Getting To Know Each Other
Jul. 14th, 2005 08:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tiaramerchgirlEarlier today I received email from someone named Rob at WorldSmart. He introduced himself as part of the Road Staff crew for the August 2005 semester, and told us that they will be calling us within the next couple of weeks (since there are really only a couple of weeks left) to check if we still have any questions and to see how we're doing.
Oh, we definitely have questions. How much can we bring? Do I have to bring something cultural? Is food OK? What will I do if I freak out and have another panic attack? Who are my host families? Is there something we must bring at any cost? Do we have to read up on anything? Will there be a test? Do I need to learn another language within the next few days?
Of course, some of these could have been answered through The Handbook. However, The Handbook has yet to show up here, and I'm not entirely sure if it's still hiding somewhere in Cyberia, or if the Malaysian postal workers have decided to take a hold on it for "on-the-job reading". The nearest thing to The Handbook was a scan of the Things To Pack list, thanks to the Japan office.
Wow, even WorldSmart is involved in file-sharing.
While we all await those phonecalls and the arrival of The Handbook, we are invited to join the YahooGroup set up as part of the "pre-course". For the next two weeks or so, we'll be talking to each other, figuring out who exactly will be sitting next to us on the plane (well maybe not that specific), and grouping up to do homework.
Yes, we haven't even started on our trip yet and we already have homework.
Our first assignment is about similarities and differences - we have to find 2 other people, form a group, and discuss the similarities and differences amongst ourselves. From there, we analyse the common themes presented and talk about how this will affect WorldSmart, our trip, and the world in general.
To find members, you'll need to take the initiative to email those you're interested in and ask them to join your group. Already I'm having a bit of trouble with this. See, 99% of the time, when it comes to a group assignment (or any other group task):
(a) I end up doing it alone because everyone else is lazy
(b) I end up doing it alone because I can't find anyone else to join me
(c) I end up doing it alone because I've already anticipated (a) and (b) and don't want to subject myself to too much trouble
I am seriously hoping that my activities in WorldSmart don't end up being Yet Another One Tiara Show. I've emailed some people, and one of the people I've emailed tells me that she's already got a group. And no one's emailed me personally yet. Dang.
I've now offered myself to three other people; let's see if any of them respond favourably. Now if some strange twist of fate happens and all three of them say "yes", then I'll be in a sticky situation. Oh dear.
While I wait, let me tell you a little about the rest of the people in my group. To my utter surprise, there is a participant from Singapore and another from Indonesia. Wow, so I'm not the only South East Asian going. I wonder if they received any mention in their media for being practically the first from their countries to participate...then again, if record-setting-mad Malaysia ignored me, I'm not sure how the other two would fare.
Hello, Reuben and Yogo. Can't wait to meet up with you and discuss the merits of sambal and durian while nattering to each other in various manglings of Bahasa.
We have people representing Taiwan, Mexico, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Korea, Puerto Rico, Kenya, and of course USA and Japan. And there's more coming soon. People are just starting to speak up; hopefully the list will be a lot more active in the coming days. (Especially since we have homework.)
Will we get along? Will there be sudden cliques, deliberately or not? Will there be in-jokes? Will we fall madly in love at first sight (or email), get married, have 19 children, and credit the wedding to WorldSmart? What will happen?
Who knows for sure; this is really just the beginning.
Oh, we definitely have questions. How much can we bring? Do I have to bring something cultural? Is food OK? What will I do if I freak out and have another panic attack? Who are my host families? Is there something we must bring at any cost? Do we have to read up on anything? Will there be a test? Do I need to learn another language within the next few days?
Of course, some of these could have been answered through The Handbook. However, The Handbook has yet to show up here, and I'm not entirely sure if it's still hiding somewhere in Cyberia, or if the Malaysian postal workers have decided to take a hold on it for "on-the-job reading". The nearest thing to The Handbook was a scan of the Things To Pack list, thanks to the Japan office.
Wow, even WorldSmart is involved in file-sharing.
While we all await those phonecalls and the arrival of The Handbook, we are invited to join the YahooGroup set up as part of the "pre-course". For the next two weeks or so, we'll be talking to each other, figuring out who exactly will be sitting next to us on the plane (well maybe not that specific), and grouping up to do homework.
Yes, we haven't even started on our trip yet and we already have homework.
Our first assignment is about similarities and differences - we have to find 2 other people, form a group, and discuss the similarities and differences amongst ourselves. From there, we analyse the common themes presented and talk about how this will affect WorldSmart, our trip, and the world in general.
To find members, you'll need to take the initiative to email those you're interested in and ask them to join your group. Already I'm having a bit of trouble with this. See, 99% of the time, when it comes to a group assignment (or any other group task):
(a) I end up doing it alone because everyone else is lazy
(b) I end up doing it alone because I can't find anyone else to join me
(c) I end up doing it alone because I've already anticipated (a) and (b) and don't want to subject myself to too much trouble
I am seriously hoping that my activities in WorldSmart don't end up being Yet Another One Tiara Show. I've emailed some people, and one of the people I've emailed tells me that she's already got a group. And no one's emailed me personally yet. Dang.
I've now offered myself to three other people; let's see if any of them respond favourably. Now if some strange twist of fate happens and all three of them say "yes", then I'll be in a sticky situation. Oh dear.
While I wait, let me tell you a little about the rest of the people in my group. To my utter surprise, there is a participant from Singapore and another from Indonesia. Wow, so I'm not the only South East Asian going. I wonder if they received any mention in their media for being practically the first from their countries to participate...then again, if record-setting-mad Malaysia ignored me, I'm not sure how the other two would fare.
Hello, Reuben and Yogo. Can't wait to meet up with you and discuss the merits of sambal and durian while nattering to each other in various manglings of Bahasa.
We have people representing Taiwan, Mexico, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Korea, Puerto Rico, Kenya, and of course USA and Japan. And there's more coming soon. People are just starting to speak up; hopefully the list will be a lot more active in the coming days. (Especially since we have homework.)
Will we get along? Will there be sudden cliques, deliberately or not? Will there be in-jokes? Will we fall madly in love at first sight (or email), get married, have 19 children, and credit the wedding to WorldSmart? What will happen?
Who knows for sure; this is really just the beginning.
