Skiing for the first time!

Yesterday, I finally did it! I skied! Here in Bozeman, skiing is what everyone loves, most people go every weekend and every day they have off classes. It is not uncommon to hear phrases such as 'shred the gnar' and 'it's a powder day' at any opportunity. S + I have been wanting to try it for a while, to see what all the fuss was about and give it a go. I love adventure sports too, so I was super excited to finally be heading up to the local ski resort: Bridger Bowl. 

We woke up before the sun, to layer up and fuel up for the day ahead, a kind friend picked us up, in his pick up truck just before 8 and then we were on our way. The resort is about 16 miles outside of Bozeman but there was a lot of traffic since we have been told that Saturday was the best ski day of 2015 so far - meaning that it had snowed so much that the powder was nearly at Coldsmoke Standard which is the finest snow powder and best for skiing on! There were debates on the way there about American versus English music and excitement for the unknown. The drive there was stunning and we got deeper and deeper into the Gallatin National Forest and towards Bridger Bowl. 

The view from the slopes.

Once there, after hiring skis and a helmet, we met up with the English crew, two of whom had kindly offered to teach us. I fell at the first hurdle when I couldn't get my boot to connect to my skis, after chants from the others of 'just stamp! Where is your leg strength?' - it turned out that the bindings weren't adjusted correctly or something! After I got them adjusted, it was a lot easier to click the boots into the bindings. Then we got going, up onto the easy slopes first to get to grips with the technique.

Looking cool with his pro skis and googles.

Snowflake Slope - the easiest one!

the view from the bottom of the mountain.

After 4 runs down the easy slope - and finding it really fun to go fast and turn, Meg decided we were ready for the next one up, so off we went. I thought the technique was going to be a lot harder to master - obviously it is once you get into the harder stuff but the general gist was easy to pick up and going really fast down the slopes is so fun, really gives an adrenaline rush which just made me want to do it all day - which was lucky, cause that was exactly what I did.

Obligatory lift selfie with Meg!

It kept snowing all day making the powder very soft when falling, Sean and I both fell down a good few times and it did not hurt at all, but it was very difficult to get back up! Meg and Jess had a good laugh at us for that. Right before lunch we skied the Alpine Trail twice which is at intermediate level which was much harder and steeper but super fun too! To get to the lodge for lunch we skied through the trail merge pass which was a tree lined narrow trail which was so beautiful. I think that was one of my favourite bits of the day.

Skis!

We stopped for lunch meeting up with the rest of the English/American crew, eating crackers and Banana bread and marvelling at the parents who ski with their babies strapped to the front of them.

Post Skiing Adrenaline face!

Lunch was followed by a couple more hours of skiing, trying slightly harder routes on the Alpine run and practicing our new found skills and going really fast! This time the whole group were together so it was fun going with everyone.

Chairlift View!

Towards the end of the day, I lost everyone including Sean and Jess and so skied all the way down to the bottom of the trails alone. It was really fun and I felt really good about it despite falling half way down. Oooops!

The crew/failure of a selfie while trying not to drop phone off the chairlift. 

It was such a fun day, and I cannot wait to go back again, and maybe even try some harder slopes! I want to go up higher since I have heard that the views are breathtaking! Definitely caught the skiing bug!

Heatwaves and Snowstorms.

Montana is known for having strange temperature changes, and apparently the highest to the lowest in a one day period. This past week or so has definitely demonstrated that. Last week was hot! I'm talking 14/15/16 degrees (celsius - still can't get used to that american fahrenheit) most days, t shirt weather by Montana winter standards. It meant a directing class being taught outside which was so nice, we acted on the grass and bathed in the hot sunshine. It was glorious.

Montana Hall in the Sunshine. 

