Orienting

This past week or so has been a lot of orienting. To International House (my grad dorm), to TC, to new friends, and to NY in general. (Pictured below: Teachers College)

The introduction to TC was a bit... less than thrilling. It began with an incredibly long and boring welcome talk, the same speakers and speeches we heard at the Admitted Students Weekend back in June. But then there were breakout sessions and a TC Block Party. I hung out with Brittany and Armen (who I met back in June) as well as new friends Suzana and Beth. There's nothing like food to bring people together and we worked the falafel and crepe stands and even tried a Transylvanian treat called Chimney Cake. So what if I still have no idea how to register or even navigate the TC campus?

There's been competing programming going on between TC and I-House. I find myself trying to decide if I should do a local grocery store tour with one or a writing workshop with the other. I'm finding really interesting people at both. Since I-House is, by definition, International and they keep the US population down to 30% people here are diverse not only into heir backgrounds but also their interests. People I'm enjoying getting to know include (but are not limited to): Nicole (Columbia film student who used me as a hand prop on her latest film), Mitch and Mara (two musicians who will join me on Jewish outings), Melissa (2nd year peace ed), Prithvi (Indian engineer), Imre (Hungarian physicist), Honza (Czech), Frederick (Vietnamese Frenchman), and Theofilus (Nigerian UN worker). At TC, since I'm focusing on International Ed, there's also a great deal of diversity including Woo (Chinese), Abby Katz (Jewish American, but we're a minority!), Guybe (Filipino-Belgian, and perhaps the cutest of the guys who make up 25% of TC), Brittany (she's from Ohio, which isn't exactly exotic, but she reminds me of all the good parts of OSU and we'll be hanging out a lot), Suzana (friend who will be mentioned often. Born to Indian parents and has lived in Brazil, India, and Canada for about 7 years each), and Tamara (Georgian with a group of beautiful friends who all salsa like they're trying out for Dirty Dancing 3: Johnny Castle visits the USSR).

Part of the programming, both formal and personal, has been to explore NY. Early on, TC put on their own Amazing Race. It was a scavenger hunt through Harlem and Mid-town to introduce us to each other as well as NY landmarks. My group didn't win the race (we finished the 2 hour program in 4 hours!) but we did win best name (TC: Tough Cookies) and are going to have a fun celebration hopefully this weekend to spend our $50 at Kitchenette and moan about our first weeks of classes.

Over the past few days I've done my own tours with Prithvi, Imre, and Suzana. Exploring Greenwich Village, SOHO, and the Israeli restaurants in between. I'm feeling a bit more comfortable running around different areas and using the subway. Last night I was sure we should take the 1 back and Prithvi convinced Suzana and I to take the 2, which landed us neatly in the middle of Harlem at midnight. (Pictured below: Suzana, Imre, Prithvi)



Next posting will hopefully focus on the classes I've decided to take (I'm still shopping around) and how I think this whole grad school thing will work out.