week in review
Last weekend and the beginning of this week were really busy with volunteering for orientation, attending meetings, seeing friends, and getting ready for class. I'll try to bring you up to speed...
Friday, September 1
I was required to attend the welcome and opening speeches, since, technically, I'm a new student. But I was wearing my lovely baby blue volunteer shirt, so lots of people asked me questions. The opening session lasted from 9:00 to 11:00, but I left early to finish my paper for the reading institute (which was due that afternoon). I also skipped the "concurrent sessions," since I felt like I already knew the important stuff. At noon, I met Alison, Katherine, Seana, and Katherine's boyfriend's friend's boyfriend Carl for the TC Street Fair. Aaron, who I met while he was moving in on Thursday, came by while we were waiting, so he joined us for the afternoon. Friday was the day that hurricane Ernesto blew in with force, so the tents at the fair kept trying to blow away. Not many people hung around outside for too long, but we did use our $10 food vouchers to get some lunch. I had falafel and a fresh smoothie. We then visited the main Columbia campus bookstore, but decided that even their sales didn't make the sweatshirts cheap enough for us. Alison had to leave us for a bit to deal with financial aid, but then she and I met back up to share a Transylvanian treat - a chimney cake. It was dairy free, air baked, rolled in cinnamon and sugar, and delicious! I then went back to my room for a nap and some reading. At 8:00pm I had to be at Radio Perfecto to play "hostess" to the TGIF event. One other girl and I wore our blue shirts, welcomed people, and signed them up for the door prize drawing. The student activities office paid for lots of appetizers, and drinks were happy hour prices until close! 200 people signed up to attend, and close to that many showed up. The line was out the door! I felt like my blue shirt gave me power and confidence, and I talked to lots of people. Unfortunately, I no longer remember most of their names. However, when I did the drawing at the end of the night, I knew all four people whose names were chosen! Cool! Check out the pictures below.
Saturday, September 2
On Saturday morning, which was rainy and gray, I met with a group to visit IKEA in New Jersey. I wasn't supposed to help with this, but I wanted to go just because I love IKEA! We rode the subway to 42nd Street Port Authority, and then took a free bus to the store. I didn't plan to buy anything, but I ended up with a rug, a tray, a pot, and a cheap fleece blanket. When we got to the check out stands, we could smell cinnamon rolls baking. A couple of the girls I met went for those and some coffee. Next time I won't eat first and I'll have their 99 cent breakfast instead! We finally got back at about 2:30 in the afternoon. I was cold, wet, tired, and a little motion sick from the bus ride, so I skipped out on the rest of the activities for the day, but went to a dorm party on the 10th floor in the evening.
Sunday, September 3
On Sunday morning I volunteered to lead a group for TC's Amazing Race. It was a scavenger hunt around Manhattan. We had to follow clues, collect souvenirs, and take pictures. My team was eighth to leave school, and we were the second back! We didn't win for time, but we won a $75 gift certificate for one of the souvenirs we brought back - a rock from Rockefeller Center! It was so much fun to see new places, but we were absolutely exhausted when we got back! There was an ice cream party in the afternoon, which was good since we didn't stop for lunch during the race (from 11:00 to 3:00). In the evening I met a couple of new girls to go to church at RPC. I had put up posters with all the other orientation posters inviting people to join me, and the two girls took me up on the offer! Check out pictures from the Amazing Race below.
Monday, September 4
I volunteered to lead a group to the Caribbean Day Parade in Brooklyn. It was all the way at the end of the 4 subway line - far, far away... We left school at 9:00 and rode the subway for about an hour. The neighborhood was, well, not exactly Johnson County. There were hundreds of police, and I wasn't sure if we should feel good because they were there to protect us or scared because of what their presence implied. It was kinda funny to be in the all-black neighborhood at a Caribbean parade with about thirty new students, some of whom were white and most of whom were fresh from Asia. We really stood out! One of the Chinese girls wanted to know if there was a Starbucks nearby, so I asked a policeman. He got a bit worried about us, and told us not to go looking for one and to get back on the subway when the parade was done. It was actually funny. :-) I felt completely safe, don't worry. Most of the parade was political candidates, and none of the fun Brazilian carnival stuff I was expecting. Some in our group spotted Hillary Clinton, and that was about as much excitement there was by 1:30. I left then, hoping the students would be able to find their way back, and return to TC.
