Thursday 20 August 2015

Abroad from abroad

Eventyret er i gang, jeg er en Lynx nu (deres maskot og derved det, vi alle sammen hedder når vi repræsenterer Rhodes) orienteringen er i fuld gang og døgnet har ikke nok timer. Jeg får deja vú til rusugen sidste år i Aberdeen hvert 10. sekund. Skemaet er fuldt. Og den rigtige rusuge er ikke engang startet endnu. I lørdags startede vores internationale orientering, og siden da har jeg været sammen med de andre 4 udvekslingsstudenter og 17 andre internationale studerende, der skal til at påbegynde deres 1. år. Dagene har været pakket med alt det, der bliver nyttigt for os når først timerne begynder og collegelivet går i gang for alvor. Briefings om alt lige fra campus sikkerhed til deres writing center, hvor man kan få hjælp med opgaverne som jeg forventer vil hobe sig op, så snart jeg træder ind i klasseværelset. Vi har været på bådcruise på Mississippi-floden og lært lidt om Memphis' historie. Vi har haft besøg af en højt respekteret FBI agent, der fortalte os lidt om sikkerhed i Memphis (og som også fortalte, at han desværre ikke havde haft fornøjelsen af at møde præsident Obama endnu..). Jeg har skrevet en stor bunke emails til professorer, hvis fag jeg gerne vil tage. Jeg har købt mine bøger, været på shoppeture til Target med de andre for at købe alle nødvendighederne til et dorm room.

Rhodes College er en stærk konkurrent til Aberdeen hvad angår pænhed. Rhodes er smuk. Bygningerne er magiske. De ligner alle sammen hinanden, men det er en del af skønheden. Det er gotik i den absolut smukkeste form. Campus indeholder alt, hvad vi nogensinde kan få brug for: spisehal med et hav af forskellige retter, svømmepøl, fitness center, kæmpe bibliotek, boghandel, atletikbane, eget posthus og alle vores venner, næsten lige ved døren. Alt sammen til fri afbenyttelse. Hente en pakke eller sende et postkort? 2 minutter fra min dør. Et hurtigt dyk i poolen i solskinnet? 3 minutter. Morgenmad, som jeg ikke engang selv skal lave? 4 minutter. Det er vores egen lille, sikre verden.

Imorgen torsdag flytter alle de nye førsteårs studerende ind, og jeg forestiller mig allerede nu, at det bliver kaos. Præcis ligesom i film. Men det betyder nye mennesker og nye venner. Jeg glæder mig.

ENGLISH I'm a Lynx now! I've been in Memphis since Saturday now, and everything continues to be new and exciting. 2nd year of university, and in a different country! Studying abroad from my home abroad. If I was still in Aberdeen, first week/orientation week would smooth sailing. But once again, I'm starting from scratch, and several times I take myself getting deja vú to last years Fresher's Week back in Aberdeen. There's stuff to do every single second, places to be and people to meet. It's exactly the same as last year, and the real Fresher's Week hasn't even started - the new freshmen don't move in until tomorrow. So, for the past 5 days, I've been with the new international students (exchange students, Teaching Assistent's and new freshmen from all over the world). We've been through a ton of info sessions with all the stuff that'll come in handy once classes start. One thing that I love about Rhodes is all the different stuff we have available on campus (paid for through the tuition); there's a writing center, ESL-service, a huge library with a media center, fully staffed dining hall, a swimming pool, a fitness center, post office, an outdoor track, free laundry, a bookstore (with Rhodes merchandise - very important!).. basically, all the stuff you could ever need as a student. It's amazing. Send or receive a package? 2 minutes from my doorstep. A quick dip in the pool? Three minutes. Breakfast cooked for me in the dining hall with my friends? Refectory's 4 minutes away. It's like living in a bubble where you pay for people to do the work for you. I guess that's what college's about, isn't it?

So yeah, so far I've been with the international kids and our international orientation is coming to an end tomorrow when the new freshmen move in (it's going to be insane!). It's been really nice getting to know the campus and some of its people before everybody else gets here tomorrow. We've been briefed about academic life, Greek life (sororities, fraternities and all that shit), campus safety, we've had an FBI agent visit us to talk to us about safety in the Memphis area, we went on a cruise on the Mississippi and learned a bit about Memphis history in the process, we've been trying out different Memphis foods on different restaurants around the city and the list goes on. The schedule has been absolutely packed so far.

Rhodes' campus is beautiful. A very worthy competitor to the beautiful scenery we have back at Aberdeen. Both places are like Hogwarts in their own way. Both places are magical.

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