The Big Apple

My first challenge in leaving Burlington was dragging my suitcases through the fresh snow that had fallen the night before.  I'm not gonna lie, was a hell of a workout.  And for two days afterwards the muscles in my arms were killing me.  I managed to get my stuff to Clare's building and then her roommate was kind enough to help us drag our suitcases through more snow to the bus stop.

My view when I woke up Saturday morning

My snow tracks

Made it to the bus stop

We made it to the airport in one piece and then dealt with bus and flight delays because of the snow.  Clare and I came across quite a few other international UVM students at the airport and a couple of us had one last lunch together.  All too soon, it was time to say goodbye to one of the closest friends I made at UVM and that was not okay.  Then, two hours after I was meant to leave, I left Burlington and headed to Boston.  

I spent my time in Boston chilling out and taking things slowly after the last busy few days in Vermont.  I went to the aquarium, saw The Nutcracker at the ballet, and explored Harvard and Cambridge.  I also did some shopping and tackled the christmas ornament shop again and bought my first christmas ornament that will only be used next year, but still.

All the ornaments... plus more

Such a beautiful campus

Rubbing his toe for luck!

It was then time to head into the Big Apple and start exploring New York!!  On my first full day I decided to explore Central Park and literally walked for hours and then went to the Central Park Zoo. I then made my way to Times Square and did some shopping around there before navigating the subway system as I had no desire to walk that far back to my hostel.  Now I've used a lot of systems, but none have been as confusing as using the NYC for the first time from Times Square.  However, after 5 days, I have seemed to master it.

I've explored: 

• the Statue of Liberty - it was pretty cool to go over to Liberty Island and walk around the Statue of Liberty, but I hated having to wait that long with so many people; I did end up getting really over the people in New York (but yes I expected it, just over it)
• Empire State Building - I picked a sunny day and had awesome views of New York!
• 9/11 Memorial and Museum - one of the favourite things I did.  Absolutely chilling, but interesting at the same time
• the top of Rockefeller Centre - another long wait but worth it when I got up there.  So high, and I decided to go up at night so the lights of the city were so pretty!
• sight seeing cruise - down the Hudson river and around the Statue of Liberty
• Madame Tussauds - the fourth one that I've been to and probs my least favourite.  Just didn't really seem to be that much there.  That or I was just super tired and sick of being alone by the time I decided to go there
• The Ride - was an interesting kind of tour slash act that drives through New York and was a fun and different way to see the city
• the hop-on-hop-off bus - a way to explore without doing all the walking
• the Natural History Museum - my favourite thing!  I spent hours there and I only looked at the animal displays
• M&M World - I caved... 
• Disney shop - so much Disney!!!

Central Park

Empire State Building

Empire State Building

Radio City Hall - saw the Rockettes there!

Christmas tree at Rockefeller Plaza

9/11 Memorial

World Trade Centre

Natural History Museum

Top of the Rock

Statue of Liberty

Don't be scared to walk alone. Don't be scared to like it.

I spent my first Christmas alone this year and it really wasn't that great.  Mostly I spent the day ignoring the fact that it was Christmas and spent time in Central Park reading my book.  I opened the present I had with me (Jess sent it to me about a month ago and made me lug it around and promise not to open it until Christmas).  I ate half a packet of Caramello Koalas.

Today I got up way too early to catch my flight to Los Angeles and welcomed the warmer weather!  My Contiki tour starts tomorrow and I'm really excited to do some more travelling around a completely different part of America.  And now it's only two weeks until my best friend arrives and we can run a muck in LA together!!

Until next post.

Adios Amigos.

Tyarna xx

In Omnia Paratus

In Omnia Paratus 

ready for anything

117 days in Burlington have some how come to a close.  These past two weeks have flown by in a blur and I now find myself leaving Vermont tomorrow for a month of travel before landing back on Australian soil!  I knew that it was almost time to leave, I just brushed over the fact that it also meant having to pack up all of my stuff again.  I wasn't too worried with finals, just annoyed at the fact that packing was approaching quickly.

At the beginning of last week saw a proper snowfall in Burlington that I was actually here for and made campus look magical.  I forgot how pretty snow makes everything.  It's been a long time since I was in Austria with snow everywhere, but I've also been reminded of why I live in a place where it doesn't snow; because where it snows, it gets awfully cold.

