23/4-15: Fairytales in first grade

The man to the left is rotarian Nathan Brown, who's granddaughter, Belle in the striped dress, is in the class

Allerede da jeg i efteråret gav min første præsentation om Danmark ved Rotary, blev jeg spurgt om ikke jeg ville komme og fortælle lidt i en 1. klasse - i april lykkedes det endelig at få en aftale på plads. 

Med fokus på H.C. Andersen og kongefamilien gik præsentationen rent ind ved børnene som til sidst kunne vinde en præmie ved at være den bedste til at sige "rødgrød med fløde". 

Efterfølgende fik jeg mulighed for at snakke lidt med børnene, hvor pigen på det sidste billede f.eks. spurgte om min mor var gode venner med dronningen, og om jeg da ikke kendte hende personligt? 

Der var mange andre nysgerrige spørgsmål som f.eks. hvordan jeg var kommet herover, hvor min mor var, og især det med hvordan man blev prinsesse. 

Jeg behøver vel ikke at sige at Frozen-sammenligningen gik rent ind ved pigerne..? :-)

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Already when I gave my first presentation to Rotary about Denmark during fall, I was asked if I would come speak to a 1st grade class - and in April we finally managed to make it happen. 

Focusing on Hans Christian Andersen and our royal family, the presentation was a huge success with the kids who at the end could win small prizes by being the best at saying "rødgrød med fløde" (which is the name of a Danish dessert). 

Afterwards I had the chance to talk a bit with the kids, and the girl on the last picture asked me if my mother was good friends with the queen, or if at least I knew her personally?

There were a lot of other curious questions like how I had gotten over here, where my mom was, and especially how you become a princess. 

Needless to say the Frozen comparison was a winner too.. :-)

Back on track: Hallo! Wie heißen Sie??

Det er ved at være et par uger siden at skolen startede igen. 

Den første uge var endnu en gang et kæmpe kaos af et puslespil for at få timerne til at passe ind i skemaet, og så i øvrigt beslutte sig for hvilke timer jeg ville have. 

I sidste ende blev det til tysk og fransk, samt to kandidatfag som jeg ikke får point for, men som jeg bare sidder med på sidelinjen i. 

Jeg har aldrig haft tysk før, men har længe gerne villet lære det, så det var jo en super god mulighed for mig nu hvor jeg er her, og skal gå i skole, men ikke kan bruge mine fag til noget. Med tysk får jeg uanset noget læring med tilbage, og et ekstra sprog kan man jo altid bruge :-) 

Eftersom man som dansker jo altid kan lidt lommebogstysk, endte jeg med 1002 niveau fremfor 1001 - altså skridtet efter begynder. Og selvom jeg forstår hvad min underviser siger, så var jeg altså lidt bagud på grammatikken, så der er lidt at indhente!

Derudover fortsætter jeg med fransk - denne gang grammatik og komposition, som skulle vise sig at være på et lidt andet niveau end hvor vi slap i 2.G tilbage i 2009, men efter at have terpet tider og verber et par aftener i streg, begynder det da at hjælpe lidt på det!

Mine to kandidatfag er International Business og Strategic Management. Begge fag er rigtigt spændende, og det er noget af en forandring endelig at være omgivet af mennesker som virkelig gerne vil lære noget (der er altså lidt mangel på motivation på bachelorniveau herovre... Hvilket jo ikke helt giver mening når man tænker på hvor mange penge de betaler for deres uddannelse). 

Som du måske kan se på mine bøger er de godt klistret til med "Chegg" mærker. 

Chegg er et selskab som specialiserer sig i fagbøger, og man kan både købe nye og gamle bøger, sælge sine bøger, eller med kan leje bøger. 

Og det er nu altså smart når bogen fra ny koster ca. 150$, at man så kan leje den for 35$ i stedet for. 

Når semesteret så er slut skal man blot putter bøgerne i en hvilken som helst kasse med et lille stykke papir i, klistre en printet porto-label ud, og så aflevere pakken ved UPS. 

Det koster ikke noget at returnere bøgerne, og hvis du bestiller for mere end 75$, får du også gratis fragt på leveringen. Hvis du ved slutningen af semesteret har besluttet dig for at du faktisk gerne vil beholde bogen, har du muligheden for at købe den for lidt ekstra en lejeprisen. 

