Go Cats!!

Wildcats that is..

Så er football season endelig i gang, og dermed også "Friday Night Lights". Vi var til Valdosta High School kampen hvor de mødte Thomas County (nabobyen) - og VHS vandt. Selvom gutterne på banen ikke ser helt små ud, så er de faktisk teenagere alle sammen. 

I Valdosta er der to high schools: City og County, og enten holder man med det ene hold, eller det andet hold, men jeg tillader mig nu at undlade at vælge side ;-) 

Normalvis er der større opbakning til high school kampe, end til college kampe, hvilket formentligt skyldes forældre, bedsteforældre m.v., men der kommer også mange som ikke har nogen relation til hverken spillere, cheerleadere eller bandet - f.eks. Larry fra Bainbridge, som inviterede os. 

Larry kommer typisk til alle kampe, og Bainbridge er altså 2 timer kørsel fra Valdosta.

Det er imponerende at selv football på high school niveau, er SÅ stort som det er her. På det lille stadion i Valdosta er der plads til ca. 12.000, og når City møder County, SÅ er der fyldt!

Jeg kan i øvrigt tilføje, at jeg nu forstår football...

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Football season has finally kicked off, also including Friday night Lights. We went to the Valdosta High school game vs. Thomas County (the neighbor town) - and VHS won. Even though the guys on the field don't look it, they are actually all teenagers. 

In Valdosta you have two primary high schools: City or County, and either you're with one team or the other, however I think I will refrain from choosing sides ;-) 

Usually you'll have more people at the high school games than at college games, which I image has to do with parents, grand parents etc. However, there are also a lot of visitors who have no relation to the players, the cheerleaders or the band - like Larry from Bainbridge who invited us. 

Larry will usually attend all games, and Bainbridge is a 2 hour drive from Valdosta. The small Valodsta stadium will seat around 12,000 people, and when City plays County, it is FULL!

It is impressive that even high school football is as big a deal here, as it is.

By the way, I now understand football... 

Shopping time!

Så blev der endelig tid til lidt shopping - i første omgang kun efter sportstøj og sneakers, men der røg da lidt i kurven ;-)

Det gik lidt over gevind da en af ekspedienterne fortalte mig om deres udsalg som netop var startet: 50% på alt som koster xx,98$, hvilket betød nye tennissko til 12,5$, t-shirts for 5$ m.m.

Og så er der en rettelse til mit tidligere indlæg.. Forrige weekend fejrede vi Basaks fødselsdag.. Hun fortalte at det var hendes 21-års fødselsdag, men det har siden hen vist sig, at hun ikke er 21.. Men 20! I Tyrkiet snakker man ikke om hvor mange år man har levet, men hvilket år af sit liv man begynder på. Så da vi alle troede at Basak var "legal", var hun det i virkeligheden ikke. Dét var rimeligt sjovt, og jeg troede næsten ikke på det da hun forklarede det :-) 

Basak så i øvrigt min cykel på campus i dag, men da hun ikke var helt sikker på det var min, gjorde hun ikke umiddelbart noget andet end at sende et billede. Rimeligt dumt af vedkommende som har taget den, rent faktisk at bruge den på skolen... :-p

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Finally I've had some time to shop - for now just for sports clothing and sneakers, but I did get a few things ;-)

It kind of went out of hand when one of the sales clerks told me about the sale they had just started: 50% on anything priced at .98$, which to me meant new tennis shows for 12.5$, t-shirts for 5$ and much more.

And now for a small correction to my previous post.. Two weeks ago we celebrated Basak's birthday. She told us it was her 21st birthday, however we now know that she is not 21... But 20! In Turkey, you don't really say how many years you've lived, but rather which year of your life you are beginning. So as we were all thinking Basak was 'legal', she really wasn't. It was hilarious, and I could hardly believe it when she explained it :-)

By the way, Basak saw my bike at campus today, but she wasn't entirely sure it was mine, so she didn't do anything at the time, but send a picture. Pretty stupid of the person who took it, to actually use it on campus.... :-p 

Where's my bike?

EFTERLYSNING: HVOR ER MIN CYKEL?

Ja, vi kom hjem fra Columbus søndag eftermiddag, og netop som vi kører ind på parkeringspladsen, og jeg for sjov nævner "at det bliver spændende og se om vores cykler har overlevet weekenden", går det op for os alle, at min cykel er væk, stjålet, pist borte.

