Hello again.
Long time no posts. Sorry. School picked up its pace, which was to be expected, and I have had little time to do anything.
Hopefully this weekend I will have some time in which to catch up on what has happened in the past two weeks. So look out for a really long. Or a bunch of little ones.
This post is just to let everyone know that I am still hanging onto the fringe of sanity. And, that there is finally something that I miss about UNC (naturally apart from friends, the awesome professors and classes, and cow smell). I miss the Gunter bell. Whilst it was sometimes annoying, it was still a small comfort to hear it go off at the top of each hour. Granted, here the quietness and serenity of the campus is pleasant, but it is not quite the same. Oh well.
I suppose I should also say that often times the Gunter bell saved me from being late to class. So, maybe I miss that aid in the "morning" (since most of my classes were in the late mornings or afternoons >.<) So far, I have gotten up in time for all of my classes every day, and hope to keep it that way. n_n. I should, since I blast my alarm in the morning and place it across the room. I have to literally crawl out of bed to turn it off and either get up, or sleep with my body at an odd angle; with my head on the floor and my feet still in bed. The latter has been the more frequent of the options. >.<
Anyway, hope all is well with y'all. n_n
Until this weekend,
"Time you enjoyed wasting is not wasted time." ~T.S. Eliot
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
The Doors
No, not the band. XP
Well, the second week of classes has started and I am about 63.1692870% prepared. I spent the weekend reading most of the books for the week. Tis a lot of reading, but all of it was very interesting. For this week the books I have to read, know, and understand are:
Musui's Story ~Katsu Kokichi (Japanese History)
Robinson Crusoe ~Daniel Defoe (British Empire)
The Consolation of Philosophy ~Boethius (Medieval)
The Marriage of Figaro ~Beaumarchais (Enlightenment)
These are only the novels I have to read. There are Blackboard readings and other smaller book sections that have to be read as well. >.<
Also, Japanese language adds to the amount of homework. In a previous post I stated that I had to take a placement test to make sure that the 203 class was the next logical step for me. Well, on the first day of that class (Wednesday 8 September) the sensei (professor) handed out last semester's final to those students who had had his class. Naturally, they went over it and I looked on another students paper. As it turns out, the test I had to take was parts of that final. However, this being said, I should confess that I did not pay strict attention when they were going over the exam in class. Thus, when I went to take the placement test I really did have to use my own knowledge for the majority of it. I did fine, missing a couple conjugations and translations, but overall the sensei said that I am in the right class. \^o^/ So I say "Doomo arigatou gozaimasu Li Sensei" (at UNC) for teaching me Japanese for two years.
But anyway, the purpose of this post is about the doors here at Skidmore. THEY ARE VERY LOUD. The majority of the people on my floor slam their doors and there is no rubber edging in the door frame to soften the sounds. >.< This makes for very interesting evenings when people are going in and out of their rooms. I think even the doors in Decker and at UNC in general do not make this much noise, even when you do let them shut on their own. This is something I am going to have to get used to, since I doubt many people are going to change and take the time to make sure they do not slam their doors when they leave or enter their rooms. Granted, I sometimes let the door shut and make a loud noise, but I do my part to not let it become a habit.
Also, the locks here are different. In Decker the door locks on the inside automatically. Here, you have a dead bolt you can lock on the inside, but you have to use your key on the outside to lock the door when you go out. About half the time I forget to lock my door. >.< Am working on that. Also, in Decker it is much easier to get in the room. When you put the key in the lock and turn it, it opens the latch and you can get in with one swift movement of the hand. At Skidmore, the deadbolt lock and the door latch are in two different locations. So you have to unlock the door first and then move your hand to the doorknob and turn it to open the door. So much work to get into the room. So, I have created a shortcut for my door. I have taped the door latch so that it does not click nor make as much noise when I open and close the door. This way, I only have to unlock the door and push it open when I am carrying books or what ever else in my arms. However this has caused some problems. The doors here are not as heavy as those at UNC. Thus, my door often swings open and closed, since it has nothing to keep it shut (unless I bolt my door). Oh well, I would much rather have an easily open-able door than one that makes noise all the time.
Anyway, this will probably one of the weirdest postings about Skidmore, but it served as a nice break from reading. n_n
Until next time,
"Knowledge of what is does not open the door directly to what should be." ~A. Einstein
Well, the second week of classes has started and I am about 63.1692870% prepared. I spent the weekend reading most of the books for the week. Tis a lot of reading, but all of it was very interesting. For this week the books I have to read, know, and understand are:
Musui's Story ~Katsu Kokichi (Japanese History)
Robinson Crusoe ~Daniel Defoe (British Empire)
The Consolation of Philosophy ~Boethius (Medieval)
The Marriage of Figaro ~Beaumarchais (Enlightenment)
These are only the novels I have to read. There are Blackboard readings and other smaller book sections that have to be read as well. >.<
Also, Japanese language adds to the amount of homework. In a previous post I stated that I had to take a placement test to make sure that the 203 class was the next logical step for me. Well, on the first day of that class (Wednesday 8 September) the sensei (professor) handed out last semester's final to those students who had had his class. Naturally, they went over it and I looked on another students paper. As it turns out, the test I had to take was parts of that final. However, this being said, I should confess that I did not pay strict attention when they were going over the exam in class. Thus, when I went to take the placement test I really did have to use my own knowledge for the majority of it. I did fine, missing a couple conjugations and translations, but overall the sensei said that I am in the right class. \^o^/ So I say "Doomo arigatou gozaimasu Li Sensei" (at UNC) for teaching me Japanese for two years.