This week involved a trip to Ben's for chilled out catch ups, soup, quinoa stew and beer, a birthday celebration for Mia, excitement for the long weekend (Yay Presidents Day), catch ups with my favourite Norwegians, a drive up to Hyalite Canyon (where it was -5 and freezing with loads of snow) at night to start a bonfire and throw sparks around with steel wool for photography class, along with a 7 hour cinematography shoot where everything that could go wrong did go wrong (yay learning) and a lovely valentines day spent with S exploring Bozeman by bike, and sipping orange beer out of mason jars (so hipster) with Ben and Juliet. Also, there has been a ton of work, my first critique for portraiture, studio days and yoga in between it all. Also got myself a locker in the gym, meaning that every time I want to get to my climbing shoes I have to struggle to open the weird american non sensical combination lock.

The warm weather made for some nice sunset walks for S and I complete with ice cream cones that had us reminiscing about Plymouth summertime. Also, another attempt to go ice skating with Mia failed again, this time we tried to go indoors since its so warm outside there is no chance of that, but the rink was hosting a hockey tournament the whole of that day so we could go on the ice. Did get to watch some ice hockey though. 

I also hosted a movie night with the English girls, we watched zoolander, ate lots, had a bonfire, impersonated harry potter and toasted marshmallows as the snow came down. It was really nice to have some girl time in the house where I am vastly outnumbered by males.

Studio time with the class. 

Sunset walk with S.

Sunset walk. Reflection in the University Barn's window. (Yes-the university has its own barn.)

Pancakes!

Main Street.

Bonfire times!

Birthday Celebrations for M.

I think that's about it for now. Excited for adventures to come!

A week in the life.

Monday:

I managed to get a job, working in the dining halls, which I think was the easiest way to get a job ever. I walked in, asked if they had any jobs and she printed me out a letter straight away, good to know they have high standards....
I also did a ton of homework and then had my cinematography class which involved using analog film video cameras around campus, trying to figure out how they worked and getting to know my group while trying out each other's accents and playing on the swings on campus (productive). Then after a dining hall dinner (so much pasta), along with some of the housemates, I went bowling. It was really fun, and we got in for super cheap due to the fact that one of the housemates works there. I didn't win, but I did beat Sean so that was an achievement :) 

The tiny bit of snow we got this week. 

Tuesday:

Tuesday is always the busiest craziest day of the week! It's started with an early morning and a presentation in portraiture class which was cool, seeing the ideas that everyone had come up with for their semester long project. After that me and Natalie chilled in the VCB (our building) for a while before I grabbed some lunch. Then I headed to yoga which was good, lots of stretching and the sleepy part at the end is my favourite....Then I went to my scriptwriting class which I was super nervous about due to the possibility of having to act out the monologue I had written for my character, but our lecturer changed it and decided that we didn't have to do that, instead we watched a really strange short film and talked about that instead. Went for dinner after that and then up to the 6th floor of the dorm where Sean lived for 6 weeks and hung out with everyone there, with Emily trying to coax me to come on a trip to Mexico with her - we'll see....We ended the night with Peppermint tea and the final episode of Sherlock while the snow came down outside for the first time in two weeks.

Wednesday: 

Was my day off. Sean and I have alternate days in which we have to wake up early and today was his so we oogled at the fresh snow and ate some eggs before saying bye to each other and to the skiers in the house as they went off early to spend the day at the mountain. I spent the morning finishing the obligatory alcohol education course online which asked me if I felt I needed to change my drinking habits.... After that, I went to the international office to fill out my details in order to get a social security number by order of 'federal law', (a fear inducing phrase they use to describe any government policies here) so I can start my job next week. After that I headed to international coffee (new favourite place to hang out) for hot chocolate and studying, met Ben on the way in who was on his way to class and then Kellie and Mia came to do work as well, with a brief visit from Megan too. Attempted to get lots of work done, but the coffee shop kept playing club classics and dubstep - not the best soundtrack to work to. Then after an attempt to get on to an ice climbing trip (they were full) and a leaking shoe due to the ice, I met Sean for dinner at what I will now refer to as the best dining hall on campus - they had banana bread, hummus and real plates. It was the tastiest. Oh my goodness.  After that, I went to the library for a bit of reading and then up to the 6th floor of one of the dorms, to change for dodgeball. The 6th floor were planning on playing a floor dodgeball league and the RA (who I'm in classes with) invited S and I along - since S used to live there and I have since made friends with a fair amount of people who live on the floor. It was so fun, we played for about 2 hours, and there was a lot of competition, dodging, a climb up the wall to retrieve a stuck ball (putting my rock climbing into practice) and trying to psych each other out. I realised I can't throw, but can dodge, it was super fun, playing sports with friends. Then we all headed to late night bites, for delicious artichoke and three cheese pizza calzone parcels of amazingness and bananas. Then, I hung out upstairs with the girls for a while, got a tour of the floor and their rooms, and had a go on Kellie's penny board round the corridors. Then cycled home for a FaceTime with Mum, and sleep!