Så selvom det var det sidste jeg havde overskud til, måtte jeg have fat i campus police for at "file a report" (ja, en betjent kom ned til mig, lyttede til min historie, og jeg skulle skrive en rapport). I Danmark klarer vi cykeltyverier elektronisk, og derefter kan du få udbetalt din forsikring. Herovre er det hele manuelt, skriftligt, og der er ingen forsikring på cykler. 

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WANTED: MY BIKE BACK?!

Yes, we came back from Columbus Sunday afternoon, and just as we are driving up to Centennial, and I, as a joke, say that "We'll have to see if our bikes made it through the weekend", we all realize that mine is gone, stolen, disappeared. 

So even though it was the last thing I felt like doing after a long weekend, I had to call campus police to file a report and make a statement. I was surprised that they actually sent an officer down to take my statement and everything. In Denmark we handle a bike theft electronically, and then you get your insurance. Here, everything is manual and written in hand, and there is no insurance on a bike. 

"Talent" night (maybe not so talented...)

Alle GRSP studerende samt trustees : All the GRSP students and trustees

Mine trustees (afgående tv., kommende th.), samt værtsforældre : My trustees (former left, soon-to-be right) and my host parents

Ja, der blev taget et par billeder - eller nærmere flere tusinde. Uden at have talt, var der nok ca. 20 fotografer i gang i løbet af lørdag aften :-) 

Efter endnu flere oplæg, herunder et oplæg omkring amerikansk lovgivning ifht. alkohol, stoffer, og kørsel, var der nemlig "talent show", hvilket kan være problematisk når man ikke umiddelbart har en masse talenter. Vi lavede den klassiske og gik sammen alle 8 danskere for at lave noget om Danmark. Vores, efter min mening, rimeligt succesfulde indslag, bestod af fun facts about Denmark og lidt lanciers. I kan se lidt af skowet her. Hvis I klikker på linket, vil I desuden kunne finde flere af de andre indslag på youtube. 

Vores weekend-værter har virkeligt kørt os rundt i de få timer de har haft os. Vi har været på IHOP (International House of Pancakes) til morgenmad, til frokost forskellige steder, samt is til dessert. I stedet for at køre i bil, har vi kørt i denne her... 

Der har været mange snakke med vores weekend-værter om kultur henover bordet, og det har været en særligt god oplevelse eftersom de har et helt andet syn på kulturen, da de også selv har en anden baggrund. 

I morgen slutter weekenden med white river rafting på Chattahoochee river, og så den lange tur hjem til Valdosta. 

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Yes, a few pictures were taken - or more like a thousand. Without having counted, there were more than 20 photographers Saturday night :-)

After a new set of speeches, including one about American law in relations to alcohol, drugs and driving, it was time for the talent show, which can be quite a challenge, when you don't really have a talent. We did what you usually do, and got together in the Danish group (4 guys, 4 girls), to make a short performance about Denmark. Our, in my opinion, pretty successful show, included fun facts about Denmark and a bit of Les Lanciers. You can see a bit of the show here. By following the link to Youtube, you can also find some of the other shows. 

Our weekend hosts have really been driving us around all weekend. From IHOP in the morning, to different places for afternoon lunch/snack, and ice cream for dessert. Rather than driving in cars, we've been driving an old school bus, which was pretty cool.

There have been a lot of chats with our weekend hosts about culture, and it has been an especially good experience since they themselves have a different background, and therefore an entirely different perspective on American culture. 

Tomorrow, we'll end the weekend with white river rafting on the Chattahoochee river, and then we'll go the long way home to Valdosta.

The end of a chaotic week

Slutningen på "drop-week" er en weekendtur til Columbus, GA til det første GRSP-arrangement: Conclave. 

Jeg er endt med fagene physical fitness, improvisation, french (intermediate conversation), exploring success, marketing channels og leadership skills. Det er rart endelig at have sit skema på plads, men nu kommer næste hurdle: at få styr på alt det andet! Bøger, lektier, quizzes, prøver osv. Men det må vente til næste uge. 

Weekenden startede kl. 8 fredag morgen hvor vi satte ud på vores 4 timers køretur til Columbus (det er altså ret langt!). Efter en masse små oplæg skulle vi til middag på the National Infantry Museum, hvor middag og underholdning var leveret af den lokale base. Det var en fascinerende tur igennem museet som viste scener forskellige fra krige. Mest tankevækkende er det, at selvom udstillingen er historie, så foregår de samme ting netop som man er der flere steder i verden.

