The other day I needed to print some of my reading material for the week and decided to zip over to the main campus. The moment several Greek letters stepped out onto the path in front of me I probably should have realized that something was going on.
I recieved a definite second clue when I came up to the Student Activities center. The plaza in front of it was fuller than I had ever seen it - and there were even more (different) Greek letters running around. That, and on a small stage three people were standing yelling out various combinations of Greek letters (had I not known better at this point I probably would have assumed they were going through physical equations!) to which from somewhere on the quad several people would start yelling at the top of their voices...
Suddenly, it made sense why Fraternities and Sororities are called the Greek system :-D
Friday, September 4, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Yaaay...
Apparently, Friday was Freshman move-in day. Of course, I didn't know - which is why I was surprised to find a) a LOT of cars lines up and down all the roads around the dorm areas and b) -
well, b) pretty much fullfilled any American stereotype that had remained standing up until that point.
b) there were cheerleaders on the curbs cheering the incoming cars.
Yaaaaaay.
But they had quit by the time I was cycling back on campus. Probably because it had started raining and continued doing so for most of the weekend.
So, how was my weekend? Well, mostly wet.
The sun did come out on Sunday afternoon. Which is why I went out - and went on a bike ride which seemed to cover most of the island, but in reality I just discovered a bunch of roads that end. Somewhere.
Aaaaaaaanyway, on special request from my Dad, here's pictures of my new "wheels".
Pretty cool, huh?
well, b) pretty much fullfilled any American stereotype that had remained standing up until that point.
b) there were cheerleaders on the curbs cheering the incoming cars.
Yaaaaaay.
But they had quit by the time I was cycling back on campus. Probably because it had started raining and continued doing so for most of the weekend.
So, how was my weekend? Well, mostly wet.
The sun did come out on Sunday afternoon. Which is why I went out - and went on a bike ride which seemed to cover most of the island, but in reality I just discovered a bunch of roads that end. Somewhere.
Aaaaaaaanyway, on special request from my Dad, here's pictures of my new "wheels".
Pretty cool, huh?
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Things I've learned so far... regarding traffic
10. I find it extremely difficult to figure out when a sidewalk is a sidewalk and when it is acutally ment to be a sideride. I also find it almost impossible to determine when a bike path is a bike path, when it's a kind of parking lane and when it's just a generously drawn sideline.
11. My internal navigation system has kicked it. Yes, this is a good thing. Unfortunately, it doesn't ake into account that while sometimes a highway is the only way to get somewhere they shouldn't be used by bikes (don't worry, dear parental units. I didn't try to go anywhere on the highway!). Also, I think I may have accidently rollerbladed onto the roof of the student union. Should that be a bad thing, they really shouldn't have made it accessible by rollerblades.
12. I always thought the traffic light system in Konstanz was the worst I had ever encountered. I was wrong. I appologize. The worst/oddest system of traffic light cycles is definitely on Long Island. There a lights for people on foot, but they will only go on if you push the button (and then they might not even if you do push the button, but they definitely won't work if you just stand there). I think there should be rules on how close these buttons have to be to the actual crosswalk, how visible they are (e.g. hidden in a tree is not okay), etc.
13. Signs. There seems to be signs for everything. And they are very specific. Some of them look like somebody just decided to put on a sign one day, so he went out to buy some paint and a piece of metal. I came up to a junction and read the following signs: "Right lane must turn right", "Left lane must turn left", "No turn on red light". Now what about the people in the middle lane? Do they get to do whatever they please? And then there was this one - what does that even mean?!
11. My internal navigation system has kicked it. Yes, this is a good thing. Unfortunately, it doesn't ake into account that while sometimes a highway is the only way to get somewhere they shouldn't be used by bikes (don't worry, dear parental units. I didn't try to go anywhere on the highway!). Also, I think I may have accidently rollerbladed onto the roof of the student union. Should that be a bad thing, they really shouldn't have made it accessible by rollerblades.
12. I always thought the traffic light system in Konstanz was the worst I had ever encountered. I was wrong. I appologize. The worst/oddest system of traffic light cycles is definitely on Long Island. There a lights for people on foot, but they will only go on if you push the button (and then they might not even if you do push the button, but they definitely won't work if you just stand there). I think there should be rules on how close these buttons have to be to the actual crosswalk, how visible they are (e.g. hidden in a tree is not okay), etc.
13. Signs. There seems to be signs for everything. And they are very specific. Some of them look like somebody just decided to put on a sign one day, so he went out to buy some paint and a piece of metal. I came up to a junction and read the following signs: "Right lane must turn right", "Left lane must turn left", "No turn on red light". Now what about the people in the middle lane? Do they get to do whatever they please? And then there was this one - what does that even mean?!
Monday, August 24, 2009
More things I have learned so far
5. I need to work on my "I'm a mature woman now"-image. Starting with getting past the point where everyone seems to think I'm a teenager. The taxi driver who gave me a ride from the airport was trying to be friendly when he said: "So, you're here for school, huh? You'll be going to Stony Brook Prep?". Really?! I am waaay past high school - in SO MANY ways!
6. It's really, really hot here. And humind. Fortunately, this is the United States - most buildings have air-con. Unfortunately, the stairways do not. Even more unfortunately it seems that a high percentage of elevators are currently broken. In almost every office building of sorts I have had to find somebody the elevators (or stairs for that matter) where a) hard to find and b) broken, being repaired, out of commission - possibly they eloped. Who knows. Anyway, pretty much every office I had to go to was up several floors - I'm the kind of person who never showers directly after heavy excercise, because usually I don't REALLY start sweating until I'm finished. On the long run, showing up at every air-conditioned office and breaking out in a full sweat and having to make sure I don't drip on whatever form I was filling out: NOT cool (sorry, couldn't resist the pun!). Fortunately...
