Granma

This week was one I've been dreading for the past few months - O-week. For the past few months, us postgrads have had the campus to ourselves while the undergrads have largely been away on summer holidays. It's been quiet, peaceful and no lineups at my favourite coffee cart.

Well, the young folk are back this week. The first week of the school term is called O-week (orientation week? I'm sure I could quickly google it, but I'm feeling lazy so I'll let you do the googling). This is the week where booths are set up on the walkway right outside my desk window, hoards of first years walk up and down the walkway to check out the booths and really loud music is played all day long - with plenty of bass, again - right outside my desk window. At the beginning of each O-week, I buy myself ear plugs...it's the only way to get through the loud, obnoxious, hormone-heavy week.

The only upside to O-week are the free samples that are given out by sponsors and to entice the students to the various student organizations' booths. During O-week, us postgrad students like to do at least one go around of all the booths, scoping out the free stuff (we figure they owe us for having disrupted our concentration). Today I found some chupa-chups and a piggy bank for Gus (handed out by one of the big banks), a schick razor for Vic and a diet Coke and some free samples of contact lens solution for me. Score big!