Is everyone getting excited? In about a week we’ll be welcoming you to Penn’s campus. Please read on for some very important announcements.

If you have not already done so, please fill out the survey ASAP. We are trying our best to hire an airport shuttle to accommodate as many of you as possible and need your travel information. If you do not have your itinerary, please email me to let me know when you might expect it.

FLTA Arrivals
All FLTAs’ itineraries are posted here. Please go ahead and make any necessary corrections. Feel free to contact one another (or discuss on Facebook or WhatsApp) so that you can navigate your way from Philadelphia to Penn together.

Join the chat group here.

If you haven’t noticed, the schedule has been posted since my last email. Some details are still being confirmed and will be updated accordingly.

You may received an email about access to a Canvas site. It’s for an in-session activity, and you can save it for later.

In previous years, FLTAs have used the time during the reception as an opportunity to showcase their countries’ traditional clothing (bring some!), music (bring some!) and dance (show us!). Feel free to start a discussion on our Facebook group or What’sApp group chat. We leave this portion up to you to plan. If you do not have access to Facebook, let me know and I will relay your responses.

What do you think? Do you all want to put on a show? If so, it must be organized entirely by you. Below are suggested roles, but you are to decide who does what:

• Performers – Anyone is welcome to sing, dance, or perform some other talent. Please keep it brief so that we have time for (mostly) anyone who wants to share. If possible, please keep acts to one performance per country (or region) so that we have time to represent as many of us as possible. Make sure you let the program directors know you want to perform, how long your performance is, and give your music (file or link to stream) to the music director(s).
• Program Directors – 2 people to be in charge of making a list of who is performing and setting the order. Be as fair as possible. Give this information to the MCs and the music directors before the show. This should include names, countries, and what they’re doing. The entire show should be no more than 90 minutes long.
• MCs – 2 (or more?) people can take turns introducing the performances on the night of the show. Include names and countries of origin in your introductions.
• Music Director(s) – 1 person (or more?) will collect song files, Youtube links, etc. from performers, put them in the correct order, and play them during the show. Any other music files can be put in a separate playlist to enjoy during other parts of the reception or orientation. I can provide you with a flash drive if you need it.
• Music must be played through a computer connected to the audio system. The computer will NOT be connected to a projector for visuals. Two microphones will also be available.

The next update will contain very detailed arrival information, so stay tuned!