7. There are now ground floors. Okay, yes there are ground floors, but in contrast to Germany nobody calls them the ground floor. The ground floor is the first floor. So, for example though I live on the 2nd floor, I'm actually on the first floor you reach when taking the stairs. So everytime I figured out where I had to be (the probability of the elevator not running was exponential to the "largeness" of the number) and started up all those flight of stairs, I realized it was never as far as I'd initially assumed!
8. I am only short by comparison. In Germany, there was friendly teasing in some of my circles of friends, regarding my (lack of) size - German woman are usually about 10cm (make that 4 inches) taller than I am and, for example, I was the shortest player on my rugby team for some time. I always tell people that since American woman are 164cm tall on average and I am just a bit shorter than that I am only statistically short. And let's be honest, I am rather short than average. But here,... why I practically tower over people!
9. The bugs here are nasty. I just got back from rugby practice and my feet are a mound of HUGE bumps resulting from the five minutes between the time I took off my cleats, put on sandles and took off in the direction of home!
6. It's really, really hot here. And humind. Fortunately, this is the United States - most buildings have air-con. Unfortunately, the stairways do not. Even more unfortunately it seems that a high percentage of elevators are currently broken. In almost every office building of sorts I have had to find somebody the elevators (or stairs for that matter) where a) hard to find and b) broken, being repaired, out of commission - possibly they eloped. Who knows. Anyway, pretty much every office I had to go to was up several floors - I'm the kind of person who never showers directly after heavy excercise, because usually I don't REALLY start sweating until I'm finished. On the long run, showing up at every air-conditioned office and breaking out in a full sweat and having to make sure I don't drip on whatever form I was filling out: NOT cool (sorry, couldn't resist the pun!). Fortunately...
7. There are now ground floors. Okay, yes there are ground floors, but in contrast to Germany nobody calls them the ground floor. The ground floor is the first floor. So, for example though I live on the 2nd floor, I'm actually on the first floor you reach when taking the stairs. So everytime I figured out where I had to be (the probability of the elevator not running was exponential to the "largeness" of the number) and started up all those flight of stairs, I realized it was never as far as I'd initially assumed!
8. I am only short by comparison. In Germany, there was friendly teasing in some of my circles of friends, regarding my (lack of) size - German woman are usually about 10cm (make that 4 inches) taller than I am and, for example, I was the shortest player on my rugby team for some time. I always tell people that since American woman are 164cm tall on average and I am just a bit shorter than that I am only statistically short. And let's be honest, I am rather short than average. But here,... why I practically tower over people!
9. The bugs here are nasty. I just got back from rugby practice and my feet are a mound of HUGE bumps resulting from the five minutes between the time I took off my cleats, put on sandles and took off in the direction of home!
Saturday, August 22, 2009
How did they know?
How could they know? How can there be a sign telling you that you are going the wrong way? Isn't every way somehow also a right way?
Okay... now I get it! They come in pairs on campus. After every "Do not enter" sign there is a sign for those who did enter a one way road the wrong way to tell them they are going the wrong way.
Except - Now I'm still trying to figure out how this goes together with the whole "the brightest minds in the world"-thingie.
see what I mean?
This one reads - Welcome to Stony Brook and the beginning of an incredible journey.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Things I've learned so far...
1. People used to ask my parents why their children sound like they're from New York. I don't. I really, really don't.
2. When I was about 14 I was told not to worry that people said I dressed - differently. Supposedly I already at that age I dressed like a college kid: shorty, t-shirts, hoodies. So, not to worry, by the time I would make it to college, everyone would have caught up with me. By the time I made it to college, students in Germany still don't dress that way. And while my T-Shirts have become a bit more "cut" and my shorts a bit shorter - it seems as if anything more than halfway down your thighs is still quite long. And maybe I should start wearing flip-flops as well. Then finally I'll fit in.
3. Americans should do what pretty much every other country does: Each type of bill should have a different color. It makes life SO MUCH MORE SIMPLE. Really. Trust me.
4. For all the "let's go green" - there are some fatal flaws in the whole concept. For example: "Ride your bike, it's greener, it's healthier, it will make you fitter" is a good idea. And yet there are some small details which haven't been observed that would make it more easy, e.g. bike racks in front of shops.
More to follow...
2. When I was about 14 I was told not to worry that people said I dressed - differently. Supposedly I already at that age I dressed like a college kid: shorty, t-shirts, hoodies. So, not to worry, by the time I would make it to college, everyone would have caught up with me. By the time I made it to college, students in Germany still don't dress that way. And while my T-Shirts have become a bit more "cut" and my shorts a bit shorter - it seems as if anything more than halfway down your thighs is still quite long. And maybe I should start wearing flip-flops as well. Then finally I'll fit in.
3. Americans should do what pretty much every other country does: Each type of bill should have a different color. It makes life SO MUCH MORE SIMPLE. Really. Trust me.
4. For all the "let's go green" - there are some fatal flaws in the whole concept. For example: "Ride your bike, it's greener, it's healthier, it will make you fitter" is a good idea. And yet there are some small details which haven't been observed that would make it more easy, e.g. bike racks in front of shops.
More to follow...
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