America

Hey guys.. it’s been a long while since I posted.. which I can only apologise for. Please forgive me! I was having the time of my life! 

So I went to America for 6 weeks, to tour the East Coast. I went from Charleston to New Orleans, through the South; around New York and from Boston to Boston, stopping in Washington, Philly, Pittsburgh and heading into Canada to see Niagara, Toronto and Montreal as well. 

I can hands down say that it was categorically the best six weeks of my entire life. It had it’s ups and downs, I won’t lie, for example I received a $100 bus ticket when I got a student ticket from LaGuardia airport in New York, because apparently I did qualify (despite a student card) for this discount; and I was ill three times out there, including the plane journey home. However, the ups far outweighed these. Most memorable for me was the helicopter ride across Niagara Falls, the One World Trade Center viewing platform, touring Boston via bike, Fourth of July fireworks by the Charles River in Boston, a beach day in Charleston, my very first night out, and most importantly, the people.

I did most of my travelling through tour companies, which I’ll do a post on later cos it’s totally geared towards students and one of the companies operates worldwide! Through these companies I met so many amazing people, because most of them were travelling alone, so the bond between you was maintained based on the wish to experience these amazing opportunities with new people. Because the tour company was quite jam packed in terms of seeing lots in a short amount of time, it meant that you spent considerable amounts of time with people you hadn’t known only days previously (particularly when you would have nights out following these long days). This was something I had thought I would absolutely hate, being quite shy and independent, but it turned out to be amazing. Because you spent so long with these people straight away, you formed this bond so quickly. I can only liken it to perhaps the experience of a reality show, where everything seems to happen so quickly and before you know it these people are your best friends. As I write this I am on a bus to London to visit one of the people I met on one of these tours. And next year I plan to visit some others in Australia. I honestly think the experience of travelling together is enough to give you a friendship for life. The other way I met people was in the hostels I stayed at in between these tours. This was easy in some places, for instance Charleston and Boston were full of travellers from similar cultures as me; England, America, Australia, the Netherlands. Here I met people who I clicked with immediately and in the case of Charleston met people whom I went on to meet up with later on in the trip and later this month when I go to Amsterdam! Other areas such as New York, which is such an international destination, proved more difficult because so many of the travellers could be from a variety of backgrounds and may not speak the same language as me, making it difficult to become friends. Nevertheless I tried, and even spent an evening out with 3 French girls.. although I will admit this proved more difficult than I had imagined! 

The overall experience of travelling has given me so much more than I expected. Not just new friends and new memories, but a new outlook on life. It’s helped me understand where I want to go in the future, and how I want to approach my goals from now on. As cliche as it sounds, I think travelling is something that really helps you understand who you are. 

X

America Adventure all booked!

Hi Guys, 

I’m sorry that I’ve been a bit radio silent for the last week or so! I’ve been working on my dissertation and an assignment and they kind of took over my life! But a post on my dissertation soon! 

I just thought I’d do a post to keep you all updated with my American adventure… because it’s all booked! 

I leave on the 25th May, only a week after my final assignment is due in! I can’t wait! 

First of all I fly to Charleston (where I totally hope I get the chance to try out the dance of that very name!) before doing a guided tour with STA down to New Orleans! I’m super excited about this because I’ve always wanted to go to New Orleans since becoming obsessed with The Vampire Diaries and The Originals series. 

I then fly to New York and spend a few days there before travelling to Boston and doing a tour which stops in some great places like Pittsburgh, Washington D.C, and Toronto and a great boat trip along Niagara Falls! 

I fly back for graduation cos my mum really wanted me to attend that, before flying BACK to New Orleans. From there I do a road trip from New Orleans to San Francisco, and spend a couple of weeks in San Fran and LA which is what I am most excited for! 

STA have been really helpful and have some great prices, especially for students. I got discounts on my tours and on my flights (still going with Virgin Atlantic though woo woo!) for being a student! I’ll be carrying on this blog for a little while after I finish uni, to help show where UEA students go after uni, so keep your eyes peeled! 

Does anyone have any travelling advice for me for America? I’ve been to New York before but everywhere else will be completely new for me! I’d love some opinions! 

X

Interviewing

So, for my third year project I am doing a Grounded Theory study. This involves interviewing ten, maybe more people, about their views on terrorism.

I am getting better at interviewing, having now done four interviews, however at first I found it really difficult.

I have a set list of questions, but they are all very open-ended and I am supposed to follow up on these depending on what the people say. But that’s where I struggle. I am so focused on making sure I am getting it all down, and asking all the right questions, I have noticed that I tune out, and don’t necessarily follow up on what the other person is saying, meaning I miss out on opportunities to really delve in deep to the issues people are discussing.

Luckily, they are running an interviewing session tomorrow, which will hopefully help me develop the skills I need to make my last six interviews as good as they can possibly be.

