Orientation questions?

[L.Y.L]

Can anyone tell me what goes on in orientation for a week? How many hours is it in the day? Is there a dress code?:confused:

[remember]

I refuse to give you an orientation FOR your orientation... :mrgreen:

Relax, they pretty much babysit the new kids (and their parents) all throughout the orientation. They'll give you a schedule and explain everything to you once you get there. They're going to help you all get adjusted and set up. You're moving to a new country so someone has to show you the ropes. They'll show you the campus, registration, see the town, learn how to call a cab, go to the grocery store to get essentials... etc etc.

[Elssha]

are you a new spring or fall student?

[L.Y.L]

Spring semester.

[L.Y.L]

I refuse to give you an orientation FOR your orientation... :mrgreen:

Relax, they pretty much babysit the new kids (and their parents) all throughout the orientation. They'll give you a schedule and explain everything to you once you get there. They're going to help you all get adjusted and set up. You're moving to a new country so someone has to show you the ropes. They'll show you the campus, registration, see the town, learn how to call a cab, go to the grocery store to get essentials... etc etc.


So are you spending the entire day with the school or will I be able to have some time to myself with my family? We booked a rent-a-car, was that necessary? I asked the school and they couldnt even tell me if they were going to drive my family to the hotel and then drive me to the campus. So, we got a rent-a-car. I would hate for my family to be stranded. How far is lublin from warsaw?

[Elssha]

warsaw -> lublin is about 3h drive.
Hopefully you didn't book a hotel in Warsaw... that might be bad.
Also, you might wanna double check that your folks are alright with stick shift... I donno if you can rent cars with an automatic transmission. I'm kinda looking forward to learning what my friends term 'real' driving.

[remember]

So are you spending the entire day with the school or will I be able to have some time to myself with my family? We booked a rent-a-car, was that necessary? I asked the school and they couldnt even tell me if they were going to drive my family to the hotel and then drive me to the campus. So, we got a rent-a-car. I would hate for my family to be stranded. How far is lublin from warsaw?

Your post is a little bit troubling... you're telling me that your parents rented a car in a country that I'm assuming they have never been to before, and are going to drive from Warsaw to Lublin. So, how are you going to read the signs? Do you know the driving laws there? Do your parents even have an international driver's license? (I'm assuming they would need that, but not sure). What about if they get in an accident? You don't even know how far away the two cities are from each other so you sound rather uninformed.

I don't know how you could possibly misunderstand or maybe you didn't read the information packet correctly from HMI... but they pick you up from the airport (you + your parents) and take you to Lublin. If you arrive on the dates they expect you to arrive, they take care of the travel arrangements. As far as the orientation, your parents go on it with you. Lublin is such a small town, it will not be so difficul for your parents to be at the meeting place in the morning for the daily activities. All they have to do is call a cab, which their hotel can do for them and then they can just show the address to the driver. It's not very difficult. Try to stay a bit more informed... a person on the internet should not be telling you things you should already know.

Also, I didn't quite understand if you were asking if I was doing orientation. No I am not. I don't even live in Lublin anymore. Anyways, call HMI or read your information packet, let them know when you're arriving. They'll pick you up, I'm sure of it. Don't make your life any more difficult than it has to be. Peace.

EDIT: This post wasn't meant to come across as rude as you may read it... sorry about that.. that's what happens without context. Goodluck with the big move.

[Elssha]

Do your parents even have an international driver's license? (I'm assuming they would need that, but not sure).
If I remember right, you can drive with a US license if you show it and your passport for some limited amount of time. Never checked that fact for sure though...
L.Y.L. :
I agree with Remember on the cab thing... and confess to totally forgetting that you probably don't know Polish and thus would have major problems with the laws/signs when driving.
Doublecheck your packet and call HMI... they've been good about answering this type of questions. And it DOES say in the packet they they'll pick you up (you and your folks) but that family needs to book their own rooms as dorms will only be for student use. From what I heard they'll show you around town as well, and parents are assumed to be with you till they leave. Their trip back shouldn't be too hard, there are buses running between Lublin and Warsaw airport that I'm sure someone from HMI can book for them and drop them off at so they get to the airport with pleanty of time.
Also,
Driving in PL sux... unless things have changed drastically in the past couple years, i wouldn't recommend it to US drivers... half of us shouldn't be allowed to drive here, where almost everyone is used to idiots and acts accordingly. The signs are mostly pictoral due to EU having so many languages... but they don't correspond to US ones as well as you'd like. The lights have an extra setting (a lot of lights turn on green > yellow > red > red and yellow > green, which confused the hell out of me the first time i saw it), as they still mostly use stick shift. Laws are less cousioned than they are here, less idiot-proof and allow for risk taking. You'd be scared witless the first time you saw a 2-lane road (1 each way) with 5 cars on it at once. No kidding.. it's normal procedure on the long drive between major cities. I was scared when I wasn't even behind the wheel.

[remember]

My OCD got the best of me...

US State Department Road Safety Overseas (http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/safety/safety_1179.html)

US State Department - Poland (http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1000.html)

Interestingly enough, it mentions the 90 day limit to stay in Poland without a visa which someone had asked about in another post. There's a lot of useful information on there so check it out. Another thing about orientation.. they had a representative from the US Embassy in Poland come and speak to our class and give us information about safety and phone numbers and all that stuff. I don't know if it is planned in your schedule or not. I'm sure it's dependent on whether the representative can come down from Warsaw to give the presentation. I think most of the stuff he mentioned is actually listed on the website.

[Elssha]

was the summer thing like that too, or does going to the start of school one suffice? They say the summer one is augustish or something... stateside....
or do BIS people not have that one?