View from my favourite spot in the library.

Thursday:
I don't think my weeks are usually as busy as this one is, but maybe that's just because I don't usually write it all down. I had class (portraiture) from 9.25 this morning which involved a studio morning, of all the groups trying to recreate two famous portraits chosen by our lecturer. Sam modelled for the first one, and I had to for the second one. It involved a rush around the building in our socks in search of a fedora, as well as a visit from Dan - the loveliest photography mentor and we finished an hour before class was meant to finish. Natalie invited me to go to a free lunch with her in a church down the road so I joined her for delicious Mac and Cheese and Salad, and met some of her friends which was fun, we talked about cultural differences (me: why the guns? Them: why no guns? me: why is your cheese orange? Them: It scares us too!) and classes and photography and it was lovely to feel so welcome despite not being a church goer myself. Then, I headed back to the VCB for some reading, and then to yoga which was really awesome, she played calm acousticy music throughout class and we did what is called a yoga flow which was much more fluid than what we had done before. We also got into groups to discuss something and one of the girls said to me 'do you have an accent?' - then we chatted a bit more about being an exchange student and her experience of England and then she said 'have you met Princess Kate?' which made me chuckle. Then I took the free bus (yes! Bozeman has free buses - what!) to Walmart to return something, meeting a German friend I hadn't seen since orientation on the bus, we chatted for a while which was nice to catch up, then I went to target, got some new boots on clearance since my old ones were letting water in, and then headed home to finish up homework and make some dinner. The house got excited about the arrival of a new (yet old) sofa to attempt to fill up our very empty living room, and then right before bed, S and I spotted some deer out the window grazing on the field across the street.

Studio time!

Friday:
Sean and I both started to feel a bit ill on Friday, I had directing class, and went to a 90s themed party with Becca which had the earliest friends episodes playing on a tv and people going all out with their costumes. We did some kartwheels in the garden, everyone was drinking out of red cups and shortly after we left, the party was shut down by the police! (MURICA)

Saturday:
Feeling pretty under the weather this weekend, spent the door doing some work, and then in the afternoon hung out with Maria (Norweigan) and Becca (buddy) to take valentine's photos for their boyfriends and explore Bozeman a little more. We went to the most beautiful frozen pond and the colours looked so cool against the stormy grey sky. We also nearly got blown away by the strong winds, very unusual for Bozeman to be windy like that. Once we were super cold, we headed back to Becca's apartment in the suburbs for cat cuddles, tea and chocolate orange (they do that here!) - it was really fun. Then, in the evening, S and I headed to Ben's for soup night (or quinoa for the veggies among us) and a catch up with everyone! It was really nice and good to see the international crew again.

Me, Becca and Maria - and the infamous box....

Pretty colours and stormy skies - Bozeman

Valentine's presents.....

Sunday:
Was kind of a non event, homework, editing and feeling a bit ill, spent most of it at home despite it being a gorgeous day outside. Did manage to have a catch up with Lici on Skype though, which made me miss her lots and also the abundance of chocolate fingers in the UK. S and I walked up to Peet's Hill for a pre sunset walk and to oogle at the cute dogs. Then my photography group came round to work on our group fashion project which involved a hilarious drive out to the sticks, amazing views of the stars and satellites as well as a super cool shoot involving steel wool - i.e. flying sparks that Natalie and I had to duck from. Our model was very good though and I'm really excited for how these images are going to turn out.


