Our time has come. Miss DrumBum has left the nest to start university in the US. We have made a couple of trips there to scout things and attended the orientation for students and parents, so the school looks like a nice fit for her. We are still a bit nervous about her safety while she is there but we have family living nearby and as it turns out, a friend she knew two assignments ago in Kuwait is going there as well. We also took advantage of a company security briefing that is available to all employees and their families that are headed to live in the US. It covers the risks and rewards for living in the US as well as a variety of cultural do’s and dont’s. Last week, we arrived on campus where Dad wrote some pretty sizable checks to the school ( college textbooks are *still *exorbitantly priced ) before I headed back to Luanda. Mom remained behind for another week so she and Miss DrumBum could shop for other essential items like a car, Starbucks cards, and winter clothes as well as other toiletry items that are none of dad’s business.
The last 17 years have been great of course, but I am looking forward relocating by drum kit to the upper level of the house for the jam sessions.
By the way, does anyone know if I spelled “nester’s” correctly ?
How exciting for your daughter, to go from experiencing Kuwait and Angola to university in the US! Do you mind saying what state she’s going to school in? While Kuwait had weather more like what she was used to, I can’t think of many places in the US that are so dry all year. Has she had a snowy winter before?
Are you nervous about the dynamic of the home changing now it’s only the two of you?
Yup - they’re pretty bad, aren’t they? But look on the bright side - books are a drop in the bucket compared to tuition these days. Was she able to get any ereader-based textbooks? My boss’s daughter had a couple, which really cut down on costs.
You can save a lot of money by getting used textbooks, too. The school book store sometimes has used copies that are a bit cheaper, perhaps marked down 10-20%. But if you buy used on Amazon (for one example), you can do a lot better than that, depending on how recently that particular textbook edition was published. And the previous editions might cost a mere $10-$20, though it’s sometimes tricky to use an older textbook with assignments based on the current edition. But sometimes the prof will help you out, by posting newest edition’s problem sets, or giving you equivalent reading assignments from any of the last three editions. I probably saved a few hundred *every semester *by shopping around.
And then you can turn around and sell 'em yourself for a lot more than what the school bookstore will give you.
Her university is in Virginia and she did win a T-shirt as a incoming freshmen that traveled the farthest from home. When we were there it was a bit warmer there than it ever gets here. Luanda is on the coast and the Benguela current keeps things pretty temperate. A really hot summer day ( Dec - Mar ) is 90F and at night it is around 75F. A winter ( Jun -Aug ) day ranges from 75F to 65F. Kuwait does get quite hot ( it was 124F one day ) but we did get cold winter days there as well. There were a few mornings I had to get frost off the windshield before leaving for work. As far as really cold weather, we did spend a Christmas in Chicago. :eek: The missus and I don’t anticipate too many changes to home life although since the household menagerie - 2 cats and 1 dog - were used to sleeping with Miss DrumBum we may need a bigger bed.
There were a few available in digital format but we did not have a reader although we might look into this next time. I assume that search functions are available which could come in handy. The price difference did not seem very significant ( ~15% ) but that might be due to her major (Chemistry ). One quite pleasant surprise was that there was no sales tax on any of the textbooks. That probably saved us $80 or so.
Crap. Should have had Miss DrumBum review things. :mad:
Is she going to William & Mary? There are looooaaaads of kids that grew up overseas in the military or diplomatic corps there. Sometimes you’de be chatting with a group and someone would say… “hey, didn’t we go to 5th grade together in Dusseldorf?”
Maybe it’s the same at all VA universities… but I wouldn’t know since I only went to William & Mary! Best of luck to her. VA has lots of great schools so I’m sure whichever one it is, she’s have a great time and get a lot out of it.
Oh, she’s going to love VA! Four real and defined seasons, each w/ their own beauty (and wardrobe), central to tons of interesting and historical places and when you and your wife want to visit you’ll have no shortage of things to do. The East Coast is really accessible by train compared to the rest of the country and it’s such a pretty area to leisurely travel.
You’re going to wonder where all the extra grocery money came from! I bet the pets sleep on her bed for a good while till they take over yours.
Best of luck to her. VA has lots of great schools so I’m sure whichever one it is, she’s have a great time and get a lot out of it.