But anyway, the purpose of this post is about the doors here at Skidmore. THEY ARE VERY LOUD. The majority of the people on my floor slam their doors and there is no rubber edging in the door frame to soften the sounds. >.< This makes for very interesting evenings when people are going in and out of their rooms. I think even the doors in Decker and at UNC in general do not make this much noise, even when you do let them shut on their own. This is something I am going to have to get used to, since I doubt many people are going to change and take the time to make sure they do not slam their doors when they leave or enter their rooms. Granted, I sometimes let the door shut and make a loud noise, but I do my part to not let it become a habit.
Also, the locks here are different. In Decker the door locks on the inside automatically. Here, you have a dead bolt you can lock on the inside, but you have to use your key on the outside to lock the door when you go out. About half the time I forget to lock my door. >.< Am working on that. Also, in Decker it is much easier to get in the room. When you put the key in the lock and turn it, it opens the latch and you can get in with one swift movement of the hand. At Skidmore, the deadbolt lock and the door latch are in two different locations. So you have to unlock the door first and then move your hand to the doorknob and turn it to open the door. So much work to get into the room. So, I have created a shortcut for my door. I have taped the door latch so that it does not click nor make as much noise when I open and close the door. This way, I only have to unlock the door and push it open when I am carrying books or what ever else in my arms. However this has caused some problems. The doors here are not as heavy as those at UNC. Thus, my door often swings open and closed, since it has nothing to keep it shut (unless I bolt my door). Oh well, I would much rather have an easily open-able door than one that makes noise all the time.
Anyway, this will probably one of the weirdest postings about Skidmore, but it served as a nice break from reading. n_n
Until next time,
"Knowledge of what is does not open the door directly to what should be." ~A. Einstein
Friday, September 10, 2010
Tis the Weekend!
Hello again,
Well, I have survived my first week of classes. \^o^/ Granted, it was a short week, but it seemed a lot longer.
One thing for sure, Wednesdays and Fridays are as I suspected. They will be long and tedious days that will require me to get 6 hours (instead of the normal 5) of sleep. But nevertheless, I enjoy all the classes immensely and I do not think I will be dropping any of them. This may come back to haunt me later, but for now, I think it will be manageable.
There is a club fair going on later today and I am looking into crew (rowing) and hopefully will be able to find the rumored judo dojo here in Saratoga. But, if all else fails, I am sure there is an anime/manga club here. >.<
Well, until next time,
"The world is everything that is the case" ~L. Wittgenstein
Well, I have survived my first week of classes. \^o^/ Granted, it was a short week, but it seemed a lot longer.
One thing for sure, Wednesdays and Fridays are as I suspected. They will be long and tedious days that will require me to get 6 hours (instead of the normal 5) of sleep. But nevertheless, I enjoy all the classes immensely and I do not think I will be dropping any of them. This may come back to haunt me later, but for now, I think it will be manageable.
There is a club fair going on later today and I am looking into crew (rowing) and hopefully will be able to find the rumored judo dojo here in Saratoga. But, if all else fails, I am sure there is an anime/manga club here. >.<
Well, until next time,
"The world is everything that is the case" ~L. Wittgenstein
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Second Day of School!
Hello again!
Well, Wednesdays and Fridays are going to be very stressful days, that is for sure. I have four classes all in a row, which is something I have not had since high school. All of my classes seem as if they are going to be very interesting and I will learn a lot. However, the reading load for all of them is a bit overwhelming. >.< Have about 50 to 100 pages of reading for each of the history classes and other types of homework for the Japanese language. I suppose it is good that I am done with classes earlier in the day and have the majority of Tuesdays and Thursdays to play catch up. The weekends too will be spent preparing for the week's reading assignments and making sure all of my writing assignments are up to par.
In some ways, I like the assignment management philosophy here at Skidmore. For most of my classes, I am given a certain number of writing assignments, but I get to choose when I write them and about what I write. This gives me the flexibility to decide when I need to write these assignments, but also teaches me how to further time manage and figure out when it would be the best to get them out of the way.
On the other hand, most of my classes are very heavy on the discussion side of a class. For the benefits of being able to talk about my ideas in class, I also kind of prefer the "chalk and talk" method for some of the historical specificity and basic knowledge learning. But, we shall see what happens as I expand my brain usage to encompass fast analytical skills in the classroom. (Right now they are at a medium speed >.<)
Anyway, here is a break down of my classes:
First thing in the morning I have Medieval history, which is going to be a fun class. Whilst looking at the specificity, the professor also stressed how we will be looking at a lot of the themes and the mindset of the Middle Ages. Lots of reading.
Next I go to British History. So, going into this class, I thought it was both a domestic and empirical look at British history. Not really. It is more focused on British colonization and holdings within the world. So, I kind of did not read the syllubus carefully. But, nonetheless, it will be a fascinating course which does not have an exact match at UNC...something is should discuss with the history department, me thinks. Lots of reading.
After that, I go to Japanese language class. This shall be interesting. My sensei (teacher) wishes for me to take a placement test tomorrow (o.O) and see if the class is a good place for me. The only problem is that I am truly very rusty. I was able to understand him perfectly well today in class, but I could not speak as well as I had hoped I could remember nor am I able to recognize as many kanji as I think I ought to for that class. But perhaps this will be a good class and I will have to work hard to play catch-up for a bit in this class.