Over weekenden bor alle studerende hos lokale rotarianere. Vi er 8 piger som bor hos et indisk par med to små børn -  to piger på hvert sove- og badeværelse, så ja, de har et kæmpe hus. De har forklaret at én af årsagerne til at de har valgt at være i USA, er for at deres børn ikke skal igennem den hårde konkurrence der er i det indiske skolesystem - og jeg som anså det amerikanske skolesystem for værende konkurrence-mindet.  

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The end of drop-week is a trip to Columbus, GA for the first GRSP event: Conclave. 

I've ended up with the following courses: physical fitness, improvisation, , French (intermediate conversation), exploring success, marketing channels and leadership skills. It's nice to finally have my schedule in order, however next challenge ahead is to figure everything else out! Books, homework, quizzes, tests etc. But that will have to wait till next week. 

The weekend started Friday morning 8AM, where we were picked up for the 4 hour drive to Columbus (that is pretty far by the way!). After a bunch of presentations we were going to have dinner at the National Infantry Museum, where both dinner and entertainment was provided by the local base. It was a fascinating entrance to dinner through the museum, however it really made you think about how even though you're looking at a piece of history, it is really still going on several places around the world. 

During the weekend all students are staying with local Rotarians. We are 8 girls staying with an Indian couple with two small kids - two girls to each bed- and bathroom, so yes, they have a huge house! They have explained that one of the reasons they chose to come and stay in the US, is so their children wouldn't have to go through the competitiveness of the Indian school system - and I who thought of the American school system as being competitive. 

Rotary Family day and my new bike

Estefania, Basak and I

Jim & Jimmy at the cooker

Pre-cookout prayer

Classic cookout

"The team" (bike-givers, Jim, Rob and Dr. Nikolav)

The three Rotary presidents

I lørdags var vi som nævnt til Rotary Family Day i McKey Park. Der var medlemmer samt familie fra tre Rotary klubber i området: Valdosta, Valdosta North samt Nashville-Berrien Rotary. Der var cook-out med hamburgers & hotdogs - en rigtig amerikansk klassiker. 

Et andet højdepunkt på dagen var at tre rotarianere havde taget cykler med til os, så vi kan komme rundt på campus lidt nemmere. Det er DEJLIGT at have en cykel, da det langt fra er lige så varmt som at gå, og så går det også bare SÅ meget hurtigere, hvilket er praktisk når man f.eks. opdager at man er taget til den forkerte bygning, og allerede er 2 min. forsinket til time (som i mandags). Tak Mr. Jim Galloway!

Det er ikke så normalt at cykle herovre, som i DK. Enkelte steder er der cykelstier (meget få steder), men man skal selv være rimeligt opmærksom, da man ikke kan forvente at billisterne er det. Så vi cykler en del på fortovet, bare for at være på den sikre side ;-)

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This Saturday we, as mentioned, went to the Rotary Family Day in McKey Park. There were members from three Rotary clubs from the area: Valdosta, Valdosta North and Nashville-Berrien Rotary. It was a classic American cookout with hamburgers & hotdogs. 

Another highlight of the day was that three rotarians had brought bikes for us, so we can get around campus easier. It is SO nice to have a bike, as it is much cooler and way faster than walking, which is quite practical when you suddenly realize you've gone to the wrong building, and are already 2 mins. late for class (like I did Monday). Thank You Mr. Jim Galloway!

It is not so normal to bike around over here, as it is in Denmark. A few places they have bike paths, but very few, and you have to be very careful and pay attention to traffic, as you can't expect the the drivers to be aware of bikes. So we go on the sidewalk a lot, just to be safe ;-)

Valdosta North Rotary

På min 2. skoledag, tog jeg en pause fra skolen for at tage til møde i Valdosta North Rotary. Jeg har planlagt mit skema så jeg ikke har timer imens der er Rotary møder. 

På billedet står jeg med Audrey King, som er præsident i klubben, og som både hentede og bragte mig til mødet. 

