We began the day at 11:30 with a fancy Chinese lunch. We had several dishes, including Suzhou style fish, which is a fish that has been diced, fried, and covered in an orange sauce, and then served along with its tail and head for decoration. We also had several dishes of noodles, and various meat dishes, including chicken, beef, pork, and mystery meat (which was actually alright). We sat around circular tables with large lazy susans in the middle. The dishes were placed on the lazy susan, and then we could rotate it to gain access to all the food. Here are a couple of pictures:
After lunch, we got back into the bus and headed for China Construction Bank, where we got our debit cards. These debit cards are loaded with the meal plan money that is not being used to pay for our lunches. All of us immediately tried to withdraw some money from the ATM, and this combined with all the other people trying to withdraw money caused all eight ATM machines to run out of money. So some of us had to go to the ATM near UDCI that evening.
Once we were finished at the bank, we drove back to UDCI for the first orientation presentation. Coming in the door, we were handed goodie bags, which contained a folder for our handouts, a schedule of events for the weekend, a notebook, a schedule of all the classes, and a schedule for the daily shuttle to and from UDCI. The latter two, we were told, would have to be changed so that everyone could attend the lunch we paid for with part of our meal plan.
They welcomed us, and gave us an overview of Suzhou Industrial Park, the pertinent academic information, and told us about the various resources available to us. They everyone also introduced themselves, and we got brief introductions of the non-UD faculty, most of whom are from Suzhou University.
Then we took a tour of UDCI. We were shown the various meeting and conference rooms, all of the offices, classrooms, and labs, and were shown the lounge, library, and workshop. I'll dedicate a future post to the UDCI building.
After the tour, we returned to the lecture room for a wrap-up. Then we returned to our apartments, got dinner, and had a social in the three RA apartments. (Note: The RAs don't live in their own apartment like in the dorms at UD. The RA apartments are the same as all the others. There are two other people living in the RA's apartment, and the fourth room is reserved as the RA's office.) Then everyone prepared themselves for Sunday's orientation and went to bed.
Once we were finished at the bank, we drove back to UDCI for the first orientation presentation. Coming in the door, we were handed goodie bags, which contained a folder for our handouts, a schedule of events for the weekend, a notebook, a schedule of all the classes, and a schedule for the daily shuttle to and from UDCI. The latter two, we were told, would have to be changed so that everyone could attend the lunch we paid for with part of our meal plan.
They welcomed us, and gave us an overview of Suzhou Industrial Park, the pertinent academic information, and told us about the various resources available to us. They everyone also introduced themselves, and we got brief introductions of the non-UD faculty, most of whom are from Suzhou University.
Then we took a tour of UDCI. We were shown the various meeting and conference rooms, all of the offices, classrooms, and labs, and were shown the lounge, library, and workshop. I'll dedicate a future post to the UDCI building.
After the tour, we returned to the lecture room for a wrap-up. Then we returned to our apartments, got dinner, and had a social in the three RA apartments. (Note: The RAs don't live in their own apartment like in the dorms at UD. The RA apartments are the same as all the others. There are two other people living in the RA's apartment, and the fourth room is reserved as the RA's office.) Then everyone prepared themselves for Sunday's orientation and went to bed.