Finally, I go to my Enlightenment class. This will probably be the most amazing class for the semester. It is pretty much discussion based and will heavily focus on trying to understand how people in Europe thought in during this time period. Also, at the end of the class, we get to create our own Social Contract, which will be very exciting to see how that turns out. Lots of reading.
So, in all, this happens in the span of five hours in the morning to early afternoon. Hopefully, I will be able to keep my brain going all day and be able to think clearly for all of the classes. I am hoping as well that I do not mix Japanese into either the British history class (in preparation for Japanese) or in the Enlightenment class (having just gotten out of the class).
Also, this schedule is for Wednesdays and Fridays. On Mondays I only have the British history class and Japanese. So it will be nice getting back into the week, but will be an uphill struggle to finish. TT.TT
On a completely different note, I have noticed the way east coast people eat their pizza. Many people fold it in half and eat it like a sandwich. I have seen this at home, but it is much more frequent here. I am curious to know why this is and will have to inquire about it from my suitemates.
Well, until next time,
"I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat." ~W. Churchill
Well, Wednesdays and Fridays are going to be very stressful days, that is for sure. I have four classes all in a row, which is something I have not had since high school. All of my classes seem as if they are going to be very interesting and I will learn a lot. However, the reading load for all of them is a bit overwhelming. >.< Have about 50 to 100 pages of reading for each of the history classes and other types of homework for the Japanese language. I suppose it is good that I am done with classes earlier in the day and have the majority of Tuesdays and Thursdays to play catch up. The weekends too will be spent preparing for the week's reading assignments and making sure all of my writing assignments are up to par.
In some ways, I like the assignment management philosophy here at Skidmore. For most of my classes, I am given a certain number of writing assignments, but I get to choose when I write them and about what I write. This gives me the flexibility to decide when I need to write these assignments, but also teaches me how to further time manage and figure out when it would be the best to get them out of the way.
On the other hand, most of my classes are very heavy on the discussion side of a class. For the benefits of being able to talk about my ideas in class, I also kind of prefer the "chalk and talk" method for some of the historical specificity and basic knowledge learning. But, we shall see what happens as I expand my brain usage to encompass fast analytical skills in the classroom. (Right now they are at a medium speed >.<)
Anyway, here is a break down of my classes:
First thing in the morning I have Medieval history, which is going to be a fun class. Whilst looking at the specificity, the professor also stressed how we will be looking at a lot of the themes and the mindset of the Middle Ages. Lots of reading.
Next I go to British History. So, going into this class, I thought it was both a domestic and empirical look at British history. Not really. It is more focused on British colonization and holdings within the world. So, I kind of did not read the syllubus carefully. But, nonetheless, it will be a fascinating course which does not have an exact match at UNC...something is should discuss with the history department, me thinks. Lots of reading.
After that, I go to Japanese language class. This shall be interesting. My sensei (teacher) wishes for me to take a placement test tomorrow (o.O) and see if the class is a good place for me. The only problem is that I am truly very rusty. I was able to understand him perfectly well today in class, but I could not speak as well as I had hoped I could remember nor am I able to recognize as many kanji as I think I ought to for that class. But perhaps this will be a good class and I will have to work hard to play catch-up for a bit in this class.
Finally, I go to my Enlightenment class. This will probably be the most amazing class for the semester. It is pretty much discussion based and will heavily focus on trying to understand how people in Europe thought in during this time period. Also, at the end of the class, we get to create our own Social Contract, which will be very exciting to see how that turns out. Lots of reading.
So, in all, this happens in the span of five hours in the morning to early afternoon. Hopefully, I will be able to keep my brain going all day and be able to think clearly for all of the classes. I am hoping as well that I do not mix Japanese into either the British history class (in preparation for Japanese) or in the Enlightenment class (having just gotten out of the class).
Also, this schedule is for Wednesdays and Fridays. On Mondays I only have the British history class and Japanese. So it will be nice getting back into the week, but will be an uphill struggle to finish. TT.TT
On a completely different note, I have noticed the way east coast people eat their pizza. Many people fold it in half and eat it like a sandwich. I have seen this at home, but it is much more frequent here. I am curious to know why this is and will have to inquire about it from my suitemates.
Well, until next time,
"I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat." ~W. Churchill
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
The Campus and My Room
I know that Skidmore should not be compared to UNC, but to help others put the campus and whatnot into perspective, here is a brief comparison of the two schools.
Skidmore is a small college with about 2500 students. This in comparison to UNC with 12000 students. This being said, I have seen more of the same people already than I have ever seen at UNC. But that is neither better nor worse, its just different.
The Skidmore campus is very pretty and has much more foliage than UNC. I have not looked into the exact acreage of the campuses, but by just walking around, I think this campus is perhaps the same size as West Campus, including the dorms, recreation center, and the hill with the UC. It is also interesting that four of the main academic halls are joined together into one enormous conglomerate building. This means that in the winter time when it gets cold, I will not have to go outside in between most of my classes. There are also covered walkways to the dining hall from my dorm, which makes it double nice. Skidmore's campus also has a small, quaint pond on the south side, that is very relaxing and pretty. It is close to the recreation center and PVA buildings. There is a student center called the Case Center, which has the bookstore and other student body offices. The Starbuck Center (no relation to the coffee places) is where I go for the NSE coordinator, Registrar, and other academic aid offices. It is kinda like Carter Hall at UNC.
