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August 22, 2004
Orientation
Last night was my first opportunity to meet fellow incoming international students at the BBQ held on the campus quad. I skipped the bus and walked the 5k to see how long it would take. Just as was suggested by Babar, I was able to make the trip in about 45 minutes. I probably won't be doing it in formal clothes and heels, but for the next couple months I'm going to try and walk at least one-way of each trip.
The BBQ was for all incoming students, but they had placed us into teams for competitions, and all the International Students were on the Blue Team. There were about 20 of us, and several were also in the Sustainability Program. Everyone spoke excellent English, and everyone was really outgoing. It was nice to compare notes about the disorganization of the school (no one yet knows about class schedules), places to go in town, and outstanding problems with our housing. Most people had only been here for a few days, so we're all basically on the same page as far as fitting in. Among the people I met last night:
* Scotty from Australia (in my program)
* Tomomi from Japan (in my program)
* Sabrina from Germany
* Suzanne from Germany
* Olaf from Germany
* Siti from Malaysia (in my program)
* Timon from Germany
* Ola from Sweden
* Tony from Sweden (he was our group leader)
* Maria from Sweden
I'm sure I'm missing others, but these were the people I played the "name game" with, so they are the easiest to remember.
I managed to stay up until 10:30 p.m., my latest night yet. As a result, I think the days of waking up with the sunrise are over. This morning I was up at 9:30 a.m., which is still impressive for me, but nothing compared to the last few days. I took a bath/shower, did some yoga (I'm actually sore from yesterday's yoga—a sure sign I need to do it more often), and performed a search-and-rescue for my room key attachment, which fell off the key ring last night as I was coming inside. Now, having eaten my last energy bar (send more!!) in preparation for today's vigorous events, I am now ready to walk down to the campus. At 2 p.m. there will be a guided tour of the town for all new students, followed by a boat tour of the surrounding archipelago at 5 p.m. I'm not sure about the bout tour, given my tendency towards seasickness, but I thought I would give it a shot. After all, who doesn't love a vomiting international student?
