Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Green Hills in Portland

When I open our room window in the dorm, I see this beautiful scene. Today we will have an orientation. Lunch will be served too. I'll meet several of new students; a good chance to make some new friends.

Good to know that I've made several friends upto now: Geetanjali (India), several Chinese girls (I can never remember their name except one: Shan Shan), Jessica (Denver), Megan (Washington DC), Nikolas (He didn't say where he is from but he is American), Richard, Melica (Turkey), a Russian girl, and Simone (the assistant of 12th floor of the dorm). I don't know why American boys are not as warm as the girls here that I cannot communicate with them as easy as girls.
It's so interesting for me to experience an American dorm's life that I only saw in some films. I saw several funny things today. A group of boys and girls playing guitar and jazz in the elevator going down and up; they were really crazy I think. They called themselves the floor 8th music band. I also saw a boy with an strange beard who played some unknown loud sounds like a song with his mouth and his breath, like DOOF DOOF, BAAP BAAP and ... He was funny.

I have to add my colleagues in the LAB also: Josh, Alex, Michael, and Rolando (all American), Huan, Ocean and Lisa (China), and Rafael (Mexico).

I don't know why when anyone asks me where I am from and I tell him/her that I'm from Iran, he/she says WOW, IRAN! Maybe it's surprising for them to see an Iranian guy in the US.

I'll talk about the differences and similarities of life in the US and life in Iran later. Just let me experience some more days.

10 comments:

Laurie Allee said...

It sounds like you are having a great time!

I thought you might enjoy checking out this site . It explains beatboxing -- the art of vocalizing percussion with your mouth. I'm pretty sure that's what the guy with the beard was doing.

Can't wait to see more pictures and hear more stories. Your dorm view is really nice, isn't it?

Pat said...

Hi, Meead. Glad to hear you're settling in. That certainly is a great view from your window. Take your time getting used to the US and Americans. Looking forward to more of your stories and photos.

Dina said...

Hehehe, I have to laugh at what (and how) you describe about American campus life! The craziest thing I remember from my dorm year in Michigan was a panty raid. Now the kids seems to be into elevator music and beatboxing (thanks for teaching us that, Laurie).
"Oh wow, Iran!"--yeah, I can imagine they say that. Well, enjoy your official orientation, Meead.

Anonymous said...

Mead, I've known lots of people who have come to the U.S. from somewhere else. You are the first person who to give "us" your impressions from the moment you arrived. This is going to be very interesting.

Abid said...

lol. Your observations about our culture are too funny.

Ann said...

I'm looking forward to experiencing US life with you. Don't worry if you can't visit everyone's blogs, we all understand. Its hard when you are working or studying (not like these slack retired people:)).

USelaine said...

I can think of a couple of possible reasons for playing music in the elevator of a dorm: 1) the acoustics are very good, or 2) the sound insulation from all the rooms is very good, so no one complains that they can't read or sleep. Or both.

I think everyone is surprised you got a US visa to study here, because the US government has such difficult relations with Iran's government. There is a lot of scary rhetoric reported.

Somayeh said...

woooooooooooooow meead
you find a lot of friend.
that's great.:)

Jane Hards Photography said...

Good to see you've come across some friendly people already. That must be quite a different view and the misci in the elevator sounds fabulous. Enjoy.

Petrea Burchard said...

It's great to hear about it all from you. Elaine's probably right, the reaction is probably about our government relations. Don't let it worry you. As you know, individuals are not their governments.

I'll bet I know why the boys aren't as warm as the girls. They're jealous because the girls are so warm toward you!