Playing in the snow on the way to class

Walking in a winter wonderland 

One by one classes came to an end during last week which was a relief.  Although it feels like time here has flown by, in reality a semester is a long time to be constantly putting new information in your brain and I'm glad that it has come to an end.  Now though I'm facing only two semesters until I graduate and that's a bit of an exciting but totally scary thought!  One thing I'll miss most about being here is having D&Ms with Caitlin at all hours of the day like we did on Tuesday at 1am.  It's simple things that make the best memories.

Attack of the snow walking to class

Last Wednesday night, on of the dining halls on campus put on a 'winter wonderland' feast which mainly just involved copious amounts of sugar.  I've never seen so many desserts.  Basically we just sat and filled up on sugar while chatting and laughing.  And making Mean Girls references with four candy canes.

Last walks to Waterman

What is life but one grand adventure?

Then came Friday.  Like my first class at UVM, my final class was German and that saw the end to my regular days here.  After class I spent a little time packing and just chilling out.  Sarah and I went to the hockey game on Friday night and it was a good game!  Brilliantly rough and we won 4-0.  At one point in time there were five people in the sin bin.  Two were there for 5 minutes, two were there for two lots of 2 minutes, and one was there for 2 minutes.  I'm definitely going to miss hockey.

After the game Sarah and I were going to have a drink in my room, but then we met some other friends in the lobby of our building and decided to go to 439 (more housing on campus) and watch a movie with more of our friends.  We headed back up to MAT just after 11pm and played ping pong for about an hour.  I was playing against Saskia and when we were done she looked at me and was like, 'how did you get so good?'.  I then had to explain that it gets really competitive between Mum and I at home.  And violent.  Especially if we're playing doubles against each other.  I'm pretty sure that Kate had it out for me because when she was playing against Sarah, no matter what she did, the ball hit me or almost hit me.

At midnight came the Naked Bike Ride.  The NBR is a tradition at UVM that symbolises the last day of classes and the beginning of finals.  Those people are crazy.  It was absolutely freezing on Friday night.  I was wearing fleece lined leggings under my jeans, a long sleeved shirt until a long sleeved shirt, my big jacket, winter boots, scarf, gloves and headband and I was still bloody cold.  Basically a lot of people just run around naked in a circle.  Most are quite drunk.  The police shut the event down around 12.30 and I was very happy to crawl into my nice warm bed.

Saturday I took it easy and Sarah encouraged my procrastination when we went to the women's hockey game in the afternoon.  I then had about an hour and a half in which I studied and then a group of us went to the second men's hockey game for the weekend.  The second game wasn't as good.  We lost 4-0 and we looked quite silly with the last goal after we pulled the goalie and Boston whacked it straight up the other end and into the goal.

Sunday I studied for a while and then we all went to 439 for International Mafia's secret santa.  It was good to get the group together again.  I don't think that many of us have been together since Montreal.  I got a super cute teddy bear as my present with a little 'Vermont' t-shirt on him.  We took some family photos and had a few laughs together.

The girls <3

International Mafia <3

I made it through my first two finals on Monday pretty well which only left a German oral exam on Wednesday.  Once I was through I was free!  I now only have 7 subjects left to finish my degree.  Thursday was the day that I began the packing process and for some insanely weird reason, it went kind of smoothly.  Sarah and I decided to see the Christmas lights down town in Church St and it was so bloody cold.  I abandoned my packing efforts to have dinner with International Mafia.  The staff in the dining must have been annoyed with us for pulling that many tables together to make sure that everyone fit.  There were perfect, personal gifts for the people leaving this semester that made leaving even harder than it was going to be.  There were so many goodbyes that came around way too early.  Like seriously, where did this semester go?  Our massive group walked back to MAT in the coldest weather I have ever been in and were almost blown away.  With the wind, it felt like -32 degrees.  I have no desire to experience that again.

