So, I've been in Atlanta over a week and have yet to blog about it, so this may be an exceptionally long post.
Mock Recruitment-Wednesday: I drove to Atlanta from my parents house in Kentucky last Wednesday to be on campus in time for Mock Recruitment. I arrived about 3 hours early and got right down to business meeting the chapter. I helped set up and then some Alumnae started arriving. Met my boss, who is pretty fantastic. She won Chapter Advisor of the Year at Convention this summer. Also met the Property Advisor and the House Association President. Then Mock Recruitment began. The collegians pretty much did a dress rehearsal of how Skit Night was going to go. The Gamma Phi chapter had about 110-ish girls at recruitment, so it was a bit overwhelming for me. Also, the girls that aren't on Executive Council had no clue who I was and didn't know anything about me. So, it was fun surprising them by just being there.
Apartment Move-In-Thursday: The people in charge of the apartments were quite disorganized and completely re-did the room assignments once they found out that I was moving in as well. Not ok. Thankfully, the Property Coordinator (House Manager) is wonderful and got everything from room assignments to roommate disagreements sorted out, for now. I wish I could say that the apartments were as cool as they looked online, but they aren't. My room is pretty much a cave, with concrete floors and walls. It echoes like crazy in here but at least I have my own bathroom. I have a "roommate" who isn't an Alpha Gam and doesn't really speak English. Trying to get everything moved into my room alone was quite a challenge and I wanted to quit before I even began. But, I got everything in and set up alright.
THE HOUSE- Friday: I got to see the inside of the house with the HA President. It still looked pretty bare, mostly concrete and drywall. Before I met her, however, I was awkwardly early and recruitment had started. That meant that walking around the neighborhood was extremely difficult and awkward. But the house is magnificent. There is a huge banner on the front of it that says "Future Home of Alpha Gamma Delta" so that PNMs and people spreading rumors couldn't say that it was a new "Frat House."
Recruitment-Saturday, Sunday and Monday: So, recruitment was very overwhelming for me. Thankfully I was helping with the Membership Team, filing and organizing papers and things like that. Just under 500 girls went through recruitment to hopefully end up in one of 7 houses. I don't even know how I would handle that, both as a PNM and an active sister.
The Chef and Resident Kitchen- Monday: Monday morning I went with the HA President to meet the house chef and finalize the big purchases for the large, chef kitchen. After that was done HA Pres and I went to Target to look for things for the Resident Kitchen.
Bid Day- Tuesday: Bid Day, the day when the chapters all get their new members, was very different than at Alma. It took place from 2-5 pm, depending on when people had classes, so it wasn't as dramatic as at Alma, where you get your entire pledge class at once. But it was still just as happy and exciting. There was so much noise and chaos that I eventually left early with a migraine. The Gamma Phi chapter of Alpha Gamma Delta welcomed 48 new members to the family!
NOTHING- Wednesday-Sunday: The past few days have not really been too exciting. I've played a LOT of the Sims 3, worked on my Personal Statement for Grad School and done some grocery shopping.
Food: So, my apartment has a kitchen, which is great. But I thought I was going to be on some sort of meal plan, and I'm not, which is not so great. I didn't really bring any cooking supplies like pots, pans, utensils or anything. So I've been trying to find somewhat healthy meals that don't require any pots or pans. Thankfully, I only have to suffer with this for a few weeks. And I might be able to get the Resident Kitchen pots, pans and utensils early and keep them with me until move-ins.
Boyfriend: Boyfriend had a phone interview for IT at the University System of Georgia, which is the governing body for all state schools in Georgia. They have called his references and now we're just waiting to hear if he gets the job or not. If he does, he'll be moving to Athens, Georgia, which is home to the University of Georgia and only an hour and a half from Atlanta. This has almost inspired me to work on my personal statement. But personal statements kind of suck, so I'm waiting until we have definite news.
Fitness: I decided a few months ago that when I moved I wanted to start a new healthy lifestyle. I've started going to the gym in the apartment building every morning. The elliptical seemed like a good starting point, just so I could get used to exercising. I've made it up to 40 minutes with an extra 5 minute cool down. I think I'm going to try the treadmill one of these days and see how that goes.
Other House Things: The house is being painted! WOO! And they're anticipating being done with all contractor things like the walls and the floors by September 14! Which means that we can start moving things in and decorating on the 15th!
Until more starts happening with the house, I really don't have much to be doing. If Jim gets the job, he'll probably fly down here soon and we'll go looking for apartments. If not, then I may go back to Kentucky or Michigan. It really depends on this job...
