Orientation Week is exactly what it sounds like — a week of programs and activities for first-year and exchange students to meet fellow students and learn more about the University of Adelaide. The University of Adelaide's North Terrace campus is more compact than Main Campus at NC State. Like NC State, Uni Adelaide has multiple campuses: Waite, Thebarton and Roseworthy. All of my classes took place at the North Terrace main campus.
The first day involved a campus tour and club/organization fair on the lawns. One of the clubs I talked to and ended up joining at the fair was the Fair Trade Collective (FTC). FTC publishes a semesterly magazine titled Ethel on different ways to reduce our carbon footprint and be fair trade consumers, with a focus on sustainable fashion. Just by being a student at the Wilson College of Textiles, I had heard a lot about the fast fashion industry and buying sustainable clothing. Being a textile engineering student, I do not hear as much about the ethical aspects of textiles as the TATM students do and it is something I want to learn more about. I definitely plan on volunteering at some of the clothing swaps that FTC hosts each semester. Also, I mentioned to the student running the booth that I was on exchange from NC State. Coincidentally, her younger sister will be studying abroad at NC State next semester!
Another O'Week activity I did was the Botanical Gardens Scavenger Hunt. The Adelaide Botanical Gardens are about a ten minute walk from my apartment and the university. All of the students got into small groups to solve riddles and find clues that took us all over the gardens. Though my team did not end up winning, it was still a fun experience and I got to try some classic Aussie snacks while we waited for all the teams to finish.
At the end of the week, I went to Glenelg Beach. Glenelg is the one of the most popular beaches in Adelaide and a half hour tram ride away from the city center. The picture at the top of this post was taken near the pier at Glenelg. Although it can get crowded during the summer, the sunset on the beach was really beautiful.
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