That's the week, in a nutshell. (Or a very long way of talking about the week.) - next week's plans involve a birthday celebration, the first week of working for me, lots of classes and the possibility of some hiking hopefully! Only a month till Spring Break! 

The view from Becca's apartment. 

Super Sunday.

This past Sunday was so good, so I thought I would write about it. It started out warm and sunny, with a drive to main street with my friend Becca (school assigned buddy - but we got on really well so became actual friends)  We had hysterics about Becca trying to get into a box on the side of the road for a surprise valentines photo - the box subsequently broke, and we both nearly fell over laughing so hard. We gave up after that, and headed to 'overeasy' on Main Street for a shared brunch of pancakes, and a veggie omelette. So tasty!

After she dropped me home, the next plan was to hike the famous Bozeman M - a pile of rocks on a mountain in the shape of an M! Me and S cycled up to campus to meet our hiking buddies - 2 Aussies and Dillon - the lone New Zealander. I nearly got frostbite on the way there, due to being overconfident about the temperature....bad decision, had to run into the library to warm up and allow my hands to return to their usual colour. We met up with everyone, after farewell crying from Mia who decided to do homework instead of join us for the hike - which meant we could drive the 5 miles as opposed to cycling it in minus 5 temperatures!

We drove, listening to the best music (triple j - thanks aussies for the introduction to that) and got closer and closer to the M - the hill looking steeper and steeper as we did. We parked up and then started the 'easy' climb which involved mud, slippery ice patches and lots of beautiful views. It was really fun getting to chat with the guys and climb up the mountain. We reached the top and were a bit underwhelmed by the M - since you can't really tell its an M from up close but amazed by the views over Bozeman, the mansions below us looked like sheds and you could see so far, to campus and all of the mountain ranges surrounding Bozeman. It was gorgeous. After snacking on some saltines care of Dillon and trying to coax a chipmunk out of the undergrowth that someone saw for a split second, we took a couple of pictures and then began the descent down the 'steep' trail. It was funny, and hard on the knees and seemed so far. I think we were going pretty slow, since one man passed us (he was going up, we were coming down) and then passed us again (he was coming down, and we were still going down) - blaming it on the altitude....

Afterwards, we had some chocolate orange, good tunes and a scenic drive home past the cross country ski trails and the local hospital - 'for such small town, that's big' - F and 'it looks like a fancy chocolate' - D, we headed home after a quick stop for food supplies. We then ate, and promptly tried to do some homework and fell asleep, missing half of the much talked about and anticipated (overrated) Super Bowl.

Once we woke up, we wrapped up warm and headed to Ben's for football watching and tunes, with the international crew, which was fun, involving birthday cake oreos - a staple for these guys and trying not to fall asleep - American football just ain't my thing, it just seemed like a lot of stopping and starting and everyone kept cheering yet the scores didn't move.... maybe I will learn one day!

After commiserating that our 'local' team had lost, we hung out a bit longer, then me and S headed out for a walk around the neighbourhood - no streetlights makes it a little scary sometimes. And then felt super hungry and ordered pizza which we ate while watching Sherlock.

It was a good day. Now to catch up on all that homework and reading I didn't do....ooops.

Peets Hill at Sunset.

Just wanted to share a snowy sunset from a few weeks back. Peets Hill is so pretty!

First month in Big Sky Country.

Our front porch decoration - #murica

I can't believe how quickly the last month has gone, in some ways it feels like an eternity has passed and in others it seems to have gone so quickly. Thinking back to those first few days when I felt a bit like Bambi both figuratively and literally due to the ice covering the ground. The ice has since melted for the most part and the sun has been shining for the last week, with it melting all our chances of outdoor ice skating for the time being at least.

Big sky country.

The ice skates I found at the pawn shop - $18 - what a steal!

I really like Bozeman so far, the houses are all so pretty and colourful and different to each other, the people are so friendly, the skies are often blue and you can see the mountains from almost every direction. Have found some favourite cafes now for study sessions with friends as well as the best place to go for food in the middle of the night - 'Taco Montes' - tortillas at 3am are always a good idea!

My favourite house in Bozeman - such a pretty colour!

