Farewell Tour of the USA

Well since saying goodbye to Duke to say that I have been travelling is an understatement. my travels since mid-May have taken me to Washington DC, Kentucky, Boston, New Hampshire (for one night), Albany, Chicago and back to Kentucky...and tomorrow I head out to San Francisco for 6 days before flying home!!!

Washington DC is AMAZING...it is very Greek/Roman in its architecture, kind of the American's saying that they are Greeks/Romans of the modern world. I took in all the sights of the weekend there, The Capitol, the Supreme Court, the National Mall, the Washington Monument, The Lincoln, Jefferson and Eisenhour memorials as well as a lot of the Smithsonian Museums which were pretty cool, and FREE!!!!! I also took in a MLS (Major League Soccer) game, as my mate that I stayed with works for the Washington team, so I got a free ticket...We then went out that night and partied hard...including Ozio, a very very very exclusive blakc nightclub with a $10 cover and where the price of a Burbon and Coke was $9 plus tip, but a fun night was had by all!!!

After DC i flew into Kentucky to stay with Rachyl, an awesome bondie who "took me in" after finding out that I wasnt staying for summer and didnt really have a place to stay for the month before my flight home. It was good to see her again. after staying 3 days i went on a 10 day trip to Boston, Albany NY and Chicago...I have been to Boston and Albany before, but went back up to see friends, and my adopted US family (the Hamor's). I went over to Chicago to see Sean, a study abroad from 053 and had a great time seeing the city, hanging out and going out!!! Chicago reminds me a lot of Melbourne, it being spread out and full of culture!!! (mmmmm Mike's Italian Ice and Rainbow Cone)!!!

After travelling around I flew back to Kentucky where I have been resting and partying the past week...it has been great to kick it with Rachyl and catch up with her. I fly out to San Francisco tomorrow for 6 days before flying home, so it should be a great last week!!!!

new pics are up by the way.

Goodbye Duke and Durham...Hello U.S.A.

OK, so I know it has been a month or so since I updated you last, but I promise to make it up to you all as this is my last entry authored while at Duke :'(

The past 5-ish weeks at Duke have been nothing, if not hectic. To quickly sum it all up not only did I have exams and assignments to contend with but also I fitted in another trip to Charlotte, have gone to a Minor League baseball game, have started saying my goodbyes but have also begun planning my last 5 weeks in the US and, well, I am mostly packed!!!

Exams were alright, and truth be told I will probably do better then expected, but I only have to "pass", which is a great security blanket to have, especially when you take a class like "First Amendment Law" and you are one of only three foreigners in a class of about 50. But literally within an hour of finishing my last exam (International Commercial Arbitration) I was on
a train to Charlotte for the weekend to relax and to catch up with and say goodye to friends.

The last two weeks after Charlotte were bascially spent finishing a 25 page assignment for a class as well as winding up my stay at Duke and Durham by cathcing up with friends, drinking with them, going to a Minor League baseball game (we have our own team, the Durham Bulls, and I'm going again tonight), taking one last tour of campus and packing (I had to send home 25 kgs of belonings, and the people at the post office were awesome by only making me pay $43 USD).

Duke Shout Out's and Thank You's

OK, so my time at Duke has come to an end, and I must say that while I am sad to leave I have had an absolutly AMAZING time and have been truely blessed and lucky to have lived out three of my dreams (that I have had for about 8 or 9 years) just by attending here (the other two were to 1) see a game in Cameron Indoor Stadium; and 2) to see the Duke v UNC game in Cameron).

However there were other people who helped shaped my experience and without which I would not have had a truly amazing experience.

Firstly, thanks has to go to Pascal (my Swiss flatmate, and the one that actually spoke and was social). We sure had a great time together whether it be drinking each Tuesday night at the bar on campus or lining up for hours in rain, hail or shine (well maybe not hail, but we came close to having it) to get into Cameron Indoor Stadium to watch the Duke Blue Devils and to see JJ Reddick break numerous Duke, ACC and NCAA records or even debating over whose turn it was to buy toilet paper. These are definatly memories that I will always cherish! At least I dont have a fetish of recording you while you are preparing food mate, haha!!! But hey, at least we both like the A*Teens, hahaha!!!!

