SPRING BREAK!!

Spring break at Boise State is during week 10 of the University school calendar. I haven’t been able to do much travelling since I have been in America so decided to make the most of Spring Break and travel to a few different places. First stop was LAS VEGAS!!

                              ________Part 1 - Las Vegas, Navada________

I arrived in Vegas late in the afternoon on Saturday and couldn't wait to explore the famous stripe that I have heard so much hype about. I wasted no time to kick off my Vegas journey so as soon as I got to the hotel I dumped my bags and hit the stripe to see performers, famous dressed characters such as Elvis and SpongeBob. There were lots of people advertising different clubs/events that were happening.  Everyone was walking round with drinks in their hands and enjoying the crowded and busy lifestyle of Vegas.

Photo of the stripe in Las Vegas with the mountains in the background

Hotel Paris

Vegas at night

My friend Ripley and I stopping for a photo while crossing the stripe

The sun started to set not long after I arrived and created a beautiful background to watch the water fountain show located outside the Bellagio Hotel. The show goes off about every half an hour and tourists are always gathering round to watch. I was lucky enough to run into some friends from Canberra and was able to see the water fountain show from their hotel room in the Bellagio. Below are photos from the water fountain show.

I stayed at a hotel called Bally’s which which was in walking distance from everything I needed while I was staying in Vegas. From the view in my hotel room you could see the two famous hotels - The Flamingo and Caesars Palace.

View from my hotel room in Las Vegas

Every hotel has its own swimming pool, casino, night club, restaurants’ and gift stores. The most unique thing about the hotels in Vegas is that quite a few of them are joined together! From my hotel Bally’s you could walk into the Paris hotel next door and even cross over the road to get to the Bellagio. The hotels are so big that often I would find myself getting lost while trying to get from one hotel to another.

Each hotel is so nice and has lots of beautiful statues and art work. During the day my friend Ripley and I explored a bunch of the hotels including the Cosmopolitan, Paris, The Bellagio and Caesars Palace. Caesars Palace was my favorite hotel. It gave off a more elegant and traditional vibe. Below are a few photos of Caesars Palace.

 

The entrance of Caesars Palace

The roof of the foyer in  Caesars Palace 

The painted roof in Caesars Palace 

One of the many statues

Outside Caesars Palace 

The pool in Caesars Palace

Las Vegas is an amazing place and a must see! I admit I wasn't able to get too much sleep on my 3 night trip but I still had great fun. 

_________Part 2 - Lake Havasu, Arizona________

From Las Vegas I went to Lake Havasu, Arizona. It was nice to see some of the ‘outback’ of America during the 3 hour drive from Vegas to Lake Havasu. There were a lot of mountains and long plains that seemed to go on forever. Even though Lake Havasu is a couple of hours from Vegas, it was a lot warmer and more humid. Below are a few photos from my drive to Lake Havasu.

Lake Havasu was gorgeous. The pictures I took did not capture now pretty the lake was with the mountains and the desert like plains surrounding it. Below is a picture of the lake as we first arrived.

The main tourist attraction and what puts Lake Havasu ‘on the map’ is a bridge called the London Bridge. The story behind it the London Bridge goes, (with some help from Wikipedia) the bridge was originally built in London for the Thames River but couldn't continue to uphold the growing traffic, so it was dismantled in 1867. The bridge was then sold to a Robert McCulloch who was from Lake Havasu. McCulloch had the bridge shipped over and put it back together again in 1971 to connect Lake Havasu island to Lake Havasu City (on the main land).  Below is a picture of the bridge from one of my friend’s hotel room with the Boise Bronco flag was proudly flowing across the balcony rails.

Havasu Lake during a late sunset

On the first day there was an organized party by a spring break sponsor called S.W.A.T party. The party was located on the lake and had DJ’s playing throughout the day with competitions for the college students to participate in. At night there was another event on which gave a festival vibe where they played more DJ’s.

On the second day one of my friends hired a boat. At Lake Havasu it is known for boats to pull up onto the banks of  the lake where college students would boat hop and enjoy a day in the sun with friends, and meet new people. It was a great day out on the boat, I was able to meet people from other areas of America and enjoyed the great views of Lake Havasu that only a boat ride could offer. Below are a few pictures of the scenery from the day on the boat.

Havasu island from the boat

We flew the Boise State flag with pride!

Havasu from the boat

Lake Havasu gave me the experience of a typical American spring break. I had great fun and was exhausted by the end of the two days I was there.