Which brings me to today.  My last full day in Burlington.  Which is officially over in 20 minutes.  I had breakfast with Sarah before she left to go home for the holidays and then packed more of my stuff.  I had stuff absolutely everywhere and Caitlin walked back into the room, smiled, and said, 'it took a whole semester, but your side of the room is finally as messy as mine'.  It then came time to say goodbye to the best roommate one could have asked for.  I got so use to having her around that it's going to be so weird to not live with her anymore.  This is the price you pay for choosing to live in a new country where you know no one; you're forced to make friends with strangers, get close to them while living your everyday life, and then have to leave them.

Clare and I spent the afternoon down town for her birthday and it was very relaxed and enjoyable.  Even if she did make me walk down there in the cold.  We ate, and shopped, and went to a book store, and ate again.  I came back and finished the majority of my packing, only the things I need tonight are left out.

Church St

Mixed emotions about tomorrow.  I'm super excited to travel and explore the US some more, but I don't think that it's fully sunk in that I'm actually leaving Vermont.  But hey, one door closes so another door can open, right?

Until next post.

Adios Amigos.

Tyarna xx

Turkey Day USA

It took 12 weeks, but Thanksgiving break was finally upon us!!  And it was a much needed break indeed.  By the time Friday afternoon hit, Caitlin and I were packed and ready to go and oh so keen to get out of here (even if Caitlin almost walked out without her bag).  I got to road trip to North Andover, Massachusetts with Caitlin and two of her theatre buddies which meant I was treated to my own musical.  If you ever want to feel like your voice can be described as synonymous with a dying cat, be in a car with three very musical girls with amazing voices.  But I'm not complaining because I just got to sit back and listen.  Once we got to Caitlin's we ordered Chinese food to begin our long week of over indulging in all of the foods that we have been deprived of at college.

On Friday night one of Caitlin's best friends stayed with us before we took her to the bus in Boston on Saturday afternoon.  This meant that Saturday was full of adventure.  Saturday began with Italian sandwiches for brunch before going into a boutique and trying on copious amounts of dresses and watching the staff getting annoyed that we were there for so long and then didn't buy anything.  We then drove into Boston and had about an hour before Katherine needed to be at the bus station, so we explored the harbour area.  There was a nice glass pergola right on the water that was very echoey and Caitlin and Katherine were singing in it and again it sounded amazing and again I was super jealous but also secretly pleased I got my own private show for the second night in a row.  After a while we figured that we should get something to eat and it was only after we ordered that we realised we had 15 minutes before the bus left and we were ages away from the station.  So that meant running through the streets of Boston.  We had one minute to spare when we got there.  Seems to be that running for buses is becoming a thing after our Montreal incident as well.  When we got home we curled up on the couch watching Harry Potter.  

Sunday sleep in was very welcomed.  We had a chilled morning before I went to mass with Caitlin and her mum.  Afterwards we went and got muffins which are the greatest things ever.  During the afternoon Caitlin and I went to her little cousins 4th birthday party and I got to meet members of her family who would be there on Thanksgiving.  On Sunday night we watched a couple more Harry Potter movies

On Monday we went on a hiking adventure with the dog in the freezing cold, but it was okay because we went to Dunkin Donuts first and bought hot chocolate, so we were set.  I was given the choice to walk up the hill at the beginning or end of the walk so I chose beginning.  It was a decent sized hill.  So we walked up the hill and we were almost at the bottom on the other side, when Caitlin says "I've lost one of my gloves, I think it's up the top of the hill".  There was a look, but I agreed to walk to the top on the hill again when we reached the end of the circle.  The walk around was really pretty and the dog had a great time playing with other dogs we met along the way.

 So we reach the end and walk up the hill again, not as fun this time without my hot chocolate, and we find the glove.  Halfway back down, Brodie meets another dog that he decided to play with which is fine until he wants to continue walking with them halfway back up the hill.  So after we have Brodie back in tow, we get almost to the car when Caitlin says "um, I've lost my phone, I think it's on the hill where I wrestled Brodie".  This time there was a definite look and I flat out refused to walk up the hill again, so I sat in the car.  It's reasons like this that I love her though.  Always one for stories and entertainment.

That night we went out for dinner and then went to watch Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.  So many feels in the opening theme song and Harry Potter memories flashing back.  I was in no way disappointed and I'm pretty keen for the next movie.  