Secondly, to Eric, who I met while waiting in line for the Duke v Miami game. This guy is a champ, and totally changed my conception of Divinity students as he both drinks AND smokes, and so does Erin, another Divinity student and a friend of Eric's who I also met through basketball! From camping out for three nights for the Duke v UNC basketball game to patroning the James Joyce (Durham's Irish Pub) at least 2 or 3 times a week, usually around midnight, for a pint or two of Blue Moon (serious this beer has changed my life!!!). I look foward to his visit to Australia, hopefully sooner then later!

To all the guys and girls I met in line waiting for the basketball, it would definatly not have been half as fun without you, especially with teh DPT girls for the Duke v UNC game. Kerry and Skye, you both will always have a place in my heart, and a bed in Australia if you decide to visit me. To Donna, Nina, Carmen, Wendy, Karalin, Paul, Meghan, David, Eric (another one) and to everyone else I met in line and drank with before the games, thanks for the memories, and I plan to return next year to camp out for the Duke v UNC game because I still need to experience a bonfire ;-)

To my class mates from one of my class, "sexual orientation and the law" who made the Thursday 3:30-5:30 time slot just that much easier to deal with I must give you thanks, plus we did have some pretty cool get togethers. To Justin, Brian, Chris, Ryan and Vanessa, thanks!!!

I'd also like to send a special thanks to Troy at Bond, currently on exchange in Taiwan. It's good to know that there is someone who is going through what you are currently going through who you can turn to and ask, sometimes, the most stupidest questions, which to us are fundamental to our travels.

Lastly to anyone else that I have forgotten, thanks!!!!

Where to from here???

well I have 32 days until I board my flight home (THANK GOODNESS I'm flying Qantas) and so far my travel plans include stops in Washington DC, Kentucky, Boston, Albany, Chicago, San Fransisco and maybe LA. I know I am going to have an amazing 32 days and I know it will be just as enjoyable as the previous 4.5 months. I have had an amazing opportunity to travel the USA while studying here, and I think at last count I would have visited 10 states and 1 territory (D.C) and I know that is something that most people dont get to say. So to all the Study Abroads and friends that have greatfully let me into their homes thank you (this also goes for those that will be hosting me in my last weeks here ;-))

I dont know if I will do an update along the way or wait until I get back to tell you about each place I visit on my way home but rest assured you will find out eventually!!!

Take Care,
Chad

The week from hell...otherwise known as Week 13

Ok, so apart from the Women's Basketball team losing the national final in overtime and me not being able to go to the Franz Ferdinand concert becuase of a migrane, there was one other things that happened this week that made it clearly the worst week of my time here.

Obtaining a Visa for Summer Camp

So anyone that has applied for US visa before knows that you have to have your visa documents before you can schedule a visa interview. Anyways, while dealing with the YMCA (the organisation thorugh which I applied for summer camp) they took forever to process my visa documents. So when I eventually went to book a visa appointment with the Toronto consulate all their appointments for the next 10 weeks were full, however becuase I was applying for a J-1 visa I am entitled to apply for an "expediated" appointment. However when I requested this over the phone the service agent on the other end told me that I could not have one as I was currently living in the USA, something which the US Government website did not indicate as a prohibition on obtaining an expediated appointment.

As such, after looking into options to have an interview in Mexico and even back in Australia, both of which came up fruitless, I have resigned to the fact that I will be returning home early, arriving in mid-June, to be precise. This is 2.5 months shorter then what I expected, and while I am indeed disappointed at this (since it was not through my wrong doing that I cannot stay longer) I am not going to let this diminish the rest of the time that I have here. As such, from May 15th (the day I am kicked out of Duke) I will be staying with "Crazy Rachel" (who some people at Bond may remember). She has graciously allowed me to stay with her in Lexington, Kentucky until I am "deported" (for lack of a better word, plus it sounds much more sexier then "didnt get a new visa"). I of course will try and make another one or two trips while staying in KY but the alure of $10 all you can drink for 3 nights of the week clearly is strong!!!

When I get back it will be too late to start at Bond for 062 so I will spend that time in Melbourne, having some time off (which is why I was doing the summer camp in the first place), and I will do some travelling around my country I think, like just take the car and go away for the weekend, or going to Tassie to see nan or Sydney to catch up with some friends.

Anyways, I hope everyone has a safe and pleasent Easter, and to those Bondies, good luck with your assignments and exams, mine are just around the corner, so I should actually try and do some work!!!