Dét er altså smart..

Der er selvfølgelig den ulempe at det betyder der ikke er så meget salg af bøger direkte fra en studerende til en anden, og selvom du kan sælge dem tilbage til f.eks. Chegg, Amazon eller skolens boghandel, så får du jo ikke noget der ligner den pris som du ville skulle betale for en brugt bog. 

Generelt er bøgerne gerne lidt dyrere herovre end derhjemme, og underviserne er også glade for at skifte udgave næsten hvert år, så det kan hurtigt blive en kostelig affære at have styr på sine bøger. 

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It's been a couple of weeks since school started back up.

The first week was once again add/drop, which means complete chaos of trying to solve the puzzle of classes, Rotary, and just which classes I actually wanted to have. 

In the end I chose German and French as well as two graduate classes that I don't get any credit for, but I'm just auditing. 

I have never studied German before, but I have wanted to learn for a long time, and this year is a great opportunity to do so since I am here, and I have to study, but I can't use my classes for anything back home. With German I will have actually learned some German, and learning an extra language is always useful :-) 

Since as a Dane you always know some form of tourist German, I ended up taking 1002 instead of 1001, which is the level just after beginners. Even though I understand my professor, I have no clue about the crazy German grammar, so I have something to catch up on!

I am also continuing with French - this time grammar and composition, which turned out to be on a slightly different level than where I left off in my second last year of high school (gymnasium) in 2009. After studying the modes and tenses and verbs for a couple of nights, I do think I can get through it though :-) 

My two graduate classes are International Business and Strategic Management. Both are very interesting, and it is a big change to be around people who actually want to be there and want to learn! (For some reason there tend to be a lack of motivation with the students  on undergrad, which doesn't really make sense considering how much money they are paying for their education..) 

As you might have noticed, my books are covered with "Chegg" stickers.

Chegg is a company that specializes in text books, and you can buy new or used, sell or event rent your books. 

And renting is pretty smart when your books costs 150$, and you can rent it for 35$. 

When the semester is over all you do is put the books into any kind of box, stick the printed label on it, and take it to UPS. 

Returning books is free, and if you order for more than 75$, you also get free shipping when you order them. If you have decided you want to keep the book, you can even buy it for just a little extra than the rental price. 

That IS clever... (and not something we can do in Denmark).

Of course there is the disadvantage that because of these solutions, there isn't a whole lot of direct selling of books between students on campus, because even though you can sell your books back to Chegg, Amazon or the campus book store, you get nothing close to what they are going to sell it on for. 

Generally, books are more expensive over here than at home - especially because everything is through companies, and not student2student. Plus, the professors really liked changing the editions almost every year, so it can be very expensive to make sure you have the right books. 

It's finally here - Topic: LIVING IN A DORM ROOM

After...

Before...

Her midt i min kavalkade af jule-ferie-oplevelser bringer jeg lige et sprit nyt indlæg: 

Jeg har nemlig endelig fået afsluttet mit sidste projekt på mit lille "kollegie"-værelse - nemlig billeder af familie og venner. 

Jeg synes faktisk at det er lykkes mig at gøre et ret trist værelse til et rigtig hyggeligt og hjemligt sted. 

På mange universiteter i USA er det obligatorisk at man bor i "dorms" (kollegier) "on campus" det første år du starter - altså når du er "freshman". 

Det er også obligatorisk for os GRSP studerende at bo "on campus", og jeg kan huske at det næsten var min største frygt ved at skulle afsted, da mange dorms herovre f.eks. har fællesbad og toilet med hele gangen, og du i mange tilfælde også skal dele dit soveværelse med en anden person - altså bogstaveligt talt sove en arms længde fra en fremmed... (Det er vist det man kalder "first world problems"...)

Derudover var jeg også nervøs over at skulle bo sammen med andre - jeg har aldrig haft en roomie før, andet end i én måned i sommers inden jeg skulle herover.

Heldigvis endte jeg i hvad de fleste mener er det bedste dorm på skolen, hvor man har eget værelse og kun deler bad med én anden person :-) 

Og så er der jo også den fordel at jeg har kunnet indrette og dekorere mit værelse fuldstændig som jeg har lyst til - og jeg er nu rigtig glad for resultatet og med billederne på plads føles det jo som om de alle er lidt tættere på :-)

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Here in the midst of my cavalcade of holiday experiences I now bring a brand new post:

I have finally finished my last project in my dorm room - which was hanging pictures of friends and family. 

