First Day of School

So today was my first day of class at CEU (pictured at left). Everything went pretty well, but I probably should have figured out some of the stuff last week when I had some free time because there were some very confusing moments today.

For example, I picked up my "readers" (which I assumed were the "texts") last week, but apparently you have to read things from the copied-and-spiral-bound readers--which, by the way, probably break all sorts of copyright laws--AND you have to read things from textbooks, which you check out in the library. (Needless to say, I didn't have my assignments read for today.) I tried to go in the library this morning, but was told I could not take my book bag into the library. Seriously...you can't take a book bag into a LIBRARY? Anyway, I later discovered that I got my own locker in the school and just had to go pick up the key, so that solved that problem. I also wondered how 40 students would be sharing one textbook in the library, until I was able to actually get into the library and found that it's kind of like elementary school/high school where they have a whole class copy in the library and you can check one out for the entire semester. Works for me!

I should have checked the classrooms, also. When I went to find my classrooms, I found they had funny codes, but no key, and no real pattern. So it would say: MB/202 ("Main Building"--I didn't realize that there was one main building); N11 ("Nador 11"--the address of the building); etc. I guess it makes as much sense as JSB, MARB, RB...

Also, no one here uses laptops, which is a good thing since each classroom only has 3-4 power outlets. And when I say outlet, I mean a spot for one plug, not two. One professor actually told us we're not allowed to take notes--instead, only one person is allowed to take notes each day and that person is supposed to distribute the notes to the entire class. I'm not sure how I feel about that...I kept itching to write stuff down through the whole class...especially when I knew something was important and I looked over at the designated note-taker for the day and he wasn't writing ANYTHING! I know I'm going to get his notes and there are going to be only like 10 words. I guess everyone is in the same boat.

Classes all last 2 hours each, and I had 4 classes today. The schedule changes from day to day and week to week--it all depends when the professor is available. I guess most professors have other jobs. So, for example, I have one class where I meet everyday this week and everyday next week, but then only one day the week after that, etc. I think I have 34 hours of class this week, the same the next week, then only 12 hours or so for the following weeks.

The most difficult part of the day was switching my ears between accents. As soon as I'd get used to one, someone else would start talking and I couldn't understand a thing until my ears adjusted 30 seconds later and they were done talking. I guess I'll get used to it. In my last class today there were 19 people and I wrote down where people were from as they introduced themselves. The 19 people (including myself) came from: United States, Sierra Leone, Poland, Brazil, Estonia, Israel, Nigeria, India, Argentina, Romania, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, and Ethiopia. Fun.

The professors seem cool so far, although one of them either has no idea how offensive she is or doesn't care. Oops...I gave away that it's a she. Well, she seems very brilliant, but she had no shame in telling people with thick accents (quite rudely) that she couldn't understand a word they were saying, telling people their questions were stupid and they were apparently not listening (when she wasn't the easiest to understand herself), and making other similar comments. I mean, it was the kind of stuff that would make you self-conscious for life. I'll just keep my spot in the back...

I should be studying right now, but I'm wasting time watching a High School Musical concert on a German Satellite TV station. It's great...except there's a stand-in for Zac Efron.