Chad

Weeks 11-13 & Weekend Trip to Charlotte (March 31 - April 2)

Well the first 3 weeks after break have been more then interesting, and im devoting a whole entry to the events of the past week (april 3-9), but alas, that is for the next entry which I will post after this one!

I'm not going to lie, the first week after spring break was hard. I wanted to do nothing else then be back on break and getting back into the study routine was hard, but I eventually opened a book to try and do some reading...notice I used the word try. The first week back from break was spent bascially catching up with Eric (who went on a medical mission trip to Haiti), and this usually involved alcohol, 4 nights to be precise (Monday, Tuesday, Wenesday and Friday)

The first Friday after break was a big partying day. I started off drinking with Eric at about 3 in the afternoon and we each had a shot of this haitian grain alcohol (which is 95%, thats right, 95%)...1 shot gives you a strong buzz for 3 hours. Eric has since given me the rest, which is about 600ml, so I might try and smuggle it back home!!!! Later that night I attended the Duke OUTLaw party, which was real cool (and had more alcohol) and then proceeded back to campus for some more drinking with Eric and his friends, including another shot of Haitian grain alcohol!!!

Other highlights include seeing the movie "Capote", which I all strongly recommend you go and watch as well as becoming regular patrons at "James Joyce" an Irish pub in downtown Durham!!! I also now have a new favourite beer..."Blue Moon", man it is sooooo good, I wish we would get it back home (Fitzy, get your father onto this, haha)!!!

The highlight of the past 3 weeks would have to be my trip to Charlotte (the biggest city in North Carloina). I went down to catch up with a good friend, Brian. Charlotte, in one word, is just Beautiful. It reminded me a lot of Melbourne, it is very clean with a lot of artwork in the city, so I felt right at home!!!! While there are no "major" sites to see I had an awesome time hanging out and catching up with Brian and meeting his friends and his sister (who is also a Duke fan, so we got along great!!!). I love the city so much I will definatly be heading back before I head home!!!! Some of the pictures above are from charlotte!

Weeks 7-10: Duke v UNC & Spring Break

Ok, so since it has been about a month since I last updated this I have had to go back into my journal to remember everything that I did, however two standouts were the Duke v UNC basketball game and SPRING BREAK!!!

P.S. I have had to start using my second account for my pictures so that address is http://community.webshots.com/user/thechadmeister3

Duke v UNC Basketball

For those who don't know already I am a HUGE Duke Basketball fan (I have followed them since 1997) and the Duke v UNC game is the biggest rivalry and game in the nation so I was going to do anything it took to get into Cameron Stadium and watch this game!!!

To put it simply I camped out for 3 nights to have a shot at getting into the game as I did not have a season ticket. I "tented" with Eric, a guy which I met at the Duke v Miami game (which happened just after my last update) and have been hanging out with since then, and Dave (a friend of a friend), and we took it in shifts to hold our position in line. But if you think that we actually "camped" then you are wrong. We basically drank and partied for 3 days stright until we got into the game. It seriously was one of the best times of my life (well apart from the official line checks at 12am, 3am, 6am, 9am, noon, 2pm, 5pm, 8pm and 8:30pm on Game Day and if we missed one then we were screwed!!!).

In the end I got into the game and it was the BEST TIME OF MY LIFE...becuase I had been dreaming of being in this exact moment for over 9 years and it paid off after investing all that time in camping out to get into the game. It was also an emotional moment becuase this was my last game which I would see in Cameron Stadium and also it was the last time that I would see my PT (physical therapy) girls as they all headed out on placement in the days after the game.

I cannot describe the atmosphere inside Cameron Stadium, there are no real words to describe and Ryan Dufty (aka "Alfie") is the only other aussie that knows what I mean. If I could use two words to somewhat describe what the energy was like inside the stadium they would be: intense and insane.

Oh, I was also on ESPN when they taped a show out at Duke on the day of the game. I was in a "mimi-skit" with one of the hosts of the show, and my friend in Pittsburged taped it for me, so I definatly have to watch it eventually!

Spring Break (March 10-20)

After 9 weeks of classes, numerous basketball games and too many memories it was time to go on Spring Break. I didnt go for the "traditional spring break" as I get drunken americans and beaches at Bond so I decided to do some travelling and see some friends that were study abroad's at Bond. I travelled to NYC, Albany and Pittsburgh over the 10 days and it was an AWESOME time...I wish every week was Spring Break.

