The ReturnExhausted, jet lagged, and excited to be back. After 5 months of being surrounded by Americans, it was a surprise being surrounded by English accents again. We made it back to England ok. The only hiccup was our first flight being delayed, meaning our brief stay in New York airport consisted of running from one terminal to the other so we didn't miss our flight. But we made it. And i am very happy to be back. This adventure has been the longest i've been out of England, and while it was certainly worth while i must admit it was tough at times. The whole experience has certainly given me a lot to think about on whether i want to get a job abroad in the future, and the experiences i got from studying abroad has definitely helped with that. If you're a student reading this at one of the Erasmus meetings or something i just wanna say do it. It's hard, tiring, and makes you miss home like crazy, but its the best thing i've done academically in the past two years, and it was well worth it.
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The Calm After The StormFiguratively, no real storm this time. So its been a week since we finished. Did we spend this free time exploring the great US of A?
No... Do i regret it? No! So what have we been doing? Sleep. So. Much. Sleep. For the past week our sleep cycle has been going to bed at 4 am and waking up at 4 pm. That's not an exaggeration either. But even if we did spend the last weeks in America traveling, i don't think it would have been worth it. We were both far too tired after finals, and we just want to rest. That isn't to say i haven't been doing stuff aside from that though! In fact in the past week i've done 1 practice animation loop in After Effects, 2 short Maya animations, and i just spent the last 4 days creating and rigging a digital Vasilena per her request, which i put a lot of effort and new techniques into it. You will see all of these if you check back when i've rendered them hopefully! Just a short update today but keep updated! 'Till next time! Is There An End In Sight?Well they're good questions. What am i going to do now and what will become of this blog?
I fully intend to keep updating this blog up until the day i leave America, which is the 31st of May. While my studies are over, i still plan on keeping active both in real life and on the blog. It will be less frequent, but be sure to check back once in a while! At the end of May, i will be posting a master post of all the work i've done since coming here, but i decided not to do it now as i want it to appear right at the top of the blog, proud and prominent. Well, see you next post! Take Me Out To The BallYes i know i said i wouldn't be posting much because of work, and yes i am doing said work. But in between that work we were given the choice to go to a Baseball game in the stadium not far from here! Thanks to the Baptist Church who often do trips us exchange students can tag along with. This was Vasilena and i's first ever baseball game, and after having the rules and scores explained to us, we had a really great time! The weather was a bit chilly but there was a double rainbow which stayed in the sky for a solid 20 minutes! And the game was actually really interesting to watch, even if the players weren't too great. Most of the game consisted of people getting strikes or caught out, and our home team the Flying Squirrels lost without getting a single person to home base, but there was often a wow moment like the opposite team getting a home-run, the many balls which landed in the crowd, and the many many mini events happening in between team switching. This varied between people shooting shirts out of cannons, people racing in giant peanut costumes, people in drag dancing while combing the fields dirt, and of course the mascot dance offs. It's hard to explain how bizarre it really was at times, but it was certainly entertaining. I would definitely go again, and recommend to anyone who can go, even if you're not a big sports fan like me.
And at the end, there was a spectacular fireworks show which had the whole stadium ooh-ing and ahh-ing. Our First TornadoThis morning we were awoken to the city sirens blaring. And so with a quick search on the internet it turned out to be a tornado warning. That explained the rain, as it was the most rain i've ever seen, and i live in England! Long story short after about 15 minutes the alarm went off and we never got to see the tornado. But it did come by Richmond apparently but you would never guess it from a few hours later. In true Richmond style, the rest of the day was so sunny and hot all the rain was gone by the afternoon. Busy Busy BusyWith finals coming up fast, it will be likely i won't post much in the next few days as i will be doing nothing but working on my stuff. Ordinarily i would update my progress but since there is such a small time, i will just post my finished work when it's done.
Nothing, That's What.Ok maybe that's an exaggeration, but it's always nice. And something else that was nice was the Kinetic Imaging Gala.
The Gala has been hosted near the end of the year for the past 7 years, and is a small event which any Kinetic Imaging students can attend. It was hosted at a local club which had a stage, and the night features free food, awards given to students, a raffle, even karaoke. There was even a surprise at the beginning of the presentation where they acknowledges us, the exchange students, and presented us with a free VCU Arts Tee Shirt each! It was a surprise and was super nice! We left after the presentation and awards, but not before watching the first person do karaoke. My sound professor Josh. He was actually surprisingly good... at parts. We would have stayed longer but we were spending the day doing our 3D projects and wanted to get back to work. A Park Worth Screaming About
First Friday Take TwoSo the last time we went to a First Friday was the first month we arrived here. And it wasn't anything special. But to recap, First Friday is an event that is held on the first Friday of every month, where people can visit an array of galleries for free down the main street about 5 minutes away from where i live. It's a very well known and popular thing in Richmond, which is why we were surprised by how desolate it was the first time we went. It turns out, we went too early, and the event truly starts once it gets dark. We didn't know this until one of Vasilena's tutors told the class that he was helping with an exhibition this month, and that it starts at 7:30pm. We wanted to check it out because it sounded interesting, and was apparently accompanied by some fire dancers. So we gave it another shot. And boy we were not disappointing. On the way to the "Gallery 5" where it was being held, we popped into a couple of bustling galleries, filled with many people eager for First Friday. The street felt much more alive and we knew instantly that we came much too soon last time. The atmosphere was a lot nicer with all these artists, and although art and galleries aren't my thing, i enjoyed looking around with Vasilena. But it wasn't until we arrived outside Gallery 5's alleyway that we were treated to such a great and memorable time. It's hard to describe so here's a few videos of some of the many talented dancers dancing to great music in celebration of Gallery 5's 12 year anniversary. It was a great night.
By To The FamilyWell, not much to say today. Friday marks the end of the break, unless you count the weekend that is.. But for my Mother and Sister it's time for them to return to England. Part of me wants to go back with them, but the rest of me wants to stay to stick it out until the end. They said they had a good time so i hope that's true. I'll be spending the next two days catching up on the work i neglected to do while they were over.
Dead Center of RichmondAfter the rest from yesterday, it was time to head somewhere else today! And this time it was somewhere i hadn't been too either. Close to Belle Isle is a 130 acre grave yard called Hollywood Cemetery, which is free to the public to take a walking tour around. It was such a pleasant place to say it was a grave site, there were lots of points of interested highlighted on the map you can get at the front desk before entering. We spent hours walking around looking at the scenery and graves, some of which were presidents and governors of America! More Museums!After the walk around, we decided to head back to Belle Isle, as near it was the American Civil War Museum. A small museum packed with information about the civil war that we didn't get a chance to check out before. Its $10 entry, but if you're a student you get $2 off! As someone who knew absolutely nothing about the civil war, i thought it was well worth the money. I learnt so much, and it was incredibly fascinating. I recommend it! Opposite the building there is another section talking about something else, but we were so tired from being out all day we decided to head back and get food instead. The weather was so sunny today, we picked a good day for being outside.
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IntroductionHello! My name is Harry, a 20 year old Animation Student from Bristol. Archives
June 2017
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