Sunday, October 18, 2009
Xiang Xueting @ Indiana University, US (from CityU) 5 - 9 October 2009
Monday Oct 5, 2009
If you want to know what is the most popular sports in Indiana University, the answer is American football definitely. American football is different from football. It is a very popular game in North America. We went to the first game of this season in Indiana university Stadium. On the way to the stadium, you can find almost everybody in red, which is IU color, although it was not dress code for audience. The first game is between Indiana and Eastern Kenturky.
It was the first time that I had watched American football game in person. I have to say, the feeling of actually being there is so different from watching the event on television. Like other students, we were standing on the seat from beginning to the end, cheering for IU team. The most exciting moment came eventually. We won the game with the final score 19 to 13.
Conor, one of football player in IU, told me that the biggest football game is between Indiana University and Purdue University on November 21 and at that time the whole campus will be crazy for this game. Look forward to that day to come!
Tuesday Oct 6, 2009
Tonight was a project night. I spent the whole night with my team members working on our presentation in the library. My team members are four American guys, Andrew, Conor Schmitt, Alex, and Conor Creevey. Conor Schmitt is our leader. He usually plays the role of leading the discussion and stops us from going out the discussion scope. While Alex is a very funny guy and always encourages others to express their opinions. Conor Creevey is a great idea contributor. I am always wondering there is a cyclopedia in his brain. By the way, he is in IU American Football team, which is one of the most popular sports team in IU. Andrew is a freshman, in other words, he has only been in college for 5 weeks, but he takes the same course with junior and sophomore. What a great challenge for him!
In order to have a better performance tomorrow, we rehearsed again and again until 11 p.m. Hope we can give a wonderful presentation tomorrow. Good luck to our team!
In order to have a better performance tomorrow, we rehearsed again and again until 11 p.m. Hope we can give a wonderful presentation tomorrow. Good luck to our team!
Wednesday Oct 7, 2009
I have already finished 4 exams until today. You may feel strange why I have had 4 exams done when this week is just week 5. The examination system in IU is very different from that of CityU. Generally speaking, there are 4 exams for every course. These 4 exams divide the whole semester into 4 periods. All these exams are non-accumulative. Therefore, the advantages of this exam system are that it forces students to study hard from beginning of the semester to the end and the final exam would not put too much pressure on students. However, the drawback is that once the exam for one period is done, some students would even throw all the notes and material for that period into trash bin, because they know the next exam won’t cover those materials.Today my marketing exam is done, which means the first exam period for all my courses is over. Congratulation to me! I can enjoy a great weekend this week.
Thursday Oct 8, 2009
I live in the student dormitory, McNutt, which is of square design. My room is in the northwest corner of McNutt. I am happy with the location of McNutt, because it is only 10 minutes’ walk from Kelley School of Business, where I take all my classes, and 5 minutes’ walk from Foster food court, one of the best food courts in Indian University.Our floor resident assistant, Sarah, is a senior major in English. She is very sweet and made a name card for everyone living in our floor. Rachel, our floor president, is a very beautiful American girl. She always organizes activities to enrich our dorm life. Last week, she tried to get tickets for this week’s football game for us. Although she failed, we still thanked our nice president.
My roommate is Britanne from Anderson, only two-hour drive from Bloomington. She invited me to go to her home on Thanksgiving holiday. How excited I am, because I can have a real Thanksgiving with American family.
Friday Oct 9, 2009
I visited my host family in Bloomington today. They are an old couple, Lyman and Gloria, living in the west of Bloomington, half an hour drive from Indiana University. They picked me up in front of my dorm and drove me to their house. Gloria told me that their house was build all by her husband, Lyman and her father in the 1950s. I could not believe my ears when I heard it. Their house is of unique design and construction even from current view. It is unbelievable that it was build by two men, not professionals in construction, almost 60 years ago.Gloria prepared traditional American food for us. I have to say, she is really good at cooking. It was the most delicious food I have had since I came to the US. We had a very nice chat during dinner. Gloria told me a lot about the community service they have involved after retirement. We also talked about some American history and different countries in Europe and Asia.
We did have a great evening toady. Lyman suggested me going to the church with them after they travelled back from Italy next week. I am looking forward seeing them again even from now.
Labels: 2009/2010 Semester A
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