New York City is AMAZING, and when I say NYC i mean Manhattan, that little tiny island that has got soo much crammed into it its incredible. From Broadway, Wall Street, Ground Zero, Statue of Liberty, South Street Sea Port, Chinatown, Empire State Building, Rockafella Centre, St Patrick's Cathedral, Time's Square, Trump Tower, 5th Avenue, Central Park (which we did in a Horse and Buggy Ride), Chelsea, 42nd Street, UN Building, Museum of Modern Art (love that place), Greenwich Village to the American Museum of Natural History there was a lot of stuff to get through in the weekend that I was there. I also went out to the BRONX to see Yankee Stadium, which was, lets say, interesting.

The definate highlight would be Ground Zero. As soon as you see it you become emotionally charged and now somewhat understand how the American's must have felt and you cannot help but feel a sense of loss and somehow instinctivly you know something is missing from NYC even though you have never been there. It was definatly intense. I could write forever about New York but my pictures will tell you everything so go and check them out.

After NYC I went up to Abany (the capital of New York State) and stayed with a mate from 043. Firstly, his family is f***ing awesome, they are probably the coolest people I have met. On the first night John (the guy i stayed with) and Mike (one of his brothers) and I went out to Western MA to Mike's college (long story as to why we did) but it was basically a night filled with drinking, real good fun. Tuesday was the same, drinking that is, as we went to a bar with 25 cent beers, needless to say I was pretty intoxicated that night (the Irish Car Bomb didnt help either - its a drink where you drop a shot of bailey's into half a pint of guiness and chug it down and it actually doesnt taste that bad). Oh and a word of advice, whenever in america if a girl talks to you at a bar they only want to get a free drink out of you. 9 times out of 10 they have no intention of talking to you further, they just want to free drink.

The city of Albany is actually very beautiful and I really enjoyed it, especially their Capitol building which is probably the most beautiful captiol/legislative building I have seen. We also checked out Empire State Plaza, the Egg and the New York State Museum, which was real cool. THey had a 9/11 display and I actually touched a piece of WTC which was recovered from Ground Zero, and what you experience is something that I really cannot explain, something just rushes over and through you!!! Oh, I also went to Hooters in Albany, where one of the waitresses came up and asked me to say something with the accent (see, proof that an aussie accent gets you places!!)

Last stop on Spring Break was Pittsburgh, which was cool. I stayed on campus at the Uni of Pittsburgh with a mate who was at bond in 053. The campus is a lot like RMIT in Melbourne as its in the city, well in a suburb real close to the CBD. We did some drinking and a tour of the city, but also following the first and second rounds of teh NCAA Men's Basketball championship (and yes Duke made it through both of them!). I also saw an Ice Hockey game, that was REAL COOL, we got seats behind the net so we could see all the action. I'll definatly be going to more games!
While SPring Break was awesome, it was cool to get back to Duke and see my mates and flatmate (who I hadnt seen in 2.5 weeks as he had a longer break then I did) but now I have to get back into the swing of things!

Other Stuff that Happened

Apart from the above there were some other cool things that happened since my last update, such as going to the Duke v Miami game, hanging out with my new mates and going for beers at midnight with Eric at least 3 times a week (we see this as a reward for studying during the day). I have also recieved my forms to apply for my visa for summer camp so I guess its finally sinking in that I will not be back until late August, in time for 063!!!

Well I guess that is it for this update. I tried to cover everything cause god knows I could have written a thesis on what i did on spring break, it was that Awesome.

Take care everyone and I will update you soon!!!

Duke Weeks 4-6 and Baltimore Trip

Well since my Swiss flatmate (otherwise known as Pascal) bugged me all week to update my blog I thought I would since im staying in tonight and just chilling...

In terms of what has been going on on campus here at Duke well I went to the Duke v Florida State game (see previous blog entry) and also it was announced that Franz Ferdinand and Death Cab for Cutie are coming to play on campus, and for students its only $25 so me and a bunch of friends are going!!! I also witnessed something really special on Tuesday night (Feb 14) - J.J. Redick who is a play for Duke now holds the NCAA Record for the most 3-pt shots made in a college career, and I was at the game to see it, it definatly was a special moment and I'm glad I skipped class to wait in line for 5 hours to get into the game (this time I was #3 in the walk up line ;-)) - now mum, don't kill me, but I am probably going to camp out, for a night or two, to get into the UNC game as this is the biggest rivalry in American College Sports, and to see it would definalty be a night I would never forget!!!

