Road Trip! (Part 2) - Lake of the Ozarks

Quite a few of us went to the camping trip at the lake.

It was a long journey...So luckily for us the frat guy took his RV! It was the coolest thing ever - it had a bedroom, toilet, table and chairs all on four wheels...pretty astonishing (well, for me it was)! 

The RV

As there were a lot of us going, two of the other guys from the frat house went and took their cars and a couple of tents...we had a lot of stuff to bring with us! The journey was long and I spent a lot of it reflecting on how lucky I was. Here I was in the States - I had only been there a couple of weeks and already I was travelling with a great group of people. Time to get drunk!


When we eventually got there it was pitch black...I was still pretty excited but a little bit worried. We were in what seemed like the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night - it was dark, quiet and a little eerie, it felt a bit like something out of a horror movie ('Jeepers Creepers' comes to mind)...But the guy from the RV Park came out and got us - so we found the others who had got there before us.


Lucky for us they had already started a fire. They already had drinks, so they offered us one too. It was really cool but I hate creepy crawlies and there were flies everywhere so I couldn't get comfortable. I was petrified that there would be spiders - my worst fear. So we sat by the fire and relaxed for the first night.


The next day was a great one. A lot the guys wanted to go fishing in the morning so we went to this place with a ton of boats. We didn't actually take the boat out the dock, but we sat in it for a little bit. Some of the group were up for swimming while the others weren't. I was split in the middle...I wanted to go for a swim but was scared to do it in the lake...eventually I plucked up the courage and jamp straight into the water! It was freezing - but quite refreshing in the hot sun.


Some people left but a couple of us stayed nearby - so I soaked up the sun while we were waiting. A family on another boat came over and spoke to us. They were from the area and they were curious where we were from...they got a bit excited when they found out I was from Scotland and the guy I was with from England. Then our ride arrived...

The 'beach'

We went to a different part of the lake - which looked more like a holiday resort rather than a campsite. It was beautiful - there was a manmade beach with sand and a restaurant/bar nearby. So finally I could sit out in the sun properly and attempt to tan, plus go for a swim! Which is what I did...even when some of the others went fishing later in the afternoon.


That night we decided to cook a barbeque...with some alcohol for the night. One of the English guys ended making most of it with the French girl...it was like they were our parents. We played a couple of drinking games...(well, we were in the ‘game room’) like ‘Kings Cup’ and ‘I never’ – but not beer pong. Which is weird now I look back...why didn’t we play that?? Oh well.


It was a fun night. The next day we went home, but not before me and the Swedish girl had done a bit of sunbathing at the pool on the campsite...and off we went.


The ride home seemed much longer than the ride in. It didn’t help that most the others were sleeping...I can’t sleep when travelling – I very rarely do it. So I tried to keep our driver company with some chat (frat boy).

I felt sorry for him because he was clearly exhausted and seemed to be suffering from a very bad cough...


What was to come from that cough, we would find out when we got home.

Read about it on Monday 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...