Days 33 and 34: Wrap up

So sorry again I’m doing this, but I’m really overwhelmed buy the amount of stuff I have to do. I know my 10 years older self will not pardon me for doing this.

So on Monday I had some really great moments, and the one that pops up now is when I went with some friends to spray on the Free Expression Tunnel. Since it was my first time, I wanted to do something really good, so I painted a message showing how pride I am of being part of Group B of the Call 143.

And you know what? People liked this more than I thought they would. Julia even updated our group’s Cover Photo on Facebook with it. Really cool hahahahaha

I sprayed other messages there, like “BRs at NC State” and “UTFPR”, but I only did it because I thought I had to make my chance of spraying the tunnel memorable and worth it.

I lost IIE’s last webinar and I know it was important, but I think I can get any information I need about it from my friends here.

On the Tuesday, I had a really bad day. Starting with the gym. I couldn’t count my sets right because I wasn’t 100% focused, and continuing from there onwards to: think I did pretty bad at my first test here (why were there so many questions and why do we have to know so many useless things about Oceanography like the length of galaxy’s spiral arms?) and many awkward moments.

Now, I’m trying to see if I can start doing the lab memo because I’m afraid I might not be able to finish it soon enough.

Day 32: Sunday!

Yup, my Sunday wasn’t very exciting either. This time I knew the gym wouldn’t open in the morning, so I waited while studying in my room. Afterwards, I had brunch and went to the gym. There was one exercise I didn’t find a machine for there (and I found out that exercise was for legs, not for abs. And supposedly it was an abs day), so I just improvised with an exercise I knew and added others to make the workout better overall. I’m still not really sure spending $60.00 on that Personal Trainer was a good idea. Not a lot of attention has been given to me and Pedro.

Then a just came back to room to study (and I still am). Not a lot exciting things happened, I know, but my days will surely change once I get all the homeworks under control, lol

Day 31: Here I am, talking about yesterday again

So so far, I haven’t been able to give this blog a lot of attention and as a result, my posts have become smaller. I know that sucks, but it’s simply what things have become here. There’s just so much homework. I’m afraid I might not be able to finish them all properly. But it’s okay, I suppose. I’m living my dream here.

Talking about what yesterday, I have to tell you it was a better day than on Friday. I woke up, it was raining but still tried to go to the gym (it was closed, so I had to come back to my room). Since the Dining Halls open for brunch at 10:30 am, I spent the free time with washing my clothes and studying for the Oceanography midterm. Then I went to Fountain to have brunch. It was good, but they didn’t have corn dogs this time (man, I love corn dogs).

Afterwards, I went to the gym. Worked out like a beast hehe, and without Pedro because he’s lazy :P. Came back to room and studied. Oh, and before that I bought my tickets for a Chicago trip. I was pretty undecided before buying them because I am going there alone and there are so many uncertainties, but the price was too good. I imagine I would have felt bad had I not taken the opportunity. I expect to spend not a lot more than $500.00 on that trip. I’m still a little scared because things work a little differently here, but also excited. It has to be worth it! Also, I had problem making my mind about trip. Sometimes, it happens with certain expensive things.

Day 30: One month here, baby!

So yesterday marked my first month in the US! Although it wasn’t a perfect month, I had a lot of fun here, specially from the “getting used to this and that”. Perspectives for the next months? I don’t want things to change. I’ve been very happy with my life here. Most people are very friendly and I’ve made a lot of friends here. I don’t want to go back to Brazil. I want my family to move here!

But, talking about what happened yesterday, I should say it wasn’t a great day. My first gym day wasn’t alright because of the stubbornness  of my mate. He wanted to run on the treadmill for TEN minutes before doing his sets and worked out without stretching first. Also, I had only 1 hour to finish my sets so I didn’t stretch first too, nor after. During the CE 382 class, I was mad at what happened during my first gym day so I failed helping my team finish an extra-point exercise.

