Hi Everyone!

Hi everyone,

For those of you reading this who aren't Mum, Dad or Benj, I hope this will be a good way of letting you know whats going on in Wisconsin despite not speaking to you as often.
So starting from the beginning! I arrived on Friday August 22nd and for the next 3 nights I stayed with Annie (another Winchester student) and our host family.
Our host family live in Eau Claire and are Cheryl, Jim, their 11 year old daughter Melanie and 2 cats, George and Jake (who eat waffles!).
During the time we spent with the host family we went shopping for school supplies and things for our dorm room and saw a movie. Cheryl and Melanie also took Annie and I around Eau Claire and drove us around the University campus. They were absolutely lovely and it was really fun, helping us settle into the area.
On the Monday morning Cheryl took us to our halls of residence and helped us move our things in. I have a top bunk bed which I'm not keen on, however they're having it taken down so its not staying that way thankfully! I got all my bedding and stuff in Wal-Mart so I've settled in nicely and feel relatively at home in my room. Its still not the same without being woken up by Ellie in the morning though!
After we moved our things in, orientation week started which is just for the international students as American students didn't move in until today.
The orientation stuff was really boring, especially for the English students who have already completed a year of university. There are students here from Malaysia, China and Japan to name but a few countries, so for them, all the talks about cultural differences are probably quite useful, but for the Brits its just plain dull!
There are trips and other events planned out for the international students throughout the semester such as going to Chicago for Thanksgiving, football games and trips to Mall of America too which is nice.
On Tuesday night, Annie and I went for dinner with our host family which was really fun. Some host families don't have much contact with their students after they've moved in, but our family is taking us to the Mall of America on Saturday and is planning plenty for us while we're here which is great.
Yesterday we registered for all of our classes, my classes were already sorted out but I changed some modules after reading some less than favourable reports on one of my tutors on ratemyprofessor.com!!! It went something like this

'He is condescending and it's hard to get good grades. He isn't helpful at all, doesn't understand his students and seems to be a prof because he likes the status. I was always bored and he turned me away from sociology. I will never take another class from him. Listening to him makes me want to cry.'

So I no longer have a class with this guy which I'm most pleased about!
I will be taking classes in North American Indians, Mass Media and Popular Culture, Indigenous Religions of the Native Americans and also Ancient Mexico and Central America.
My classes start on Tuesday so once all the orientation things are over and done with I should be able to chill out until then.
In early September we have a fair to join organizations and I'm going to play Lacrosse which I think will be fun!
Hopefully this has made you feel in the loop and isn't too complicated for those of you who are less than computer literate! I'm also going to post my pictures on here aswell as Facebook so people without Facebook can enjoy some visual aids!!!

Hannah
xxx