Back From Camp.. AT LAST

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Here at Atlantic College, the first-year induction period consists of six days of endless orientations followed by a four-night, showerless camping trip in northern Wales, where we are encouraged to bond with our fellow first-years through lots of very dangerous, very fun water-oriented activities. This is why my hands feel like two slabs of raw meat attached to each wrist; yesterday, I was climbing along barnacly crags with the Welsh surf (yes, there really IS welsh surf), pounding against the legs of my wetsuit in our coasteering course. At the same camp, I also learned how to surf, and I mean really learned how to surf; I actually rode a wave three times, and the instructor said I was the most natural surfer he'd ever seen! At school in Middlebury, I was always considered either the serious academic or the band geek, but here I'm one of the most athletic people on campus...since classes haven't started yet, no one really knows who the serious academics are. I got my self-esteem boost of the year after my tour choir audition, when I walked out of the audition room and everyone else started applauding; now when I introduce myself the next question is "oh...are you the really good singer?" Which is a pretty nice reputation to have, especially in the first two weeks. Because we all live together, gossip gets around viciously fast, so a good reputation is all-important.There aren't any really obvious cliques yet (how refreshing, and how COMPLETELY different from Middlebury) , except for some ethnic groups who stick together because of a shared language barrier. Because we're barely into the first term, a lot of the non-native English speakers are sort of having a hard time, and so the native speakers tend to stick together as well. However, I'm having problems of my own with british English...who knew that 'pants', to a British student, means 'underwear'? That's the only word that's led to some really awkward moments, but I've also started calling rainboots 'wellies' and sweatpants 'trackie bums'. My dorm itself is odd because we have three first-years, and only one second-year student, who almost doesn't exist anyway as she just sleeps all day. She is, however, from thailand, and she is an AMAZING cook, so once a week or so I can skip getting our unbelievably bland, _____-flavored chicken on a bed of rice dinner at the dining hall. every night, it's chicken on a bed of rice. the only change in the menu is fried fish of fridays, and occasionally some buttery carrot cake for dessert that is unlike any carrot cake I've ever tasted. Well, I'm off to my first Sosh, a dance party that the college puts on every friday and saturday in the Social hall, with different national groups choosing the music every night. I hear that tonight it's the Nigerians, who tend to play the same songs over and over again because they apparently love anything by Eminem...i'll write again tomorrow, about my final class and service choices. I'm having an AMAZING time!

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