Our home town State College

Ols Main, Penn State University

State College is the very original name given to the town that contained the Pennsylvania State College, which in 1953 became known as Pennsylvania State University (commonly known as Penn State), which is where Ivor is doing his PHD. When they changed the name of the school from Pennsylvania State College to Pennsylvania State University it was suggested that the name of the town change from State College to State University. I must say I'm glad this name change did not happen because it's odd enough telling people that I live in State College, having to say I live in State University just sounds silly!

State College is right in the centre of Pennsylvania, situated equally inconveniently from every major city in the North East. So while its not exactly close to, it is possible to drive within 4 or 5 hours to New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washing DC, and Baltimore.

This small University town is a world apart from Joburg which has 3,2 million inhabitants. With a population of only 40 000, most of which are students, State College is a happy place, not surprisingly it has the nickname of Happy Valley (although that nickname originated in the Great Depression it is still valid today). And not to go on and on with the crime issue but State College ranked as the safest metropolitan area in the United States in 2009.
http://www.statecollege.com/news/psu-news/state-college-ranked-no1-safest-metropolitan-area,281209. Seems we're out of the frying pan and under the duck down duvet.

The Nittany Lion in winter

The town basically consists of the university campus, downtown, and the outer suburbs. The campus is the largest and main campus of Penn State and is called University Park. The campus is extensive but beautiful with lush green lawns (when they are not under a foot of snow obviously), many old trees and ubiquitous squirrels. Old Main, the administrative centre, is one of the famous landmarks of the University, another being the famed Lion Shrine. The facilities are excellent; from libraries and lecture theatres, to sports fields and auditoriums, this University had it all.

Allen Street

Downtown is where you'll find most of the
restaurants, bars and shops. It consists of 2 main streets and their cross streets. There are some great places to eat and drink - I've been to almost every one already. I'm most partial to Zeno's Pub ('located directly above the centre of the earth in Pennsylvania' is their slogan), which has an impressive selection of beers and the best wings in town.

State Patty's

Most of the students live in the streets that follow the downtown shops. These areas are renowned for parties and wild student behaviour - Penn State was voted the number one party school in America last year and if you walk in these neighbourhoods on a weekend evening you can see why. Add to that student holidays like State Patty's Day (a week or so before St Patrick's Day, this day is dedicated to getting wasted and wearing green) and Halloween, which is a massive party event here, you'll realise that all those college flicks are based on what really goes on in American Universities ... scary!

The view from our bedroom window

We live a couple of miles north-west of campus next to an area called Green Leaf Manor. Its a quiet neighbourhood and we are really happy here. This way we can head down town if we want to party but we can stay home in our mature, stable, peaceful environment if we prefer (and most nights we do prefer the quiet night in - sad but unfortunately true). There is a forest on the opposite side of the street with a bike path running through it and we are a couple of miles away from the state gamelands where you have to wear orange to avoid being shot by hunters.

Ivor and I at the Blue and White Weekend

Besides drinking, the main activity of the town is football, or for clarification purposes American football; the game where they throw the ball to each not the one where they kick the ball to each other with their feet, although to be fair they do occasionally kick the ball towards the goal in American football. Although there is no alcohol allowed at the games, there is a tradition known as Tailgating, which involves a lot of drinking and a bit of a braai outside the stadium before kick-off. The stadium at Penn State, Beaver Stadium, is the largest in the Western hemisphere and the third largest in the World. It can seat over 113000 people almost triple the population of the town, yet, on football weekends, every seat is sold out! They certainly love their football and our team - the Penn State Nittany Lions. The football coach Joe Paterno, fondly referred to as JoePa is a living legend and arguably the most famous man in town. He has coached the Nittany Lions since 1966 and is still going strong!

JoPa's bronze statue, outside Beaver Stadium












Well that's it in a nutshell ... oh yes ... there are also 2 Walmarts, 1 Shopping Mall and 3 Trailer Parks.
Ah, small town America!