More Weird And Wonderful Things About America

So over the past four months I have enjoyed living in America and getting to know the different customs and traditions that make this country and its people what they are. In that time I have learned a few things. Most of it is learning by trial and error but it's all fun :)

1) Don't put x's at the end of your texts...Americans don't do that. It's such a normal thing to do after I write a text but I even had one girl ask what I meant by the x at the end. Kisses DUUUHHHH. But it's not an American thing apparently. So now my texts are nice and boring. Just ending in a full stop.

2) Full stops don't exist. They are called "periods". Weird right? My writing class was an eye-opener for me when I learned that (these things around this text) are called "parenthesis" and the dot at the end of the sentence is called a period. WHAT?! Not only do I have to spell differently, but I have to use different words for punctuation. DANG IT.

3) Swearing is very different here. My new phrases are "what the freak" and "dang it" as demonstrated above, because damn and hell are unacceptable here. Interesting, right?

4) Fashion is bizarre here. Boys dress VERY casually for the most part. Shorts and a t shirt are normal attire. Everything is oversized - suits, shirts, shorts, jeans - everything! I mean some boys dress pretty fine, but most wear random things. I love that people don't take themselves too seriously. It's great that there is more to life than clothes.
On the other hand there are some monstrosities! These revolted Jessica and I when we arrived. Who wears socks and sandals?! SERIOUSLY! EW! I hold fast to the opinion that they are ugly, but Jess became an American and bought herself some.

Other bizarre fashion trends include rolling your jeans up just enough to see your socks but not enough to see your skin, wearing long socks with shorts, having a man bun (demonstrated in the photo below) and so many more.

Seriously EW!

5) Shopping is never what it seems. You think you have calculated exactly how much you will pay, you walk up to the cashier with confidence...and bam. SALES TAX. Why can't they just include it in the price on the shelves...life would be so much simpler here.

6) Posing for photoshoots is normal. Sure everyone loves a good selfie, but I find the whole idea of posing against a tree, train track, waterfall, corn field, or any other setting rather awkward. I mean it's just not natural...unless you're an American and have been posing since you could smile.

Here are some uniquely BYU things:

1) Sleeping is appropriate no matter where you are. I can't tell you the number of times I see a body lying in a random place as I walk around campus. I've joined the napping crew too. I have a favourite bench I curl up on. The value of naps cannot be overestimated.

2) Making friends with strangers is easy. If you happen to meet eyes with someone, it's almost guaranteed they will talk to you. I sat eating an apple the other day and looked up and saw some guy walking. I carried on eating and next thing he was sitting at my table and we shared mutual apple appreciation. Just like that. A new friend. The same thing happens in the library or outside the testing centre or anywhere!

3) If you miss your ward meetings on a Sunday you can find one every hour considering there are hundreds of wards on campus alone. Hundreds. Now that's definitely uniquely BYU.

4) Honesty is one of the biggest things on campus. You can take your test whenever you want, and the teachers trust you won't share answers with others in your class, even if the test is open for an entire week. If there is a question when it comes to money, your word is as good as gold. 

5) All the drinks on campus are caffeine free...yet they sell chocolate ha! Working in the Cougareat Food Court, I am forever hearing the horrified gasps of exhausted students looking for a caffeine pick-me-up. Too bad, love. It's caffeine free coke for you.

There are a whole lot more weird things that I come across, but I can't write about them all. Those are a few though. I do love it here, although I am so ready to get back to Northern Ireland where things are familiar. Just a few more days!

The End of the Start: Concluding my Writing Class (20)

So this is the last blog I will post as part of my Writing 150 class this semester. I never ever thought that I would write a blog, but to get a good grade I had to. I'm so glad that I did now.

My final exam was an oral presentation where I spoke about what I had learned through blogging. I was able to share many great compliments from friends and family back home relating to my blog posts. If only I could have given my presentation a few days later I would have been able to share so many more. So THANK YOU to everyone who has encouraged me throughout this process. Thanks for following my blogs and telling me that you do. I really appreciate it! It makes me want to keep writing when I know that you are enjoying it!

This class has definitely improved my writing and helped me find my voice as an author. It was so much fun blogging over the last four months, but as the title suggests, it's just the end of the start for me. I still have a loooooooooooooong middle in which I will continue to write and post about my adventures and insights from living in America.

So watch this space, because it's not over yet!

