The Oregon Students received a very warm welcome from the program here. They took all of us out to dinner the first two evenings, we have received much helpful information and assistance with bureaucratic hurdles, and we have even been led on some fun excursions. And of course, there are the orientation courses, which are basically intensive language courses. On our first day in class we all took a written placement test and an oral interview. Based on the results of the test, we were all placed in one of three classes, with the first group being the least advanced, and the third group being the most advanced. I was placed in the third group. Classes last from 9:00 to 3:00, with a 15 minute midmorning break and a leisurely 1 hour and 15 minute lunch break. Although much of the class material so far has been review, I am already finding my knowledge stretched and tested. My limits in the language are being exposed and will continue to be as I gain more competency.
Outside of the classroom, I have plenty of time to explore, relax, or be with friends. I have made friends with several of the students from the other universities in Oregon. In addition to the Oregon students, there are several students from Connecticut who have been grouped with us. I often hang out with Shannon, my friend from PSU, and Wade, a tutor from Portland who is helping the students in the program. When any combination of the three of us are together, the default language is German. Shannon and I are both on a comfortable conversational level in German (she a little better than I), and Wade is able to help us when we hit the end of our language tethers.
As I wrote on Monday, I like my room. My living situation has not been without some getting used to, though. I have a sink, a medicine cabinet, a closet, a shelf, a desk, a low table, a chair, and a bed. My whole room is perhaps 18 X 8 ft.; not bad for a dorm room. Bathrooms, showers, and kitchen facilities are communal. None of these communal facilities are bad (except for slimy, stained shower curtains), but I find them inconvenient. This is partly due to laziness. If, for example, I wanted to eat something in the kitchen, I would have have to gather the food I'd be taking, unlock the door, open it, close it, lock it again, walk down the hall to the kitchen, rinse the dishes I'd be using, prepare whatever I'd be eating and eat it (OK, I'd have to do that anyway, but still...), clean whatever I used, and execute the inverse of steps 1-6 in reverse order. So 'n Pech!
The view out my window is fabulous. My window faces east, so I get to see beautiful sunrises. As the rooms are not equipped with curtains, I get to see these sunrises whether I want to or not. They act as a natural alarm clock, as the room is flooded with light after about 7:00.
< The moon rises full and orange out my window, 8 Sept. >
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I never seemed to have a problem with jetlag when I arrived here, but the change seems to have altered my natural sleep cycle; instead of wanting to go to bed at 2:30 in the morning and wake up at 11:00 as was the case in Portland, so far I have been getting very sleepy in the evening around 10:00 and usually wake around 7:00. If you're counting 9 hours ahead of the time this was posted, you'll see that I was well past the start of my "very sleepy" time. I really wanted to post an update, though. I have a hike tomorrow, and I'll try to get some good pictures.
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