"The most important thing I've learned is this: The fact that we all believe in different things is nowhere near as important as the fact that we all believe."

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Orientation Week Pt 1


Orientation week was really one of the best weeks of my life! There are about 50 or so exchange students from around the world studying here. There are only six students from the United States, but there are a lot of Europeans--especially French exchange students. Each night, we would eat a different type of cuisine together as part of our orientation.

The first day was mainly a tour and information session. Grace is the director over the exchange students and was also leading our mini lessons on culture and language. Sitting in a classroom for three hours straight was somehow made fun by Grace's quirky sense of humor! She'd tell us stories about all the trouble the previous exchange students caused and how every year, our pranks get bigger. She'd often get calls in the middle of the night to come down to the police station! Unlike the United States, Macau is much more open about the parties that take place there. You're allowed to drink and gamble at the age of 18 (like you are in most of the world), and a little bit of social drinking is to be expected. This was a little shocking to me because, in all honesty, I'm not one to party. But it's also an important part of their culture I figure is worth mentioning.

The first night of orientation we went to a "traditional Chinese" restaurant. We were served duck tongue, snake, frog legs, and meal worms! The restaurant allowed you to watch the killing of the snakes and frogs! I didn't look. I'm actually a vegetarian and was perfectly happy with some egg rice and vegetables.