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UC Berkeley Exchange: Orientation + First Day of School
- earth_to_gillian
- Aug 30, 2019
- 6 min read
I have only been in UC Berkeley for less than two weeks, but a lot has happened over that period. I feel that this has been one of the most productive two weeks I had in a while. Get ready for a relatively long post, since I am going to cover a bunch of highlights!
1. Met New Friends
The most typical, yet the most important highlight. Friends are what makes the exchange experience all the brighter and more fulfilling. I met a bunch of my good friends during Golden Bear orientation, where we join different events and activities together. I met people from different cultural backgrounds, such as those from here in the United States, the United Kingdom, and China. During orientation, we discussed about different topics, such as identity, our life back in our home country, etc. Since we come from all over the world and have different perspectives, it makes conversations much more interesting.
I also met friends randomly as I strolled around Berkeley. I bumped into a Christian Fellowship group and they invited me to play laser tag with them around the Campanile. Now, I have some good friends in that group. I met two people from that group who were originally from Hong Kong, and we’re going to go to San Francisco this Sunday to eat dim sum!
Not only them, but there’s usually some people who play different games at Memorial Glade, so sometimes they would ask if I wanted to play frisbee with them. Memorial Glade is where you always find something happening, and it’s also a great spot to meet some new friends if you ever need company.
2. Visited Niche Shops
During orientation, we walked around the Berkeley area and visited some niche shops. There was Amoeba, which was a music record store, where they sell vinyl records and cassette tapes.
Moe’s Books was also another niche book store where they have a wide variety of books, including those about food, plants, and poetry.
There was also Games at Berkeley, which allowed UCB students to rent board games of a wide selection.
The other day, I also went with friends to Victory Point Café, where they provided great food while you play unlimited board games provided at the café. It was immersing since I discovered games that I did not know even existed apart from Monopoly (lol).
3. Watched a Hypnosis Show
On the first night of orientation, we watched a hypnosis show where they got students from the audience to volunteer. I was shocked to see that the students were so enthusiastic to be hypnotized and possibly embarrass themselves. Nevertheless, I was always skeptical of hypnosis until I watched the show and did pretty dumb stuff. The hypnotist made one of them believe they were Beyonce, and another believe that they were a famous heavy metal artist and made them sing the alphabet in that genre. I thought it was all an act until I met one of the students who volunteered, and they said that they thought they were in a dream and was not fully aware of what they were doing.
4. Watched a Stand-up Comedian
On the second night, they had a stand-up comedy show. They invited Maz Jobrani, a well-known Iranian-American comedian, where he made jokes touching on racial and immigrant issues.
5. Went to a Silent Disco
I don’t typically enjoy dancing to loud music, but the silent disco was a fun event and I did not want it to end. I think it was because you had control over the music you wanted to listen to, since you could switch to different music genre channels, including pop, oldies, rap, and EDM. They played iconic songs, such as Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, Baby by Justin Bieber, Hit Me Baby One More Time by Britney Spears, etc. And when those songs played, everyone switched to the same channel and sang and danced together. It did not matter who you were dancing or singing with, but everyone bonded through listening to the same music, and I think that’s what made it memorable.
6. Went on a Company Visit
During orientation, we got to choose a company that we wanted to visit based on the choices. I decided to visit the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau, since I was quite interested in learning more about insurance. We met the HR Director of the organization, as well as employees from different departments. We were able to chat a lot with them and learnt more about each department in the company. I also liked how they decided to use the cannabis industry as a case study to demonstrate how they provide insurance. It was definitely engaging to the students.
7. Went to Caltopia
Caltopia is an event where they provide free goodies! (Just kidding, but it definitely is the attractive part of it). Different student associations and other organizations gather in RSF and they promote their product or service. But all of them have some free goodies to give out, such as drinks, soup, shirts, sunglasses, hats and board games. Sometimes, they’re not “really” for free, since you would have to play “spin-the-wheel” to get the item you want. Overall, you still get so much cool things. I got three free T-shirts, a tumbler, a pair of sunglasses, and a couple of energy drinks.
8. Visited the 1951 Coffee Company
The 1951 Coffee Company is a coffee stall ran by professionally trained refugees. It’s a lovable coffee stall with a good cause inside the UC Berkeley campus, and a lot of students usually get their coffee or juice there. The proceeds are then donated to refugees as well.
9. Bear Perspectives
Bear Perspectives was an event where our orientation group visited UC Berkeley's interactive gallery. The gallery displays information on issues such as drinking, mental health, and sexual harrassment. There was one particular part of the gallery that caught my attention, though. There were two bowls with marbles that were placed on a small table, and a label saying:
"Move a marble from one bowl to the other if you or someone you know has been impacted by sexual violence or sexual harrassment."
And frankly, there were quite a lot of marbles that were moved, and I saw many people continuously place one as well. But imagine how many people were too uncomfortable to move the marble to the other bowl. You still have to count those people.
10. Tried out Gymnastics
Yes, despite being so inflexible, I decided to try out gymnastics. And I failed terribly. Unfortunately, I do not have any footage of my failures, but I could still say it was a fun experience regardless. I got to learn how to do a handstand and cartwheel, so if anything, at least I got the form a bit more correctly now.
11. Visited Popular, Must-go-to Restaurants
Berkeley has diverse eateries that can cater to your cravings, including Italian, Korean, Mexican and vegan cuisine.
Gypsy’s Trattoria Italiana was voted the “Best of Berkeley” for the best Italian food. They offer gourmet food, including pasta, pizza, and calzone at an affordable price.
Bears Ramen is located in what the locals call the Asian Ghetto (originally called Durant Square). That is where various Asian cuisine could be found. Bears Ramen is of Korean cuisine, and serves food such as Kimchi fried rice.
Chipotle. I’m pretty sure everyone knows Chipotle, but if you’re looking for Mexican food, they provide huge portions of rice bowls, burritos or tacos.
Sliver Pizzeria was recommended by a friend of mine. I tried the vegan pizza option, and their salad. Again, I thought their portions are huge, but it’s worth the price. It’s a good place if you’re looking for vegan food to try.
Top Dog is a well-known hot dog place in the Bay Area. It’s nice and filling enough to have as a snack. They serve different types of hot dogs, such as bratwurst, and you can purchased uncooked ones to bring home.
12. Joined a Writer’s Event
After my class finished on the first day of school, I went to a nearby writer's event. Now this event was an intense and such an insightful experience. This event was at a book store called Revolution Books, where they sell books relating to different social and revolutionary issues, such as feminism. They invited an author, who was formerly in the military, talk about her book and experience in the war. I will make a separate post about this event, as I think it has amazing insights that should be shared in more detail.
These two weeks reminded me about three key things that can help me further make the most of my exchange: 1. Always ask questions. The people here at UC Berkeley love asking questions and challenging each other, which encourages me to keep asking questions and not be afraid to ask a stupid question. 2. Everyone has an interesting story to tell. Talk to everyone and anyone regardless of first impression. I randomly talked to a girl during an exchange meet-and-greet and did not expect such an interesting story from her. Apparently, she went from the Netherlands to the United States by a cargo ship, which took around 16 days. I’ve never heard anyone use that form of travel. 3. Stay open-minded. UC Berkeley has been one of the most diverse campuses that I have ever seen. Not only on race, but sexuality as well. And the more diverse people are, the more complex and more interesting the world is. So stay open-minded so you do not limit your own perspectives.
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