Mødet er på mange måder ligesom i Valdosta-klubben, men tingene går lidt hurtigere, da de fleste kun har én time til frokost, inden de skal være tilbage på job. Rotarianerne er alle sammen SÅ søde, åbne og venlige. En af de store forskelle på dansk og amerikansk kultur er, at når du får en invitation til middag eller andet herovre, så vil de virkelig gerne se dig til middag - modsat os danskere som er rigtigt gode til at lave åbne aftaler, som aldrig rigtigt bliver til noget :-)

Min undervisning i dag har foregået på North Campus, som er Health and Business fakulteterne. Lokalerne er nye og lækre, og i forhold til ceramics og history, føler jeg mig lidt mere hjemme i Promotion Principles og Leadership skills. På trods af gode intentioner om at prøve noget nyt, vildt og anerledes, ender jeg nok i samme boldgade som hjemme i DK.

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On my 2nd day of classes I took a break from school to go to the Valdosta North Rotary meeting. I have planned my schedule so I don't have any classes while there are Rotary meetings. In the picture I'm with Audrey king who is the Club President, and who both picked me up and dropped me off for the meeting. 

The meeting is in many ways similar to the Valdosta club, but things move a bit faster as most of the members only have one hour for lunch before they have to get back to work. All the rotarians are super nice, open and friendly. One of the big differences between Danish and American culture is that when someone over here invites you to dinner, they actually really want to see you - as opposed to us Danes who are good at making all kinds of open invitations that never really happen :-)

My classes today were in the North Campus, which is the Health and Business departments. The facilities are new and really nice, and compared to ceramics and history, I felt more at home in Promotion Principles and Leadership skills. In spite of all my good intentions to try something new, crazy and different, I'm probably going to end up down the same alley as back home. 

Yachts and champagne....

... og Basaks 21-års fødselsdag!

Okay, måske ikke helt en yacht, men det var faktisk champagne! - fra Californien... Og båden betegnes nok bedre som en cykel-båd, men vi lod som om i en halv time imens vi flød rundt på søen ved Jim og Theresa, i mørke, og med 10.000 små insekter. 

Basak har nemlig proklameret at hun normalt fejrer andres fødselsdage ved at leje en yatch og sejle på floden i Istanbul - og drikke champagne.. 

Basak havde fødselsdag i går - lørdag, og for at fejre hende fik vi cupcakes på vej hjem fra Rotary Family Day (indlæg følger). Jeg fik en "Choc'oholic", og jeg kunne næsten spise op. Om aftenen var vi ude at spise på Steel Magnolias i downtown Valdosta. Vi fik salat - Basaks livret ;-) - og et par andre ting. Maden var lækker og billig, selvom det er et af de dyrere steder i byen. Vi fik salat og delte nogle forskellige forretter, og jeg fik et glas vin = 20$ (inkl. drikkepenge). I think I'm gonna like it here ;-)

I morgen starter skolen, og jeg har næsten styr på mit skema - såfremt jeg altså kan få lov til at tage de fag som jeg har fundet frem til. Det bliver endnu en hektisk uge med en masse ting på programmet, og den sluttes af med GRSP Conclave i Columbus hele weekenden.

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.... And Basak's 21st birthday!

Okay, maybe it wasn't quite a yacht, but it was actually champagne! - From California... And the boat is probably more of a paddle boat, but we pretended for a good half hour, floating around on the pond at Jim and Theresa's, in the dark, with around 10,000 insects.

Basak has proclaimed that this is the way she usually celebrate birthdays by renting a yacht and sail the river in Istanbul - and drink champagne. 

Basak's birthday was yesterday - Saturday, and to celebrate we had cupcakes on the way home from Rotary Family Day (blog post will follow). I had the "Choc'oholic", and I almost managed to finish it. 

For dinner we went to Steel Magnolias in downtown Valdosta. We had salad - Basak's favorite ;-) and a few other things. The food was good and cheap even though it's one of the more pricy places in town. We had salads and shared a few appetizers, and I had a glass of wine = 20$ (incl. the tip). I think I'm gonna like it here! ;-)

Tomorrow, school is starting, and I have almost figured out my schedule - assuming that I can actually take the courses that I have found so far. It is going to be another hectic week with a busy schedule, and to finish it off we have the GRSP Conclave in Columbus all weekend. 

Finally really moving in!

 Så lykkedes det endelig! Jeg har fået nyt gulv - det er ikke træ, men plastik ;-) Men super dejligt, og bedre end gulvtæppe! Og da de fjernede det gamle tæppe, forsvandt lugten også. 