The dining hall is actually very nice. It is more along the style of Holmes, with the winding food stations, but it goes in a large circle instead of a funny oblong half-circle. The food is good, there is a nice variety and there is always ice cream, pizza, and salad to fall back on in case nothing else is good. Like UNC, I had to get the required meal plan, but instead of the 150 meals, I have an unlimited meal plan. This means I can go and eat whenever and however much I want. o.O This in combination with the smaller campus, I will need to watch myself and go exercise more at the recreation center. >.< There are Dining dollars here as well, that can be used for a variety of things both on and off campus, which will be nice.
The buildings themselves are of nice architecture and the insides are very nice. The older buildings are slightly worn, but nonetheless are very pretty. The desks are the same as Greeley; they are the ones with the itty-bitty writing surfaces that do not hold much. The classrooms are smaller and hold 25-ish students.
One fun thing about Skidmore is that there are no sport scholarships offered, so the sports programs are based on interest. I find this a nice change from all the hype about collegiate sports. But, that being said, Skidmore does not have an American football team which could be compared to UNC. Here there is more emphasis on hockey, soccer, and lacrosse.
Other than these things, the college campus is mostly like any other, it has academic buildings, administration buildings, a student center, recreation center, nice landscaping, &tc.
~~~
My room and the dorm itself is also a new and different experience. As I have mentioned before, the dorm is much bigger than I am used to in Decker. Instead of a two person roommate style, I live in a four person suite-style. However it is not like Pres Row at UNC with a door that leads into the separate rooms, but rather there is a corridor that branches off the main corridor and leads to the rooms. The bathroom is thus available to the entire dorm. There are locks on the doors, but it will take some time to get used to them. Hopefully, there will not be hard-core prank wars. n_n.
Anyway, my room is nice. It is about 10' x 12', so somewhere close to the rooms downstairs in Decker. I have a really nice desk/dresser with a cork board, a light, and bookshelves above. To the right of the chair are my drawers for school supplies. To the left is the dresser drawers for clothes. I have a closet, but...it has no doors. o.O It is just an open alcove in the room with a shelf and a bar to hang clothes. Perhaps when I go the store I could buy a shower rod and a sheet to make a make-shift curtain. My bed is nice, but it is lower than what was at UNC and is not adjustable.
BUT the nicest thing about the room is the window seat. It is this nice little area that has a raised cushioned seat where I can sit and look out the fairly large window in the room. It has its own light and there is also another side window that opens to let in fresh air. When I first looked at pictures of the campus I did not see the window shade, and I thought that weird, since it would make having some privacy difficult. But as it turns out, there is a window shade, so no worries.
I have decorated my room with posters and other pictures that I have collected from the past few years at UNC. Some are of Audrey Hepburn, others are of Casablanca, and Monty Python.
Well, hopefully I have described most of the campus and the basics of my room well enough for now. As soon as I get pictures loaded onto the computer and onto the blog, the places and things I am describing should be better explained.
Until next time,
"All knowledge is precious, whether or not it serves the slightest human use." ~A.E. Houseman
Skidmore is a small college with about 2500 students. This in comparison to UNC with 12000 students. This being said, I have seen more of the same people already than I have ever seen at UNC. But that is neither better nor worse, its just different.
The Skidmore campus is very pretty and has much more foliage than UNC. I have not looked into the exact acreage of the campuses, but by just walking around, I think this campus is perhaps the same size as West Campus, including the dorms, recreation center, and the hill with the UC. It is also interesting that four of the main academic halls are joined together into one enormous conglomerate building. This means that in the winter time when it gets cold, I will not have to go outside in between most of my classes. There are also covered walkways to the dining hall from my dorm, which makes it double nice. Skidmore's campus also has a small, quaint pond on the south side, that is very relaxing and pretty. It is close to the recreation center and PVA buildings. There is a student center called the Case Center, which has the bookstore and other student body offices. The Starbuck Center (no relation to the coffee places) is where I go for the NSE coordinator, Registrar, and other academic aid offices. It is kinda like Carter Hall at UNC.
The dining hall is actually very nice. It is more along the style of Holmes, with the winding food stations, but it goes in a large circle instead of a funny oblong half-circle. The food is good, there is a nice variety and there is always ice cream, pizza, and salad to fall back on in case nothing else is good. Like UNC, I had to get the required meal plan, but instead of the 150 meals, I have an unlimited meal plan. This means I can go and eat whenever and however much I want. o.O This in combination with the smaller campus, I will need to watch myself and go exercise more at the recreation center. >.< There are Dining dollars here as well, that can be used for a variety of things both on and off campus, which will be nice.
The buildings themselves are of nice architecture and the insides are very nice. The older buildings are slightly worn, but nonetheless are very pretty. The desks are the same as Greeley; they are the ones with the itty-bitty writing surfaces that do not hold much. The classrooms are smaller and hold 25-ish students.
One fun thing about Skidmore is that there are no sport scholarships offered, so the sports programs are based on interest. I find this a nice change from all the hype about collegiate sports. But, that being said, Skidmore does not have an American football team which could be compared to UNC. Here there is more emphasis on hockey, soccer, and lacrosse.
