We said goodbye to several exchange and ESL students at the end of last semester/session, with many tearful goodbyes at the I-House and at the final event for December, our holiday dinner and ice skating party in Market Square. J-term saw many students traveling, but the students remaining on campus during January had plenty of things to keep them busy, from our trip to the Lost Sea to indoor wall/rock climbing. The I-House kitchen saw a lot of use too during birthday and goodbye parties and impromptu cooking parties.
Now we’re one week into the first semester of 2010. We are pleased to welcome nine new students from all over the world, from Brazil, Cameroon, England, France, Guatemala, Japan, and Korea. The welcome reception we held in their honor last Friday at 3 pm in the Bartlett atrium was successful at introducing the new faces and reuniting the old (or should I say more seasoned) faces on campus. We had a very pretty chocolate cake that said “Welcome New International Students,” and some fruit and drinks. There was quite a gathering as GCO members, current international students, and faculty and staff came to show their support despite the beginnings of a very snowy weekend.
Thanks to everyone who came, we hope you had as much fun as we at the CIE did, and good luck to those students who are beginning their classes this semester! We hope this semester is as good as the last. It’s amazing how May seems so far away from this point, yet the semester will be over before we know it, and we’ll have to say all those goodbyes again. So, make the most of this and every semester and enjoy your time here while it lasts!