I have also attended the Duke tennis matches, and these guys really are good, and I will definatly be going to more. Also the Baseball and Lacrosse seasons are starting up so I will definatly be going to those matches as well!!!

Back to the Duke v UNC rivalry for a minute, the other week (Feb 7th) I went out to a friend's place to watch the Duke v UNC game that was being played at UNC (which is 15 minutes away), and it was such a good night and it was a close game but we came through in the end, so we were all happy, and we had a special cookie made for the occassion (see above)!!!

Another highlight of the past 3 weeks has been my trip to Baltimore, in Maryland. It was my intention to head down to Washington DC for a day during this trip but becuase of the snowstorms we could not, and as it turned out my return flights on the sunday were cancelled as the airports in Baltimore and New York were closed (yes, I had to fly via New York, which is amazing from the air - see above!!!)!

Baltimore Harbour was very cool, such a nice area, and we had lunch that day at ESPNZone, which is basically a restaurant with all TV screens in it playing the sport on ESPN (a sport channel over here), it was so cool, I actually watched the Duke v Maryland game while eating and Courtney (a friend from 043) watched the Villanova v DePaul game, we were both very content since both our teams won!!!

So when I got to the airport on the monday to return I found out that the NY airports were still closed so the lady kindly re-routed me through Charlotte (biggest city in NC), and I will definatly be hiring a car and driving down for a weekend as it looks pretty cool!!! It was ok becuase my monday night class was cancelled as our lecturer was stuck in NY himself!!! (Alan can we get some fake snow to cancel classes somedays???). To cap off that day I basically arrived back and as soon as I walked in the door I walked out again to go to the Women's basketball game!!!

On to other news, I got the confirmation that I have been accepted to stay here and work in a summer camp in Greensboro here in NC. It's cool because I get 3 weeks off between the end of uni and orientation in NY, so that should be cool, and I will be back in time for 063, all I have to do now is go to Canada and get another Visa, oh the US Consulate is going to LOVE me!!!

Well I think I have confused you enough for now so I will let you all go, be safe, keep in touch and make sure u check out my pics (http://community.webshots.com/user/thechadmeister2)

Only 3 weeks till Spring Break (New York City, ALbany and Pittsburgh!!!)

Duke v Florida State Game, Feb 4

Well, WOW, that is all about how much I can say about today, it was an AMAZING day! I've decided to write a seperate entry about the Duke v Florida State game since the day, well the part which consisted of the game, was AWESOME!!!!

So the day all began with my and Pascal, my flatmate, getting up at 7am to leave our place at 7:45am to go and wait in line to get in for tip-off which is at 12 midday!!! Needless to say you make friends with the others who are waiting in line, however today was definatly a test as it rained for a majority of the 4 hours, and I'm not talking annoying rain, im talking near enough to a downpour and both Pascal and I forgot to bring an umbrella, so although I got completly drenched in my jeans and hoodie it would have been a lot worse if the other people in the line didnt share their brolly's!!! However needless to say that my jeans got completly soaking wet, and the picture is enough to prove!!!

Anyways, at about 11:50am after standing in the constant rain for close to 4 hours they decide to let the walk in line (that is us, who dont have a season ticket) into the game, and whenever they let u in you are so damn pumped as you have waited for so long to get in!!! Furthermore when you walk into the stadium itself when it is so close to tip off the atmosphere is just AMAZING as it seriously is like a Greek Colusem with the Pep Band (all brass) playing, all the spectators cheering and the teams warming up, that is the best how I can describe it, and I will definatly miss it when I return back to Australia!!!

The game itself was great, an arm wrestle from start to end and in the end we had to go into overtime and we eventually won by one point. The game was seriously intense with every play in the last 10 minutes crucial and turnovers and fouls on both sides as well, as well as some dubious umpiring and an intentional foul on one of our players, Sheldon Willaims, which made the entire 9,000 capacity at Cameron Indoor Stadium come to their feet and verbally pounce on the opposing player who foulded, he basically took out Sheldon from behind while he was dunking and was going to make it too!!! Admist all the cheers and the "heckeling" of the opposition it was an awesome game and I was so happy to be a part of it and the wait in line in the rain was definatly worth it!!!