Jenn, who I worked with in China, ended up staying in the US for an extra week. At her urging, I decided to skip the Tuesday meetings, and she drove into the city to pick me up for a sleep over at her mom's house in Nutley, New Jersey. The drive was beautiful, and it was nice to get out of the city. We sat in her backyard by the pool and caught up on one another's lives. In the evening, we visited a pet store so that I could meet a puppy Jenn has fallen in love with. Then we stopped at Blockbuster and rented End of the Spear, about five missionaries in South America. We walked in to town for dinner at a little steakhouse, then watched the movie back at the house. Sleep overs are fun!
Tuesday, September 5
Jenn and I ran errands around Nutley, including cashing a postal money order so she could pay for Dave's Chinese Visa in New York City. Then we took a public shuttle to the city and went to the Chinese Consulet. We went to Barnes and Nobel so Jenn could stock up on books to take to Beijing with her, and then we visited my dorm room. Our time together ended with a delicious lunch of New York pizza at a restaurant near school.
After Jenn left, I visited my advisor at TC and she confirmed that I'm in the right classes for the semester and that I will be able to finish by May! Yay! Then I started the process of hunting down textbooks.
Wow. No wonder I was so tired! I was really busy, but I had a ton of fun. Now I'm back in the swing of classes, with two on Wednesday night and one on Thursday night. Today I have to visit student accounts and hand over a few thousand smackaroos. Perhaps I'll stop back by the blog later tonight to let you know how I spent the rest of my Friday.
Friday, September 1
I was required to attend the welcome and opening speeches, since, technically, I'm a new student. But I was wearing my lovely baby blue volunteer shirt, so lots of people asked me questions. The opening session lasted from 9:00 to 11:00, but I left early to finish my paper for the reading institute (which was due that afternoon). I also skipped the "concurrent sessions," since I felt like I already knew the important stuff. At noon, I met Alison, Katherine, Seana, and Katherine's boyfriend's friend's boyfriend Carl for the TC Street Fair. Aaron, who I met while he was moving in on Thursday, came by while we were waiting, so he joined us for the afternoon. Friday was the day that hurricane Ernesto blew in with force, so the tents at the fair kept trying to blow away. Not many people hung around outside for too long, but we did use our $10 food vouchers to get some lunch. I had falafel and a fresh smoothie. We then visited the main Columbia campus bookstore, but decided that even their sales didn't make the sweatshirts cheap enough for us. Alison had to leave us for a bit to deal with financial aid, but then she and I met back up to share a Transylvanian treat - a chimney cake. It was dairy free, air baked, rolled in cinnamon and sugar, and delicious! I then went back to my room for a nap and some reading. At 8:00pm I had to be at Radio Perfecto to play "hostess" to the TGIF event. One other girl and I wore our blue shirts, welcomed people, and signed them up for the door prize drawing. The student activities office paid for lots of appetizers, and drinks were happy hour prices until close! 200 people signed up to attend, and close to that many showed up. The line was out the door! I felt like my blue shirt gave me power and confidence, and I talked to lots of people. Unfortunately, I no longer remember most of their names. However, when I did the drawing at the end of the night, I knew all four people whose names were chosen! Cool! Check out the pictures below.
Saturday, September 2
On Saturday morning, which was rainy and gray, I met with a group to visit IKEA in New Jersey. I wasn't supposed to help with this, but I wanted to go just because I love IKEA! We rode the subway to 42nd Street Port Authority, and then took a free bus to the store. I didn't plan to buy anything, but I ended up with a rug, a tray, a pot, and a cheap fleece blanket. When we got to the check out stands, we could smell cinnamon rolls baking. A couple of the girls I met went for those and some coffee. Next time I won't eat first and I'll have their 99 cent breakfast instead! We finally got back at about 2:30 in the afternoon. I was cold, wet, tired, and a little motion sick from the bus ride, so I skipped out on the rest of the activities for the day, but went to a dorm party on the 10th floor in the evening.
