<p>Echoing Prairie’s thanks here. D is happily settling in on Green St, as well. She is very thankful to finally be there!</p>
<p>One more vote of thanks! Drop off in Scales was great - amazing room and a very calm start.</p>
<p>Check in on Sunday was amazingly fast and efficient…there was a very long line before 1 pm but it disappeared fast! D. is so happy to be at the newly renovated Washburn House on Green Street…perfect location, hardwood floors, wireless connection. She only wishes that Green St shops/eateries did not close at 5 pm…she is not used to being done with dinner that early.</p>
<p>Our daughter is settled in Baldwin off of Elm Street. The house is lovely and the upperclasswomen were helpful and friendly. The room, on a muggy Sunday afternoon, understandably seemed rather small at first with seven people plus boxes and suitcases in it, but once the boxes were cleared out and the furniture arrangement optimized, the room size became workable. Thank you to all current Smithies, alumnae, parents and friends for your help in this process!</p>
<p>Baldwin rooms are a bit small, but what the house lacks in space it more than makes up for in spirit :-)</p>
<p>Thanks, S&P. I was wondering how the Baldwin rooms compared to those in other houses. It’s do-able. Spirit is good! :)</p>
<p>The Baldwin “spirit” alluded to is, I’m pretty sure, gin mixed with tonic and a slice of lime, the preference of Baldwin sophisticates in contrast to other houses where the nyehkulturni imbibe vodka.</p>
<p>Did I get that right? I’m pretty sure I did.</p>
<p>That’s nothing compared to the Parktinis. :P</p>
<p>Do the various houses have their own favorite alcoholic drinks and traditions? Who is allowed to partake? (This is the way rumors start…)</p>
<p>Well, I just started the rumor about Baldwin. Within three years it will be passed on as fact carved in stone. But Parktinis are strictly SmithieGR’s fault…I ain’t taking the rap for that one.</p>
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<p>Smithiegr didn’t start a rumor. For the amusement of all driving, walking or cycling on Elm, Park House hung a 14 ft banner with, printed in very bold letters, “Parktinis, shaken not stirred” The drawing of a female 007 caricature was a nice touch too. Park is 20 yards from the admission office, Witnessing the Crew coach expound the virtues of the Smith Crew program to prospective students gathered in the parking lot with a 14x6 ft booze banner fluttering in the breeze was amusing</p>
<p>No booze banners at the Quad. Could be the party torch has been passed.</p>
<p>The Amherst College banners were tame in comaprison ;)</p>
<p>Yep; they’re a pretty crazy crew in Park!</p>
<p>We saw it too and apparently there was a playboy bunnyesque one somewhere else. I have to say the quad was very low key - we hardly saw the Hons et al after they helped unload the car.</p>
<p>I hope all the new Smithie parents are coping well after the drop-off! I’m about to return for my last fall drop-off. I’m a little sad about that – except that I’m looking forward to having money in my pocket again.</p>
<p>So far so good, and we not only dropped off our daughter at Smith, we also dropped off her twin brother at his college (Hobart and William Smith Colleges in upstate New York). Cold turkey on children! Ahh, the sense of freedom! Just us, and the dogs, and the empty house, and the empty bank account!</p>
<p>Mwfn, I can’t believe your D is already a senior (and mine a Junior!) I feel a bit sad because I have never dropped her off and never seen what her room looks like. Logically, I shouldn’t even be able to go to her graduation, but I’m evilly planning to call in sick for a few days in May 2011.</p>
<p>Awww…LiT, you should be able to make a pilgrimage to your D’s school at least once and I’m glad you’re planning to. In retrospect, I was very lucky with respect to both work demands and airfares.</p>
<p>Oh, I 've made the pilgrimage, but it was during the famous lost visa episode, and I never got to see more than the outside of her house and the inside of Dean Tamzarian’s office…</p>
<p>LiT, yes, it is hard to believe! My D will be testing the Smith College name when she applies to PhD programs this fall.</p>
<p>Random, yay to empty nest! Although I miss my D and I love having her come home, there’s nothing like the freedom of being just a couple again. (No jokes about “a couple of what?” 
)</p>
<p>Are houses/dining halls shut down for Thanskgiving? We just purchased tickets for D’s trip home-airfare was twice the usual rate, even this far ahead. Hopefully, the weather will be okay and delays not unbearable. What do international students and west coast students do? Any options?</p>