After the game we waited around and went onto the court, which was HUGE, this stadium is a common household name across America and any sport fan over here knows of it! I can't describe how it felt being on there, considering that the first time I saw it was on cable TV back in Melbourne in 1997, all I know was that I was there, and WOW!!! I also got a picture with the "Blue Devil" which is the official mascot of Duke, much better then the Bond Bunny!

Needless to say after I got home after grabbing McDonalds after the game for lunch I hopped stright in the bathroom for a hot shower and then had a nice nap as I went to bed at 1:30am the night before and was up at 7am!!!

I think tonight I might just chill and do some work, as I should probably do some of that, as well as listening to a real cool local North Carolinan band, "Jump, Little Children" who I now love, and I thank Dan for getting me into them!!!

Next update when I get back from Baltimore/Washington DC
Chad

2nd and 3rd weeks @ Duke and Weekend Trip to Springfield, MA (Jan 26-29)

Well the second and third weeks at Duke is when things started to swing into action. Apart from finding my local watering hole where I go every Tuesday night with my Swiss flatmate Pascal and where I can get imported beers, and use my food points (maybe someone should suggest this to Anthony Spiegel??) I have been going to classes (I really suppose that I should) as well as making a number of new friends who are undergrads!!! I also sat my European Union deferred exam from Bond, which was ok, I was just lucky that I had Strategic Management on the Friday beforehand. I got both of these marks back and was very pleased with them!!!

A big highlight for me was going into an undergrad dorm, which at Duke, is just like it is in the movies, it was so cool! Also Americans are infatuated with us Aussies, especially the accent. If I had a dollar for every time I heard "oh I love your accent" I would be a very rich man and would not have to worry about the exchange rate and its effects on my savings. However most say that the British accent and the Aussie one sound very similar to which I reply "you're kidding me right? do I say you sound like a Mexican?"

Ok, so onto the major part of this entry, and that is my trip that I took to Springfield, MA on the weekend of Jan 26-29 to see some friends from WNEC (Western New England College) that came to Bond in 051! I decided to take this trip only 2 days before I was there because I got a really cheap last minute fare, so I decided "why not", I only live once! The flights were AMAZING as they contained aerial passes of Washington DC and New York City. It was SO AMAZING and SO BEAUTIFUL and I think now that it has truly sunk in that I am in America by me seeing these two skylines in the same day!!!

On the Thursday night, when I arrived I went to the WNEC v Norwich University Basketball game....which was nothing like the Duke v Maryland game, I spose this was Division III an Duke is in Division I, haha!!! I also had "Wendy's" for the first time, which was good, and REAL CHEAP!!! Furthermore, I also DROVE, thats right, I drove in America, and if I dont say so myself I'm pretty awesome at it too, haha!!! THat night we went to Paddy's, a local pub/bar which was AWESOME! That night EVERYONE was there so I met a lot of the WNEC people and according to Karen they all loved me, I wonder if it was becuase I'm Australian or because I can outdrink them all??? To finish off the night we went to an after party on campus and at 4am decided to go to McDonalds (such an Aussie thing to do) and in the end we spent about $30 USD at the drive through between the 4 of us (Karen, Meghan, Josh and I) with Josh and I spending the most of it, hahaha!!!

On Friday I basically just chilled with my mates and caught up with then before going out again: one dorm party on campus, one house party and then back out to Paddy's for another night of debautory! Tonight two interesting things happened: it took me twice as long as the night before to get in with my passport even though it was the same bouncer from the night before and I also introduced the cowboy shot to Springfield!!! I also did a very American thing that night after all the drinking had ended and went to Taco Bell, which was DIRT CHEAP and oh so good when you are Drunk.

On Saturday I actually did a lot considering how bad I was feeling. I went to see the Women's basketball match, which was cool, and they won in a hard fought game and then I had a nap to prepare myself for a BIG night out on the town which began with the WNEC Ice Hockey game which was awesome, even though it was a Division III College game, and I had so much fun!!! This was followed up by two dorm parties on campus and then another night at Paddy's. It was sad becuase I knew that this would be my last night drinking with these amazing people! I wont deny it, I got completly wasted tonight but only because it is SO CHEAP ($3.50 USD Shots and $5.50 USD Long Island Iced Teas), I was in heaven! I have definatly made some new drinking buddies who can keep up with me such as Greg (picutred with me), Josh, Megan, Jess, Sarah, Beth, Jake!!! After leaving Paddy's @ 2am (as that is when it closes) we went back to Greg's place and drank some more, as well as played Beer Pong, we were 1-1 that night, not too bad!!!