Sunday, September 3
On Sunday morning I volunteered to lead a group for TC's Amazing Race. It was a scavenger hunt around Manhattan. We had to follow clues, collect souvenirs, and take pictures. My team was eighth to leave school, and we were the second back! We didn't win for time, but we won a $75 gift certificate for one of the souvenirs we brought back - a rock from Rockefeller Center! It was so much fun to see new places, but we were absolutely exhausted when we got back! There was an ice cream party in the afternoon, which was good since we didn't stop for lunch during the race (from 11:00 to 3:00). In the evening I met a couple of new girls to go to church at RPC. I had put up posters with all the other orientation posters inviting people to join me, and the two girls took me up on the offer! Check out pictures from the Amazing Race below.
Monday, September 4
I volunteered to lead a group to the Caribbean Day Parade in Brooklyn. It was all the way at the end of the 4 subway line - far, far away... We left school at 9:00 and rode the subway for about an hour. The neighborhood was, well, not exactly Johnson County. There were hundreds of police, and I wasn't sure if we should feel good because they were there to protect us or scared because of what their presence implied. It was kinda funny to be in the all-black neighborhood at a Caribbean parade with about thirty new students, some of whom were white and most of whom were fresh from Asia. We really stood out! One of the Chinese girls wanted to know if there was a Starbucks nearby, so I asked a policeman. He got a bit worried about us, and told us not to go looking for one and to get back on the subway when the parade was done. It was actually funny. :-) I felt completely safe, don't worry. Most of the parade was political candidates, and none of the fun Brazilian carnival stuff I was expecting. Some in our group spotted Hillary Clinton, and that was about as much excitement there was by 1:30. I left then, hoping the students would be able to find their way back, and return to TC.
Jenn, who I worked with in China, ended up staying in the US for an extra week. At her urging, I decided to skip the Tuesday meetings, and she drove into the city to pick me up for a sleep over at her mom's house in Nutley, New Jersey. The drive was beautiful, and it was nice to get out of the city. We sat in her backyard by the pool and caught up on one another's lives. In the evening, we visited a pet store so that I could meet a puppy Jenn has fallen in love with. Then we stopped at Blockbuster and rented End of the Spear, about five missionaries in South America. We walked in to town for dinner at a little steakhouse, then watched the movie back at the house. Sleep overs are fun!
Tuesday, September 5
Jenn and I ran errands around Nutley, including cashing a postal money order so she could pay for Dave's Chinese Visa in New York City. Then we took a public shuttle to the city and went to the Chinese Consulet. We went to Barnes and Nobel so Jenn could stock up on books to take to Beijing with her, and then we visited my dorm room. Our time together ended with a delicious lunch of New York pizza at a restaurant near school.
After Jenn left, I visited my advisor at TC and she confirmed that I'm in the right classes for the semester and that I will be able to finish by May! Yay! Then I started the process of hunting down textbooks.
Wow. No wonder I was so tired! I was really busy, but I had a ton of fun. Now I'm back in the swing of classes, with two on Wednesday night and one on Thursday night. Today I have to visit student accounts and hand over a few thousand smackaroos. Perhaps I'll stop back by the blog later tonight to let you know how I spent the rest of my Friday.
posted by Jen Reed @ 11:20 AM
1 Comments:
At 4:35 PM,
Jill Pole said…
Jen - I love your blog! You are living my dream adventure, New York City.... Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blog world. I am actually in the middle of the book on singleness that you recommended. I feel like I should know who you are. Our lives have some interesting similarities. I lived in Dalian, China for two years. How was Shanghai? Please stop by and comment again if you get the chance. --Dee Anne (Jill's my internet alias...)
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