Der er stadig lidt vej før værelset kan føles som et hyggeligt hjem, men det kommer nok i løbet af de næste par uger, som man får samlet lidt ting sammen, og hængt nogle billeder op.

Torsdag morgen var vi til New student convocation i sportshallen som i bund og grund var et par forskellige taler efterfulgt af et motivations-indslag fra Arel Moodie, om hvordan man skal tage skæbnen i egen hånd og springe ud i college-livet. 

Bagefter fik alle røde t-shirts (ikke alle tog dem på), og så stillede vi op til billede ude på græsset. 18 fordi de nye studerende bliver færdige i 2018. 

På vej tilbage tog vi nogle billeder foran bagindgangen til uni - og jeg blev photobombet af en gut på cykel ;-)

Eftermiddagen blev brugt på at undersøge alle fag fra ende til anden, og udvælge de mest interessante, og derefter prøve at få skemaet til at gå op. Indtil videre har vi brugt 3 timer, og der går nok også et par timer med det i dag. 

I dag skal vi til International scholarship students meeting, og så må vi se hvad vi får resten af dagen til at gå med :-)

Det har været en lidt træls start på mit college-life, men nu føler jeg endelig at man kan begynde at slå sig lidt ned.

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And so it finally happened! I got a new floor - it's not wood, but plastic ;-) But super nice and much better than a carpet! And as they removed the old carpet, the smell went away as well. I still have some way to go before the room will feel like a real "hyggelig" home for me, but I'm sure it will come along over the next few weeks as I put up some pictures and stuff. 

Thursday morning we went to the New student convocation at the gym, which basically was a few speeches and a motivational talk by Arel Moodie about how to make the jump into college life. 

Afterwards everybody got red V-state t-shirts (not everybody wore them), and then we got out to take the picture you see above. 18 because the freshmen will graduate in 2018. 

On the way back to the dorm we took some pictures in front of the back entrance to VSU, and I got photobombed by a guy on a bike ;-) 

We spent the afternoon looking through all VSU's courses and picked out the most interesting ones, and then tried to solve the scheduling puzzle! So far we've spent three hours, and I think we'll be spending a couple of hours today too.

Now we're heading to the International scholarship students meeting, and then we'll see what we'll do for the rest of the day :-)

It's been a bit of a rough start to my college life, but now I'm finally starting to feel like I can settle down for a bit.

New beginnings and new carpets...

Efter en dejlig nats søvn i hvad føles som min egen seng, mødte vi ind til 2. dag med orientation. I dag skulle vi skrive os op til fag, men problemet var bare at jeg ikke rigtigt vidste hvilke fag jeg skulle vælge!

Vi havde 1½ time til at skrive os op. Meget underligt, og lidt stressende da vi ikke rigtigt kendte mulighederne på forhånd, eller vidste noget som helst om hvordan det fungerede. 

Heldigvis er det sådan herovre, at man skriver sig op til nogle fag, og i løbet af næste uge er der "drop-out week", hvilket betyder at du frit kan droppe dine fag, og vælge nogle helt andre. Rimeligt fint koncept, men når udvalget er så stort, bliver det hurtigt lidt uoverskueligt. Derudover skal du selv få dit skema til at gå op, så når man vil have fri hver fredag, og tirsdag+onsdag middag for at tage til Rotary-ting, så bliver det lidt kompliceret. 

Jeg endte med microeconomics, American history, Georgia - A Spanish boarderland, Problems in sociology, Exploring Success, men der er vist en del af dem som bliver skiftet ud allerede inden næste uge :-)

Efter en kort video-konference med Ry Rotary (1 min. - 35 mins. forberedelse pga. teknikken), var jeg spændt på at se hvordan det stod til i min lejlighed og på mit værelse. Desværre var lugten ikke blevet bedre, på trods af at tæppet nu var helt tørt, og for at undgå at gøre noget forkert, ringede jeg til Rob og bad om hans hjælp til at løse situationen - og det gjorde han i løbet af 30 min! :-) Et hold fra "housing" kom til mit værelse, og fortalte at de ville udskifte tæppet, men at det dog først ville blive i morgen tidlig. Jeg skulle blot sørge for ikke at have noget liggende løst på værelset, og ingen ting på gulvet, så ordner de resten. 

