Orientation - Day 1

International Orientation was held this morning and I was impressed with the straight-forward presentation of information. I have notice that in handbooks and in presentations, UL materials are presented in a very straight forward and concise manor, no fuss or muss. The Irish people I have met are in general very positive and helpful. They often tell you as a part of the lexicon,"no worry". I am so used to a more intense attitude,( we probably all take ourselves a bit too seriously) so I find this general attitude and demeanor refreshing and more in line with who I am. At any rate I think the staff of the International Education Division, as I have written before, are terrific.

Of course, along with useful information, one of the wonderful things I loved about orientation was the opportunity to meet other people. There are many new students from Canada,from China and Japan. As I wrote to my son Max, while I certainly brought up the average in this group,(though as I think of it, if you average all their ages, mine will come down!),I met a few terrific people today from Canada and from the mid-west. I have already promised my new Canadian friend,Paul,a medical student from Vancouver, some cooking lessons if he likes and at least a dinner invitation for he and his friend. I had lunch with several students enrolled in programs of the Irish World Academy from the US, a Japanese banjo player, one of only three banjo players in Tokyo, and now have a new Facebook friend from Kansas. I have to say that I was tickled when my new Facebook friend, Alec, knew my name because he has been following this blog. Thanks Alec. My apartment mate will not arrive until next week. He is nearer my age and coming from Nigeria. I have been looking at websites on Nigerian protocol and cuisine and look forward to his arrival. I will need to learn how to pronounce his name before he gets here!

Tomorrow is post graduate orientation and enrolment and I expect this will be an opportunity to make more acquaintances. Then I will have lunch at the Irish World Academy and later in the day there will be an information session for all new Academy students. My classes will begin next Tuesday.

So that is the day in a nutshell! I hope yours is going /has gone well.
Sending love from Glocca Morra and suggesting that we all let a little of the worrying go. Just breathe!