Orientation week

Last week was COTT's orientation week,filled with useful talks about how to use the library,who everyone is+what their rules are(including that no ordinands are to get drunk or stay away for a night). The community building session taking it in turns with a partner to be blindfolded+led around the college was a laugh as my partner thought it would be hilarious to tell me to jump over things that in reality weren't there and,needless to say,I feel for it! We also had a trip to the local Anglican Benedictine monastery where a student told me he could see me as a nun!!!I replied that I liked talking too much,+Dom kindly agreed! At the weekend I had my first braai(BBQ)+also the community were encouraged to play or watch sports+somehow I ended up playing netball,but predictably played sufficiently bad enough not to be asked to play again! On the downside,that was the first real day of sun+Dom+I ended turning pink due to sunburn!

At the end of the week we agreed to the College Covenant during a service,which included agreeing: to uphold the seriousness of Christian witness by projecting a good image of yourself; to approach socio-political issues from a Christian conviction; +to respect all regardless of gender,race,class,age+sexual orientation.

Overall I enjoyed the first week,but not the 9 insect bites I have! I have begun to get to know some great,friendly+welcoming people. +the only disappointing thing has been the weather! Apart from 2hot days,we've had a couple of cooler days where Dom and I wore shorts anyway but no-one else did(!) +a couple of cold+raining days!

The most interesting part though,has been recognising there are as many similarities as their are differences between here+English culture. The food+drink demonstrate this particularly well,since the food is what we eat in the UK but is often served in different combinations (such as cucumber for breakfast or rice and roast potatoes as part of the same meal). Also,though there is tea with every meal,it is decaffeinated+different to tea in the UK. Here we have bush tea which is rather sweet+5 roses tea which is rather similar to PG Tips! COTT even have tea at 4:00 every weekday just like we do at Cuddesdon,however here we have it outside+sadly without cake!

Photo of the braai