So this past week has been like living through a hurricane in more ways than one. Monday started off with meetings from 9 am until around 10 pm. Thankfully, it allowed for 10 inches of knitting, but even with that it was a long and boring day. Whenever we have days like that I think, this must be what my students feel like when they sit and listen to me all day. Tuesday was more meetings, but thankfully they were more interactive. International students arrived Wednesday as did my first official night back on duty. Thursday was the eye of the hurricane, with the day off for class planning. Then the eye passed and the remaining new students and all sophomores returned. This began the true craziness with a day full of orientation on Saturday. At least I had a fun station at canoeing.
And then there was today, when the real hurricane hit. Or really the tropical storm. Or really just a lot of rain. But since the school didn’t quite know what to expect, orientation came to a screeching halt Saturday, with all events postponed until Tuesday and the start of class moved back until Wednesday. The dorm was on lock-down from Saturday night until the storm passed. At first it was a bit stressful, getting a plan together to entertain and care for the 30 students in the dorm. In the end it was a really relaxing day. The students really bonded over Monopoly and Risk and then enjoyed a mixer with the girls’ dorm next door. Since a majority of the students are new, it’s been nice for them to have the campus to themselves for a few extra days before school starts because they really seem to feel at home here and have connected with the other guys in the dorm. It also was somehow rejuvenating for me as a faculty person. Even though I needed to be around and available all day, it was nice to not have meetings and plans all day and just get a chance to hang out with the students over food and puzzles. It was a nice break in the hectic-ness, especially given that the hurricane ended up going west of us and so it caused almost no damage aside from a three hour power-outage on campus and a few broken tree limbs.
Just Casting On 