My first port of call was to acquire an American Sim card, which proved both cheap and relatively simple. While having a phone number which differed from the one on my cards was a minor annoyance, being able to contact others at reasonable rates during the week was more important; this is definitely something I’d recommend to others visiting from abroad. Thankfully my mobile was unlocked and tri-band so I could simply stick in a prepaid sim, but the cheapest phones came to less than $40 including some call time if this isn’t an option.
Fellow scholars proceded to appear over the course of the weekend, my first encounter being with my roomate Margret. Familiar with the area and having attended GDC before (as well as being a kick-ass person in general) she was an ideal student to learn from, and I regret that we didn’t spend much time together during the week. We hunted down a number of other scholars already in the city and (as had been arranged throught the modern miracle of social media) headed out for a tasty italian meal, followed by drinks in a noisy and inauthentic Irish bar. I hadn’t been sure what to expect from a diverse and international groups of students getting together for the first time but everyone was incredibly friendly, interesting and fun to be around. It was a fantastic experience. Continue reading »
