When most people think of quintessential American holidays, they normally think about the 4^th of July or Thanksgiving. 2 years ago I would have considered myself in the aforementioned group of Americans believing (what I now know is) a false paradigm. Halloween is as American as apple pie: it combines being scared (for no reason), with dressing up (in order to obtain candy), and eating copious amounts of candy (the reward for dressing up and walking around your neighborhood for 3 hours in the Michigan cold). 2 weeks ago (I had to double check that it had been that long when writing this) we celebrated Halloween on the International Village. Much too many of the domestic students’ surprise, the majority of the International students had never dressed up before. I felt sad that their childhoods were not filled with annual October 31st sugar comas, as every one of mine was.

Who is that weird dude with the moustache? Who invited him?

The Chinese delegation had some of the best costumes. JJ (upper left) was good enough to get some video.

I was surprised by the enthusiasm toward Halloween many of the Villagers showed. This is a common theme that I have found in my time on the Village so far: many times the students who live on the International Village who are not from America are more enthusiastic about American tradition and culture than the native (small n here) Americans are. Many times we take for granted what traditions we have, or too quickly dismiss those traditions we do have as being unimportant in the larger scheme. All that being said, candy is also a good way to make someone enthusiastic about a holiday. It can’t hurt.

Someone (successfully) tried photo bombing this otherwise nice photo. An unconventional attempt if I do say so.

If letters were given for Intra-mural sports, I would be a four-year letterman at Oakland University. Sadly, they are not, but this does not change the fact that I every year, without fail I always find myself on at least one intra-mural team. This year was no different in that I found myself on another IM sports team. However, what was different was the style of team I found myself on.

This year I played on a Men’s IM soccer team, as well as a Co-ed Flag football team, and the members of our team all hailed from the International Village. Obviously, soccer was an easier thing to play since that was a sport the internationals were used to. The only difficulty there was having four different native languages on the team.

IM Football (American style, they would be quick to add) is an entirely different animal. Most of the players on our flag football team had never seen an American football game. This is the equivalent of Neil Armstrong never driving a car before being asked to land on the moon.

In all honesty, I was more than a bit worried about our chances going into our first game. My goal for our team was simply not get shut out in every game, and if this was not possible, I hoped we could at least score one touchdown –for the whole year.

Thankfully, I was wrong. Actually, I was extremely wrong. My predictions for our team’s fortune could not have been farther than what actually happened. I guess this makes me the worst flag football prognosticator in the world. There goes my second career as a broadcaster for professional flag football.

So far, we have only lost one game and are one of the top teams in the league. Let me repeat this for emphasis: a team who has half of their players playing a game they had never seen before the season started is one of the top teams in the league! Move over Hoosiers, the I.V. Ballaz are taking your place on the mantle.

It took a few hours of teaching the rules (I never realized how hard it is to teach football) and some very smart decisions on positions, but we made this thing happen. For instance, we have two French students, who are very athletic, and excel at soccer. They quickly became our starting cornerbacks, since many of the skills required to cover someone in soccer, directly translates to covering a receiver. We put the 6’8 German student at Tight End for goal line plays –no one will beat him in a jump ball. Some of the girls on our team have also excelled in unforeseen ways. All in all, we may not be the best team, but we certainly offer the most flair. It has without a doubt been the most fun I have had on an Intramural sports team.

It makes me wonder whether Europeans are playing the wrong type of Football.

Who doesn't love mudsliding after a hard earned victory in the rain? This is most of our team after aforementioned victory/victory mudslide.

For freshmen living on campus the decision of where to live is practically made. Unless you are a part of one of the living learning communities, or a member of the honors college floors, you know you will be living in Hamlin Hall, Oakland’s largest residence hall. That said, after the all important freshmen year, a myriad of on-campus housing options open up: being an RA, living in the small halls, Vandenberg, etc.

Once the magic numbers of 20 years old and 56 credits are attained by the on campus student, another option becomes available: the University Student Apartments, or USA as they are colloquially called. Through a series of circumstance which would take far too many complex sentences and space than housing allots me here, my friends and I ended up being placed on the International Village last year when we made the jump to the Student Apartments from 2 amazing years in Vandenberg.

Although we were unsure initially about the decision to live in the International Village, I believe I can speak for the rest of my friends on the village that this has been one decision which was not regretted. The format of the International Village is that there are two domestic (American) and two International students per apartment. There are one and a half floors dedicated in the 7000 building dedicated to this purpose, making it quite the community to be a part of. Last year I lived with a guy from France and a guy from Germany, and it was without a doubt one of the best experiences I have had since I have been at OU. It was a no brainer to move back into the Student Apartments this year, and living on the International Village again was yet another decision well made.

I am really stoked to share my experiences on the Village with the blogosphere in the form of this space generously given to me by the Department of Housing. I hope by reading it you will gain some insight into life in the Student Apartments, as well as the International Village as a whole. Perhaps by reading this the decision of where to live during your Junior and Senior year will be as much of a no brainer as mine was.