In December 2011, I made a road in California. We started in San Francisco in the Mason Street and drove to Santa Cruz, Beach Street. After a three hours stop, we continued our trip, took the legendary Highway 1 and headed to Santa Barbara, State Street. This drive is probably one of the most famous roads in the entire USA, because it is next to the coast. We could see a stunning sunset and beautiful beaches. Our next destination was Santa Monica, 2^nd Street, which belongs to Los Angeles. The Santa Monica beach is reachable in a five minutes walk. Our last stay was in Huntington Beach, Netherway Drive, which is very famous for its surfing spots! All in all, we stayed 12 days in California and it was my favorite road trip ever!

The map of our road trip can be found here

Memphis has some nice clubs for going out, especially if you need a little break from your college everyday-life.

Basically, there are three different clubs which are recommendable. The most famous one is probably “Club 152”, which is located on the Beale Street. The clubs provides three different floors and sometimes runs special events, such as “RnB Memphis Rock n Roll” or “Memphis Blues”. You can reach it by car in 20minutes from campus.

Another option for having a great party is “Electric Cowboy”, which usually focuses on dance and country music. I personally like to go there on Thursdays, because the drinks a very cheap. For instance, you can get a beer for $0.99 until 11pm and $1.50 after 11pm. It is also possible to enter the club on a Thursday, if you’re under 21. Every now and then, the club runs special events. Further information can be found on the homepage of the club. It usually takes you 15minutes to get there, if you live on campus.

The last opportunity for a worriless night is Senses. Senses is on Poplar Ave and is probably the closest club to campus. However, you also need a car to get there (7 minutes drive). Similar to Electric Cowboy, the club offers a “College Night” on Thursdays, at which drinks are cheaper and everyone older than 18 can access the club.

I interviewed Kris M. Markman, Ph.D., who is an assistant professor of the department of communication. She has a lot of experience and knowledge about social media and gave me very good tips for my blog.

Basically, she recommended addressing the culture of Memphis, for instance what can students do and experience while they are here. Also the classes and how the US education differentiates from other countries are significant. Another possibility could be the connection with students outside from Europe, for example the UofM has several partnerships with colleges in Japan.

Concerning to the promotion of my blog, she suggested using Facebook and Twitter, because a lot of international students use those social media channels. Other social networks, such as mixi.com for Japanese students could also be a part of the promotion. Another aspect which should be taken into consideration is the use of other blogs, which focus on Memphis. Maybe there are some blogs, which concentrate on studying in Memphis or exchange students. I could share links with them. Twitter could be recommendable to tweet new blog entries, add short facts and promote upcoming blog entries.

I will definitely implement some of the tips!

Today, I want to introduce you guys the different food possibilities in Memphis. As I already mentioned in my previous blog entry, the University of Memphis offers different food places.
However, there are also a bunch of delicious off campus restaurants in Memphis. Basically, Memphis is very famous for its barbecue (BBQ). Just for my part, I can highly recommend the Rendezvous BBQ, which is very close to the popular Beale Street.  The menu is available here, but is for the average student’s wallet a little bit too expensive.
Cheaper tasty barbecue food can be found at Central BBQ. The menu includes for example the BBQ Nacho chips, which are very well-known.
Another great barbecue restaurant is Commissary in Germantown, approximately 15 minutes from the campus of the UofM. I personally very liked the BBQ Turkey sandwich for $ 8,75 which really made me full 😀 Here’s the menu.
Those are just few examples of the Memphis barbecue restaurants. The city contains a wide range of different food places.
Furthermore, you can find a lot of American restaurants down on Popular Avenue, which is very close to campus. If you like classic American Burgers and French Fries, Chili’s and Huey’s are the right addresses.
If you don’t have a car and live on campus (like I do), I can totally recommend AP Tracks, which is one of the few restaurants, that is reachable by a walk and provides pool tables, good beer and food.

I’m a German exchange student and study Media Management at the University of Memphis in Tennessee. I’m here for two semesters and have created this blog for my class “Social Media”. The goal of the blog is to  present Memphis for exchange students, who are thinking about to choose it for a study abroad possibility. The focus will be on the student’s life, as well as the variety of the city, for instance how recommendable is Memphis for going out, experiencing culture or sports. First entries coming soon!

Best regards,

Daniel