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