It's really difficult to explain the way that time has been passing here over the past few days. The combination of jet lag, constant orientation classes, and the surprisingly quick closeness that has developed between many of us has really thrown my mind for a loop. Part of me still feels like I just got here and I'm super anxious to get into the thick of things... the other part is completely exhausted from the constant happenings with both orientation and hanging out with my friends. The whole thing is still so surreal.
But to make this entry a little more entertaining... I suppose I can share some fun stories that have happened recently. For starters... I've come to the surprising and rather unfortunate realization that I am quite possibly the youngest person at this orientation. Just by the other people I've seen, I figure that the average age of the teachers here is in the late 20s, early 30s. The one person who is relatively close to my age is a guy who turns 24 next week. My roommate is in his 30s, and the majority of the others in our little group are 25+. Therefore, I've been deemed the baby of the group, as well as the lone Yooper. Also, I take a lot of crap from everyone who finds out that I am in fact a Korean, but I don't yet speak the language... and I hear it from the other teachers as well as the locals. I guess I find it all rather amusing... and people don't have a hard time remembering me, so that's kinda nice.
Some of the people I hang out with are rather interesting. I currently have 4 friends from Michigan, and one of our lecturers today was a Korean-American from Kalamazoo. One of the girls on our floor went to Ohio State, and the other Michiganders and I have sort of teamed up against her. I feel kind of bad though, because I don't even know her real name. I just call her "Ohio State" and rip on her for the loss of Lebron James. Every once in awhile I throw in a "oh how we hate, Ohio State"! I also found out today that one of the guys from Canada spent a couple of months in Ghana! He was wearing a necklace that looked oddly familiar and I eventually realized that it was the same style as a bracelet I had bought there. I could go on and on about the people I've met, but I really don't have the time.
Being the youngest can be difficult - I'm pretty sure I'm the youngest in my grad school program right now. It can take a little getting used to. I've found that typically people forget about it after a while, especially if you don't act in ways that are particularly different from the rest of the group. Unfortunately, you're kind of stuck with it and it will likely be worse during the initial "getting to know you" period.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad things are going well! :)
Umm, yeah Ohio State...ehhh, lol you probably should find out her name too :P but now you know how use youngins feel...awesome meeting the guy that went to Ghana! You tell him about our friendly neighborhood guinessman :P
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