Greetings Greetings,
"It's been 15 days since my last confession...I mean blogpost...forgive me friends for I have sinned".
Sorry it's been a while folks, it turns out teaching and studying for a masters at the same time as trying to make new friends so you don't become a crazy dog lady recluse actually takes up a lot of your time!
Ok so what tales do I have to enthral you with this week I hear you cry....
I suppose the biggest part of the last 2 weeks was going to my first ever Tailgate and American Football game! The University team here are called the Gators and residents of Gainesville are slightly Gator crazy! (even the helicopter ambulances for the hospital are Blue and Orange the Gator team colours!) You leave your house on game day and the streets are a sea of Orange and Blue. For those of you who don't know, Tailgating is basically where people park up their trucks and have a BBQ and drink lots of beer before the game (Brits would love it! ) Some people go all out, we saw one group who had 2 40" TV's set up under a Gazebo and a frozen Daiquiri maker! It's pretty cool to see, everyone plays Frisbee and just gets excited about the game.
Check out how far this one fan takes his loyalty.....
Don't worry, I did my best to get involved, these lovely faces belong to Larissa, another of the German teaching assistants, but she is actually German, Natalie one of the French teaching assistants (she's American) and it's thanks to her I had a shirt :) - Thanks Natalie! and then Julia, who is Larissa's Austrian roommate.
You saw a picture of the stadium in my last post but I have to admit, it's a very different place on game day, the atmosphere is electric. The fans are all so dedicated, they have all these different chants that were created especially for the Gators, they even clap their hands in the style of an alligator comping it's jaws. Even cynical old me thought it was pretty cool. I'm going to be uploading some videos onto Facebook, unfortunately they were too large to email to my computer from my phone so I can't upload them here. I must admit my favourite part about going to the game was actually the Gator Band, they're great, they keep the crowd going which, as dedicated as they are, they need as it is a very stop-start sport.
Maybe I should give you a little update on the star of the show....he seems to be doing well, we walk in the same neighbourhood everyday and in his usual way he's charmed the locals, he still gets lots of "isn't he beautiful" and gets greeted by name by most of them now which is lovely. He is definitely getting more used to the heat and I've been told he seems a very happy dog so I don't think he hates it here which is a relief :)
This is the neighborhood. It's just beautiful, has all these big houses set back into the woods.
Along with meeting the local people residents he's been getting acquainted with the local wildlife....this is him seeing a frog, unfortunately I tried filming but missed the part where he really jumped!
This neighbourhood is where I find most of my postbox porn, speaking of which, here are a couple more for you.....
meanwhile I've been spending a lot more time at the University. It is such a great campus, free swimming pools, free gyms, cafes and restaurants and just generally beautiful buildings. Last week I was given the key to the faculty lounge (told you - proper grown-up now). Just imagine my face when I walked in expecting your typical skanky teachers lounge and actually found a room that looked like it is out of Hogwarts...complete with grand piano...and I'm actually allowed in here!
Today I managed to drag myself out of the lounge long enough that I could go hang out with Madeline and have my first visit to an IHOP. Those of you who have watched American Films will have heard that name at least once. Its a chain of restaurants that basically sells breakfast 24/7. Some might say it's an American Institution so I thought I best give it ago. I'm probably going to upset my chef friend Justin when I say this, but it was pretty good! Especially the pancakes - YUM!
After that we indulged in my new favorite sport...Thrift shopping! Turns out Madeline has as much of a shoe problem as I do :0)
Could be the start of a beautiful friendship....I just need to break it
to Randle that he's stuck having to hang out with Charlie.
Well I think that's enough for this week. If I can get time to do anything interesting between reading 18th Century German Classic novels and essays on New German Cinema I'll update you again soon.
lots of love and slobber, me and the idiot xxx
