Howdy folks!!

After Two flights and a few sleeps in between, Nial has finally arrived in the United States of America to study at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville!
After a prolonged wait and many hours of organising I have arrived in Knoxville to begin my studies. Once I arrived in Knoxville I got a punch to the face (not literally) the heat was astonishing! 100° farenheit, and to all you Brits out there that translates to around 38°C......so yeah you could say i'm warm enough out here!
Once I stepped off the plane in Knoxville I obviously got all my belongings and I made my way to the Taxi booth, but as I had never been in this small airport before I decided to ask a woman what the best taxi service is to take me to the University. It turned out that the woman I asked worked in the Music Department of UT (University of Tennessee) and she kindfully offered me a ride to the University in her Jeep as she was picking up another student from Belgium. Before I arrived at Clement Hall (My temporary residence for 5 days) I was given a brief tour of the campus by the lady from the airport!
This place is absolutely massive, there is no other way to describe it.......absolutely crazy! One of the first sights I saw from the Jeep was the American Football Stadium.......It is HUGE! It has 107,000 seats and I will be occupiying one of them from September 8th until Christmas Time! Beside Neyland Stadium, was the Thomson Bowling Arena which is currently under construction, it is the University Basketball Arena and it holds around 25,000 people........so the stories are true, everything is big and beautiul in America.
My first week was spent basically in the International House where the Programmes Abroad Office had arranged an Orientation week. This helped loads as lots of information was given out regarding how to adapt to life here and what to expect. I also had great opportunities to meet new people from all over the World. It was amazing meeting people from so many different Countries and hearing different stories of what and where 'back home' actually is. Currently I have met people from Australia, Swizerland, France, South Korea, Brazil, Holland, Germany, Sweden, Canada and Spain so thats quite a mix and the best bit about it is they are all really nice people, this helps as they are all in the same situation as myself and want to meet new people and make friends.
I have now moved into my Appartment which is just across from the University Sports complex (how convenient.) It is great for student accomodation, it houses 4 people including myself, it has a kitchen, living room, bathroom, 2 study rooms and 2 bedrooms with 2 beds in each room. More than sufficient for students! 1100 people live in my Appartments complex, it's amazing how big everything is over here! And my appartments complex is one of maybe 5 or 6 all of a similar size, so there is a lot of students living on campus! I moved in on Thursday the 16th of August although the American Students didn't start to move in until the weekend. There are so many of them and can I just say the girls here are unbelievbable......so so so hot, its times like these I do not care it is 100°F outside because everyone is in shorts! haha
So I am loving my time here so far, and things can only get better because sports activities will be beginning soon and I am looking forward to starting class!

Ciao for now