America: The people

homecoming

Homecoming weekend. I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting much from it, but maybe that's a good thing. Because it blew every expectation I had out of the stratosphere. For those who aren't familiar with the notion of Homecoming - it is basically a weekend where the University welcomes back Alumni to the school (it was actually started by Mizzou 99 years ago) - they have a bunch of events - all of the Greek houses have a big competition (house decorations, skits and floats for the parade) which they get judged on, there's a homecoming parade, the football game, all of downtown is decorated. It's basically a lot of fun - and since this will be my first (and last) homecoming, I wanted to take advantage of that.

First, I visited the house decs in Greek town. Once thing I have been meaning to do all semester is take photos of the Sorority houses in Greek town and the Frats out on Frat row because in general, they're just obscene. The theme this year was board games and groups of sorority's and frats had to come up with a scene and a skit around their board game. Here are a few of my favourites:

Look! My life is complete - standing next to a giant Life wheel haha.

Saturday was a huge day, not only were Mizzou playing #1 ranked Oklahoma, but ESPN had

chosen to Mizzou to host College Gameday, I don't really want to go into the details of what College Gameday is, so for those internationals who are actually interesting - google it :P

We got to campus about 7.30 in the morning and walked to Francis Quad where the Gameday crew were set up - we got a prime spot on the hill under the columns. It was a loooot of fun, people were just crazy excited - the band were playing, people had millions of signs, everyone is in gold and the quad was PACKED - we later found out we had broke Kansas' gameday record (which stood at around 14,500 people), around 18,000 turned up.

The night before - all is calm.

This was a funny sight - straight after I took this photo these guys from Fox got in trouble with ESPN because they didn't have media passes. heh.

After that was tailgating and football! Geoff cooked up some meat, I made cookies and

cupcakes and we headed off to the game.

I really enjoy football, so I was looking forward to what I expected to be a tight match - but this was just ridiculous. The tension in the air was incredible, and when we finally won - it was literally bedlam - strangers were hugging each other and people were going absolutely mental as soon as the final whistle blew all of us just charged at the field - event staff didn't stop us - I think they were expecting it (though I did later hear that around 30 people were arrested). As we just kind of swayed together on the field I looked to my right and saw people carrying the goalposts up the bleachers and out of the stadium!

Later on we headed to Harpo's where we found the goalposts - in tiny pieces. People had been cutting it up so they could take little pieces of history home with them.

It really was a sight to see.

I really honestly don't think I will ever experience anything like that ever again - it was an amazing experience and something I will treasure for a long time :)

rushing the field!

final score: 36-27

language barrier

Incident at Subway today:

So, I go up to the counter to pay for my order.

Girl: What did you order?

Me: 6 inch Meatball sub

Girl: Sorry, pardon?

Me: 6 inch Meatball

Girl: 6 inch... what?

Me: Meatball

Girl: BIG BALLS?!

Me: MEATBALL!! MEAT!

Girl: Oooooooh meatball... *giggle*

Me: .........................

Oh the joys of having an accent.

football season!

Americans are obscene, and I don't mean that in a bad way. I just mean that everywhere I have gone thus far I have been surrounded by folk who aim for the absolute greatest and expect nothing lessfrom those around them. So, when I went to my first college football game of the season I knew I was going to have a whole lot of fun.

Football is a big deal in these parts, it’s not just a game, It’s a way of life. To give you some perspective, Game Day is even more important than God’s day of rest (and that’s saying a lot coming from the Bible Belt of the Midwest). People go all out. Parking lots turn into huge tailgates where from 7am families grill, drink, play football and drink some more.

I didn’t really know what to expect at first from my first football game. We were playing McNeese State, some no-name team from Louisiana who had been paid $500,000 to play our division one team. The general consensus was that Mizzou would slaughter McNeese,

so I was a little worried I was going to be bored. It was around the time I saw the Stealth Bomber (that oddly resembled a UFO) soaring over the stadium during the national anthem that I knew my purchase of season tickets had been a good investment. I definitely wasn’t bored. Hell, you didn’t even need to understand football to be having a good time.

