Sign outside the Library. Today has been our second day of Orientation. We have been welcomed over the past two days by many representing the various organisations on site, including Admin staff, the Faculty and the Student Body. There are many facets to the International Linguistics Centre of which GIAL is the educational sector. Today was a shorter day's program to yesterday's, and with my registration in place, I felt the exhaustion of all the 'newness' by lunch time.
The biggest surprise came in the Library this morning whilst having a well-organised guided tour. We had been told to expect 'a lockdown' at some random time. Some new students were quite familiar with this procedure as it is a Government requirement in all educational institutions of the US now. A 'lockdown' is a drill to be carried out by all present on the campus, somewhat like a 'fire drill'. We were taken through the ropes on how to respond should a real gun attack occur. As you can imagine, to this uninitiated Aussie, it brought home the hard but sad reality that citizen's have to live with here. Later I heard from others how little pre-schoolers are required to go through this drill too! We had less than a minute to make ourselves invisible, before the simulation went into full action. There is a real sense of being 'family together' in all of this. As you can imagine it was good to have some time out at the shops in the afternoon and to enjoy a chai latte with one of the staff, Maggie!
The biggest surprise came in the Library this morning whilst having a well-organised guided tour. We had been told to expect 'a lockdown' at some random time. Some new students were quite familiar with this procedure as it is a Government requirement in all educational institutions of the US now. A 'lockdown' is a drill to be carried out by all present on the campus, somewhat like a 'fire drill'. We were taken through the ropes on how to respond should a real gun attack occur. As you can imagine, to this uninitiated Aussie, it brought home the hard but sad reality that citizen's have to live with here. Later I heard from others how little pre-schoolers are required to go through this drill too! We had less than a minute to make ourselves invisible, before the simulation went into full action. There is a real sense of being 'family together' in all of this. As you can imagine it was good to have some time out at the shops in the afternoon and to enjoy a chai latte with one of the staff, Maggie!
Tomorrow, Wednesday, the first day of classes begin. We have been warned repeatedly that it will be a full and busy time... So the challenge will be to keep blogging in the days ahead.
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