Where to begin.
I guess I should begin by saying that I finally met my roommate! Her name is Ami (Cynthia) and she's from california. She's super nice, and it's a good roommate combination. She's more reserved and shy than I am, but that's what makes it work! She's half Japanese, and her parents are also super nice. It's going to be a great year!
THURSDAY
The day started off with me walking into my hale and promptly being told by an R A, "Sweetie, your dress is too short." (Which is wasn't, I might add)
I suppose I should tell you about the portion of the honor code that states that all of our shorts and skirts must reach our knees. Some say just too the top, others say 3/4 of the way down. Who knows. This has been SO FRUSTRATING to me, but I obviously have to conform without question. The only skirts that are available out there make me look like a polygamist or a pilgrim. I literally have no problems with any other portion of the honor code, but this will be a challenge. Our swimsuits are also only permitted to be one piece, but we'll just pretend that I actually own a one piece instead of tankinis that cover my belly. Don't even get me started.
Moving onward, Thursday was orientation and the campus tour. The tour was great, although no one in our little group talked. One thing that's interesting about BYU H is that there are people from literally everywhere. The Marshall Islands, Korea, Fiji, Tahiti, South America, exotic Iowa, China, Japan, lush Utah - too many more for me to name. It's definitely more diverse than UVU.
Post campus tour, I went back to the dorm for some rest, only to be called "sweetie" again and have another R A tell me that I was missing an activity. From that point I went to One Stop, which is where new students learned about the programs at the school. We had to go around and get these silly papers signed, which a total pain. But whatever - I survived.
From the one stop station, I met my friend Jenelle, who happens to be from Canada. She's the bomb, but more on that later. SO. After One Stop, we had a little presentation on student life, which frankly I can't remember a single thing about. We watched a rad video, and that's about where my memory stops.
For those of you who aren't aware, the Polynesian Cultural Center is right by the university, meaning that it's mostly staffed by students. It's this incredible park that has exhibits from every south pacific island you could think of. It's actually pretty cool - I encourage you all to take a journey if you ever come to Oahu. Part of our orientation was a tour around the PCC, which lasted about 3 hours. We went to a lot of show, got dumped on by rain in a canoe - everything you could ever ask for. Jenelle and I cracked a lot of jokes and now everyone on campus loves us. What else would you expect?
Part of the tour included the night show, where performers obviously put on a show. There's island dancers and all that great stuff that you would expect. The coolest part of the whole show as the fire dancing, which was super intense. I would probably set my hair on fire and end up burning the whole place down if that was my job. I'm applying for it next week. (Sarcasm)
So we went to the night show, then went home and crashed. Who knew that walking around all day could be exhausting?
FRIDAY
Friday was another full day. It started at 12:30 with an ice cream social, which was just an excuse to eat too much ice cream and hang around with friends that we had already met. The ice cream was of course delicious, so no complaints from me. We went to the "official welcome" after the social, because we didn't feel welcome enough. The president of the Student Body and the president of the University spoke to us, which was really quite awesome. They talked about the honor code and how they might be watching us as we walk to church if they walk by. Interesting, isn't it? So they chatted about everything we should know being university students, and they were really quite nice. After they concluded, we had the academic advisors speak to us about the academic realities of the semesters and how it was being a college student. Fun fact: we're given 9 semesters to complete our degrees, and one of those semesters, if we choose to complete all 9, has to be a summer semester. But they offer a surfing class, so sign me UP. We got our student ID's, then had a little break before we had a new student dinner.
The dinner was good - that's something else. The food here is the BOMB. It's delicious. See ya freshman 15, hello freshman 50. HOLLA. Just kidding. No weight gain for me. I had to leave the dinner early to spend time with my parents, and that was great. I then came back for a student game night, which was good. I got to meet some really cool new people! So yes. Great. And after that....I spent my first night in the dorm. Can you believe it? I did it, guys. I survived my first night in the dorm. Something I won't have to do again! I'll never have another first night in the dorm. Pretty nutty if you ask me. The beds are
SATURDAY
This was my parents final day of being here with me, and it was surreal. We walked on the beach, then went to Sunset beach (about 20 minutes away) and watched a little surfing competition. It was so nice to be able to spend time with my parents before they left. I totally took advantage of them being here. We ate some fresh fruit, went to a secluded cove, and just enjoyed being together. We went to dinner at the turtle bay resort, then had a good dessert and spent the rest of the night being family.
This concludes the 3 day post, stay tuned for more tonight!
Don't do drugs - don't wear shorts above your knee.
Queen Anne
