Eye-Opener: Memo

Impressions of Utah

it's been a crazy few days, and the semester as a GI hasn't even begun yet... here's the catch up

I arrived in Utah on Friday (me mum was with me)... from the get-g0 it was just insane...as soon as I landed on Salt Lake's airport... I've never seen so much cowboy hats, pick up trucks with license plates that yelled "Utah!" (with the exclamation points)... the mountains just bordering... I passed by the downtown area of Salt Lake City... I kept falling asleep in the shuttle... OCHRE, the color ochre came to mind, the sun was shining, golden dry almost white grasses (the color of hay), dirt, gravel, stone, clay red, Blonde people, paisley-green shrubs bleached by the sun, although the sun was up, it was pretty dry not humid, there's a bit of a breeze... as long as you're under the shades, the temperature dropped... cow and horse pens in people's backyards...

after at least 5 hours of flying, I didn't have time to have jet-lagged... we checked in at the University Inn at Logan.. and then walked to the Taggart Student Center and headed straight to Registrar's office (remember my run-around episode) and set up a tuition installment plan (I have to pay the first half by Sept 26 and the rest by Oct. 26)...

I was taken by surprise by the nice reception of the lady at the registrar's office... maybe she sensed my apprehension, or my newbieness... originally I assumed that since it was Friday, the last hour of work (I arrived at 4 and they closed at 5), everyone would be moody and ready to go home, nope she wasn't (maybe it's the western laidbackness versus the hyper-busy and moody east-coast attitude, maybe it's the mountains and clear air versus the skyscrapers and pollution, maybe)... basically instead of rushing to get me out of her office, she took the time to listen carefully to what I said and to my predicament, basically I came out of the office feeling a lot better (even if I owe all that money)- and wow their registrar's office is really big, with lots of desk and a tall counter and several people are walking around... the nice lady gave me a MAP of the bus/shuttle route and campus...