They should call it "One Stop Hold Up".

Tuesday morning we met nice and early so we could be first in line to get our IDs. Of course, after walking to campus, and touring around campus for an hour or so, we were so drenched with sweat that there was no hope for a good picture.

The campus is fairly large, larger than it appears in any pictures. Unfortunately, there are some strict rules of photo taking, due to former students stirring the pot with fundamentalist animal welfare groups...so I have only a few.

View of dorm buildings from campus. Yes, that's a gigantic hill.

Eating area at the student union.

View from campus...breathtaking.

As we were walking back from the tour, our orientation leader thought it amusing to share a story about parking on campus. It seems a 2nd semester guy parked his car on a slope next to the lecture halls. Apparently, despite the mechanic check he had performed when purchasing the car, the brakes were not all that great. As he walked away, the car began to roll down the hill and straight over the cliff into the water. With all of his textbooks, ID, money, etc. They had to order a special crane to come to the school and try to remove it from the sea. Thanks for sharing, Kelly.

After the tour and ID fiasco, we were herded back to the dorms for "One Stop Shopping". It seems they find it funny handing out maps of the dorms with little arrows showing where all of the vendors are located and sending us out like its a treasure hunt. Except its not a treasure we get in the end, its an empty wallet! After two hours of going around handing out money for this fee and that fee, I felt like perhaps I should have been the one sitting in one spot and they could come to me!!
All of this activity and money loss seemed to sap my energy, and I promptly went back to my room to nap for a few hours. Dinner was at Buddy's, thus far the least favorite restaurant we've hit. Why, do you ask? Was it the food? No, food was actually okay. Well then, maybe the noise and decor? Nope, that stuff was alright as well. Well then, WHAT? Hmmm...could it be the fragrant scent of raw sewage that permeated the entire restaurant. I'm not talking a sort of fart smell. I'm saying this place smelled like a sewage plant. Yuck. But with enough beer, you can eat in even the most nasty place ever.

Buddys. Not my #1 choice.

After dinner we walked down to Ziggys to try and drink off the sewage scent. There we sat at the bar, watching a group of fellow students make fools of themselves booty dancing near the bar. There are times when I relish in my age and wisdom.

Around 11pm we started noticing an influx of locals, specifically young guys. They really seem to just hang around, trolling for new student girls to hit on. At one point a guy came up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders as if to dance behind me. I just calmly took his hand and removed it from my shoulder without turning around, and Steve (one of the guys below) came over to stand by my stool and put his arm around me (and drunkenly forewarned me that he wasn't getting fresh, just making a point to the locals). I have a really really really good orientation group.

Mandy, Kelly, and I. Don't let that white flash fool you...we've got mean tans!

Front: Andrew, Mandy, Kelly, Derek, Mike.

Back: Matt, Steve, Saskia, Matt.

It was a very fun evening, all in all. Would have been nice if our orientation leaders could drink with us (that's a Ting soda in Kelly's hand), but it was nice having that sobering influence around. And yes mom, we never left the group without a buddy. Not too hard for the girls, but guys aren't used to going to the bathroom en masse.