Settling In

I went to bed last night at about 1 am and woke up at about 4am. I guess that is the problem with a 13 hour time difference. I think it will be a few days before we get acclimated to the sleep schedule. We were all starved for breakfast because we felt like we had missed lunch and dinner while sleeping. The mess deck was very nice and we had a variety of food to choose from. I'm not really sure what I had for breakfast but it was good. The meals will take some getting used to but they are all well prepared.

We had orientation this morning, where we discussed the program and all the details of the school. We found out that there will be several students from Australia, South Korea, Poland, and also Africa that will be a part of this international program as well. This is such a great opportunity for all the students involved and everyone wants to make this a success.

We were given a tour of the campus and the surrounding area but we had to do so by bus because of the weather. The campus is unbelievably large and the facilities are state of the art. I think we are all still a little confused about the direction of everything but I'm sure we'll catch on. The library has several hundred computers and more maritime related resources than several schools combined. I think this will be a great opportunity for the International Maritime Business students to access some great databases and periodicals.

There was a welcome dinner prepared for us this evening and all of the foreign students were invited. This was a nice traditional Chinese dinner and they gave some speeches to welcome us. This gave us the opportunity to meet the cadets from the other Maritime Universities and talk with the Chinese cadets. They also prepared some stage shows including music, dance, and singing. I think everyone enjoyed the dinner and hospitality. It is very apparent that they are putting in a lot of effort to ensure that we are happy.

Adam Silvis is a 2/C cadet and Student Trustee at Massachusetts Maritime Academy