Superbowl last night! About thirty or forty of us study abroad students took quite a journey to watch the game. One of the Greeks has a friend who owns a Bennigan’s on the outskirts of town, and they stayed open specifically so we could watch the game. We took a 25 minute bus ride across town at midnight, but we got there. I was in my Steelers jersey, and there was one other guy in a Packers jersey. The game was really fun to watch—a lot of people left at half-time, but the core of us that stayed had a really great time. I was worried at half time it was going to be a blow-out, but it actually turned into a pretty good game, even though we lost : ( I didn’t get back to the dorm until 5:30 in the morning, and woke up at 9:00 for the first day of classes!
I have three of my four classes today. This morning (and by morning, I mean the Greek morning of noon) I had my first class, a politics course on the modern Greek nation-state. It looks like it’s going to be an interesting class—there were only seven kids there, and three of them were full-time students at the school. It’s going to be an interesting experience, because the basis for the subject matter is something that is really familiar to people who have grown up in this area, but is something that, as American students, we have only a vague familiarity with. Even though the course is modern history, the professor was saying we need to understand Greek/Balkan history, the Byzantium era, etc, to understand how it got to be the way it is today. And even on the political side, we don’t understand that much about the Greek system while the Greeks have read it in the news every day for years. The teacher seems to understand that and will help us out, but it will just be an interesting learning experience and environment.
(The Greeks students are really intimidating. Everyone studying abroad is joking that they feel like freshman in high school. It’s not that they’re mean, they just seem really unapproachable. The study abroad kids are self-segregating—no one wants to be but we can’t help it. Heading in small groups to find food at the cafeteria, the Greek kids are all sitting together outside, smoking and talking, and we Americans can’t get up the courage to walk over and introduce ourselves. I’m sure it will get better as we get to know the people in our classes, and use them to make friends, but until then it’s a little awkward.)
Next, after a half hour break, I had my anthropology class: Greek Folklore. This is something I’m super excited about—the professor seems really cool. She looks like she knows a lot about the subject and is really passionate about sharing that with the students. I have some reading to do already, but it’s something that I’m excited to learn about. It was initially a MWF class, but she’s extending class by half and hour Monday and Wednesday so we won’t have to meet on Friday—this means I’ll only have my politics class on Monday, and will make weekend travel easier as I can start going in the afternoon on Fridays.
I have a really awkward break Mondays and Wednesdays between classes; Folklore gets out at 3, and my next and final class of the day doesn’t start until 630. I wouldn’t really have time to take a bus back to the dorm, and then back to class—there wouldn’t be enough time to do anything constructive. The campus is tiny and there’s really nothing besides the classrooms and the library; I’m sure once I have work to do it will be fine, but for now time passes slowly. I tried to take a walk and see what was in the immediate area, but it was a major fail. It was a main road, very busy with cars going by, and after a little while the sidewalk disappeared and it would have been dangerous to continue. I was talking to someone else, though, and they said that there is a nice little place a five minute bus ride away, so I’ll have to check that out later.
Finally after sitting around for 3+ hours, I went to my last class, the World of Alexander. It also looks really interesting—it’s actually going to be taught in cycles by 6 different teachers, who each focus on some specific aspect of Alexander the Great that relates to their area of expertise: historical context, role in various art forms then and now, the texts he would have read and been educated by, Alexander in a mythic/folkloric context. It sounds fun, but by this time I was so exhausted from the Superbowl that I could barely keep my eyes open. Since it was only an introductory class, the teacher actually let us out an hour early, and instead of taking the school bus and waiting an hour, a couple of us decided to give the public bus a try.
It wasn’t too bad, but the commute to the school is horrible—we had to take a 45 minute bus ride to a stop that was still a 7-10 minute walk from the rooms. I was tired and hungry and a little nauseous from the motion; it just wasn’t a good combination. It would be a real pain to do that every day, to and from school. The school bus only takes 20 minutes, but it only runs three times a day. Mondays and Wednesdays I can take it to and from school without waiting too long, but Tuesdays and Thursdays I only have one class from 2-4, and at either end I would be waiting for 3-4 hours for the school bus to take me back.
