My first blog: My first impression about people at MVCC

Seven days is not a long time, but to me, the first seven days of my visit at MVCC seems to be a very long time. It’s not because I miss my family and want to go home, but because within these seven days, I met a lot of people and experienced many new things. I think it’s normal because whenever I return from a day trip, I recall what I did, what I saw at the early morning of that day and to my mind they seem to be the memories of some days before that, not of that day.
 

There are a lot of things I have experienced, but the most impressive one that will stay in my mind forever is that teachers and students at MVCC are very friendly, helpful and considerate. I don’t know how to thank Sandy for her devotion to me. When Sandy picked me up at Syracuse Airport, she gave me a bottle of water. She said she thought I was thirsty. I never thought of that. That was just a small act, but I was really moved by her thoughtfulness. Before going to the airport, Sandy had turned on the air conditioner and put a lot of food in the fridge in my dormitory room. Then the day after, she walked me around the school, introduced me to many people, and always asked me about my health, my jet lag, my food, my warm clothes, my electric adapter etc. … In the first few days, I’m like a baby bird in her arms or I’m just like her little granddaughter.

And everybody here is so friendly. It’s not like the stereotype I heard about New York people – unfriendly, they just walk and walk. But Sandy says people in Utica are not like those in New York! It seems everybody here knows my about visit and when they meet someone strange, they think it is me. Some days ago when I got out of the elevator, Leslie saw me and she said hello and she asked if I was Oanh. I didn’t know her at that time. Then she introduced herself and told me about my visit to her class on Friday and about my presentation on Monday. And the students in the dorm are also lovely. Last Tuesday when I got back to the dorm door, there were some students at the door too. I was looking for the card in my bag to get in, and a male student next to me used his card to help me make the door open. At that time I was embarrassed and didn’t know if I could come in with his card. I continued looking for my card and then a female student opened the door and smiled at me. I knew and I said thank you a lot to them.

Also, I have learned about a lot of new and helpful things like inter-library loan, Spanish food, American lunch of sandwich and soup, cheesecake of New York style, American working time without a nap at noon, blogs, pet hair cutting, Easter Day, and especially the extremely cold weather with a lot of snow.