I actually think I have managed quite well in turning a boring and sad dorm room into something homey, comfy and cozy.

At American universities dorm living is common, and obligatory for freshmen at many colleges. We don't have anything similar to that in Denmark!

When you enter the university you are responsible for finding a place to live, and you can of course decide for yourself as well. 

We do have something that we call dorms. They were built to provide cheap housing for students where you have a single room and share kitchen and bathroom with the rest of the hall, but they were not obligatory to live in. 

The dorms that are built today are typically slightly bigger and more expensive than earlier and now have own bathroom and kitchen, which makes them more like tiny studio apartments.

As a GRSP student it is obligatory to stay in a dorm, and I remember that it was one of my biggest fears before coming over here since many dorms in the US have shared bathrooms with many people, and in some cases you even share your bedroom with another student - meaning sleeping with an arm's length to a stranger... (I guess it's a good example of what's called "first world problems"...)

I was also nervous about having to live with someone - I have never had a roomie before except for one single month before coming over here.

Luckily I ended up in what is considered to be one of the best dorms on campus where you have your own room and only share your bathroom with one other person :-)

And another advantage is getting to decorate it anyway I wanted - and I am pretty satisfied with the result, and with the pictures in place it feels like everyone is just a little bit closer than before :-)

12/12-14: VACATION OH-OH-OH-OOH

Alyssa's mom, Alyssa, her twin brother, her dad and her older brother

Me, Alyssa and Savannah

Efter blot tre dage med eksamen, var det hele overstået før det næsten kom i gang (sammenlignet med det vanvittig ræs derhjemme), og så følte jeg godt nok også at en god ferie var på sin plads!

Og kunne jeg sætte Alphabeat ind som temasang til dette indlæg, havde jeg naturligvis gjort det ;-)

Min sidste eksamen var selvfølgelig først skemalagt til fredag aften, og min fransklærer havde gjort sig umage for at bruge så meget som muligt af de to timer der var til rådighed, hvilket betød at jeg først var færdig kl. 18.45 fredag aften. 

Da jeg endelig blev færdig var jeg inviteret ud at spise med Alyssas familie som var på besøg hele weekenden til hendes graduation. 

Jeg havde hørt så meget om dem, så det var rigtig hyggeligt endelig at møde dem. Alyssas bedste veninde og roomate, Savannah, var også inviteret med :-) 

Eftersom jeg skulle rejse mod Orlando tidligt dagen efter, kunne jeg desværre ikke deltage i selve graduation ceremonien, men til gengæld var det altså en hel uge i Orlando hvor vi skulle besøge Disney (og butikker).. 

Graduation er jo kæmpe stort herovre, og fuldstændig ligesom man ser det på film. Når man sammenligner med at jeg officielt fik mit eksamensbevis med posten ca. 1 måned efter jeg var kommet til Georgia, så  kunne det da have været lidt sjovt at være med til en her, men der kommer jo endnu en til foråret.

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After just three days with exams, it is all over before it even started (compared to the 1.5 month exam period we have at home), and after that I really felt ready for a vacation!

If I could I would attach a song to this blog post called "Vacation" by the Danish band Alphabeat (you can listen to it here if you're curious) ;-)

My last exam was of course saved for Friday afternoon and my French teacher had done everything in her power to use the full two hours she had at her disposal, which meant I didn't finish until 6.45PM Friday. 

When I was finally done I was invited to dinner with Alyssa and her family who were in town because of her graduation. 

I had heard a lot about them so it was nice to finally meet them. Alyssa's best friend and roomate, Savannah, also came to dinner :-)

Since I'll had to be leaving for Orlando Saturday morning I had to miss out on the actual graduation ceremony, but I was going to Orlando for an entire week to visit Disney (and some shops)... 

Graduation is huge over here and totally like what you see in the movies. Compared to my graduation back home where I got my diploma with the mail about a month after I had arrived in Georgia, it would have been cool to see graduation here, but I'll have another chance next semester.

Here we go again...

Det er næsten samme tanke hver gang vækkeuret ringer mandag morgen: nu igen... 