When I got back to my room I packed up to leave. I’m too homesick and am flying home tomorrow. Just kidding! My roommate and I are really incompatible, so I’m moving on out and getting a single. I’m actually moving back across town to the building I initially accidentally moved in to…this is my third and obviously most careless packing job. I’m going to try to leave semi-early (again, by Greek standards) so I can hopefully be at least a little settled in before I have to go to class. I’m really going to miss this neighborhood; I am already familiar with the surroundings and locations of everything, and I’m going to miss being so close to downtown (the other building is farther). But the other building does have a much shorter commute to the school (20 minutes via public bus). They’re also closer to the water and the rooms are supposedly much nicer. I’m sure I’ll learn that neighborhood soon too. Either way, I’m glad to have a single. The only tough part is lugging all my stuff across town—I have more than just the two suitcases and carry-ons, I have bags of cleaning supplies, toilet paper, some food, and storage stuff I bought at IKEA that I’m not leaving. It’s going to be a huge hassle but hopefully once I’m moved in I can finally settle down and get organized.
(The Greeks students are really intimidating. Everyone studying abroad is joking that they feel like freshman in high school. It’s not that they’re mean, they just seem really unapproachable. The study abroad kids are self-segregating—no one wants to be but we can’t help it. Heading in small groups to find food at the cafeteria, the Greek kids are all sitting together outside, smoking and talking, and we Americans can’t get up the courage to walk over and introduce ourselves. I’m sure it will get better as we get to know the people in our classes, and use them to make friends, but until then it’s a little awkward.)
Next, after a half hour break, I had my anthropology class: Greek Folklore. This is something I’m super excited about—the professor seems really cool. She looks like she knows a lot about the subject and is really passionate about sharing that with the students. I have some reading to do already, but it’s something that I’m excited to learn about. It was initially a MWF class, but she’s extending class by half and hour Monday and Wednesday so we won’t have to meet on Friday—this means I’ll only have my politics class on Monday, and will make weekend travel easier as I can start going in the afternoon on Fridays.
I have a really awkward break Mondays and Wednesdays between classes; Folklore gets out at 3, and my next and final class of the day doesn’t start until 630. I wouldn’t really have time to take a bus back to the dorm, and then back to class—there wouldn’t be enough time to do anything constructive. The campus is tiny and there’s really nothing besides the classrooms and the library; I’m sure once I have work to do it will be fine, but for now time passes slowly. I tried to take a walk and see what was in the immediate area, but it was a major fail. It was a main road, very busy with cars going by, and after a little while the sidewalk disappeared and it would have been dangerous to continue. I was talking to someone else, though, and they said that there is a nice little place a five minute bus ride away, so I’ll have to check that out later.
Finally after sitting around for 3+ hours, I went to my last class, the World of Alexander. It also looks really interesting—it’s actually going to be taught in cycles by 6 different teachers, who each focus on some specific aspect of Alexander the Great that relates to their area of expertise: historical context, role in various art forms then and now, the texts he would have read and been educated by, Alexander in a mythic/folkloric context. It sounds fun, but by this time I was so exhausted from the Superbowl that I could barely keep my eyes open. Since it was only an introductory class, the teacher actually let us out an hour early, and instead of taking the school bus and waiting an hour, a couple of us decided to give the public bus a try.
It wasn’t too bad, but the commute to the school is horrible—we had to take a 45 minute bus ride to a stop that was still a 7-10 minute walk from the rooms. I was tired and hungry and a little nauseous from the motion; it just wasn’t a good combination. It would be a real pain to do that every day, to and from school. The school bus only takes 20 minutes, but it only runs three times a day. Mondays and Wednesdays I can take it to and from school without waiting too long, but Tuesdays and Thursdays I only have one class from 2-4, and at either end I would be waiting for 3-4 hours for the school bus to take me back.
When I got back to my room I packed up to leave. I’m too homesick and am flying home tomorrow. Just kidding! My roommate and I are really incompatible, so I’m moving on out and getting a single. I’m actually moving back across town to the building I initially accidentally moved in to…this is my third and obviously most careless packing job. I’m going to try to leave semi-early (again, by Greek standards) so I can hopefully be at least a little settled in before I have to go to class. I’m really going to miss this neighborhood; I am already familiar with the surroundings and locations of everything, and I’m going to miss being so close to downtown (the other building is farther). But the other building does have a much shorter commute to the school (20 minutes via public bus). They’re also closer to the water and the rooms are supposedly much nicer. I’m sure I’ll learn that neighborhood soon too. Either way, I’m glad to have a single. The only tough part is lugging all my stuff across town—I have more than just the two suitcases and carry-ons, I have bags of cleaning supplies, toilet paper, some food, and storage stuff I bought at IKEA that I’m not leaving. It’s going to be a huge hassle but hopefully once I’m moved in I can finally settle down and get organized.
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