I should be at the gym right now.

So I'm finally in the US of A. Nine months in the making, it feels quite strange to look out of my window and see that the other side of the pond looks pretty much the same as the side I came from, just with actual sunshine! I've had a fairly hectic week; a weekend seeing the sights in NY and then orientation here in Storrs. I've met some amazing people and done some cool, strange, and bizarre things, and even had the occasional adventure along the way.



Our first night in New York we went to the Empire State Building which was amazing. The whole city was lit up below us, and I took many terrible photographs. We also had our first look at Times Square, which is absolutely mad. It was such an exciting place though, and I loved the atmosphere with Broadway and everything else that goes on there.

The next day we went on the Circle line tour around Manhattan, which was hot and humid but pretty interesting. Then we moved on to the real reason we came to New York- to visit 30 Rock. My pilgrimage to the home of Tina Fey will go down as one of the greatest achievements in my life so far, even in spite of the fact that a bird pooed on my arm. I also bought a very stylish "That's a Dealbreaker Ladies!'' T-shirt, which I hope to be buried in.

That evening we went to see a brilliant production of West Side Story in Times Square. Out last full day we spent visiting Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. It was strange to read about the immigrants who had struggled so much to get to America when my only struggle was with a mountain of paperwork, but then they did accept 98% of people who came, which I doubt they do nowadays. We also saw Wall Street, the building work at Ground Zero, and a big ol' splodge of AMERICA!!! on the side of the stock exchange.

Our last night in New York we went to Stand Up NY where we were told Judah Friedlander (aka Frank from "30 Rock") would be headlining. He wasn't. But we still had a fantastic night, mostly involving Matt being abused by the comedians for being young, and a mad Russian woman who kept shouting out and interrupting until someone else very politely told her to SHUT UP.

Since arriving in Storrs I've been pretty busy with orientation presentations, free ice cream, Wal-Mart and holding various types of sea life. At the (terrible) football game yesterday we went and sat with the goal patrol whose job it is to abuse the opponent's keeper while they play. Quite harsh, but amusing. Not enough to distract from the football though, so we ran away and got loads of free stuff from the Block Party. One thing I already love about UConn, they like to give you things :). Something a little weirder is the freshers party thing we went to last night. It was like a giant street party, but with no real point. Lots of drunk people falling around though, so just like last year I guess.

I can't really be bothered to write any more atm, what with having a little bit of a life, but I'll update soon. Hope you're all ok and having a great summer :)