Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Junior Year Abroad... the Sequel

Hey there, all!

Betcha thought some big beastie had swallowed me whole. But that's not the case.  Unless you count this seminar as a beastie, in which case, it's a pleasant one, full of smart and interesting people and a lot of great food. Also, many interesting excursions.

In some ways, it's like revisiting my junior year abroad:*
  • I've been thrown in with a group of people I don't know, and we work out interpersonal relations quickly.
  • I'm staying in a dorm room (though with my own efficiency kitchen).
  • We're in a foreign country, and participants have varying degrees of knowledge of the local language
  • There are many interesting excursions planned for the group.
  • There is homework.

The first week was packed with group activities, both those put together by the organizers, and those we came up with on our own. These activities have also meant that many of us finished week one with the sense that we really hadn't done nearly enough work on our major projects. In fact, last night, I gave away a ticket I had purchased to a really excellent cultural event because I felt rising guilt that would have prevented me from enjoying myself anyway.  So I stayed home and worked -- which turned out to be the right decision, at least for me.

Anyway, these are general observations.  I'll let you know how I feel about this at the end of week two, which I consider to be my first "real" work week.  And I'll leave you with a cool picture from one of our excursions:

faith never sleeps

*The one major difference? I'm sober enough to remember the experiences I'm having.

1 comment:

Comrade Physioprof said...

Sounds like you're having fun!