert back to person I am, the person I was, living in Brisbane. An automatic, uncontrollable switch triggered by familiar faces. 

I don't know where I'm going with this. Maybe nowhere. Maybe to a point where you've just decided to scroll down to my Halloween pictures instead of reading the rest. The law school threw a Halloween party for $30 a ticket at a haunted mansion downtown. There was unlimited food, drinks (shots included), cupcakes and a candy bar all night which I incoherently took advantage of - I found my coat pockets overflowing with chocolate bars the next morning. Amazon, Ebay and ASOS kindly supplied my costume (at a price) for the night, where I was joined by Audrey, Wally, Gumby and even a penguin. I managed to lose my iPhone and toy guns on the night and managed to retrieve only one of them back. Luckily it was my iPhone. On the actual day of Halloween, one of my professors (who is now my favourite), sent two bowls of chocolate around the lecture room during class. Needless to say, that was a good day. 

Being here has also made me really appreciate our first world luxuries that we don't even think twice about. Living without a car has left me feeling rather pathetic sometimes as I have to rely on kind help from kind friends who do have cars. I feel like I've given all new meaning to the phrase, 'riding in cars with boys'; trips to the grocery store after school are just overflowing with romance. 

Alright, enough words, enjoy my latest photos! 

Jess and Bella as the best zombies I've ever seen. 

Wally creeping up behind Charlotte. 

Sara and I with the ever so cute butterfly, Nilin, 

Andrew the penguin with poor vision. 

Fred Flinstone! Aka Vincent. 

Teresa and I with Raoul Duke from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Aka Jacopo. 

GUESS WHO. 

My girls!

Roomies 

MC Hammer (Akele) and Nurse Zombie (Jess)

One of our professors for our "Intro to US Law" class invited the entire class for dinner at her house. She told us to carpool, not realising the entire class is made up of international students with no cars -_-'

We all caught the metro and had another professor pick us up in his 7-seater. We got 12 passengers in. 

Mandatory food photo - Maria turned 21 last week, so we celebrated at Pi Pizza (the best pizza I've had here) see here http://www.restaurantpi.com 

Law school severely suppresses creativity, so Sara and I created a sign for Bella's surprise birthday party. 

Bella! While everyone was setting up for her surprise birthday party, we took her to the cinema to see Rebel Wilson's new movie, 'Pitch Perfect' only to find out they had stopped screening it that VERY day. After stalling in Walgreens (a pharmacy/supermarket) across the road, we finally decided to head to the shopping mall to kill time.  

One of the ways we killed time in the mall. 

At Bella's birthday party. 

Amongst the sultry surrounds of Brennan's wine bar after the party. 

Veronica, Bella, Yuri, Jacopo, Jaran & I.