On Sunday, I'm not going to lie, I had the biggest headache known the man kind and well it took me a while to get up!!! After I finally did Karen and I went to the Basketball Hall of Fame (pictured above), which was pretty cool, but would have appreciated it more if I was in a better state of mind!!! I drove home in the rain after we had lunch with Jeff (an American at Bond in 053) and where I started to say my goodbyes to those that I had met that weekend and hit it off with especially Kelly (who I now love to pieces) as well as Ashley and Monica (who were at Bond in 051) and Jess, Jake, Justin, Tylor, Steph, Denise and so many others!!! It was actually real sad leaving cause I had such an AWESOME weekend and I will never forget it, Karen, Jill and all their friends made me feel real welcome and I hope to travel back up north soon and party with them all again!!!

After having a delayed connection in Baltimore (just north of Washington DC) I finally made it back to Raleigh-Durham Airport and was so glad that I was being picked up by Dan as it meant that I saved $35 on a taxi!!! It was also nice to come home to a clean apartment, but Pascal you could have cleaned my room a bit too, haha, just joking!!!!

I'm looking foward to my next trip in a fortnight to Baltimore/Washington DC, unless I decide to go somewhere in the meantime!!!!!

Until next time I hope you are all having a great time, email me with your updates.

Keep Safe

Chad

First Week at Duke

I think last time I left off I was in the library using the internet there to update this, well now I have the internet back on in my room so I'm happy :-D considering it has been 8 degrees and windy all day I deicded it was an opportune time to update what I have been doing! By now you should all have recieved another email from me breifly outlining what I have
been doing, but this is where you get the WHOLE story!!!

Classes began on January 9 (Monday) and well, it was definatly a culture shock having a seminar of around 50 people and then having the daunting prospect of having a 20-25% participation mark hanging over you in a class of this size. The classes really are like what they are in the movies, that is more a "discussion" type classes and if you dont know your material then, well, thanks goodness that hasnt happened yet, but it's only the first week!!!

One big thing that I did on Monday was go to Cameron Indoor Stadium, which is where the Duke Blue Devils play their home games, WOW, nothing like what i expected (check out the photos http://community.webshots.com/user/thechadmeister2) yet it was hard to believe that I was standing inside it ever since watching my first Duke game in 1997!

Tuesday was an interesting day: I bought my "Duke" gear for the Basketball game on Wednesday night (hoodie and trucker hat); I had a class where there was another "Chad", which NEVER happens; went to a real American Diner for dinner, which was interesting; had a local NC "beer", and I'm using that term very loosely, which reminded me of vegemite; and sadly I found out that one of my good internet chat buddies from California had passed away in a car accident in mid-December, we were meant to catch up when I was back over in California before I left! Here's to you Jarom, you are awesome and will be missed by us all!!!

Wednesday was the best day of the life! I had class in the morning and after a short nap and some food I headed over to Cameron Indoor Stadium to go to the Duke v Maryland game. I arrived at 4:30, even though the game did not start until 9, as I had to wait in line to get in. As I did not have a season pass I had to go in the "walk in line" who they let in if there are ANY spots left after those with season passes have gone in! I met some medical students in the line (PGs and UGs line up on different sides of the arena) who were pretty cool and so I hung with them and we did what you are meant to do while waiting in line to go to a game...drink beer and eat pizza!!! I was finally let into the game at 8:50, 10 minute before tip-off and OMG I have never seen so many people (9,000) squished into a more smaller space, which makes for an absolutely fantasitc atmosphere!!! I would try to describe what it was like but no words can do it justice, seriously, the closest I could come would be "intense". These students are more passionate about their team than Joe Taylor about Essendon, and I was finally a part of it, this is MY team!!! The game itself was AWESOME...Duke totally dominated and we get involved with taunts, cheers and other "Cameron Crazie" antics!!! After the game I met Dick Vitale (who is to US College Basketball what Bruce MacAveny is to Australian Sport Commentating), and again a moment I will never forget!!!

After the game I went to McDonalds (yeah we have one on campus, open 'til 1am every night) to get a drink as my throat was hoarse as. When I left the campus was covered with ground level fog and I took some cool campus pictures of it, again see my website.