Later I went to play Tennis with a friend and my roommate and it was loads of fun. I fail at Tennis so bad, but still had fun and want to do it again, although next time I’m gonna play Racketball. Then I went back to my room to study. My Indian friend came to my room to invite me for some gaming time at Hunt Library (check some new games they have now), but I just couldn’t do it. I had a lot to do. I have so many things to do I actually feel bad about spending some minutes on this blog everyday.

Day 29: Getting used to how classes work here!

So today was what you can call a successful day because I managed to finish FOR 220 in-class work in time and without much effort. Although, I’m a bit worried I wrote down wrong when my news presentation is (and talking about this, I should check it out to see if I got it wrong or not) because I noticed there aren’t a lot of people left to present and November 25th is still very far.

MEA 200 was still very boring, although sitting closer to the professor still helps me pay attention to him. Before the class started, I heard someone say that last term’s first midterm asked very specific questions and that worried me a little bit (just kidding, it worried me a LOT). I still don’t think I’m prepared for the midterm.

Then I went to Roses Express to buy some essentials and hopefully I won’t need to go back there so soon. It’s really far from here! But I got almost everything I needed (still looking for facial skin soap that’s the equivalent to the one I brought from Brazil. Hopefully Walmart has one). But Dat did get some kitchen sponge for me, so at least I can clean the UTFPR’s cup and the one I got from the first Coffee Talk at Alexander. I also tried changing the position of the US flag today, but the new hooks simply didn’t stick to the walls of my room properly. I still feel bad about wasting them like that.

And tomorrow I will definitely remove the trash in my room.

Ah and I can’t forget that today I had my introductory session in the library with the personal trainer. It was great, but I feel it might not have been enough. Not only there’s a tendency to doing the exercises the wrong way, I don’t remember all the exercises’ names in English. Hopefully by having a companion those things won’t be too much of a problem. But today I did go to the gym again to test the treadmill and it was great. I didn’t know how to use at first, but it wasn’t hard to learn the commands.

Day 28: Not a lot happened

I don’t have a lot to say about Day 28, except that course CE 382 became much harder and got a nice surprise from CE 381 (ie, the lab memo wasn’t due this Friday. It was actually due this Thursday), so I had to spend most of my night at the library and in my room, finishing that.

The Small Group Class class of GTI 401 was great and loads of fun, but I didn’t know I had to bring a song (I thought I had to bring it for the next week’s main class). The Chinese students are very friendly, though. It’s certainly something I never expected (although that’s something I noticed before).

Then I finished my lab memo and went to sleep. Like I said, not a lot happened on Day 28.

Day 27: Made some Chinese friends!

So today started basically like any other day here. Went to have breakfast at Fountain (I started going only there these few last days. It’s the best place to eat in terms of food). It stopped raining here, so now I can enjoy the cool climate properly. MEA 200 was much better today as I felt much less sleepy than before. FOR 220 was pretty interesting because I was the ONLY ONE who hadn’t finished last class homework on the same day (I like taking my time with stuff. It was like that in Brazil and it will never change). After both classes, I left the classrooms with a feeling of “Well done, man. You did it right this time”.

When to Fountain again to have lunch. Ah, and possible one day I will take pics of the interior of the Dining Halls. I’m just a little afraid that is not permitted here. Had a good lunch. Honestly, I’m used to the food now. Maybe some days from now I will see myself wondering how to live without the daily burgers hahahaha

Then I spent the rest of my time in the library trying to study a text for the next class (GTI 401 – US Culture and Education Colloquium) and failing horribly. Honestly, I don’t know exactly what’s happening with me. I just get sleepy whenever I read certain texts.

And well, GTI 401 class was lots of fun. The teacher forced Brazilians to seat with Chinese students and vice-versa, and I met two interesting persons as a result of that. I don’t remember their names in Chinese, but one of them was called Lucas in his American name. Yes, they actually come up with American names so that they don’t make other people struggle with their real names. I imagine everyone who has weird names do that. But I’m lucky my name is already an English name so I don’t have to worry about that. Next time I will definitely try to seat with them. They were a lot of fun, and I do prefer being with foreigners here than with Brazilians.

