Orientation Day 1

Cannot believe I'm actually here... it feels so surreal! (it may also have something to do with the fact that I travelled for 34 hours with maybe 3 hours sleep!)

I met Gabriel from Brazil on the bus from NYC > Boston and so we decided to catch a cab together as trying to get all the bags on the train would have been a nightmare. Despite us directing the cab driver to our building it was great to talk to someone that was just as excited as me!

Last week I found out i had been assigned room F11 Kirkland House (95 Dunster St, Cambridge). Upon checking in the proctors gave me a key and showed me to my room and it was just beautiful. So old with high ceilings and a fireplace, plus its so big compared to the dorm rooms I've seen at different uni's and I didn't have to share my room with anyone!

After about 10 minutes my room mate Andrea turned up. She's an architect from Switzerland doing an English course to improve her business language skills. We decided on our rooms but didn't start to unpack as we still had to check in at Gutman Conference Center.

The town was packed with people and so many Harvard helpers that were all so lovely and nice. We had our international student orientation and received our ID cards. Andrea and I decided to walk through Harvard Yard on the way back so we could find our classrooms but it was packed with students moving in that we ended up walking past a T-Mobile and getting sim cards.

 

By this stage it was about 11am and I was literally dead on my feet so we went back to the room and started to unpack and I made my bed, fell on it and was asleep!

5 hours later I wake up feeling somewhat refreshed and starving. So we both headed over to Annenberg Dining Hall for dinner. (Its a good 10 min walk so we figure that we can have dessert and will walk it off going there :) The Hall is just beyond belief... its massive and looks exactly like Hogwarts! There was so much food to choose from but I was overwhelmed in where I was! And the best thing is I get to go there 3 times a day woo!!!

After finishing dinner we walked through the Harvard Coop and I bought lots of Harvard merchandise. The store itself would be half the size of Big W and has everything you could possible need with the Harvard crest on it!  I figure if I buy people presents now I can wear them and then give them to them later :)

 

We then stopped at Yogurtland woo woo and ate it in a park. This park was beautiful, well actually it was more like a grassy square in between shops than a park. But there was live music and people up dancing and singing long, all the restaurants around have outdoor eating and there was fairylights in the tree... it really reminded me of Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls! 

While we were sitting there I began talking to Kelly who is an OT from Boston. She gave us lots of tips and advice on what we should do and see and even showed me how to get down to the river and back. So nice to see the locals being so nice to all the foreigners taking over the town!

On the way back I met a group of guys from all over the world in the Kirkland Courtyard and we have secretly decided to find a way into the locked common room lol!

Overall it has been one incredible day! Mind you probably the longest day but also the bestest! I am so excited to see what this Harvard experience may bring!! YEW YEW