Selvom jeg absolut nyder at have weekend torsdag eftermiddag, og i øvrigt ikke have to studiejob på siden, så er det ikke fordi motivation til at læse er helt i top når man allerede er færdig med sin bachelor :-)

Som jeg nævnte tidligere tog jeg ud til Jim og Theresa lørdag og endte med at blive til søndag aften. De har brugt den sidste uges tid på at flytte Theresas mor ind i hendes nye hus her i Valdosta (hun boede før i Alabama). Theresas 92årige moster, nevøer og familie har også været på besøg, og det har været et par hyggelige dage. Desværre er mandag morgen bare ikke til at undgå.

Min mandag morgen blev brugt ved studievejlederen for at tale om valg af fag til næste semester - ja, fuld gang i skemakaos allerede igen. 

Her på VSU skal alle studerende mødes med deres vejleder inden de kan få lov til at vælge fag. 

Foreløbigt er min plan at jeg vil fortsætte med mere fransk, og tilføje tysk på begynderniveau. Det skal nok blive spændende! 

Min aften bliver brugt på biblioteket hvor jeg forberede min første længere skriftelige opgave som skal afleveres torsdag aften. 

I morgen har jeg i øvrigt æren af at få lov til at holde min præsentation om Danmark for en 3. gang da Nashville-Berrien Rotary har mig på deres mødeprogram :-)

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It is almost the same thought that runs through my head every time the alarm clock goes off Monday morning: here we go again... 

Even though I am truly enjoying starting my weekend Thursday afternoon and not having two students jobs on the side, I don't really feel highly motivated to study seeing as I've already finished my bachelor :-)

As I mentioned earlier I went out to Jim and Theresa's Saturday and ended up staying until Sunday evening. They have spent the last week moving Theresa's mom into her new house here in Valdosta (she used to live in Alabama). Theresa's 92-year-old aunt, nephews and family have also been visiting and its been a really nice couple of days. Unfortunately, Monday morning is just impossible to avoid.

My Monday morning was spent at the advising office to talk about selecting classes for the next semester - yes, the scheduling chaos has already started again. 

Here at VSU all students must be advised before they can register for classes. 

So far my plan is to continue with more French and also add beginner's German. That should be interesting!

My night is being spent at the library preparing my first longer written assignment, which is due Thursday night. 

Tomorrow I will have the pleasure of doing my presentation on Denmark a 3rd time as I am on the program at the Nashville-Berrien Rotary club :-)

My first real American midterm

"Memorize" - det var beskeden vi fik for at forberede os på hvad der var min første rigtige amerikanske midterm - midtsemester eksamen. 

Først kunne jeg ikke helt få det ind i hovedet at det virkelig var det vi skulle til vores eksamen, men i bund og grund lød beskeden på at gå hjem, besvare de spørgsmål han havde lavet til de sidste to måneders pensum, og derefter lære dem udenad. Spørgsmålene til eksamen ville nemlig være fuldstændig magen til! 

Man må sige det er noget anerledes end hvad jeg er vant til hjemme fra Danmark, hvor eksamen betyder at blive testet i hele semestrets pensum med åbne spørgsmål, og ekstremt tidspres. Jeg blev faktisk en smule nervøs ved tanken om at skulle lave en eksamen med papir og blyant, uden noter og kun med min hukommelse som ledsager. 

Jeg brugte derfor hele min aften i går på at gennemgå spørgsmålene, og teste mig selv i at huske dem, og det gik overraskende godt. 

Eksamen i dag er jeg også ret sikker på var lige i skabet ;-)

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"Memorize" - that was the advice we got to prepare ourselves for what was my first real American midterm. 

At first I couldn't quite get that memorizing was actually what we needed to do for the exam, but we were basically told to go home, answers the questions on the study sheets about the last two months curriculum, and then memorize them. The questions for the exam would be exactly like the ones on the study sheets!

I must admit that it is very different compared to what I am used to from Denmark where exams means being tested on a full semester curriculum with open questions and too little time. In fact, I got slightly nervous on the thought of an exam with pen and paper, no notes and just my memory to help me out. 

As a result I spent most of my night yesterday reviewing the questions and testing my memory, and I actually was surprised of the results.

Which is why I also believe I pretty much nailed the exam today - hopefully ;-)

Studying theater.. In college...