Om aftenen fik vi vores første amerikanske kirke-oplevelse da Christ's Fellowship Church inviterede på international middag - noget de gør hvert år. Efter middagen var der en smule "contemporary service", som betyder at de har et band der spiller moderne musik med religiøse tekster. Jeg vil kalde det et interessant og underholdende koncept, og folkene fra kirken var super søde. 

Og nu er det tid til endnu i nat hos Jim og Theresa - forhåbentligt kan jeg flytte rigtigt ind i morgen :-) 

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After a lovely night in what feels like my own bed (at Jim and Theresa's), we started our 2nd day of orientation. Today we chose our classes for the semester. Only problem was - I had no idea what to chose!

We had 1½ hours to sign up. Very strange, and pretty chaotic seeing as we didn't really know the possibilities beforehand, and didn't know how things worked. 

Luckily, over here it works so that you sign up for classes, and then during next week they have "drop-out week" where you can drop any class, and take another. Pretty cool concept, only with this huge amount of classes it quickly seems overwhelming. Plus, you have to coordinate your own schedule, so when wanting to be off for Fridays, and Tuesdays and Wednesdays afternoons to attend Rotary events, it gets complicated. 

I ended up with micro economics, American history, Georgia- A Spanish boarderland, Problems in sociology, Exploring Success, but I think I'm changing most of them before next week :-)

After a quick video-conference with Ry Rotary (1 min. - 35 prep due to IT), I was looking forward to checking on my room. Unfortunately, the smell had not gotten better, so to avoid doing anything wrong, I called Rob to ask for help solving the situation - and he did in 30 mins! A team from housing came down and quickly decided that they would replace my carpet, but that they couldn't get to it until tomorrow. I just needed to get my stuff up from the floor, and into the drawers, and the would take care of the rest. 

For dinner we had our first American church experience as the Christ's Fellowship Church invited to international dinner, which they do every year. Afterwards they had a contemporary service with just a few songs from the band, and then we had presentations of all international students. I would call it an interesting and entertaining experience, and the people from the church were really nice. 

And now it's time for another night at Jim and Theresa's - hopefully, tomorrow, I can move in for good :-)

Moving out...

Fra hovedindgangen til Centennial :::: From the main entrance to Centennial

I dag havde vi første orientation-day. På en måde kan det sammenlignes med vores rusuger, men samtidig slet ikke! Programmet i dag var kort, og kun for internationale studerende. Det var primært information, og ikke rigtig noget socialt, men vi fik alligevel snakket med nogle af de øvrige studerende :-) 
Bagefter var vi i Student Union (en bygning hvor de samler foreninger m.m.), og jeg fik min første af mange kopper kaffe fra Starbucks (en kop=12 kr.), og derefter gik vi bare tilbage til vores dorm. I lejligheden bliver vi mødt af en flok håndværkere, som skal til og vaske tæpperne igen, da der er en mærkelig lugt i hele lejligheden, og primært i mit værelse. Det lugter ca. som vådt vasketøj der har ligget i en plastikpose i et par uger. Håndværkerne er dog ikke sikre på at lugten kommer fra tæppet, men derimod muligvis fra airconditionen, så hvis det ikke hjælper at vaske tæppet, vil de kigge på AC'en i morgen. 
Pga. lugten og luften i værelset - de har placeret en stor affugter midt i det hele - beslutter jeg mig for at sove hos Jim og Theresa, som henter mig ved 9-tiden. 
Så lige som jeg flyttede ind, flyttede jeg ud igen.. 
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Today was the first day of orientation. In a way it can be compared to what we in Denmark call "rus-uge", but mainly because it is the first thing new students experience - they are in fact not similar at all! Today's program was short and only for international students. It was primarily information and not a lot of social stuff, but we still got to talk to some of the other students :-)
Afterwards we went by Starbucks in the Student Union, and I had the first of many cups of coffee (super cheap compared to Denmark), and then we returned to our dorms. There we are met by some maintenance guys who were about to shampoo the carpets again, cause there is a really bad smell in the apartment, and especially from my room. It kind of smells like wet laundry that has been in a plastic bag for a couple of weeks. The maintenance guys were not completely sure that it would solve the problem, as the smell might be coming from the AC, but they will check that out tomorrow if it hasn't improved. 
Because of the smell, and the bad air in the room - they placed a huge floor fan/dehumidifier in the middle of the room - I decide to spend the night with Jim and Theresa who picks me up around 9. 
Just as I was moving in, I moved back out...