Thursday and Friday were pretty uneventful as I found out that I had to take my deferred Strategic Management and European Union exams on Friday (13th) and Tuesday (17th) respectively, so I sort of studied for the Strat exam and took that no problems, now I just have to cram for EU on Tuesday given that Monday is a public holiday becuase of Martin Luthur King Jr Day!

Anyways I should be signing off for today, I think us exchange kids are going to a concert tonight, for only $5, so I should probably go eat and get ready.

By the way I now have a US mobile..its (919)-218-8604. Thats the number you dial if you are in the US so you have add on an international dialing code, and the country code, which is 1, in front of it to call me. So if you buy a calling card it should work out pretty cheap. I have also downloaded Skype which gives me 2.7c per minute calls to Aussie landlines so if you want me to call you tell me your landline.

Catchya on the flipside
Chad

Boston Adventures and Arriving at Duke

I really only spent 3 full days in Boston, but it was AMAZING, and I am totally in love with it and will definately be going back once or twice before I leave. So here is what I did.

On the Monday (Jan 2) I got the grand tour of Boston by some friends who were study abroads in 043, as well as Ryan, a good friend of all of them. Firstly I had to go to WalMart and by a jacket, I got a bargin on one for $23. We the started off the morning by getting a bagel from some ghetto bagel place in Needham (except i think they gave me a bagel with my cream cheese and not vice versa) and then proceeded to get a hot chocolate from Dunkin Donut's (OMG the best EVER!!!)! We then took the T-Line into the city and had a look around the City (Fenial Hall, Government Centre, City Hall, Boston Harbour, Prudential Centre, the Copley Centre, Newbury St, Park St, the Capitol Building, Boston Common, Cheers)!!! I had the traditional Clam Chowder for lunch, which I surprisingly enjoyed. To finish off the night we all went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner and OMG it was totally amazing, the food was awesome and it was really cheap considering how much you got on your plate! Oh yeah, Bostonites, whats the deal with cemeteries in the city???

On the 3rd we had a snowstorm out where my friend lived (and where I was staying). It was toally cool, seeing falling snow for the first time, it was seriously like something out of the movies. Dan and his family couldn't understand why I was so excited. As there was a snowstorm during the day we were stuck indoors until the evening when I went and saw a movie with Dan and his two friends from his uni, Mike and Eddie (who were an absolute blast!!). We saw "The Ringer" with Johnny Knoxville, bloody hilarious movie!!!

On the 4th I actually had a decent sleep and a sleep in (the first since arriving) and went to the mall during the day. That night I went into Boston to catch up with Jeff and Bree (Study ABroad's from 053). After catching the train in from Framingham, a 45 minute ride, I met up with them at South Station and then went to "Halftime Pizza" for dinner (wow, MASSIVE pizza and a "small" drink that is a large in Australia, which only worked out to $6 a person) before heading to an NBA game at the TD Banknorth Garden. We saw the Boston Celtics v Charlotte Bobcats and it was a totally different experience, they dont really get into the game like we do in Australia, but it was still pretty cool, even if we were in the nosebleed section!

On Thursday the 5th I left Boston for Raleigh-Durham, NC, where I would be attending Duke. Flying over Raleigh I noticed that it reminded me a lot of Hobart...tiny, lol. I arrived at Duke, settled into my apartment and then went to WalMart, again, with Lila to get some blankets, sheets and other assorted stuff!!!

Friday, Jan 5, saw me doing Law School Orientation, which was pretty cool. there are only 5 of us exchange students here (Me and Lila from Bond, Jeff from Melbourne, Laurent from Belgium and Kristian from Denmark) and they all seem pretty cool!!! After touring the law school and getting our Duke Cards (ID Cards) and having lunch it was time for the library tour, and OMG, it is such like a cruise ship with 4 levels, 2 showers, lounge areas as well as individual study berths it seems like it could float away at any second, haha!!!!! For dinner we went to Laurent's apartment where he made spaghetti bolognaise, which was pretty good, topped with "imitation mozzerella cheese"!!!

That brings us to today, meaning that currently I am sitting in the law library using the entire campus wide wireless internet, as its playing up in my room, to update this. But i must say that I did have an awesome sleep last night, something close to 10 hours...which is what I definately needed.

Allright, time to sign off, believe it or not we have reading assignments due before classes start on monday, but they're not too long, so it should be ok. I'll probably write a brief entry after my first day of AMerican law school, haha.

Cya
Chad