Orientation Week 2011

In 2011 NCV ran its second O’Week program, with the aim of helping residents to settle in and get to know other people. The O’Week program was organized by the Dean and Senior Residents, and included a number of different events.

The week began with two tours of Sydney. On Saturday 19th February, students set off to the Sydney Fish Markets for some delicious lunch, and then went on a walking tour to “Explore Sydney, Its Stories and Secrets”.  The following day (Sunday 20th) saw students head down to Circular Quay to see the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, before taking a ferry across the Harbour to the famous Manly Beach for some ice cream.

On Monday 21st February, new residents were officially welcomed to NCV by the Master, Professor Trevor Cairney, and the Dean Dr John Quinn at a reception in the Main Common Room.  After the formalities, the students joined a supper crawl, moving from floor to floor of the NCV building to meet the Senior Resident team, enjoying a different snack on each floor and meeting other residents (both new and old) as well.

The NCV Building (Sydney City in Background)

For students it’s essential to know where and when to see a good film at a cheap price. For UNSW students and NCV residents the most common destination for this is the Ritz Cinema at The Spot in Randwick on Tuesday night.  So on the Tuesday of O’Week, residents gathered in the courtyard at 6 pm and headed off to the Ritz to see “The King’s Speech” at 7:10 pm. The Spot is also the place for food and dessert, so after the film residents stopped off to enjoy some coffee and cake.

On Wednesday 23rd February two events were held.  Firstly, The Dean hosted a “Research Student Mixer” between 6.30 and 7.30 pm on the Roof Top Terrace. The aim of this event was to introduce the research students to each other, helping to form links between residents embarking on research degrees. This was followed by the NCV Trivia Night (8-10pm), where residents competed alongside their floormates for trivia supremacy. Level 3 carried the day, pipping Level 6 by a single point, with Level 4 a single point further behind.

NCV Residents Enjoying Cocktails

Thursday 24th February saw residents hit some of the classy cocktail bars in the city, at NCV’s Inaugural 5-Star Hotel Crawl.  Destinations included the Shangri La’s Blu Bar on 36, the Opera Bar at the Sydney Opera House and the ECQ Bar at Quay Grand.  Residents enjoyed a quiet drink with great company and magnificent views.

On Friday 25th February the Senior Resident Team cooked up a delicious barbecue of steaks, chicken fillet, sausages and vegetarian patties.  This was followed by a night of theatre sports and other games, with residents able to find their inner thespian or harness their as-to-now undiscovered comedic genius.

Lawn Bowls

Saturday afternoon saw NCVers head to Kensington Bowling Club for a quiet afternoon of Lawn Bowls. After this interested folk gathered for the Local Church Services Introduction (at 5 pm), at which the Dean gave new residents some guidance in what to look for in a new church.  Residents also promoted their own congregations, and introduced some of the various ministry opportunities available within NCV. At 8 pm focus turned to the Roof Top Terrace for the Inaugural NCV Wine & Cheese Night.  Along with enjoying some delicious wine and cheese, residents also had the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of wine, ranking wines in order of price and identifying varietals.

The curtain came down on O’Week 2011 with a Sunday of sport.  Residents headed across to the University Gymnasium at 11 am for Badminton, basketball & Indoor Soccer. Once again, this was a great chance for residents to meet other sports-minded people, as well as check out some of the local sporting facilities.

Circular Quay at night

Orientation Week 2011