Diversity is a curse. Or so the Lord thought when he confused all the day workers stacking bricks for the tower of Babel. But in a never-ending Christian quest to turn lemons into lemonade the administration at Newbold prides itself on enrolling students from sixty different countries. The first chore the Hackleman girls faced after settling into their new surroundings was registration. Multiculturalism in all its glory taxed the still jetlagged ladies. The words: What? Pardon? Excuse me? I’m sorry I don’t understand, etc…were the most used that day. It was not only a stupid American problem; the handicap was shared by every student. This speed bump combined with Newbold’s recent discovery of computer networking, made registration a tedious, day-long process. Unlike the tower however, no one seemed particularly frustrated during the length of the day. This puzzled Hilary most. The idea that all these students were being corralled by a comparatively incompetent staff, without complaint, astonished her. She was torn between admiration and frustration. She silently commended everyone’s patience, but couldn’t help from being disappointed with everyone’s acceptance of mediocrity. Deirdre was appalled by the organization and even after completing registration wasn’t convinced they actually were.
One bonus to the day’s disorder was that they were assigned to two tutors (advisors) each (everyone else only had one—this was purely a mistake on the school’s part). They had to hunt to find them and finally found one of the four. His name was Professor Balderstone. Being the head of the dramatic arts at Newbold, Deirdre couldn’t help from looking at the ground and shaking her head in pity. She wasn’t sure she felt sorrier for her sister or for the tutor if he rubbed Hilary the wrong way. When they entered his office the posters on his walls made the girls immediately warm up to him. Baz Luhrman’s Romeo + Juliet was above his desk along with a movie still from Blade Runner. He quickly realized that Hilary really belonged to his colleague, Professor Trim. After showing them a picture of Trim in a kilt at Balderstone’s wedding, he took them one door down and introduced them to the eccentric, unruly-haired, Dr. Trim. They exchanged details about their countries of origin. Still confused by accents, Hilary managed to understand he was from India and England. Once they established a course schedule (that’s pronounced shed-yool) Hilary and Deirdre proceeded down the hall to Professor Traille’s office. After three swift knocks a busy lady in her late forties answered the door while abruptly ending her phone conversation. She stepped around the room quickly adjusting papers, shifting chairs, sidestepping piles of books and school rubbish. Once standing still she looked at both girls and said, “Take a seat. So, you’re the Hackleman sisters!” The sisters glanced at each other and then back at their new tutor and Hilary asked if they had already established a reputation after only three days in the country. Traille rattled off something in English neither girl understood and then began apologizing for the sad state of her office. Apparently the school had moved her office while she was on holiday and was still trying to attain normalcy. She pointed to a shattered picture frame on the floor with her toe and said, “I still need to bill them for that nonsense.” She was native to Britain and seemed to genuinely enjoy the girls. Hilary took a liking to Dr. Traille after she mentioned her resemblance of Brit pop-star Billie Piper. Even though Deirdre believed Traille to have underscored her sister’s looks with the comparison, she was pleased to have Traille as her tutor.
Billie and Hilary comparison
The first day of classes was their longest so far. French class was to be their first but, true-to-form, the French tutor was still on holiday. The girls bided the next few hours by cleaning their room even more. Their next classes were at eleven. Hilary’s was Reformation, Culture and Society in Early Modern England, c. 1545-1640 with Professor Trim. She liked him better after the introduction to his class. His disheveled, academic, strictly-historian attire fit him better after evidence of his knowledge and affection of and for his subject.
Hilary's drawing
Deirdre was under whelmed by her first day of college and hoped to be at least whelmed in the coming weeks.
After class was the first NSA (Newbold Student Association, not to be confused with the National Security Agency) event: The Barbeque. Not having made it to the last two beginning of school mixers of her college career, Hilary feared the ritual would be unfamiliar and awkward. Never willing to be a victim she armed herself with her new Canon XTi and hoped her sister would fare the storm unarmed. Accidentally a half hour late, they arrived to discover only buns, salad and condiments left on the tables. Deirdre quickly led the way to a group of friends while Hilary slowly joined her taking pictures the whole way. The events of the evening are best retold in photographs:
Chef
Principle
Awkward relay
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