“Getting Settled” September 14-20th
This first week of the program was focused on getting students settled into their rooms, Thessaloniki, and the American College of Thessaloniki (ACT). All students and luggage arrived safely in Thessaloniki on Monday evening! Tuesday was spent sleeping and acclimating to the time change and exploring our neighborhood. The students have multiple grocery store options within walking distance, along with restaurants, shopping, etc. We are also just a short 10 or 15 minute bus ride to the Center of the city. One of the nicest aspects of where we live is the fact that we are only blocks from the boardwalk along the Aegean Sea. Students can play basketball by the water or follow the sea and walk to the Center.
On Wednesday and Thursday we spent the days in orientation on campus learning about ACT policies, classes, programs, and clubs/activities offered. Thursday evening was our biggest adventure of the week…IKEA! Not only was this the first IKEA trip for many students, it was certainly the first time in a Greek IKEA. Students purchased various items they needed or wanted for their rooms and had a few laughs figuring out the language and what exactly they were buying.
ACT planned a field trip for NUin to Vergina, Greece. This town is the site of Philip of Macedon’s Tomb and a small archaeological museum. It is in a beautiful part of the country and the tomb museum is particularly unique. This museum is almost completely dark, except for the backlights lighting the artifacts and the tombs. Though history and archaeology are not every student’s interest, the uniqueness of the museum engaged many of them. Additionally, we enjoyed a traditional lunch in the town. That evening, we had our first family meal at a taverna downtown. This is an opportunity for all students and staff to share a meal together, touch base about our weeks or weekends, and most importantly eat amazing Greek food!
Saturday and Sunday were filled with rest and more settling into Greek life. The staff also quickly realized that many students were having issues shopping at the grocery stores, not only because of the language barrier, but because many had not shopped for themselves on a regular basis before. Anna, one of the International Student Advisors (ISAs), led a group of approximately 20 students to the grocery store to point out common items like milk, eggs, cereal, etc. and then did a cooking tutorial back in our residence for the students who went. The event was very successful and eased some fears about the language around food at least!