Hello again!
Well my vacation is drawing to a close. And it has officially been one month since I’ve been here. Gosh time really does fly! It’s been a fun and exciting time here so far but I think it’s definitely time to get down to business. I haven’t been in real school since December and if I wait any longer I won’t want to go back.
I attended my faculty’s orientation last Friday and everything went well. It’s a pretty nice building and it’s easy to get around too. Here is my class schedule for the upcoming semester.
Monday 12-2 p.m. Genealogies of Citizenship
Tuesday 12-4 p.m. Contemporary Issues in the International Community
Tuesday 6-8 p.m. Communication Management
Wednesday 2-4 p.m. Communication Management
Thursday 8-12 p.m. Selected Problems of Contemporary Political Theories
Thursday 12- 4 p.m. International Organizations (alternate)
Friday 12- 4 p.m. Methods of Qualitative Analysis
I’m pretty interested in seeing how classes compare to those I’ve taken at home. I’m just excited in general to get the semester started.
Besides preparing for school I’ve been relaxing and going out with friends. It’s nice because so many people who I met through the language course are also in the Faculty of Social Sciences. There are not many courses taught in English so we will all be getting familiar with each other even more.
Annika, Vanessa, and I have also been planning a trip next weekend to the town of Ptuj. There is a huge carnival going on that happens every year and is known throughout the country. The people dress up in these interesting cow costumes and parade through the streets in order to “scare the winter away”. I’m sure there will be a lot more to see and do as well. We will be “couchsurfing” in Ptuj. This will be my first experience couchsurfing and I’m glad my travelmates are experienced. The website couchsurfing.org is set up for travelers who can pick and choose hosts in the cities the plan on traveling to. You simply tell the host when you will be arriving and the give you a place to stay. We are staying with a German guy who lives outside of Ptuj and it sounds like he will be helping us get around and maybe go to the carnival with us. Anyway I’ll let you know how that goes once I get back.
I’ll also be going to a weekend getaway trip the first weekend of March. The student organization office has a get to know each other weekend at the ski resort Kranjska Gora especially for exchange students. A bunch of people I know are going and I’m excited to meet even more people too! Anyway I think I will have to rest up for this weekend considerably. Here is the itinerary given to us by the student office:
As you can see, much of the weekend involves drinking yourself senseless. I talked to a few students who went on this trip last year and they have said that you drink until you pass out and then the other students just carry you to your bed and in the morning you start all over again. All this sounds oh so appealing but I think I will focus my energy on trying to meet people while semi-sober and enjoying the scenery. Being able to legally drink is still a pretty new thing for me. I am a victim of the typical American college experience. Of course we drink, it’s usually tolerated if we are careful but always seems to be a “hush hush” topic—probably because it’s illegal! I find it so strange that here the office of student organizations is facilitating and encouraging this culture that is centered on drinking. UMKC is a “dry campus” and our student office would never condone anything like that. I’m not saying one way is better than the other but it is just hard to make the transition between paradigms. I can see that this one aspect of life affects so many others, including priorities, points of view, and maturity. I guess that’s the social scientist in me attempting to always see what is behind the obvious. But enough analysis for now, I am looking forward to this weekend, it should be amusing.
Well one month is gone and 5 more to go! Kind of missing the good ol’ U. S. of A. but I won’t le t that stop me from enjoying my time here!
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