It has been interesting adjusting to the cold and the altitude, it's freezing in the mornings and cycling on ice takes a kind of grace that I am trying to learn to possess. It's really cool though, seeing everything covered in snow, and passing deer on the way home from uni. Very different to Plymouth life indeed.

A normal winters day in Montana. 

It's strange how quickly something can become the new normal, I ride my bike up to campus everyday, usually after a breakfast of eggs or avocado toast, lock it up for the day and then go to class, I'm taking Portraiture, Cinematography, Scriptwriting, Directing and Yoga. Isn't it cool how I can take a yoga class towards my degree here? I did seriously consider a bowling class too - because why not? But sadly, it was not meant to be as it didn't fit my schedule. After class is done, I will either head to the gym for a climb in the bouldering room or attempt a work out in the gym and then get intimidated by all the muscly people and the fact that I don't understand what half the machines do...or head to one of the dining halls to meet the boy for food, the all you can eat meal plan is very handy after a long 8 hour day of classes with no breaks for lunch. (But that's only Tuesdays so I can't complain) - I also have Wednesdays off which means a lie in and usually a day of catching up on 'busy' work and exploring a little more.

My transport. 

I feel like I am going to learn a ton in this classes and will also be pushing myself a lot. In scriptwriting, we have to present our ideas every week in front of the whole class and then get feedback and expand on ideas, which is actually really cool and I'm sure it will get easier over time, I actually volunteered to go first last week in order to get it over with, which was actually really helpful and made me relax for the rest of class. In directing, I had to act, which is a little scary too, but it was all fun, and everyone in my class is super nice which makes it a lot easier not to be nervous.

The view from the library - Campus. 

Another view of campus on a snowier day.

It has also been really fun exploring downtown, riding the free bus service, seeing the huge vastness that is Walmart, scouring TJ Maxx (not TK) for warm clothes and making portraits for fun, there are lots of super cool backdrops in Bozeman and I cannot wait to get started on my semester long portraiture project soon.

A sign company downtown. 

Main street is an electic mix of stores and restaurants, almost all locally owned with signs stating they support the university football team (go Bobcats) in every window, if there's one thing Bozeman does well, it is the team spirit. Also, it's super strange how they sell Bobcats merchandise everywhere. They really do love American football and basketball! I've been told that the teams are treated like royalty wherever they go in town. 

Main street. 

Last week I attended my first basketball game, which was a rather unique experience, there were a ton of ad breaks and things like the 'muscle cam' and 'kiss cam' where they randomly put a camera on some unsuspecting audience member in the hope they would do the task at hand. I watched in the company of lots of lovely internationals who were all as amazed as I was at how american it was and how random lots of things were. Bobcats one though - hooray!  

First Basketball game of the season.

Bonfires have also become a house ritual, because over here, you have to pay to recycle cardboard - seems a bit backwards to me so we burn it instead. Snowy barbecues all round. Complete with friends, a beverage of your choice and cheesy campfire songs - or an attempt to sing them at least. 

Our first bonfire - can you spot me? 

I feel like one of the best things about being here is getting to meet people from all over the world, and hanging out with them, there are Aussies, Norwegians, a few English, some Dutch and one lone New Zealander. We had a fun international party last week which involved bowling (in the university bowling alley!) and pool (which I completely failed at - so much so that S started to despair.) Have also been to a party in which my hair was described as a 'waterfall of dreams' (Thanks Megan) and a huge husky showed up randomly with an owner who was a friend of a friend. We also hosted our own party, where I was introduced to Beer pong by two freshman, and also heard the funniest pick up line ever - 'your arms look strong, I bet they could carry a family' - it was good fun and got to meet lots of new people and get to know others a bit more. We ended the night with a chilly walk to the taco place, meeting our new zealandish friend (Dillon) and another random guy who wanted to befriend everyone in sight.

Silly faces at the party. 

favourite boy.

The next morning we headed to a place out in the sticks for brunch, with Becca (who is my school assigned buddy and now friend), Ben (English) and Sean. It was in a shed with a bar for everyone to sit around, we had pancakes and eggs and the others drank pots of coffee, it felt like we were in someone's grandma's living room, everyone had country accent and was watching the world go by, sipping their coffee on a Sunday morning.