To be honest – a Football game is something you can’t really describe, it’s something you have to experience. But I am going to try. Basically, take every football game you seen in a movie, every stereotype – the blonde Cheerleaders being tossed into the air, the marching band that struts in formation whilst wearing ridiculous hats, the 6ft football players who have the looks but lack a little wit, the baton twirlers and amplify all of that by about a million, I never thought I’d be saying this but ALL OF THE STEREOTYPES ARE TRUE! And it’s wonderful.

Like every school though, we do have a few quirks. For instance, when Mizzou scores a touch down or a field goal, members of the Army’s Reserve Officers Training Corps fire off a cannon (yes, a real cannon, I’m sure you can imagine my reaction the first time that happened, needless to say, It was embarrassing). After firing said cannon they then run to the touch line to perform push-ups in formation in accordance with the number of points Mizzou has on the scoreboard.

Then there are the cheers. They’re all pretty simple, and to be honest when I first learnt them I felt a little bit lame. But when you’re standing in a stadium with 60,000 other (slightly intoxicated) fans singing and dancing to Mizzou-Rah! or swaying in unison as The Missouri Waltz plays, there’s honestly no better feeling.

Before I came here I never thought I’d be the football type. The closest I’d ever got to football was studying Remember the Titans in 5^th Form English and even then I vowed I’d never like “that pansy version of Rugby”. But I guess even the strongest can be persuaded - with the help of a stealth bomber and a couple of pre-game drinks, that is.

wait... you mean american's are actually friendly?

I can’t believe this is about to come out of my mouth – believe you me I was surprised when the thought first popped into my head too… but I can’t believe how gosh darn friendly Americans are! I’m sure it’s one of those things that change throughout the regions – maybe if I went further south I’d meet up with those toothpick-chewin’, gun-slingin’ white-extremist folk we associate with the USA. But in my part of Missouri at least, it’s all about good old-fashioned hospitality and charm.

I’ve done my fair share of travelling, most of it by myself. When I lived in the UK I learnt quickly not to try and converse with strangers on public transport unless I wanted to be raped and/or mugged – here however it seems to be the norm. A couple of weeks ago I flew to Milwaukee to meet up with some friends, not only did the air hostess serenade us as we took off (a Tina Turner classic “Proud Mary”. True story) but I got chatting to the couple next to me, who in their heyday had visited New Zealand. The husband coincidentally was Mizzou alumni – so I left my flight with a list of places to visit and things to do in Columbia while I’m at school.

I think there are a couple of reasons for this attitude towards strangers. For the most part, I think it’s just the way people are raised here. Men open doors, pay for dinner, people say sir and ma’am (I’ve even found that slipping into my own vocabulary) sometimes while I’m out I really do feel like I’ve gone back in time to a place where people are considerate – and judging by some of the fashion I’ve seen, maybe I have.

A lot of it I’m sure may be to do with confidence. American’s have this aura that practically screams “I AM AMERICAN! I AM NOT ASHAMED!”… They know what they like and want, they strive to be the best and they’re not reluctant to be proud of each other and themselves. Most people call is arrogance; I chose to call it self-belief.

Though a lot of these niceties – especially within the service industry have nothing to do with grace, good breeding or pride. They’re just people out to suck every penny they can out of you. American’s are huge on tipping – it’s one of those cultural things I’ve had to become aware of really quickly – it’s incredibly rude not to tip a server, even if they’re obnoxious or bad at their job – there is always that expectation of at least a 15% tip with your meal. However, what results from this unwritten law is overly attentive, smiley, bright-eyed, sometimes annoying, money sucking individuals.

For now though I’m going to ignore the small majority of annoyingly nice people and enjoy the conversations that come about when strangers have the confidence to talk to each other. Not only does it make the lonely parts of my journey so much more enjoyable, I’m learning way more about this country than I ever could from Lonely Planet.

4802 - Three Photos

I've just got back from rugby practice at Epples field where i've been shooting my first 4802 assignment. I'm following Mizzou's women's Rugby team this season - the girls are feisty, and a little intimidating but the for the most part they were all really friendly and are in essence a great big extended family. Today was pretty much a recruitment day, introducing all the rookies to the rules and nuances of Rugby.

I'm not gonna lie - I was a little cocky coming into this one. I feel like I have an eye for composition, and i'm not new to using a DSLR so I thought it'd be pretty easy to breeze through it.

Boy was I wrong.

What I had also forgotten to take into account was the fact I was no longer shooting static images - sports photography is a completely new ball game and I found it extremely challenging in many ways.

