The End is Near...

¡Hola! ¿Qué tal?

That's right, Spanish! Aside from two months of intensive Spanish and some other fabulous courses in English, Theatre Studies and Philosophy I've also been up to some weird and wonderful things around New Haven. For now though, I will just update you on a couple of things.

I have experienced my first American Halloween!

Shockingly, this was not only my first American Halloween, but also the first Halloween I've ever celebrated, so this year definitely surpassed my expectations. Decorations were up around New Haven from the beginning of October, and ridiculously huge pumpkins were everywhere. I carved my first ever pumpkin - I was impressed by my efforts - in a Stiles College competition. One of the winners of the competition was a pumpkin vomiting its own insides, which was not only hilarious when first carved but proved doubly hilarious when I caught the squirrels eating the pumpkin vomit for days afterwards!

Our fabulous pumpkin carving team - please note the Chinese characters!

Aside from the fun of dressing up, pumpkin carving and eating far too much sugar, I, and about 2000 other Yalies, attended the Yale Symphony Orchestra's (YSO) midnight Halloween show on October 31st. Apart from being blown away by the sheer scale of the show they put on, I was totally impressed by the dance off between Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga on stage; hearing 'Poker Face' performed by a full orchestra was certainly a new experience.

In addition to the fun of Halloween, I have been exploring various parts of New Haven picking up vital, cultural pieces of information on my way. I will now bestow this information upon you; use it wisely. This list is in no way complete, but:

• A biscuit in America is a British scone
• An American scone is just a really big British biscuit
• Tunisia is said: Tooneeesya (try saying it out loud)
• Apparently marshmallow tastes good on anything, e.g. sweet potato
• Apple sauce is eaten as a snack
• Very few people (or at least my suite-mates) can tell the different British accents apart
• Many Americans have fantastic taste in tea
• Wellies are called rain boots
• Chill and legit are adjectives
• AMERICAN CHOCOLATE IS AWFUL

Now while these pieces of cultural information are in no particular order, I think we can all concur on which point is the most vital piece of information. As I discover more weird and wonderful American quirks I shall update the list!

In just over a week we will be getting our first break in the semester for Thanksgiving, which I will be spending the majority of in New York with my roommate, Deandra. Living only an hour and a half away from New York, it is of course mandatory that I visit a few times, and naturally video at least one trip for your benefit. So, below I've posted a short video of a weekend I spent in NY with two of my suite-mates. The music featured is by Laura Zax and can be downloaded for free at laurazax.com .

Apologies for the jumbled nature of this update, but I hope you're all looking forward to the

Christmas holidays and more importantly, the Christmas Revue! Although I won't be back in

the country until after your holidays start, I may well surprise you! Good luck getting to the

end of term, and for those of you writing personal statements: I feel your pain.