Other than these things, the college campus is mostly like any other, it has academic buildings, administration buildings, a student center, recreation center, nice landscaping, &tc.
~~~
My room and the dorm itself is also a new and different experience. As I have mentioned before, the dorm is much bigger than I am used to in Decker. Instead of a two person roommate style, I live in a four person suite-style. However it is not like Pres Row at UNC with a door that leads into the separate rooms, but rather there is a corridor that branches off the main corridor and leads to the rooms. The bathroom is thus available to the entire dorm. There are locks on the doors, but it will take some time to get used to them. Hopefully, there will not be hard-core prank wars. n_n.
Anyway, my room is nice. It is about 10' x 12', so somewhere close to the rooms downstairs in Decker. I have a really nice desk/dresser with a cork board, a light, and bookshelves above. To the right of the chair are my drawers for school supplies. To the left is the dresser drawers for clothes. I have a closet, but...it has no doors. o.O It is just an open alcove in the room with a shelf and a bar to hang clothes. Perhaps when I go the store I could buy a shower rod and a sheet to make a make-shift curtain. My bed is nice, but it is lower than what was at UNC and is not adjustable.
BUT the nicest thing about the room is the window seat. It is this nice little area that has a raised cushioned seat where I can sit and look out the fairly large window in the room. It has its own light and there is also another side window that opens to let in fresh air. When I first looked at pictures of the campus I did not see the window shade, and I thought that weird, since it would make having some privacy difficult. But as it turns out, there is a window shade, so no worries.
I have decorated my room with posters and other pictures that I have collected from the past few years at UNC. Some are of Audrey Hepburn, others are of Casablanca, and Monty Python.
Well, hopefully I have described most of the campus and the basics of my room well enough for now. As soon as I get pictures loaded onto the computer and onto the blog, the places and things I am describing should be better explained.
Until next time,
"All knowledge is precious, whether or not it serves the slightest human use." ~A.E. Houseman
First Day of School!
So, today, 7 September, was my first day as a Skidmore student. I only had one class: The Rise of Japan. Apparently, I did not read the course description very carefully, as I thought this would be a course on the early history of Japan. Instead the course focuses on the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries in Japan and the significant political, diplomatic, social, and economic changes that the nation has experienced. So, it is a very interesting class and I hope to learn a great deal.
After class got out, I had lunch and am now back in the room reading Robinson Crusoe.
My thinking about this blog is that soon I shall not have a lot of time to constantly update this blog, so after classes this week, I will have a post that encompasses the entire week's activities.
Until next time,
"Nearly all men can stand adversity but if you want to test a man's character, give him power" ~A. Lincoln
After class got out, I had lunch and am now back in the room reading Robinson Crusoe.
My thinking about this blog is that soon I shall not have a lot of time to constantly update this blog, so after classes this week, I will have a post that encompasses the entire week's activities.
Until next time,
"Nearly all men can stand adversity but if you want to test a man's character, give him power" ~A. Lincoln
Orientation
Hello again,
So, over the weekend, I had the opportunity, nay the privilege to go through orientation. >.< In plain and simple terms, it was the same as that of any other college: tour of campus, icebreakers, where to get help if you need it, &tc.
Saturday started out with a formal meeting for all the transfer students. I suppose it is important to note that I am the only domestic exchange student at Skidmroe for this year. That means that out of the entire nation and all the applicants who tried for Skidmore this year through the NSE program, I was the only selected for this year. With that being said, I am incredibly honored and very grateful to be given this opportunity. Anyway, since there are so few exchange students (2 international and myself) the school combined our group with the transfer students. I believe there was somewhere around 32 transfers this year, most from the east coast. Well, the meeting was informative, but slightly boring. It covered the basics of knowing how to get help around campus and who to contact in case we needed to know something. After that, we all donned our class shirts and went to convocation. Here at Skidmore, the classes take part in convocation. Granted, it is just a formal processional and the classes have banners that we walk behind. For this school year, I am a part of the 2012 class. Convocation was nice, some of the deans and the president of the college spoke to the students and parents, welcoming us to the school.
By this time, I was really hungry. I had not eaten all day and it was about 6 EST when convocation got out. Us transfer/exchange students were given a fairly nice welcome dinner, which was much appreciated. After that, I returned to the dorm for yet another fascinating dorm meeting. Just like home, the meeting consisted of dorm procedures, quiet hours, icebreakers, &tc. Then, to make it even more fun, there was an entire dorm meeting with all four floors of the dorm. That was hectic and makes me never want to be in a dorm bigger than Decker (UNC). I think there are more people on my floor of the dorm than the entirety of Decker. So, definitely something new and exciting. Finally, the last thing I did was go to a pizza party for the transfer/exchange students. Unfortunately, I did not stay long, but got to once again enjoy New York pizza. Yummy. Afterwards, I made calls home to check in with the family and then went to bed.
Sunday was another day of orientation activities. In the morning there was the SKIDMAZING RACE, which was basically a scavenger hunt around campus to help orientate us new students. My team did not complete it and instead went to lunch. Such motivation! >.< After lunch, I went back to my room to begin reading some of my assignments for classes. In the afternoon, I signed up for a tour of campus to find my specific classes, which was not too terribly difficult, so I had time afterwards to time how long it would take to go from classroom to classroom. As it turns out, the most it would take me to get from one class to the next is about five minutes. So, having completed that mission, I went down to the little pond on campus and sat there meditating. Twas very peaceful and relaxing. After about 20 minutes of sitting there, I went to the bus stop where the transfer group was to meet to go downtown. There is a bus and a trolley that can take students downtown for free with the student ID. So we went downtown and walked around the park. Soon after, we went to a cafe and got dinner, which for me, was a BLT bagel. It was really good. I may have to go back to try other things. Also out here Ben and Jerry's is the ice cream of choice, so we went and got ice cream cones as dessert.
