So I woke up and read some assignments for classes and then went to the bar at 4PM to help clean up the atrocious smell and mess that was leftover from the weekend activities. This weekend was "Bartenders Weekend" where for 10 euro, 80 students can learn how to bar-tend and play drinking games Friday night through Saturday night. Saturday day everyone met for brunch in the dinning hall at 1030 and soon went to the bar (with their teams, mine was The Jesus 5, like Jackson 5, since we were team #5 and the name had to be creative). Anyways, we had a scavenger hunt throughout the campus (which included activities like creating a team mascot, ours was a priest) that took the majority of the day to complete. A break for a few hours to eat and relax, a cocktail competition, and a closing party. Friday night we had team vs team competitions playing. It was not exactly academic or too healthy, but it was a great social experience.
During the week there was a club/committees fair where students can sign up and learn about what clubs are available. I signed up with Culture, Humanities, Music, and soon DJ committees. Meetings have not started yet so I will keep you posted as they come along. This Wednesday the Music Co. is hosting an open mic night which I may partake in.
Aside from homework, I spent most of my week in class. I've realized that teachers (except in my Psycholinguistics class), don't have as structured schedules as back in the US. For example, back home I would go to class and take about one hour of notes, with some discussion, mostly from the teacher. Here, the teachers will have a student (chosen in advance) to begin by summarizing the readings assigned and have that student initiate a class discussion for at least 15 minutes. Some teachers will lecture with notes, but most just speak and have discussions with the class about a specific topic. In some sense it is a nice change from the traditional note/quiz style at home, but it does make it more difficult to have an understanding on what material will be tested on the midterm/final and what material is just to inspire critical and philosophical thinking.
I think the only thing I have not liked since my arrival is the amount of smoking (cigarettes) that students do indoors during parties, which makes the room feel suffocating and leaves your closed stained with strong odors.
But, I must go read some Neuroscience and articles about Ethnic Relations. Oh, and this coming weekend I will be going to Brussels! My friends and I might couch surf (if the hosts respond to my message on time), if not we will be staying in a hostel. I will write all about it in my next post!
OH! My family also met up for dinner at a members unit to cook some Italian food! Here are some pics from the dinner/week!
Vaarwel!
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