It’s super funny when I am typing up the interviews to really think about how people talk. I have noticed so far that everyone goes off on tangents in the course of the interview. Usually in a conversation you wouldn’t necessarily notice it, as you would follow up on what the other person was saying, but when you have to keep track of where you are going and go back to the original point, you notice how much you digress. Also, I have noticed how much I say ‘like’ and how frequently people use ‘urm’ in the sentences.

I’m hoping that learning to be better at interviewing will be really helpful in the future, as if I do make it as a Forensic Psychologist, I would have to interview detainees and question them, and it would be necessary to follow up on what they are saying to better understand their point of view.

Does anyone have any tips for interviewing? Or on Grounded Theory?

X

Cyprus

Onto the next stage of my travel adventures! I was only in the country 47 hours between arriving from Rome and flying to Paphos, and I had work 6 of those hours! 

I was worried about going to Cyprus because I knew it would be hot, and humid, and windy, and I have such sensitive skin, get so easily burnt and suffer from heatstroke, I was worried I would spend the whole time ill or hiding inside!

HOWEVER…

It was one of the best holidays I have ever been on. Cyprus is gorgeous and the people were so lovely. When we hired a car and couldn’t figure out how to top it up with petrol, some local stopped and spent 15 minutes helping us do it, without us even asking! 

The island is beautiful, and full of so much history and culture. We went to Aphrodites Rock, known as Petra Tou Romiou, her birthplace. We were also going to go to the Baths of Aphrodite, or the Adonis Waterfalls but we ran out of battery on our phones and were anxious to rely solely on maps.

We did however go to Paphos Architectural site, which houses all of the old mosaics, which are beautiful and really thought provoking! And we went to the Tomb of the Kings, which is hundreds and thousands of years old, and was actually where rich people, rather than Kings were buried. 

Paphos itself is beautiful. Municipal Beach and Paphos Harbour have a lovely atmosphere, full of shops and restaurants where the people are lovely and friendly, without being too pushy. There’s also loads of boat tours they run from the harbour, such as party boats or glass bottom cruises. 

Our hotel was amazing, it was part of the Holiday Villages from First Choice range. It was set up in the theme of a Grecian Fishing Village. The pool was huge, the bars served a wide variety and food was available between 7-21.30! The atmosphere was lovely and the staff were the nicest I’ve ever encountered! It was called Holiday Village Aliathon and I whole-heartedly recommend it! 

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Florence

We travelled to Florence by train as the second leg of our Italian trip. When we organised it, Florence was really just part of the deal, rather than somewhere we definitely wanted to go, but it turned out to be our favourite place! 

Although we stayed in the industrial district which was really annoying as it was quiet, eerie at night and a 20 minute bus drive away from the centre, it turned out to be a great place for a run, through this huge park in the early mornings! 

The best part of Florence is Michaelangelo’s Pizzale where you can look out over the whole of Florence! Just up the road from that there is also a monastery, which requires walking up about 100 steps but gives you even more amazing views! 

We also took the Hop On Hop Off tour which took us around Florence (and gave us free bus journeys!!), which was lovely as it gave us more of a feel for the city in general, without having to walk around aimlessly for hours. The bus tour also took us up into little villages on the outside of Florence which are absolutely gorgeous! They are even hotter because there is not much shade and hot air rises I guess, but the views are incredible. They also have cute little stalls selling jewellery and knick knacks, and small restaurants at great prices! 

In the evening we got to eat in the shadow of Florence Cathedral, which felt so surreal. The amount of ice cream, sorry gelato shops in Florence is incredible! And they stay open until the early hours of the morning, it’s crazy (although great for late night snacking!!).

There are also plenty of bars you can go into, that offer loads of drinks, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic, at really reasonable prices! We chose to go into a Irish bar, which was great as it meant we could get chatty to loads of people! 

Florence is a fabulous destination for a couple of nights, maybe more if you planned to head into Tuscany around Florence! 

Venice

Hi Guys, 

Having been on holiday for what feels like forever (that’s not a bad thing!) but also no time at all, I’m finally getting around to writing about all the lovely places I’ve been! 

Me and my best friend had a Groupon deal which took us to Venice, Florence and Rome, for two nights in each. 

Venice was our first stop, and it was absolutely beautiful. The canals are gorgeous and the city itself is so quaint. 

We took a ride on a gondola, which is a tick off my bucket list! We didn’t pay for a serenaded one (although a boat directly behind us had, so it was pretty much the same thing) and it was in a group, but it was still a lovely experience. We went round the little canals all in a row, with the gondaliers chatting in Italian as we went along. 

We also had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and literally sat on the Grand Canal as we ate a pizza and an ice cream. Apparently you can climb to the top of Saint Marc’s Tower, but unfortunately we weren’t able to do that. 

We took a boat ride out to a couple of the islands near Venice such as Murano, which is a beautiful little village! 

Unfortunately, we also spend quite a lot of time getting lost, as our sense of direction isn’t brilliant haha, but at least this way we got to see loads of the city! 