                          ________Part 3 - Santa Barbara, California________

Next stop for Spring Break was Santa Barbara, California. We drove from Lake Havasu to Santa Barbara which took about 6 hours where I stayed with my Australian friend Danny. Santa Barbara is home to a lot of young people who attend the two colleges in the area; University of California, Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara City College.

While in Santa Barbara I stayed in Isla Vista which is located next to the University of California, Santa Barbara campus. Isla Vista is known as ‘IV’ along the West Coast of America and is home to many university students. Scattered throughout the streets are sorority and frat houses, students walking to visit one another and   relaxing outside their houses greeting you as you walk past. IV is located right on the beach. The beach there is very calm and always has students sun baking or going for walks. Below are some photos of the beach at IV.

Danny and I explored State Street which is the main street in Santa Barbara. It is covered in shops and café’s and at the end of the street is the beach and a jetty. Below are some photos I took during my stroll down State Street and on the jetty.

I spent majority of my time in Santa Barbara relaxing after Las Vegas and Lake Havasu. I had an amazing time on spring break and experienced some of the best sites and spring break traditions that America has to offer.  

My first month in Boise!

It has been about a month since I arrived at Boise and I now finally feel like I have settled into my new home and got myself into a routine.

For my semster at Boise State I am taking three mandatory units and one elective. The assessment here at Boise State is different to what I am used to. At the University of Canberra they usually have two major assessments and one minor assessment for each unit. Here at Boise State they have a lot more assessments worth smaller amounts that add up to create your grade. For one of my units I have an assessment to hand in every week and in another unit I have a test every fortnight. I think the constant assessment is a great way to ensure students keep up with the chapter readings and is an overall effective way of educating.

I am currently living on campus in a townhouse with three other female students. We all get along really well despite having different college majors, interests and personalities. Below is a photo of us. 

From left to right it is me, Taylor, Courtney and Jenna.

One of the house mates is an art major and has her pieces hanging throughout the house. They make the townhouse feel more ‘homie’. Below is a photo of our living room.

It has snowed twice in the last two weeks! To see it actually snow during the day is very beautiful. Fresh snow falling onto the bare trees makes for some great photos. In the early hours of the morning one day last week it started snowing so my friends and I went outside to make snow angels, snowmen and had a snow ball fight! It was great fun! Below are some photos from the fresh fallen snow.

It is starting to warm up now in Boise so I think we have seen the last of the snow for the season.

It was my birthday last weekend and I had a great weekend of celebrating which included a trip to the snow, a basketball game and celebrating with my new friends.

On the Friday of my birthday weekend I went to Bogus Basin which is a snow field that is only a 40 minute drive away from Boise. It was a nice sunny day and the view of the mountains from the top of the slopes was amazing! I am hoping to visit the snow a lot more while I am here. 

When I got home from skiing my housemates surprised me with a cake! They had planned to take me out on the town for my birthday. I had a great night out with them dancing. We went to a few different clubs in Boise and at each club I was able to get a free drink for my birthday!

On Saturday night a group of us went to the basketball game where we had flash mob 2.0. Flash mob is where the students learn a routine dance online and when they play the music to that dance at the basketball game everyone breaks out into the routine dance. It went well and the dance looks great on camera! Below is the YouTube link to the video of flash mob 2.0 from the basketball game.

CLICK HERE:

Boise State Flash Mob 2.0  

After the game I had some friends over. Below is a group photo of a bunch of the girls. They are all very welcoming towards me.. they all love my Australian accent!

It has been a great first month is Boise. I am enjoying my time here but I do definitely miss Australia!  

The Boise State University campus

Although I do love an aussie summer, I am enjoying the Boise winter. It is so beautiful to see the sun shining while the town is covered in a white blanket of snow. The sun makes you believe it’s nice outside but it is actually freezing! The days have been averaging about 0-2 degrees celsius during the day and getting into the minuses at night. It is starting to warm up now – and by that I mean today I was able to wear a long sleeve shirt, jacket, scarf and boots and actually feel comfortably warm.

Below are some of photos I have taken of the campus on my first few days of exploring. 

The building that I live in

The building is the gym and recreational centre

This is the Student Union Building - its has a few cafes and a bowling alley in it 

This is the mountain view that you can see by standing on the street - Beautiful!

The famous Bronco Stadium. I will hopefully get a tour inside soon

A typical looking street

The Boise State sign as you come into the college

On my way to class

The is the main quad area at Boise State 

A view to the TacoBell Stadium where they have the Basketball

One of the buildings on campus

The Bronco in the middle of campus

As you can see the campus is very pretty. I look forward to seeing it again when the snow has melted and spring starts to settle in which won’t be for a while!