Saratoga is known for three main things: the horse track, the natural springs for which the town is named, and the Battle of Saratoga. It the park there are faucets that have some of the spring water that you can taste. One of them tasted like sulfur (icky) and the other tasted like pennies (also icky). But it was the experience that mattered. Since the trolleys were going to stop running, we got the last one back to the campus. The group decided that before going to some showcases, we would go see the college apartments and continue to hang out. I did not stay long and went back to the dorm to read and sleep.
Yesterday, Monday, I spent the entire day reading Robinson Crusoe. There was a sex education program that I could have gone to as part of the orientation, but I decided school work was more important and thus spent the day reading.
So, in all, the only things that I really liked out of orientation were finding my classes and the tour downtown. But I suppose all of it was necessary and may come in handy sometime.
Until next time,
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people" ~E. Roosevelt
So, over the weekend, I had the opportunity, nay the privilege to go through orientation. >.< In plain and simple terms, it was the same as that of any other college: tour of campus, icebreakers, where to get help if you need it, &tc.
Saturday started out with a formal meeting for all the transfer students. I suppose it is important to note that I am the only domestic exchange student at Skidmroe for this year. That means that out of the entire nation and all the applicants who tried for Skidmore this year through the NSE program, I was the only selected for this year. With that being said, I am incredibly honored and very grateful to be given this opportunity. Anyway, since there are so few exchange students (2 international and myself) the school combined our group with the transfer students. I believe there was somewhere around 32 transfers this year, most from the east coast. Well, the meeting was informative, but slightly boring. It covered the basics of knowing how to get help around campus and who to contact in case we needed to know something. After that, we all donned our class shirts and went to convocation. Here at Skidmore, the classes take part in convocation. Granted, it is just a formal processional and the classes have banners that we walk behind. For this school year, I am a part of the 2012 class. Convocation was nice, some of the deans and the president of the college spoke to the students and parents, welcoming us to the school.
By this time, I was really hungry. I had not eaten all day and it was about 6 EST when convocation got out. Us transfer/exchange students were given a fairly nice welcome dinner, which was much appreciated. After that, I returned to the dorm for yet another fascinating dorm meeting. Just like home, the meeting consisted of dorm procedures, quiet hours, icebreakers, &tc. Then, to make it even more fun, there was an entire dorm meeting with all four floors of the dorm. That was hectic and makes me never want to be in a dorm bigger than Decker (UNC). I think there are more people on my floor of the dorm than the entirety of Decker. So, definitely something new and exciting. Finally, the last thing I did was go to a pizza party for the transfer/exchange students. Unfortunately, I did not stay long, but got to once again enjoy New York pizza. Yummy. Afterwards, I made calls home to check in with the family and then went to bed.
Sunday was another day of orientation activities. In the morning there was the SKIDMAZING RACE, which was basically a scavenger hunt around campus to help orientate us new students. My team did not complete it and instead went to lunch. Such motivation! >.< After lunch, I went back to my room to begin reading some of my assignments for classes. In the afternoon, I signed up for a tour of campus to find my specific classes, which was not too terribly difficult, so I had time afterwards to time how long it would take to go from classroom to classroom. As it turns out, the most it would take me to get from one class to the next is about five minutes. So, having completed that mission, I went down to the little pond on campus and sat there meditating. Twas very peaceful and relaxing. After about 20 minutes of sitting there, I went to the bus stop where the transfer group was to meet to go downtown. There is a bus and a trolley that can take students downtown for free with the student ID. So we went downtown and walked around the park. Soon after, we went to a cafe and got dinner, which for me, was a BLT bagel. It was really good. I may have to go back to try other things. Also out here Ben and Jerry's is the ice cream of choice, so we went and got ice cream cones as dessert.
Saratoga is known for three main things: the horse track, the natural springs for which the town is named, and the Battle of Saratoga. It the park there are faucets that have some of the spring water that you can taste. One of them tasted like sulfur (icky) and the other tasted like pennies (also icky). But it was the experience that mattered. Since the trolleys were going to stop running, we got the last one back to the campus. The group decided that before going to some showcases, we would go see the college apartments and continue to hang out. I did not stay long and went back to the dorm to read and sleep.
Yesterday, Monday, I spent the entire day reading Robinson Crusoe. There was a sex education program that I could have gone to as part of the orientation, but I decided school work was more important and thus spent the day reading.
So, in all, the only things that I really liked out of orientation were finding my classes and the tour downtown. But I suppose all of it was necessary and may come in handy sometime.
Until next time,
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people" ~E. Roosevelt
Friday, September 3, 2010
First Days
Hello!
So, as promised, here is how yesterday turned out.
