This morning I went over to the student union building to get a decent breakfast. Not bad. Scrambled eggs, pancakes/French toast, bacon (I have never seen so much bacon in my life.), ham, oatmeal, coffee, orange juice, cereal, hash browns ... I had oatmeal, bacon, hash browns and orange juice.
After breakfast I bought a notebook, and then headed back to my dorm to make my schedule. Schedule duly made, I finished the workout I had started before breakfast, then went to find the music building. It was a bit of a walk, but the campus is lovely, so it was fine. Having found it, I went looking for a practice room. While searching, I heard someone singing - it was a bit intimidating. Whoever it was was particularly good. When I found a practice room, I felt much better about it - my voice is in good shape.
Once I had finished practicing, I went down to the lobby and registered officially. Got my nametag and everything. :) I then decided to go on a walk to find the chapel where many of the lectures will be held. It was a nice fifteen- to twenty-minute walk, as I took my time; I walked along a drive that must not be more than a kilometre from the coast. It was gorgeous.
Having found the chapel, I then headed back to my dorm, where I hung out for a few hours before orientation. Orientation itself was semi-interesting, and answered a few questions for me, so that was good. I got the chance to meet a few people and re-realize that I am likely one of the youngest here ... which is still kind of odd and makes me feel a bit nervous. Anyway, there are a lot of people here from the States (New York, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia ... ) as well as quite a few from across Canada. I believe a couple of the girls were from France but study in Montreal. That was neat.
After orientation I caught a bus to go grocery shopping. I returned an hour and a half later with $90 of groceries ... including a POT to COOK WITH! There is no microwave in this apartment - instead, there are two fridges! I made myself some rice and had a lovely long chat with a couple of women, both doing their PhDs - one in sociology of education and one in city planning. The sociologist-researcher is a Palestinian Arab originally from Israel, who is working on the peace efforts in her own roundabout, education-oriented way, and the city planner is an academic based in California. Very interesting conversation was had.
Now I am eating oatmeal cookies (I love these things) while typing up my blog. I am very tired again and must sleep soon ... the bed is quite comfortable, and I am warm. That is nice.
Other interesting things I noted today:
On the street, parking spots are often painted in. This is especially true when there are meters around. I thought this was very interesting, but perhaps not the most efficient way of doing things. What if you have a monster of a station wagon, or a teeny little SmartCar?
The UBC cafeteria not only has garbage and recycling bins, but compost bins. Clever! And environmentally sound. Also, they have signs clearly stating what goes where. Even better.
This campus is absolutely gorgeous. All the flora makes me think I am back in Rwanda (side note: the artistic director of VISI has also been to Rwanda; I would like to have a conversation about it with her at some point), which is vaguely surreal. I am not used to seeing so many flowers and such green trees anywhere but Rwanda, and I am even further from Rwanda than I normally am. I miss it so much. I want to go back ...
Also: mountains. holy crap. that is all. (I'm such a prairie girl.)
It is interesting to me how integrated the university is with the city. The university itself is much like its own mini-city, though mini is, of course, quite relative. It is strange for me to go from a university campus that is all of two city blocks (more or less) to one that you could not walk from one end to the other without it taking forever!
The transit system is very efficient and very prompt (even with the Canucks game). Also: electric buses! I think.
Tomorrow I hope to wake up in time to find a church to which I can bus. (I bought a monthly pass. Considerably more expensive than one in Winnipeg, but then, it's a far better system.) If not, I will spend my morning in contemplation. Lectures start at one tomorrow afternoon, and I am looking forward to exploring what exactly the philosophy behind the "theatre of art song" really is.
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