"It's Smyth: s-m-Y-t-h" (19)

So I feel like after nearly four months it is time to tell the world that I have an epic roommate, Jessica.

She has some quirky things, like her last name for example. She loves it, but the American's have a hard time realising that Smith can also be spelt Smyth. She is forever spelling her last name.

She also has a hard time at Subway. Her Northern Irish answer to the question "What sauce would you like?" always catches them out. Apparently South-West Sauce said in her accent is like speaking Russian to the Americans. Poor girl. She came home totally livid one day because she felt like a foreigner...ha! Pretty sure you are a foreigner, Jess, but I get you :')

I love that Jess is always up for the bant. Ugly selfies are basically an every day occurrence. Although often we take fun and cute photos too. It just depends.

Sorry for the mass of photos. But I'm not really that sorry. We have so much fun it's hard to narrow stuff down a lot. So these are a few :)

Bet you wish you were in college having fun and being awesome. I'm loving it. Thanks to you Jess! <3 

My Writing Final (18)

Today I gave my first presentation at BYU. It was for my writing class, which is the reason I started this blog. My final was an oral presentation and so I decided to talk about blogging and what it taught me, how my writing improved for example. I think it went pretty well but it is hard to tell. At least it's out of the way! I will be writing a reflection paper on it tomorrow which I will publish.

It just so happened that it rained on the one day I have to wear a skirt to school for my presentation. Which meant I had wet feet but it was still a good day. Work was great and I had a pretty fantastic day. I got great selfies from Danny,

Great that he read my blog post and rose to the occasion.

I also feel like I need to shout out to Oran because he wants me to. Probably one of my most devoted blog-followers. So you go Oran O'kane! Thanks for your devotion.

My Sister (17)

This is my sister, the one and only Jessica Bowen:

Well she looks a bit different now. But I've loved her the same all her life, no matter what she looked like! This is slightly more updated:

Cough cough babe.

Anyway, I just miss her a lot today and so I wanted to jot down a few memories that we have together. On the upside she will be singing frozen to me in person in just 18 days!

So here we go:

One time mom and dad were busy, so the big sister (that's me) made the little sister epic hot chocolate. Well, at least we thought so. Mom took a photo when I finished because we were so happy. I think it took me 30 minutes to pull it off.

Those full fringes and sunglasses though...

Another time Jess made us all proud by being the youngest member of the orchestra. She's a talented one.

The flute is almost the same size as her!

We were always good friends, but I think part of it is because she would keep me in line...any way that she could. Often she had to show she was the dominant sister, but that was okay with me...

Even in camping she was the boss :)

Other great memories involve all the make believe we did. We loved dressing up. Of course I was never the cutest...youngest child always gets that, but she did deserve the title.

And then came the age of technology, and the era of me wondering if I was a tom boy or not. We never doubted Jessica though...

That pink...and that...green stuff

And then her glory days of being Joseph. We went to both performances to support the rising star. She beat all the boys she was that great!

Okay let's skip forward a few years, past the barbies, make-believe, and full fringes, to a more teenager time.

So this one time we played with a cat...and then we adopted it...and then snuck it indoors because we loved her and it was cold...so we named her Dolly...and we loved her...then dad got bad sinuses...so we had to ask Dolly to leave...and we both cried...and then found out she was a he...and so she was renamed Dobby...so we said bye to Dobby...and that was that. She got adopted. Sad times. Good memories. GREAT bandana...not.

Then we went to our first concert. Jess was captivated by Leona Lewis so that's who we saw. Mom and Dad got us front row seats. Happy days!

Jess and her glasses, I seriously love them <3

Then my favourite thing happened...we started high school together! I loved getting to see her face around the corridor every day :)

We progress from there into memories from more recent years. 

For example the first time we went to America. This is us a Squaw Peak 2 years ago. overlooking the place that is now where I live and where Jess will hopefully join me soon. 

We also had our first home made family photo shoot. Good times with mom running back and forward to the tripod, trying to get a good shot of us. Then she took this one which I love.

I love it but it's not the face of the Jess I left behind when I moved to America. I look very similar but Jess has changed a lot in two years. Here are the most recent photos of us. 

I love my Jess-Bess. She is the best friend a girl could have, the best sister a girl could have also. She's the best everything and I love her.

18 more days! That's all, Jess! I can't wait!