So after that I went back to Fountain for dinner. It was also pretty good. Again, as in lunch, we had pasta, but the sauce sucked. I don’t know the origins of the sauce here, but it never tastes good.

After dinner I went to a hallway “mandatory” meeting about some questions we have to answer and email to our Mentor of the first floor (his name is Fabian). I don’t remember all the questions, but one was about why I’m taking my current courses and my least favorite course. He also informed when the Fire Marshal will come (it will be this Sept. 26th). I don’t know if you already know about Fire Marshals, but they get inside your room to check for possible fire-igniting zones/devices and you definitely don’t want them to find a toaster in your room, so we have to be prepared for when they come (that is, we have to remove everything that might cause a fire in the room).

Then later I went to a Coffee Talk and got a really cool new mug. Picture is below. I will definitely take it to Brazil! It’s so beautiful!! In the Coffee Talk we talked about the differences between American and foreign universities. It was pretty interesting, but I spent all my time there eating and listening than contributing, unfortunately. This happens very often with me.

After that I went for a burrito at Talley and didn’t like it a lot. I will probably throw away what I didn’t eat. I don’t think I will ever buy another burrito again.

Then I came back to my room to study. I was conflicted between staying here and going to the library, because I study better there, but I decided to stay here in the end. It didn’t feel like worth the effort to go to Hill Library just to stay there 2 hours or so at night. Ah and the person I was planning on going with to Chicago didn’t post anything today, so I think I might have to there by myself. But happily I will meet Adriana and Cleomar there.

Later I found Erick and spent some time in his room. We made plans for a tennis match this Friday afternoon at 3. I invited my roomie and Pedro so that we could form 2 groups of 2.

Ah and I forgot to mention, but Gabriel fell off his skateboard today and it was pretty bad. I hope he’s okay and the insurance will cover most if not all of the costs of the treatment.

And well, here I am not typing. I will post another post tomorrow. Ah and tomorrow I will play another game with my Indian friend again.

See you soon o/

Day 26: Lots of rain

So today I got up to a wonderful weather. I do prefer the colder temperatures and the lack of sun hitting my eye all the time and not having to worry about passing sunscreen on my body, but man I hate the rain. I think it’s still raining, but I cannot be sure about that at the moment. One thing you should know about here is that buildings are closed shut from the outside, so you rarely see or hear what’s going on out there.

So I went to my only class of today (CE 382 Hydraulics) and it was fun. I was able to finish the in class homework by myself and with my team successfully. But before I continue I want to tell you I was kinda in a hurry this morning. It was the first day I had to worry about the rain here, so it took me some time to prepare everything for the day. And of course my roommate, as effective as he is, didn’t take 15 min to go to his class. He actually headed out before me.

Then I went to the Dining Hall (Fountain, this time). Had a wonderful lunch there. They had different kinds of pasta and this weeks is peanut week, so we have plenty of infinite peanut-based foods now hehe.

After that, I spent the rest of my day just studying and oh my god, reading that book about Oceanography put me to sleep faster than the professor, unfortunately.

Dinner wasn’t as good as lunch (no pasta this time), but I managed to eat healthily again. I have stopped eating cakes and ice cream for dessert, and I don’t drink Fanta or Coca-Cola Zero here anymore. I’m done with my days of eating a lot of anything I want hehe. I also got a take-out container so that I could eat later at night. It actually worked pretty well, except I didn’t want to spend my dining dollars on that because of the extensive line behind me. I need to internalize that dining dollar is just money and it was given to me to be spent.

Tomorrow I might try that omelet they make here as I will have time for that.

