Cornell, finally!

The big day has finally come! We are live at Cornell in the Statler Hotel, and it is awesome!

Today started at 8:30 AM; I wanted to wake up early, but somehow overslept two alarms and had to rush to finish packing. Despite my slightly chaotic morning, the rest of the day was much better. The driver who was supposed to pick us up was a few minutes late, and once again he brought an SUV with only five back seats. Thankfully, it was only twenty minutes to the airport, and the line for security, though long, also went quickly. The pat-downs are supposed to be random, but for some reason I seem to get one every time I go to the airport. I hope I’m not that terrifying.

We had to take a shuttle to terminal F, where all the propeller planes were. I had ridden one before in Japan, but I was still worried because it didn’t look like it would take off. Although it actually did fly, whenever we hit turbulence, it felt more like a roller coaster than a plane ride; the entire plane rocked as we moved up and down constantly. My stomach was only able to settle when we landed in Ithaca an hour later. From there, we picked up our bags within minutes, and, being the good citizens that truly represent our district, we reported a bag that accidentally came to the wrong airport. By then, Mr. Chan-Law had picked up our rental car. Due to the small trunk and our large luggage, he had to make two trips to get us all to the hotel.

Everyone got a huge bed!

We had thirty minutes to explore our rooms before we went down to the nearest convenience store. We each have our own room with a king-size bed, and the rooms are just as nice as the Inn at Penn. Since we only have tonight to stay here, we are all fully enjoying its amenities. At the store, we picked up a snack and laundry detergent. Then we came back to our hotel, and got ready for dinner with the Cornell students and admissions officer (Jill). Tonight we ate at The Heights; I really enjoyed talking with the students sitting next to me (Beth and Lauren), as well as the two sitting across from me (Katie and Julie).

About to go to dinner...

Mostly they talked amongst themselves, but I gleaned useful information about the school, such as how big classes are, what to expect on campus, and whether students can really avoid debt through the financial aid of the school (they said so far, yes). The food itself was also good, but limited for me. I ordered a hamburger without the bun, and some crème brulee after. I ordered other items first, but even the french fries were breaded. We took a group picture at the end, but mine did not come out well, so readers can look at the guys' blogs to see it. Overall, today was more relaxed than the other days this week. Tomorrow, though, will be packed with events and information. Cornell, I’m here and ready for anything!

Hamburger, no bun, with potato wedges.

The creme brulee had pop rocks!