First Classes

This week was/is my first week of classes. Last Tuesday, I arrived at Gallaudet with my dad and started using my ASL. I had a few days of orientation, and met my roommate and the rest of the Visiting Students. My roommate Jill and I get along well and its nice to be able to talk(voice) in our room after being bombarded with new signs. I felt like 2 months should be over already, not two weeks. But I have not had the huge let down that I had been dreading. There is definitely a culture shock when coming to a new environment, especially one so dramatically different in its very nature. My hearing friends and I are slowly getting used to these changes, there are times when we walk in "silence" because we do not know how to put all of our thoughts into signs just yet.

I am taking 4 classes (which isn't a lot, I know. But I also have a lab!) All the classes are taught completely in ASL of which I am understand more and more. Some people are easier to understand than others, just like in English when some people use more slang than others do. Here are my first impressions of my classes--

Chemistry Lecture: This class has only 7 people in it!! That's a big change from my 450 person classes at ASU, but the important information is all on the PowerPoint and in the textbook, so I won't miss too much even if I can't understand the teacher.

Chemistry Lab: I had this class for the first time today, it is once a week, but for THREE HOURS! I actually really liked the teacher though, he is very nice and very easy to understand. There are 5 students in the lab, and since it is a more interactive class, it is a much better environment in which to practice my signing than lecture.

Theatre: This is a great class. The teacher is pretty difficult to understand, but he is a great storyteller, and uses his entire body to sign. The class is officially called "Introduction to Gestural Communication" and our first assignment is to express our name, hometown, favorite food, and favorite hobby without using ASL, English, or writing. It is such an interesting idea and I am so excited to learn more of what my professor is already so good at, and bring this new way of communicating to all the theatre I do.

Linguistics: This is officially called "Sign Language and Sign Systems" but it is a linguistics class and that's what everyone calls it. This teacher (and most of the other students in the class) are easy to understand, but my eyes hurt after paying attention to so much information. It definitely felt longer than the hour and 20 minutes it is, but we are exploring very interesting concepts such as "what is a language". Oh and there is a girl in my class with a service dog who looks just like a black version of Tucker (who is my chocolate lab) and it makes me miss him very much.

Interpreting: My interpreting professor graduated from ASU with a justice studies degree, so I already like him :) The class is very full, which means more than 20 people here. I am not quite sure what I think of the class yet, an interpreting class could be a very interesting opportunity, so we will see!

My mom comes to visit in about a month, and I am planning to see my cousin Christine (who goes to George Washington University) sometime soon! So far all of my experiences at Gallaudet have been positive and I am so excited to continue to expand my ASL knowledge.

I have done a bit of sightseeing with my dad, and will do a bit more with my mom, but if you know of anything I should definitely do while I am in Washington, DC let me know!! I would always love more suggestions :)

Kaleena

new sign of the week: lettuce

most used phrase of the week: see you later!