The day started at about 4 in the morning when my ma woke me up to go the airport. Apparently it is not a good thing to have only an hour and a half of sleep. My ma asked me if I wanted one of the Starbucks frappacino and I said okeys. I did not realize it until I drank about half of it on the way to DIA. Sadly, this meant that I was awake for the entirety of the plane ride. But I was also too jittery to read my book for class. Instead I watched the inflight movie: The Back-up Plan. Twas interesting, but was predictable (as are most chick-flicks). I arrived early to Washington Dulles, so I took my time getting to the gate for the plane to Albany. I found the gate and waited for boarding. Unfortunately, when it was time to get on the plane, there were mechanical problems and the flight was delayed. I panicked because I needed to catch a bus from Albany to Saratoga. As it turned out, we made it to Albany and I was able to get the bus. A Skidmore professor was also taking the bus and she helped me a great deal.
When I got to the bus station in Saratoga, Kendra, the NSE coordinator for Skidmore came to pick me up and take me to campus. Upon arrival, we went to the card office and I received my Skidmore ID card. It is like any other student ID in that it gets me into the dorm and it gets me food. After that, we walked more around campus to get my key for the room. We had to go to a couple places to get the key, but finally success. So we went the dorm to find my room. When we were going to the dorm, I met my RA and he helped us find the room. Then, Kendra and I retrieved my luggage and used the dumb waiter to get it up to my room. Afterwards we went to Kendra's office and I got more of a tour of the campus. By the time we got her office, it was about 5 NYT (New York Time a.k.a. EST). So, I was hungry and we went to a nice restaurant called Hattie's. It is a Southern food restaurant which is known for its fried chicken. Naturally I got the fried chicken and, true to its word, it was really good. Along the way, I got the see some of the city and all the pretty Victorian houses. The entire city has a cozy feeling and I am anxious for a weekend when I can go downtown and explore some more.
After that, I was about to collapse, so Kendra brought me back to the dorm and I tried to unpack my luggage. I got about half way when I decided to call home to let everyone know that I was alright. After some phone calls, I went back to unpacking. After a while I decided to take a shower and go to bed. The shower was an interesting experience. Hopefully when I get pictures up on the site it will be clearer, but the way the suite is set up is that there is a hallway the comes off the main corridor in the dorm. At the end of the smaller hallway there are the doors to the rooms. There is a storage closet and the suite bathroom has a door that goes into the sink area, another door for the toilet, and another door for the shower. However, the shower door is made of glass. But it is the glass that is warp-y, so that was some comfort. However, it was really weird to take a shower because the shower is elevated and you can see over the door leading into the hallway. From the other side, you cannot see anything if the door is closed, which is good. Anyway, there was no hot water last time, so needless to say, I took a really quick shower. Hopefully tonight will be better.
After taking the shower, I pretty much fell asleep.
So in all, yesterday was just a lot of traveling, but it was worth every second to be able to come to Skidmore and to New York.
So today's adventures are probably more exciting to read than yesterdays.
I woke up around 11:30 NYT and got dressed. I was to meet up with Kendra at 1, so I decided to look around campus some more and to see the academic buildings. I found the buildings I have classes in, but I only found one of the actual classrooms. I am hoping that on Sunday I will be able to get some help in finding the rooms and seeing if I will be able to make it to all of the classes on time. I took some pictures and will now have to learn how to put them on the blog. The campus is really pretty and everything is very green. I am excited to see all the colors of the fall. Colorado is pretty, but things mostly turn yellow and then die or they are green year round (evergreens). Anyway, after looking around for a little bit, I went to the dining hall and ate my first meal at Skidmore. It consisted of vegetables, a meatball, mac and cheese, a chicken quesadilla, and a glass of Dr. Pepper. Twas rather good. The dining hall is really nice too. There are all of these different stations that have food and you mostly serve yourself as much as you want. with this being said, I am really going to have to watch myself and go exercise regularly.
After eating, I had to go meet with Kendra and we went over some final concerns and questions before school starts Tuesday.
When our meeting was done, I went to the school store and bought my books for the semester. As I told the cashier, I am glad that I am seeing the campus now because for the next 16 weeks, I will have my nose in a book everywhere I go. >.<
After shopping for books, I went back to the dorm and finished putting up posters and getting everything in place. I can now say that I have officially moved into my room! \^o^/
After getting all of that together, I went to dinner, where I had pizza, other pasta, fruit, and a chocolate mousse dessert.
Finally, I returned to the dorm and have been reading Robinson Crusoe and talking to my RA. As it turns out, he and I share a similar interest of Audrey Hepburn. So we talked about her films and other facts about her life. It was a very nice introductory meeting with my RA.
Well, I have said most of all that needs to be said about my first two days here at Skidmore...less more room descriptions and how the campus is. But that will be tomorrow's posting along with the first day of orientation. Tomorrow shall be busy; I have things from 10am NYT to 10pm NYT that I should go to. None of it is really required, but I am going to it, if nothing else, for the opportunity to meet other people and figure out the campus.
Well, until next time,
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" ~Tao Te Ching
So, as promised, here is how yesterday turned out.
The day started at about 4 in the morning when my ma woke me up to go the airport. Apparently it is not a good thing to have only an hour and a half of sleep. My ma asked me if I wanted one of the Starbucks frappacino and I said okeys. I did not realize it until I drank about half of it on the way to DIA. Sadly, this meant that I was awake for the entirety of the plane ride. But I was also too jittery to read my book for class. Instead I watched the inflight movie: The Back-up Plan. Twas interesting, but was predictable (as are most chick-flicks). I arrived early to Washington Dulles, so I took my time getting to the gate for the plane to Albany. I found the gate and waited for boarding. Unfortunately, when it was time to get on the plane, there were mechanical problems and the flight was delayed. I panicked because I needed to catch a bus from Albany to Saratoga. As it turned out, we made it to Albany and I was able to get the bus. A Skidmore professor was also taking the bus and she helped me a great deal.