Breakfast in the shed.

Dollar bills making us feel rich 

Inside Grandma's living room. 

 It's definitely more challenging to get involved and meet people when living in a house as opposed to a dorm. I have joined the wilderness club so excited to hopefully have some adventures with them. However I do like the freedom the house gives me, and sharing with the boy is awesome, we have been making our way through Sherlock in the evenings and making guacamole by the gallon - seems to be a trend from when I was in Italy. We have made our room cosy with fairy lights and photos but the walls are still a bit bare, I think some posters need to be purchased or maybe we could paint something to make it more homely? I'm sure our landlord would appreciate that. 

Fairy lights making our room cosy. 

It is definitely true, what they say about Montana, and big sky country, the skies go on forever and the sunset hours last so long. It is gorgeous here, S + I have been on some beautiful sunset walks to a Peets Hill which has views of mountains in every direction as well as overlooking the whole city, we even managed to spot our house from up there.

Beautiful winter sunset from my bedroom window. 

Flowers growing through the snow - Peets Hill.

Mountain views - Peets Hill. 

Sunset over Bozeman - Peets Hill.

This week was my first photography field trip to Butte, which involved a 6am wake up for a sunrise road trip with some lovely new friends passing through the most beautiful of snow capped mountain ranges with funny conversations about mountain goats and fire photography to keep us entertained. It was my first time leaving Bozeman since I arrived so I was excited to see another part of Montana. I hadn't really noticed how isolated the city is since while in it you are always surrounded by people. But going on the freeway and seeing these tiny hamlets with one or two houses miles from anything else was kinda crazy, but really cool to see. And those views were so gorgeous. We spent the first part of the morning sipping coffee and smoothies in a locally owned cafe in the centre of town called the hummingbird which was really nice, though I accidentally drank one of my friend's smoothies instead of my own, even though it had very different ingredients to the one I had ordered, I was definitely not fully awake yet and luckily he wasn't too mad, and he and N made fun of me for the rest of the day despite my efforts to try and kill the joke.

Adventure buddies for Butte - Natalie and Sam - spot the pit behind us!

Butte is known to locals as the 'butt' of Montana and everyone was trying to lower my expectations of it but it was actually a really interesting place. Lots of ramshackle houses all the way up the hill, a shop window full of balloons, the friendliest people, and views across the valley all the way to the mountains because it was such a beautiful clear day. We had a lighting photo demo on top of a hill which was fun, learning to use lots of lighting equipment and playing around with Canon 5Ds - the dream camera!

On task for Portraiture - Butte. 

The edges of the deadly Berkley pit - Butte. 

Then we were tasked to go off in our cars and take pictures of strangers (with their permission), which the three of us managed and then we headed off in search of the Berkley Pit which is what Butte is most famous for, being a mining town. The pit is no longer in use, but it is a mile wide and a mile deep and can be seen from space. The three of us made it our mission to try and see it but after many attempts from a variety of angles, all we could see was the edges and none of the toxic pool of water (the main attraction) that (very sadly) once poisoned an unsuspecting herd of geese just looking for a drink. We found an information point, which played creepy 1900s music all by itself even with no one around, also found a bit of home in an english flag displayed there.

Views over Butte from our Photoshoot Location.

Finding an English flag - Butte. 

Famous mining towers - Butte

In other news, thanks to an english friend, I had real life cheese on toast, not gross american cheese, but real english cheddar, thanks M for that. Also, I am hoping to get some hikes in before it snows again. It's also the Super Bowl this weekend which should be fun, and then next week I have a ton of work to do. (Yay!) S is also taking his driving test in the coming weeks, so fingers crossed it all goes well and we can get a car for lots of adventures to come! However, if it does snow, then we are gonna try skiing for the first time and I will hopefully get in lots of skating before the rinks melt again.

Anyway, if you made it this far, I commend you. Hopefully I will be back with more stories soon if I remember this blog exists!