Starting school after the vacations is always something special. Part of you wouldn't have minded to continue living the unlimited freedom of summer for another couple of months, while another part of you also look forward to a new academically year with different kinds of expectations. Starting your education at a new university in a new country is very exciting. And not everything is as you had expected.
8:30 am Monday morning. The schedule says you're having classes. The university building is however dark and abandoned. No students, no professors. A touch of panic. Where is everybody? Have you somehow misunderstood the whole thing? A small ray of light can be spotted under the door at one of the third floor offices. You knock, enter and are received by a smiling lady. Being a bit confused, you ask her where all the people are. She tells you that the professors are not always on time and that most of the students first start appearing in a two weeks time... You take her advice to wait outside the auditorium, and eventually your professor and 8 of your new classmates turn up. Passing 8 hours at the university, you have a total of 30 minutes with "presentation" of your Monday classes. You make an effort to get to know some people, and are satisfied with having initiated conversations with at least 10 fellow students.
On Tuesday, you get a few (more) cultural shocks. Curriculum appears to be everything that comes out of the professors' mouths. And that in a horrid tempo. Taking notes on your life, you somehow manage to get by, and prise yourself lucky you have the language-knowledge you have. You pity the Italian and the Belgian that tell you they understand as good as nothing. Having about as much spare time as on Monday (due to the same causes), you take the opportunity to get to know some of your classmates. The campus cafeteria is nice enough, although grey clouds of smoke are hanging over your head.
Wednesday has no classes, as practicals will not start until the following week. You spend the day with your wonderful boyfriend and a friend that makes the most delicious Dominican dishes. You discover you wouldn't mind so much having a cook around on a daily basis.
On Thursday, you actually have real classes. Same drill as earlier in the week, you take notes on your life ending up with a sore shoulder. Feeling somewhat exhausted from having to concentrate so hard to understand the professor, process the information and take the appropriate notes, the hours slowly pass by. A trip to the faculty library stuns you, as it is exactly as you have imagined the perfect library to be in your dreams. You get a library card and borrow your first book. Your first job is to read the IFLA directory on services at public libraries - 98 pages in Spanish - something you are to make a resume of and hand in as part of your final grade. You leave at the end of the day, a bit overwhelmed by all the new things and new practises, but with a feeling that you have good chances of fitting in socially and that you will indeed get your 60 credits by the end of your academic year (as long as you work really hard).