When I got to the bus station in Saratoga, Kendra, the NSE coordinator for Skidmore came to pick me up and take me to campus. Upon arrival, we went to the card office and I received my Skidmore ID card. It is like any other student ID in that it gets me into the dorm and it gets me food. After that, we walked more around campus to get my key for the room. We had to go to a couple places to get the key, but finally success. So we went the dorm to find my room. When we were going to the dorm, I met my RA and he helped us find the room. Then, Kendra and I retrieved my luggage and used the dumb waiter to get it up to my room. Afterwards we went to Kendra's office and I got more of a tour of the campus. By the time we got her office, it was about 5 NYT (New York Time a.k.a. EST). So, I was hungry and we went to a nice restaurant called Hattie's. It is a Southern food restaurant which is known for its fried chicken. Naturally I got the fried chicken and, true to its word, it was really good. Along the way, I got the see some of the city and all the pretty Victorian houses. The entire city has a cozy feeling and I am anxious for a weekend when I can go downtown and explore some more.
After that, I was about to collapse, so Kendra brought me back to the dorm and I tried to unpack my luggage. I got about half way when I decided to call home to let everyone know that I was alright. After some phone calls, I went back to unpacking. After a while I decided to take a shower and go to bed. The shower was an interesting experience. Hopefully when I get pictures up on the site it will be clearer, but the way the suite is set up is that there is a hallway the comes off the main corridor in the dorm. At the end of the smaller hallway there are the doors to the rooms. There is a storage closet and the suite bathroom has a door that goes into the sink area, another door for the toilet, and another door for the shower. However, the shower door is made of glass. But it is the glass that is warp-y, so that was some comfort. However, it was really weird to take a shower because the shower is elevated and you can see over the door leading into the hallway. From the other side, you cannot see anything if the door is closed, which is good. Anyway, there was no hot water last time, so needless to say, I took a really quick shower. Hopefully tonight will be better.
After taking the shower, I pretty much fell asleep.
So in all, yesterday was just a lot of traveling, but it was worth every second to be able to come to Skidmore and to New York.
So today's adventures are probably more exciting to read than yesterdays.
I woke up around 11:30 NYT and got dressed. I was to meet up with Kendra at 1, so I decided to look around campus some more and to see the academic buildings. I found the buildings I have classes in, but I only found one of the actual classrooms. I am hoping that on Sunday I will be able to get some help in finding the rooms and seeing if I will be able to make it to all of the classes on time. I took some pictures and will now have to learn how to put them on the blog. The campus is really pretty and everything is very green. I am excited to see all the colors of the fall. Colorado is pretty, but things mostly turn yellow and then die or they are green year round (evergreens). Anyway, after looking around for a little bit, I went to the dining hall and ate my first meal at Skidmore. It consisted of vegetables, a meatball, mac and cheese, a chicken quesadilla, and a glass of Dr. Pepper. Twas rather good. The dining hall is really nice too. There are all of these different stations that have food and you mostly serve yourself as much as you want. with this being said, I am really going to have to watch myself and go exercise regularly.
After eating, I had to go meet with Kendra and we went over some final concerns and questions before school starts Tuesday.
When our meeting was done, I went to the school store and bought my books for the semester. As I told the cashier, I am glad that I am seeing the campus now because for the next 16 weeks, I will have my nose in a book everywhere I go. >.<
After shopping for books, I went back to the dorm and finished putting up posters and getting everything in place. I can now say that I have officially moved into my room! \^o^/
After getting all of that together, I went to dinner, where I had pizza, other pasta, fruit, and a chocolate mousse dessert.
Finally, I returned to the dorm and have been reading Robinson Crusoe and talking to my RA. As it turns out, he and I share a similar interest of Audrey Hepburn. So we talked about her films and other facts about her life. It was a very nice introductory meeting with my RA.
Well, I have said most of all that needs to be said about my first two days here at Skidmore...less more room descriptions and how the campus is. But that will be tomorrow's posting along with the first day of orientation. Tomorrow shall be busy; I have things from 10am NYT to 10pm NYT that I should go to. None of it is really required, but I am going to it, if nothing else, for the opportunity to meet other people and figure out the campus.
Well, until next time,
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" ~Tao Te Ching
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Traveling
Well, to put it bluntly: I made it to New York.
I traveled most of the day and am truly exhausted. Thus, tomorrow shall be the day in which I fully and thoroughly describe my experiences of today.
For now, all I can say is that I am starting to really believe that all of this is really happening. Before it just seemed like a dream, but now it is starting to become real.
Until tomorrow,
"Be happy. It is one way of being wise." ~Sidonie Gabrielle Colette
I traveled most of the day and am truly exhausted. Thus, tomorrow shall be the day in which I fully and thoroughly describe my experiences of today.
For now, all I can say is that I am starting to really believe that all of this is really happening. Before it just seemed like a dream, but now it is starting to become real.
Until tomorrow,
"Be happy. It is one way of being wise." ~Sidonie Gabrielle Colette
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