Wednesday, June 17, 2015

An Introduction to 90 Degree Heat

Poke. Poke again. Slowly my eye lids lifted and blurry but still visible, I saw Justice standing by the side of my bed. 7:02 A.M. I slept through my alarm. However, I doubt I could have slept through the two phone alarms going off at full volume for long. Still sleepy, we laid in our beds for a few more minutes knowing that we did not have to meet up until 7:45.

By 7:30, both of us were hastily getting ready, but interrupted by Julie's wake up call. 7:40 rolled around and both Julie and Shanti knocked on our door. Together the entire cohort arrived at the continental breakfast and met up with Chan-Law. I picked around the breakfast table and ended up with two sausages and two pancakes. Both were very delicious.

Eventually, the Holiday Inn shuttle van arrived to take us to Emory University. The moment we stepped onto the campus, we were amazed by the beauty and cleanliness of the campus. After walking 3 flights of stairs we arrived at the beginning of the campus tour.

The tour began with a hour long speech given by Timothy Fields. His speech was very interesting and Fields described Emory's atmosphere as being different and welcoming. Emory University is very diverse, with students enrolled from all 50 states and 100+ countries. The idea of having Oxford as another option to attend for your Freshman and Sophomore year interested me the most. Also, when Fields brought up the Business school, I paid very close attention, because that is what I plan on majoring in when I attend college. I learned that Emory's business school has no minors and they focus on their students to go into the work force right after school.

Lecture given by Timothy Fields
After Timothy Field's magnificent speech, we were split into 4 different tour groups. My cohort and I ended up with Kari Burdzinski as our amazing tour guide. Kari, an upcoming junior, attends Emory University, but did not attend Oxford for her Freshman and Sophomore year. She walked us around the entire campus and introduced us to historic buildings, such as the Duck. The Duck is a building within a building and it is used as a dining hall and theater.

The building inside the Duck
Kari walked us around for about an hour and dismissed us. Being in the 90 degree heat got to the cohort, so we ended up chilling inside until the shuttle picked us up. Thanks to Chan-Law, we were able to check out of the hotel at noon instead of 11 A.M. The airport shuttle came by the hotel to pick us up shortly after checking out.

"You know the drill," said Chan-Law, as we exited the shuttle. Quickly, with experience now, we checked-in our bags, went through security, and finished lunch with 30 minutes to spare before our flight began boarding. At this point, everyone scrambled around to find a plug to charge whatever needed charge.

The flight boarded and took off on time. This trip, I sat in the window seat, Helen sat in the middle, and Thao sat in the aisle seat. We landed at 5:20 and found our shuttle in no time. The airport taxi dropped us directly in front of our hotel, Holiday Inn.

After settling in, the cohort met downstairs in the lobby at 7:15. After raiding the free ice cream for the second time, we all decided to try something new and dine at a 4 star German restaurant named Old Europe. The atmosphere of the restaurant was amazing, with live German music and dances being performed. The food was different as well. As a group we ordered the tar tar and the pork liver. After a long wait, our food eventually arrived. I ordered the Old Europe Schnitzel. Overall, the food and atmosphere were terrific.

German musicians and dancers entertaining the restaurant 
Running back to the hotel room while the rain poured on us was the best part of the night. The weather changed from hot in Atlanta, to very humid, but cold in Washington D.C. Tomorrow, we will all adjust to the bipolar weather and won't be in shorts and t-shirts in the rain. Day 2 has officially ended, however it feels like we have already been here for a month.

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