While I was taking photos I tried to keep the reading on sports photography in mind by following the tips on vantage point and horizon... a couple of my favorite shots were taken while I was lying on the ground shooting the players above me - it gave me a clear view of all the action and on a more practical note helped reduce camera shake and blur.

Shooting in the fading light also produced some challenges. Because some of my pictures were taken with a telephoto lens I had to keep the shutter speed high which meant when I couldn't get the aperture down low enough I had to deal with under-exposure. When this happened I upped the ISO which often made a massive difference.

The whole time I was there I just tried to take as many photos as possible - you can only learn so much from a manual and i'm not going to get any better at sports photography by sitting on my behind. Yes, it was challenging, and certainly intimidating coming into a new environment like this, but it was a great experience and I look forward to moving forward with this team.

what you think you want

People who have curly hair want straight hair. Those who are short wish they could be a little bit taller. Fair people wish they could tan with out looking like a beetroot. It always works like that – you always want something you don’t have.

In the weeks leading up to my departure from New Zealand I was yearning for some sunshine. I remember one day in particular. I was walking from campus down Wellesley St and the rain was absolutely hammering down – the water had soaked through my boots, my feet and socks were drenched and I smelt like a wet dog. During my walk down Wellesley there was only one thought running through my mind that whole time.

Two more weeks. You only have two more weeks.

Now I’m in Columbia, Missouri and it seems I’ve gone from one extreme to another. Sure – there’s no fog, no cold and no dark nights. But that has all been replaced by blistering heat and humidity so high it would ruin any GHD perfected hair do.

Midwestern weather is crazy, unpredictable and extreme. In the 5 days I’ve been here I’ve had winds so strong I’ve nearly been blown over, hail stones the size of 50c pieces, rain so heavy and thick I haven’t been able to see 2ft in front of me, and of course the heat.

Oh, the heat.

I don’t think I can explain how hot it is here – with temperatures at between 35-40 degrees on any given day it certainly has been a shock to the system and I’ve still got at least two months of this.

Then there are the thunderstorms – another thing the Midwest is known for, along with their tornados. While I am yet to feature in any upcoming reality TV shows on extreme weather, I did experience my first Midwestern summer squall.

I was completely oblivious to the approaching bad weather. I had gone out for ice cream with a friend, when we left, there was nothing to suggest we were about to be attacked by Columbia’s bipolar climate – the skies were blue, the sun was out and the air was still. By the time we walked out of the ice cream parlour, the sky was full of ominous black clouds and the winds were so strong I had to fight my way to the car. About two minutes after that the rain came, pummelling us. Two minutes after that came the storm.

By the time I arrived home, I was drenched head to toe and I smelt like wet dog – just like I had been walking down Wellesley. I had quite literally come full circle from where I’d been a few weeks ago. It seems wherever I go, no matter how hard I try; I’m not going to escape what I think I’m leaving behind.

I need more time!

"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want."

~Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes

Stress is like that pervy uncle you have; he’s the person you feel kind of obliged to talk to at family reunions. You avoid him at all costs but if you are confronted by him you screw a smile on, nod politely and get the job done before getting the hell out of there.

And in the end, screwing the smile and getting on with it has its benefits. Come Christmas you’re reaping the rewards when Uncle Joe sends you a big fat cheque in his Christmas card.

At this point of the year, this is the attitude I’m trying to embrace.

In 3 weeks, I’m moving back home. Ten days after that I am hopping on a big silver bird and heading off to the University of Missouri to study Journalism.

While I am thrilled to be starting an adventure that even I’m surprised I pulled off, with the excitement comes a huge amount of stress.

At the moment I’m juggling my normal life: a life with my friends, time with the boyfriend, school and exams (crap!) and work commitments along with all the things that is brought about by student exchange. Meetings with heads of my department, student loan forms, international advisors to liaise with, consulate interviews to attend. Holiday visas, DS-109 forms, class choices, accommodation, SEVIS fees, RPL, flights, insurance, packing… you get the idea.

In a nutshell, right now I feel like not enough butter spread on too much bread. I’m giving a little to a lot of people when all I really want is to give a lot to the people who really care for me.

I’m hoping, after these next few weeks I’ll start reaping the rewards from what to-date has been 9 months of working and planning. And who knows, maybe at the end of it I’ll get that big fat cheque.