From Day 4 to Day 25: Sorry about everything

So all this time I didn’t post anything here and there’s a very good reason for that: I just didn’t have time for my blog and I’m so sorry about this! To rectify that, I’m making this post where I will post all the important things that have happened to me so far. It’s not the same thing as dedicating a post for each day, but I don’t remember everything that happened anymore during all the days that have passed and I really want to continue this blog.

Alright, so since Day 3, I think that’s when my roommate, Dat, came. He’s a pretty cool guy. Always helps me with everything. We’ve become good friends. On Day 4, if I’m not mistaken, I went to the campus’ bookstore for the first time and was impressed by the quantity of university items they sell there. One thing I didn’t like about it is the prices. They are very expensive, but still if you are into as NC State as me, you will definitely agree that spending the extra money on a Wolfpack blanket is worth it. On Day 4 or 5 I must have gone to the Wells Fargo Bank too to open a bank account. I didn’t search about which bank is better than which, but I’m pretty happy with Wells Fargo so far. On Day 3 I also called my mom for the first time with the International Calls plan I bought from T-mobile.

On Day 5 I went to Walmart to buy stuff and it’s where I got a beautiful Turtle Beach PX3 headset! And man, am I happy I decided to spend about USD 100.00 on this device! It’s sooo good. On Day 6 there were many preparations for the First Day of Class Day.

On the First Day of Classes I was pretty calm about everything. I didn’t have everything I needed yet, but I wasn’t worried, although I was surprised the professor of CE 381 – Hydraulics Systems and Measurements Lab. I mean, I was told Americans don’t do that sort of thing, but apparently that particular professor is a rarity here. CE 382 – Hydraulics had a pretty interesting class. Plenty of homework assignments (one of them was due that week’s Friday and I had to read 30 pgs of the textbook). Man, that was tiresome, but I managed to read everything by Thursday. Here, it’s very important to read the textbooks when the professors asks you to because next class they give you a questionnaire about it. On Day 4, I went to a Welcome Week event at Miller Field and it was great! Lots of free food and stuff for you to play with, like this one:

And here’s the free food (I had to try it, of course):

On the second Day of Classes, Day 8, I had a pretty boring class of Introduction to Oceanography, and I know you are impressed by that. It wasn’t because the content of the class was boring, because it was actually interesting, but the professor’s voice simply puts me to sleep. I’m actually worried about that, so next time I will seat closer to the professor to see if it actually helps me pay attention to what he says. I also had my first class of Urban Forestry on this day, and this one made me VERY alert. We are going to have to do a project and I have a news presentation this November the 25th. My English is enough for day-to-day communications, but sometimes I struggle. The thing about the project that worries me is having problems with going to the sites where we have to collect data. Public transport here sucks a lot in terms of availability and what places you can go to with it, so I hope someone from my group will take me to the places I need to go to or if I can pay my roommate for that service.

On Days 10 and 11 I remember I went to Roses Express and it was a delight! So many good items for sale and they were all so cheap. Some things I bought from there I regret doing so, but it was because at the time I still didn’t know how to go shopping properly. I bought some shoes from there and they came in different sizes, but to my surprise the store was open on the Sunday and they allowed me to get the right pairs for no additional fee!

And yes, I switched to English now hahahahah. I’m using this blog for internship reasons too.

On the second weeks of classes I didn’t do a lot of interesting things. I went downtown on Wednesday alone because Pedro didn’t want to go. I think that week I payed for the personal trainer. I remember downtown was really, really good. Didn’t regret one bit spending my precious time there hahahaha. I also started jogging. Went downtown on foot twice that way, and I should definitely so that again. I just hope the muscle-building sessions won’t get in the way. I LOVE exploring the city on foot.
Then the third weeks of classes was about the same. Went downtown again. Got some good scores on the homework. Labor Day was tiring, and I the football games were very good. I really need to finish this post now, but I will post things as I remember them in the other posts too.

Man, there’s just so much I want to write down here.

And this is the link to my Internmatch profile: https://profiles.internmatch.com/users/884611