Family orientation done and Eli moved in!

We survived a week of international and freshmen orientation!

 Eli continues for three days of new student activities.

 Today in a small group he will worship, an intro to Grand Rapids StreetFest, a service/learning project and then 'create your own adventure' this afternoon.

Yesterday's best surprise occurred when we bought his books... he's signed up for 16 credit hours this semester and his books cost about what 1.5 of my big science books cost when I attended college.

Because the International student orientation came late in the summer, many classes were already full before Ei met with his adviser.

The general engineering classes remained open but not the English. So he will be studying: chemistry, introduction to Engineering, calculus, a first-year prelude class [only once a week for seven weeks], philosophy and two labs.

One book, chemistry, not available so we bought get one on-line and it should be mailed to him by week.

We waited to arrange his room until his roommate arrived, but by 4 p.m. decided we'd better go ahead. He still has not arrived.

Anna nicely went out to find help when we needed to stack the beds up and the dressers as Cory was taking care of some phone calls.

We enjoyed the family cookout in the middle of campus and then said our good-byes.

Eli still had three meetings before ending his day. We are very proud of him and excited to see him dive into college life.

We started today with straightening our living space and laundry [after a week we did take Eli's back as he's very busy the next few days, and we plan to visit on Sunday for dinner]

We will now turn our focus on preparing for our return to Haiti and starting Anna's school year.

Each Sunday we travel to a supporting church to share how the Lord is working in Haiti.

Day 2 and 3 of International Orientation

Sunday afternoon finds Cory working on Eli's computer, Anna exploring the dorm activity room, and since I didn't recharge my Kindle I'm here.

Eli and the rest of the international folks should be enjoying the Lake Michigan beach.

Thankfully the rainy cool weather from yesterday gave way to a bit warmer weather but it remains cloudy.

Yesterday we enjoyed our first breakfast at Calvin. Anna joined another younger sister, from Africa.

Then the parents loaded up into a bus to visit the Fredrick Meijer Garden.

After a short time looking around the inside conservatories [arid, carnivorous plants, and rain forest] we loaded into a tram and enjoyed a 45 minute drive through the sculpture park.

We returned to Calvin for lunch and then returned to the bus for the big shopping trip to a local Meijer store.

Meijer sells many things including: food, clothes, hardware, school/office supplies, plants, household items, electronics....and more.

So picture 4 big buses with over 200 people stopping by your local store!!

 The staff stationed them selves by the areas that held the items on the list from Calvin.

Winners

Eli teamed up with a student from China and we tagged along. After completing their lists they checked out at one of the 5 check-out lanes designated for Calvin students.

Helpers wrote each student's name on their bags to help with sorting back at Calvin.

After a tasty Asian Dinner we enjoyed the night's entertainment which included the students being divided into 7 cultural groups and then each group acted out a skit.

Four elements needed to be included as they competed.....the China heritage group won.

Eli joined the group from Africa. Ghana students made up their own group so Eli joined the 'rest of Africa group'.

This morning after breakfast, students and family shared a meaningful time of worship.

After lunch everyone moved into their rooms for the year.

Until Eli's roommate arrives he will not be able to arrange his room so either later today or Wednesday.

Dividing up into the different dorms.

Tomorrow 1/3 of the Freshman class from America and Canada will join the international students for 3 days of orientation.

This will focus more on life at Calvin and academics.

Six events will still be specific for the international students.

Looking at the bed arrangement possibilities.

First full day at Calvin

Good day yesterday.  Thank you for the prayers for Eli, our family, and Haiti. Looks like parts of Haiti received rain and wind on the news but could have been worse. Not sure when we'll be able to talk to the staff at Fauche but will update when we can.

We did a few things before heading back to Calvin including a bit of shopping.

We joined the rest of the students and parents for lunch.  Following lunch the whole group went to a banking talk and students signed up for the local bank.

Then the parents loaded into a couple of old-fashioned trolleys for a tour of Grand Rapids. This was a fun and interesting way to learn a bit more about Calvin and Grand Rapids.

Then we had a bit of down time before a Welcoming reception and Dinner. The president of Calvin, Michael Le Roy spoke as well as some of the staff for international students.

Interesting many of the 'third culture kids' growing up in a culture other than that of their parent's nationalities are missionary kids from Korea growing up in other cultures like countries in Africa or Asia.

I had a cultural moment with a grandfather from the Netherlands noticed my name tag and asked if TerAvest was Dutch. He noted that they did not print the space and that it wasn't a very common name even in the Netherlands.

At the dinner they asked various groups of the students to stand. Eli's the only new student coming from Haiti but we met a Mom who lived in Haiti as a child.

Surprising that only two were from Europe! Only about 20-30 are American TCK's.

Today and tomorrow Anna will come with us. Will be a long day today with visit to the Frederik Meijer Garden, a shopping trip to Meijer store with our students, an Asian dinner followed by the major cultural groups student acted interpretation of Romeo & Juliet....not sure if Eli will be in the African group [culture] or Latin America [location].

So a late night and then back early for breakfast and worship.

Please pray for Haiti as it looks like tropical storm Erika could dump lots of rain on the north coast and produce some high winds. 

On Wednesday, we celebrated Eli's 18th birthday with Cory's family.

We did some shopping while Cory's mom took the older cousins to a local place for some games like laser tag and pizza.

Thursday we headed out to Calvin after an early lunch. We signed in and picked up our name tags.

Eli quickly joined the mixer games already in process.

I know how privileged we are to get to experience the International student orientation with Eli and even just getting to drop him off at college. Many families living over-seas do not get this chance.

Groups took tours of Calvin's campus before we headed to dinner. Eli went in one group while we joined another. A very nice and compact campus so at least Eli will not need to hike across long distances come winter time.

We chatted with some of the other parents. Close to 10% of Calvin's students come from other countries.

While some of the international students will be arriving this morning between 115 to 120 will participate in International Passport orientation.

Calvin students represent 55 different countries!

I'll try to keep you posted but with a very full schedule the next few days you may need to wait for details until after Wednesday.

I'm starting to like the whole texting option, just need to figure out how to continue once we return to Haiti and leave grandma's phone behind.

 Eli slept well but needs a blanket as he got cold.

He only brought the basics as he will not move into his room until Sunday afternoon.

Today the parents will be sitting in on a banking talk, visiting downtown Grand Rapids and then enjoying a welcome reception and dinner.

 Anna plans to join us for Saturday and Sunday's activities.