It’s somewhere I would definitely recommend visiting, although I would suggest staying as centrally as possible! 

V Festival

V FESTIVAL 2016 21ST BIRTHDAYYYYY

That was where I spent my weekend. There were definitely highs and there were definitely lows!

Lows:

1. It rained. A lot.
2. I hate camping. 
3. Justin Bieber mimed – I feel betrayed. 
4. I thought sia had cancelled (she hadn’t) so didn’t see her. 
5. I hate camping 😉😂

Highs:

1. Miming or no miming Justin Bieber was there.
2. Rihanna was AMAZING.
3. Little Mix were stellar – AND LETHAL BIZZLE JOINED THEM ON STAGE FOR FESTER SKANK!!!
4. Sigma was the best time of my entire life. 
5. It didn’t rain THE WHOLE TIME. 
6. Justin Bieber was there. 
7. Danny Dyer was there. 
8. There were fun fair ground rides. 
9. I had my first on shoulder in the crowd festival experience.
10. I lost a damn lot of weight. 

That pretty much sums the weekend up haha. Basically it involved a lot of walking as everything was MILES apart. So if you are ever planning on going don’t feel bad about your drinking or eating cos you will definitely burn it off. I did 20km in five hours the first day bringing all our stuff in! 

It wasn’t too bad value for money as well all things considered. I’m not a big fan of paying money to camp but £210 for a weekend, parking and all the acts on offer is a pretty sweet deal (did I mention Justin Bieber was there). 

It wasn’t too hard to get too either. Like a two hour drive, and I only had to queue about 10 minutes to park which is always a bonus! 

Anyone else go and have any pointers for my highs and lows list? 😘



Camp America

So, next year is my final year at uni, and I’m super keen to head to America afterwards. Ideally I am looking at working out there, or volunteering, but something that means I can stay the whole year! However, after a chat with the careers advisor, this could prove harder than expected and he suggested some other avenues. 

Camp America is something I’ve heard of before, but never really given much thought.. It just seemed such an American thing that I thought it wouldn’t even be possible for me to do it. I’ve looked into it a bit, and although I don’t have any particularly strong talents in terms of sports, music and crafts, there is an option to work in a role for mental disabilities, which would help with my hopes for the future. 

I was just wondering if anyone has any experience with Camp America.. What it’s like, what goes on, the application process? Whether it’s a good thing to do as a end of gear student? Any tips would be welcome as it looks good, but I’m a little unsure! 

X

Mad Hatters Tea Shop

So yesterday I went for lunch with a couple of friends in Wymondham. We had no plans of where to go, and just picked at random. We decided to go to the Mad Hatters Tea Shop, which I had previously heard good things about. It’s in the centre of town and is the cutest place ever. 

It is literally tiny, but that adds to the feel of it! It’s decked out in what can only be described as Cath Kitsons paradise (pictures included), which didn’t exactly make my friend look to manly, but I enjoyed! 

The food is great, a mix of afternoon tea foods, such as scones, with classic sandwiches and jacket potatoes! They also have a huge selection of homemade cakes! I had a chocolate brownie… Absolutely delicious! They also offer cakes to takeaway, in what is very nicely named a ‘cakeaway’

I would definitely recommend going there, as it was a great experience! And very reasonably priced too! They’re open 10-4 everyday apart from Thursday which is baking day! There is parking in the town centre, where the first hour is free, or alternatively, you could park in Morrisons and walk down… 🙊

Wymondham is about a 15 minute drive from uni and the surrounding areas, and it could also easily be cycled! The number 14 and 15 bus go from the city to Wymondham although they do navigate through a couple of other towns. The number 13 goes straight there and I think between all the numbers a bus runs roughly every 15 minutes! 

X

Mad Hatters Tea Shop

So yesterday I went for lunch with a couple of friends in Wymondham. We had no plans of where to go, and just picked at random. We decided to go to the Mad Hatters Tea Shop, which I had previously heard good things about. It’s in the centre of town and is the cutest place ever. 

It is literally tiny, but that adds to the feel of it! It’s decked out in what can only be described as Cath Kitsons paradise (pictures included), which didn’t exactly make my friend look to manly, but I enjoyed! 

The food is great, a mix of afternoon tea foods, such as scones, with classic sandwiches and jacket potatoes! They also have a huge selection of homemade cakes! I had a chocolate brownie… Absolutely delicious! They also offer cakes to takeaway, in what is very nicely named a ‘cakeaway’

I would definitely recommend going there, as it was a great experience! And very reasonably priced too! They’re open 10-4 everyday apart from Thursday which is baking day! There is parking in the town centre, where the first hour is free, or alternatively, you could park in Morrisons and walk down… 🙊

Wymondham is about a 15 minute drive from uni and the surrounding areas, and it could also easily be cycled! The number 14 and 15 bus go from the city to Wymondham although they do navigate through a couple of other towns. The number 13 goes straight there and I think between all the numbers a bus runs roughly every 15 minutes! 

X