Thanksgiving

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        Thanksgiving is a part of American culture that people celebrate all across the country. In this holiday there are family gatherings which involve eating a lot of meat, especially turkey. People give thanks to their families.

I remember my first Thanksgiving with my host parents in Washington, Maine in 2008, and I remember watching what was going to happen. It was nothing big, but we were stuffed with turkey dinner with many friends and families.

My second Thanksgiving was in Putney, Vermont and what is interesting about Puntney is that there is a particular day called March of the Turkey Day which happens just before Thanksgiving break and all of the faculty members from the Putney School march with huge Turkeys in the dining hall to serve students food.

At Champlain College, Thanksgiving was quite nice because there were all sorts of events such as international impromptu night and the dining hall served turkeys and other kinds of food  just before break.  If you didn’t have any place to stay during the holidays the faculty helped you find a host family to stay with during break and also one of the dorms on campus was open for international students.  I am lucky that I have so many host families in the US that I can go and stay with at any time. 

Champlain is a nice community that is easy to get to know. Everyone from faculty to students are very friendly. You won’t feel homesick here at all. 

White Water Rafting

Our rafting group in ME

The international boat

This will be the last post for the Fall of 2011 and the rest will include the excitement of  winter in Vermont.

White-water Rafting is a fun thing to do, which I had never done before. While I was back home in Afghanistan during the summer of 2011 and my parents didn’t allow me to do any activity that has to do with water because we in a dry place and were not much exposed to the water. But again to be more adventurous and try new things I thought I should be participating in an adventurous activity such as river rafting.

On Saturday September 17, 2011 there were about 35 students from Champlain College heading to Maine on a big bus with a friendly driver for White Water Rafting.  Before we head out from the College early in the morning; A breakfast of turkey and salad sandwiches, bottles of Gatorade and chips were passed around for a quick breakfast around at 8 AM and we ate the same around 12:30 PM where we stopped somewhere half way between VT and Maine to have lunch. Our trip was almost 6 hours but everybody used the time to watch a movie, read a book, sleep or chat with their  friends which was more convenient because that’s how it is supposed to be while you are in a bus. 

We arrived in Maine about 3:30PM and set up our camps. The weather was good so we could play Volleyball, soccer and all sorts of games.  There were small tents for 8-10 people and everybody started to set up their tents with whoever they wanted to live with for the night. There was a good BBQ for dinner and after dinner there was a large bonfire to keep us warm and roast chocolate with marshmallows until midnight. The night was very cold but thank God nobody got sick and everybody seemed happy and enthusiastic in the morning.  We took our tents and then clean up our stuff early on Sunday morning to prepare for Rafting in the river, which was very exciting to everyone.

We were given brief instructions and then were divided into groups of 8-9 with an instructor leading us to launch a boat on the river. Somehow our boat was called the international boat because our boat included three new international students and the the other boats were US students. 

I sat at the front of the boat where the huge waves could hit me right on my face and really almost I could drip into the water. I couldn't believe that I could actually jump from the boat and swim because I was so nervous at the beginning but as I saw people were jumping to swim in front of the boat I was tempted to actually jump and swim. 

Although it was cold and far, it was so worth it and if I had the chance, I would do it again.
I strongly recommend this to everyone in the future to participate in these kinds of “adventurous” activities especially white-water rafting because it is a good way to have fun and make lots of friends.

Thanks to faculties and members that plan and provide such activities that is really enjoyment and bring us together to be all CHAMPS yahh!

Biking Trip

Photo taken by our trip leader Morgaine Jennings

On the Ferry heading to Plattsburgh NY

I consider myself to be an adventurous guy because I am always open to trying new things.  On Saturday October 29, Champlain College announced a biking trip to Plattsburgh, New York and there was a large group signed up. Those of us who didn’t have our own bikes rented bikes from the Skirack and Champlain College paid for us.  I was upset and disappointed at first because it didn’t let me to sign up online, saying “list was full”, but somehow they let me go. When our group leader said that I was good to go, it made happy and excited again. 

We left Champlain around 10 in the morning and went to Skirack to get our bikes and then we took the Ferry to the other side of Lake Champlain which was sunny and nice but chilly outside.  I had five bottles of water with me to drink in case I got dehydrated and we started biking right after we got off the boat.  Biking was a big challenge for me because I only learned to  bike in 2007 and since then I only biked once on the streets of New York in 2010. 

When we arrived to Plattsburgh New York on a Saturday around lunch time and our leader gave us only 1 hour to relax and to have lunch because we had to get the Ferry back to Vermont.  The roads were good but there were so many hills to climb and those long hills killed our legs. Since we didn’t want to miss the Ferry we had to bike fast because we had half an hour to catch Ferry.  We arrived to the place where we had to take the Ferry 15 minutes early  and everyone looked exhausted. We realized that we all biked about 35 miles that day and for me, as a new biker, it was like participating in a national bike race. I was proud, patted myself on the back and said that “YES! Assad you are actually an adventurous guy.”

Orientation

All new international students

You can see how happy I am showing the Champlain Lake

Pictures are taken by Anson

Saturday August the 20th in the afternoon I arrived at Champlain College where at first sight I found it home. I saw two wonderful girls who met me on first in my residence hall and kindly helped with my stuff to bring in and showed my room.  After I settled in my room I had a very good Q and A with the girl who is also an international student and I got to know more about Champlain and the curriculum's at Champlain College. I also met many Champlain staff members during orientation who helped me with all my concerns and made it easier to adjust to the campus prior to arrival of other freshman students. I've got a full bag all sorts of chocolates, candies and water but it was Ramadan. Ramadan is the month when we fast and don't eat or drink only during the day.  Sunday August 21 the international orientation began and  I got to know students from all over the world which later on some of them become my best friends.  We had two group leaders and they were so awesome because they were so helpful and they took us out for dinner. Monday was the day which President Dr. David F. Finney announced in front of more than three thousand students with their parents that now we become officially "College " students which made me be proud of myself.  I personally enjoyed the first week of college a lot and now I feel that I have the privilege to be here and feel that I should give back to the community.

Studying Abroad

Photo taken by: Anson

      Studying abroad is always a good experience for those who are able to travel and have the support of those around them.  International students who first travel to the United States always need help because everything is different from their home country and they always need more time to adjust to American culture. I understand what an international exchange student thinks and what is needed because I am one of them.  International exchange students like me who come from a totally different background are always eager to explore new things and learn about the different culture.

      I am one of the 37 fortunate international exchange students who came to the United States in 2008-2009 to study abroad. Coming from Afghanistan, I had so many worries such as: being away from my family, adjusting to food and American culture, financial support and my future. For the first time I arrived in the US, I lived in San Antonio, Texas for a week just to get familiar with American schooling and expectations of living with an American family.  One year of living with a wonderful American host family and going to a public school in Maine was my best experience. I had good food and I didn’t really feel that I was alone because everywhere I went people showed respect and supported me in everything. Finally I come to the point to decide staying in the United States to continue my education.  

      After two years of challenging work in a boarding school at The Putney School in Vermont and being away from my family I realized that now I am ready to face another four year of challenge in college.  Obviously in every one's high school senior year it is very hard to decide what college to apply and where to go but I believe I made the right decision to apply to Champlain College because I never wanted to go to a big University.  

Champlain College will be my home for the next few years and is the right size school for me.