On Tuesday we spent the day in Boston!  We drove into the city and our first task was to eat.  Which proved difficult because we couldn't decide what we wanted to eat as there were too many choices.  We decided on Chinese (again) and were trying to decide between gelato and cookies for dessert when we went, what the hell and bought both.  Best decision we made all day.  While we were eating, there was someone playing the piano absolutely beautifully and when we investigated, we discovered that it was a 5 year old boy!  He was so amazing.

After we took our leftover food back to the car, we got on the trolley car that took us through Boston while giving us some history on the city.  I cannot remember anything about what the guy said, but it was interesting at the time.  We got off the trolley at the Boston Common and then walked through the Public Garden with the magnitude of squirrels.  The garden was so pretty and there was a mounted police officer who was getting up people for having their dogs off the leash, which I found kinda fun and interesting.

The world is big and I want to have a good look at it before it gets dark

This human <3

Once we were finished in the garden, we got coffee at Starbucks and then walked the Freedom Trail back through Boston to find more food.  On our way to find food, we came across this Christmas ornament shop that was just massive.  Like it was two floors and the second floor just kept going and going and going and I didn't even take any pictures because there was just too much!  I've never seen so many Christmas tree ornaments in my life.  There were some really pretty ones though and I'm going to go back when I'm in Boston at the end of semester and hopefully pick an ornament that will be the first of my "I'm now an adult" collection (I'll just have to buy my own tree next year).  It was daylight when we walked into the ornament shop, and when we walked out it was dark.  But that was nice because we got to walk out into the street with Christmas lights and the big Christmas tree.

Our quest for food then resumed.  We ended up in the North End and decided on Italian which was so good.  I love Italian (and this was the first time I braved it again after getting food poisoning in Cairns earlier this year).  I don't even know if we made it through half our meal before we were totally stuffed again but the great thing about America is that a doggy bag is a given.  On our way back to the car, we stopped in at a bakery to get dessert.  I was not exaggerating when I said that our week just involved eating.  It was great when we got home because we had chocolate chip cannoli while we began recapping on Gilmore Girls episodes in preparation for the revival on Friday!

On Wednesday morning Caitlin was babysitting her little cousin which she was really excited about and they had two little kittens which I was really excited about.  All in all it was just a morning full of cuteness.

For lunch we met up with some of Caitlin's friends from high school at this great diner with really good pancakes.  It was good listening to all of their stories.  That night was again filled with Gilmore Girls and eating of leftovers.

The next day was Thanksgiving!  We began by watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade that happens in New York on TV and they had some really awesome performances. And lots of big floating balloon animals.  For lunch Caitlin's relatives were hosting the family and they graciously invited me in and made me feel very welcome.  And then they fed me.  Lots.  Oh the food.  Oh the really good food.  Turkey.  Mashed potatoes.  Pumpkin pie.  The list goes on and on.  On the way home we put on Christmas carols and watched Love Actually that night.  The Christmas spirit began.  Overall my first turkey day was a great success.

Friday was a much needed day of rest.  And thankfully the Gilmore Girls revival was out.  We watched two of the four episodes during the morning and then took a break for a few hours when I decided that I really should do some study.  After I gave up on studying (way sooner than I should have) I let myself get sucked into my book and really relaxed.  We ordered Indian for dinner and then watched the last two episodes of Gilmore Girls.  It was really good Indian.  

Saturday involved more food in the form of pancakes with stewed apples, before going to friends of the family for a friendsgiving which had more food.  Saturday night was quiet as Caitlin and I had an early morning on Sunday to go back to UVM.  We left Massachusetts at 5.30 on Sunday morning and when we got back, both of us were in bed again by 9am.  Sunday afternoon was spent doing most of the homework that we didn't do during the week.  I thought that I was kind of prepared for leaving Burlington at the end of semester until Sunday when I realised how much I missed my friends in only a week.  Then I started doubting my mental capabilities to actually leave Vermont!

Last week went by in a blur and I have now found myself with only 11 days left in Burlington and 40 days left in America and it's totally giving me mixed emotions.  I'm super excited for my holiday at the end of semester and I'm excited to see my family at home, but at the same time, I'm dreading leaving the life that I've got here.  The next week and a half will be great though and I'm keen to go travelling.

Until next post.

Adios Amigos.

Tyarna xx