Finally Here!

Here it is- check in day. 

The day started by around 10 AM. We grabbed a quick bite and took the subway downtown to catch New York City's Gay Pride Parade. For those reading abroad, the US Supreme Court just ruled gay marriage constitutional (in a tight 5-4 vote), legalizing gay marriage in all fifty states and making the US the 21st country to legalize gay marriage. As a result, the people of New York decided to celebrate this historic ruling by having a huge parade to express their joy.

People get ready for the parade as police vehicles lead the way.

And so it begins..

Around 1:50 PM, we arrived at Columbia. Columbia's campus is really appealing to the eyes but for some reason is actually smaller than I originally expected it to be. We all managed to check in and receive our ID cards and dorm keys. Upon regrouping, we all looked up to Ms. Thrift with our "what do we do now?" faces. She looked at us and said "Well, I guess this is the part when we say goodbye." We shared our goodbyes, took a quick selfie and headed for our dorms.

You do not know how elated I was upon discovering that my dorm was a single. Instead of having to worry about the needs of a total stranger, I would only have to worry about me- and that my friends, is the dream.

My dorm is rather small but manageable. There appeared to be only one electrical outlet so bringing a surge protector came in handy. There is an AC unit in front of the window that overlooks the crowded New York streets along with a small cabinet and a few shelves. I have an awesome desk that sits next to the AC and faces my bed. My bed is surprisingly comfortable, for a dorm bed at least.

My home for the next 3 weeks.

After getting settled, I decided to actually talk to the guys who shared the same floor with me. What astounded me about meeting these people was the fact that almost everyone of my floor mates were international students. Some of theme were from far away places like: Korea, Japan, India, France, Italy and a few from Spain. We all got along quickly and started to chat it up in the halls. We were soon separated by our different RA's (Resident Advisors) and brought into separate rooms where we got to know each other through different games. Once we were all acquainted, our RA, Spencer, took us to the dining hall where we were able to eat burgers, potatoes, hot dogs, and many other foods.

Spencer gave us a short tour of the campus and brought us back up to our floor where he talked about the what to do's and not to do's while at Columbia. Basically, they have high expectations for us to not do anything stupid and use common sense. 

Later that evening, I met up with my cohort and we talked about what we loved about Columbia so far and how our dorms were. We all relaxed on the stair steps of the Low Library with some of the food we got from the grocery store. An hour before our 11 PM curfew, we headed back to our dorms to blog and get ready for tomorrow, it's the first day of school.

Oh boy...