Bore-ientation

Hello Hello.

Nothing too incredibly exciting has happened yesterday or this morning really, but I'll update none the less. Our class started off the morning yesterday by attending a large lecture/Guest speaker put on for Irish students. Just when we thought no one would notice our lack of invitation, Nigel decided it would be fun to inform the speaker of our presence and we got the honor of "Would the group of American students please raise your hands!" The horror. The speaker was pretty interesting, but he made some cracks at the States which made us all feel a little uncomfortable, I think. I wasn't sure if he had forgotten we were in the audience, wanted to prove a point to us, or simply didn't think it was anything we hadn't heard before and wouldn't be offended. I'm hoping the first, but I guess more so I would hope it wouldn't be appropriate at all in the first place to say negative things about other countries in a student lecture.

After the lecture, we had about 400 hours of orientation on every possible subject of the University. I didn't get near that thorough of an orientation at the U of M-and we're only staying here 3 weeks. From counseling to e-mail, I think we sat in a chair for a total of about 6 hours and listened to faculty drone on and on about things we could have easily figured out on our own. Oh well. At least their voices are pleasing to listen to. After we were free, Nigel wanted to meet with all of us "one on one". Not knowing what to expect, we all roamed around and waited for a phone call telling us to come into the room. Oddly, Bri and I got called into the room together and he simply wanted to discuss with us how we thought the group dynamics were working. I stated I thought everyone was friendly towards each other, and it was only natural at this point in the trip to start to find out who your better friends will be. He said he understood, but he was "quite concerned" with the amount of time Bri and I spent hanging out. He felt the other students were starting to view us more of a package, as "exclusive" and that soon they would not feel guilty about leaving the two of us out of things. I think Nigel gets a skewed perception of the group because he only sees us in the classroom, and I don't think his concerns really had much validity. None the less, we have agreed we will try to sit by other people in the classroom and hang out more with everyone. Who knows. He also thought perhaps the other students were "jealous" that Bri and I had found a good friend so fast, and hence were slightly resentful. Personally I think everyone needs to relax.

I made dinner last night with two of my roommates: Alyssa and Becca. We made a lovely mushroom pasta with red sauce and had a side salad as well. It was the first meal we made together as a flat and I think we'll attempt to keep it a daily occurrence.

I've been sniffly all day, unfortunately and did not pack enough kleenex to accommodate for a nose/fountain hybrid. Oh well. Hopefully it'll pass soon, I can always buy more kleenex. I just wish I was 100% healthy! I'm getting sick of this.

One more thing I wanted to mention. I was told by a Prod I was speaking with yesterday that everyone can distinguish Americans "if by nothing else, just by their teeth." Huh. He wondered why we put such a high priority on having perfect, straight, white teeth. I couldn't answer. All I know is if you had crooked, yellow teeth in the USA, people would wonder why you didn't get it fixed. No one cares over here. Odd.

Cheers!
-karen