Harriet is studying abroad at the Colorado State University (Fort Collins) in the USA as part of her English Literature Degree at Reading. After spending a semester abroad, this is her last post covering her last month in the USA!

So my Study Abroad experience has finished and I can honestly say that it was the best experience of my life so far. In my last few weeks at CSU I experienced Thanksgiving – it’s basically just Christmas but without any presents. I spent the week with my friend and her family and it was great to feel involved with the true American culture. The food was also amazing! When I was at my friend’s house we visited Denver one night, which is the capital city of Colorado. We went to the Aquarium and also just explored downtown a bit, so it was nice to see other parts of Colorado. It was also great to just have a week of no work after having eleven solid weeks at University without a break!

After Thanksgiving I had a few more weeks of classes before finals week, and it finally snowed! It snowed a lot more than it usually does in England, and the snow stayed for about a week before melting. It was so cold but worth it because Colorado is really gorgeous in the snow, especially the mountains.

Soon enough it was finals week. I had been dreading it, however exams were not even nearly as hard as exams in Reading – I got 2 hours for each exam to answer short questions without writing any long essays. I finished really early in every exam and I think my grades are looking okay. One of my exams was also online so for this we were allowed to look at our notes whilst we were taking the exam! It is definitely easier to get good grades in America than it is in the UK!

After finals week I went to Seattle, Washington with my roommate and my friend from Reading. We stayed with my roommate’s family who were really accommodating and made us feel incredibly welcome. We had an amazing week and saw sights such as the Space Needle, Gas Works Park, the famous gum wall, and took a ferry across to Bainbridge Island. On our last day in Seattle we went Snow Tubing in the mountains, which was incredible. You basically sit in a rubber ring and go sledding, but being in the mountains made it an even more amazing experience. Seattle is a beautiful city and it’s very historical so it was interesting to visit, and it was also great to get to spend more time with my roommate before having to say goodbye.

Leaving the US and my roommate was most definitely the hardest part of my experience – I just did not want to leave, and if I had had the option to spend the entire year in America I would have. Our flight home was quite eventful as we arrived late to our connecting flight so had to be rerouted through New York instead of Georgia. But we were upgraded to business class because of the delays, so it could definitely have been worse!

I have been talking to my roommate every day since leaving and have already planned my next trip to America, as well as when my friends from Colorado will visit England. Study Abroad was a truly awesome experience and I would not change a second of my time.

Harriet

Read Harriet’s last post here: http://bit.ly/2iL05Jc