Et af de fag jeg endte med at vælge dette semester er "improvisation". Det er et fag som er 1 credit hour værd - ca. 5/6 ECTS points, og i timerne laver vi forskellige teater øvelser. 

Jeg synes det både er sjovt og underligt at man kan vælge den slags fag i college/universitetet, men det understreger blot endnu en gang hvor forskellig det amerikanske system er til det danske. For mig at se kan det til tider virke en anelse useriøst, men det svarer vel til hvordan man i gymnasiet kan vælge musik eller billedkunst som valgfag osv. 

Vores lektier består i at observere forskellige ting, f.eks. hvordan andre mennesker opfører sig i det offentlige rum, og derudover skal vi se to teaterstykker i løbet af semestret, og skrive om dem. 

I går var vi derfor inde og se The Spitfire Grill, og normalvis når man tænker på skole-optræderne, har man ikke de største forventninger. Det havde jeg heller ikke i går, men jeg blev meget positivt overrasket både over skuespillernes niveau, musikken og kulisserne, og jeg ser frem til det næste stykke vi skal se som en del af pensum. 

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One of the courses I ended up choosing for this semester is improvisation. It's a course worth 1 credit hour - roughly 5/6 ECTS points, and in class we do different theater exercises. 

I find it both funny and weird that you can chose this kind of courses for college/university, but I guess it just emphasizes how different the American system is from the Danish. To me it sometimes seems kind of unserious, but I guess it is very closely related to some of the electives we can chose in our "gymnasium" - which is like a "senior high school". 

Our homework is typically observing people, e.g. how they behave and act in public places, and we also have to see two plays during the semester and write about them. 

Yesterday we went to see The Spitfire Grill, and usually when I think of school plays, i don't have the highest of expectations. I didn't for this play either, but I was very positively surprised over the acting, the music and the scene and settings, and I really look forward to seeing the next play as part of the curriculum. 

The "Test Trend"

Tirsdagens Rotary møde var endnu et specielt arrangement, denne gang "Lunch with Leaders", hvilket betød at flere af byens ledere, som ikke er rotarianere, deltog i mødet. Der var fuld hus, og der måtte endda findes ekstra borde frem. 

Emnet for mødet var de amerikanske folkeskoler, og hvilke udfordringer de står overfor i dag. Det var et enormt spændende møde, set i lyset af folkeskolereformen derhjemme, og hvilken debat den har startet. 

Det primære budskab var hvordan folkeskolerne i dag får mere og mere ansvar for at opdrage børnene, og lære dem ting, som normalvis ville være forældrenes ansvar. Dette kommer til dels af en kampagne der blev kørt nogle år tilbage ved navn "No Child Left Behind", og mange mener at man med dette program har sænket fællesnævneren til et niveau hvor det ikke længere er muligt for lærerne at gøre deres arbejde, og for eleverne rent faktisk at udvikle sig og være konkurrencedygtige i resten af verden. 

"Test-trenden" blev også diskuteret, herunder hvordan man ikke kan sammenligne forskellige landes folkeskoler med hinanden, da børnene har vidt forskellige vilkår for læring. 

Stort set alle emnerne kunne jeg se værende aktuelle i Danmark, men samtidig gav det mig et godt indblik i de amerikanske folkeskole, og en del af tankegangen bag.

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This Tuesday's Rotary meeting was another special event, this time "Lunch with Leaders", where a great deal of the town's leaders with no relation to Rotary took part of the meeting. The room was completely full, and they even had to take out extra tables. 

The topic was the American public high schools and the challenges they are facing today. It was a super interesting meeting, especially considering that we have just had a reformation of our public schools in Denmark, which has lead to countless debates. 

The primary message was how the public schools today have more and more responsibility for raising the children and teach them things that would normally be the parents' responsibility. One of the reasons for this development, was the "No Child Left Behind" program a few years back, which meant that the bar had been lowered making it hard for the teachers to do their jobs, and for the children to actually develop and be competitive in the rest of the world.

The "Test Trend" was also debated in terms of how you cannot compare results with other countries since it is the children's backgrounds and circumstances for learning are so different. 

I could see all of the points discussed being relevant in Denmark, and at the same time it gave me some insight into the American high schools and the processes and thinking behind it. 

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. 

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. 

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...