Road Trip! (Part 1) - Kansas City

Within the first two weeks of living in the States I could finally scream - 'Roaaad Triippp!' as we took a day trip to Kansas City...

What can I say?? Both trips were amazing!!


Kansas City took about either an hour (or 2) to get there. When we finally did I got so excited...Lawrence is a nice town but it doesn't have any industrial buildings like a typical city. Kansas City on the other hand - does!


We drove through the city and saw the J.C Nichols Fountain...(which I didn't know about until right now as I just looked it up) and some other sights...that was most memorable though. We took a trip to the Nelson-Atkins Museum over in the Missouri side of the city. Kansas City (KC) is a city which lies on the state line of Kansas and Missouri, pretty cool that there are two states in one city! It was absolutely beautiful - the art museum and the weather.

We had lunch there and it was all pretty posh and had a look around. Although an alarm went off at some point and we all froze in shock - but it turned out to be a mistake! Was pretty exciting though...


After our trip to the museum we had a look around the shops in the city...including American Apparel, Urban Outfitters, American Eagle Outfitters and Victoria's Secret (which was my first of several visits there).


The frat boy who I first met in the previous week (and who exchanged numbers with my roommate) was the one who took us away for the day to KC. Although he was originally from Los Angeles, he had grown up in there. So we went to his house to hang out afterwards.


His house was massive! It wasn't even one of the biggest ones in the area...and his family were lovely! His mum was friendly and offered us all a drink (non-alcoholic of course) and his dad was pretty funny. We met his youngest sister who was the cutest little four-year old and his other younger sister who was a stunning sixteen year old.


We hung out in his basement and chilled out. We talked about different things like what we'd like to do while living here and the places we wanted to see. As it was the other Scottish girls, a Swedish girl and an English guy on the trip - most of us mentioned that we wanted to go travelling...


We went home that day to intense thunder and lightning...I swear I think it almost hit the ground. But after about an hour or so of that it cleared up almost right away (it did that a lot in Kansas). We went to Chipotle when we got back - our first time there (for us foreign students) and relaxed. It had been a lovely day out.


Find out about my second road trip to the lake by becoming a follower of the blog! Feel free to ask questions!

Hawk Week

You would think that after the orientation week that we would start classes. Nope, that didn't happen...because we had Hawk Week!

Hawk Week is basically the equivalent of Freshers Week for the American students at KU. I can't remember much from the week...

Although I remember we went to an event called 'Night on the Hill', which was kinda like a fayre...there were different stalls and tons of people out and about - plus sober dancing...(well we assumed they were sober). Afterwards we headed to a gig on Daisy Hill (I think that's what it was called) but I had no idea who was playing. I suppose it doesn't matter so much now as we didn't get in!

Earlier in the week I enrolled in my classes. I had a meeting with the Study Abroad Office who helped me out with it. Before I headed to the US, they emailed me for my course selections. I emailed them with the following options:

- Basic Film Production

- Basic Screenwriting

- Documentary Film and Video

- International Women Filmmakers

When I met with them I was told that all the classes were still available and that I'd be able to still go ahead with them if I wanted. I had considered changing film production to video production as the video one sounded like it would be more suitable. However, it clashed with the screenwriting class which I really wanted to take, so I stuck with my original choices. I don't regret this because at KU I had the best screenwriting teacher - Professor Kevin Willmott.

Traditions Night

Another memorable part of Hawk Week was 'Traditions Night' at Memorial Stadium. I think we showed up late - but we got the general idea once we got there. The legendary Jayhawk and Baby Jay were there (KU mascots) plus the cheerleaders. I can't remember if any of the sports teams were there or the marching band but they might have been - we probably missed it. 

It was pretty cool though! We learned the whole 'Rock Chalk! Jayhawk!' chant. I should probably explain that a Jayhawk is a cross between a Blue Jay and a Sparrow Hawk - made up for KU. I think it has something more to do with Kansas' history...

The Jayhawk! (Obtained from MarkRoland.com)

We went to more parties at the fraternity house. We ended up becoming friends with a few of the guys there. We played water pong at one of the guys' apartment (it was the middle of the day and we didn't feel like drinking)...He took us out for a day out in Kansas City! 

So we didn't spend the full week of Hawk Week at KU or Kansas. We spent the day in Kansas City during the week and went to Lake of the Ozarks at the weekend! Find out the trips went by becoming a follower or checking out the blog next Monday...

Hello Kansas! - The Powers Family (Part 1)

So the 8th of August came and I flew into Kansas City International Airport. What happened next?

I met the lovely Cheryl Powers.

I had been told by the Office of Study Abroad at KU that I was supposed to arrive on August 9th to check in and participate in the International Orientation week. With the time difference and flights and everything I thought I'd be best arriving the day before, deciding to book a shuttle bus from the airport to Lawrence and booking a hotel room for a night.

Me (looking rough) at 2am

Luckily, I didn't have to do either of those things because I signed up for the Family Transportation programme that KU organise and the family that I was assigned to offered me an overnight stay! I couldn't believe it - it saved me a lot of cash and I managed to get in contact with an American family before I even got there! I'm so grateful that KU organised that for me as an International Exchange Student and that the Power's family were so kind to offer that kind of help...

So I met Cheryl as soon as I got off the plane. I was really tired because I hadn't had much sleep but also so excited when I finally landed in Kansas. She seemed to recognise me right away which was great because I was worried I wouldn't be able to recognise her. I remember she picked up another international student from China and since his plane hadn't landed yet, we decided to get a Starbucks.

The first cultural confusion came at this point when I ordered a Caramel Creme Frapauccino and the lady at the counter had no idea what I was saying...and then paying for it because I wasn't used to American money yet. I think Cheryl ended up ordering for me in the end.

So we were sitting with our drinks and Cheryl told me all about her family, which was fascinating - until we heard a scream. We looked around wondering what was going on, until we realised there was a bat flapping about the airport! I was really shocked because I'd never seen one before and Cheryl was really shocked because it was flapping about in broad daylight.

Then we met Simon, who was a nice boy but was rather shy...I think it was a bit harder for him to chat with us because he couldn't speak a lot of english. We got our cases and then Cheryl picked us up at the entrance.

The heat hit me like I'd stepped into a sauna. I really didn't expect Kansas to be that hot, I thought it was more like Scotland in terms of weather but man was I wrong. I was wearing jeans and a vest top and I was sweating. It was over 100 degrees farenheit (that's a big deal when you come from Scotland).

On the drive back to Cheryl's we spoke a bit more and I just couldn't believe I was there. Finally after all that time, I was actually gona be studying in the States!

Then we got to hers and I met her daughter Cara who had studied abroad in London. After we introduced ourselves she asked us what we wanted to do. Shower and sleep...by then I realised how tired I was...I was so excited I forgot about being tired. 

I went to Caleb's old room and got ready for bed...the whole time I kept thinking I can't I'm actually here. Cheryl's house was so beautiful. It was a great way to start off my year abroad, with a family. 

The next day would be my first full day in the United States, and my first day at KU! Read about it this Friday and become a follower of the blog! Comments/questions are always welcome!