discover dallas: how to have a life without having a car

yesterday we had a big welcome event for the new international students on our campus. we collected some comments and questions from them in the end, and i'm hoping to use this blog to address some of the things that they mentioned.

one question that stood out to me was 'how to you have a life here if you don't have a car?'

in texas...everyone has cars.
in fact, most people have huge gas guzzling trucks.

everything really is bigger in texas. we have a lot of land...so we spread out on it.
nothing is really close enough to walk to, and this time of year you can nearly have a heat stroke just trying to walk across campus!

so the first key to life without a car...

1. DART
that is, dallas area rapid transit. it's going to be your new best friend.
our public transportation system may be skimpy in comparison to the east coast, or european and asian countries...but for texas...it's pretty good!

and if you're a student at SMU it's extra convenient since you're located at the center of the rail system. they've recently been extending the railways across the metroplex, so there are a lot of new lines to take advantage of!
just go to www.dart.org and enter where you want to go, and it will tell you which train/bus you need to catch! also, the DART website usually lists popular entertainment attractions in the area and how to reach them, so you can even find out some fun local events on their site!
there will some more posts coming up soon as well that deal with specific dallas attractions, and reaching them by DART, so stay tuned!

2. make friends who have cars
a key to having a life in the US, is being involved in some kind of community where you can make friends. even if you have a car, if you don't have people to share your time with then you will still end up lonely.
so take advantage of all the opportunities you have to meet new people from new places!
and if you get to know a lot of people, then chances are that some of them will have cars to help give you a ride when you need it. ;)
as a part of chi alpha, we're always looking for chances to hang out with new friends from around the world and to help you find your home away from home here.
our local SMU website for chi alpha internationals is www.smuchialpha.com/internationals. we also are on facebook, so look us up.
if you're not in dallas, but you're looking for a group like this to connect to, chi alpha is a nationwide organization across hundreds of campuses, so see if there's one near you at www.chialpha.com.

3. know what's happening on campus
universities are usually the epicenter of a city. events, excitement, change, and culture pour out from the university campuses. this means that there is rarely a dull moment.
in fact, there are so many events happening from the arts, to conferences, organizations and clubs, free movie screenings, etc.. that you can find a ton of entertainment without even setting foot off campus. so be sure not to overlook what is right in front of you...because these events are also great places to make those new friends!

so get out there, make some friends, and enjoy having a life! :)