<p>I am an international transfer student and will arrive at Penn state on 7th january for the orientation. My parents will join me for the first days, because they will help me with my luggage and moving in.
Do you have any advice what they can do during the days? of course I will spend some time with them, but since I have an orientation program and I want to make many friends so that I cannot spend all the time with them.
My dad loves to play golf, or to watch any sportsgames, will that be possible even the semester has not started offiical? we will be there from 7th to 12th january.
Are there maybe some cities near state college which are worth it to visit? my parents will have a car.</p>
<p>So I am thankful for any advice what my parent can do during their stay at state college.</p>
<p>It is likely to be very cold, and snowy, so have them dress accordingly for sightseeing. The nearest city is Altoona, which doesn’t have a lot to offer although there is a neat railroad museum there, and a large mall. Pittsburgh is 3 hrs, Philadelphia is closer to 4. The unpredictability of the weather makes long distance traveling hard to plan for.</p>
<p>Penn State has a lovely art museum, and there are lots of shops and restaurants in town, two movie theaters. If they stay at either the Inn or the Conference center, staff there will be able to help them make plans for each day.</p>
<p>I second GreenButton: your father won’t be able to play golf since the gold course will be under one foot of snow packed with ice on top
Plan for one day discovering the campus (have them take a campus tour with prospective students and their families, if they speak English), visit the stadium, shop in the Penn state bookstore to stock up on tee shirts and fanions and mugs to bring back home, walk around downtown (Pig Alley, etc). Lots of nice little shops too. They can easily take a bus to Wegman’s (a nice supermarket and a great cultural experience) and shop at the shopping mall around there. Have lunch at The Corner, meet for sticky buns with ice creams at The Diner on College Avenue. Spend time in the library, see the stuffed lion that gave its name to the Penn State mascot, find the map room, sit in the comfy chairs and warm up before going to the museum. Oh and even in winter people line up to eat ice cream at the creamery!
Another day could be spent in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia (each is about 4 hours away, one way, so it’d be a full day excursion). The big problem would be weather unpredictability since there could be snow and ice, and if they’re not used to driving in slush or snow, it’d be difficult. A train can be taken, I think from Lewisburg? Straight into Philadelphia, and from there you can take public transportation to all the main historical places. (Philadelphia itself deserves 3-4 days but if they’ve got one day only, well, that’ll do).
If they’re adventurous, they can try driving to the Great Canyon of Pennsylvania, under the snow it’s impressive, and you get a feeling of how the pioneers must have felt, in your car alone among humongous trees with no car and no house for a long time But I think it’s better to do that in the summer
Boalsburg is a nice town with Victorian homes about 5mn from State College, a bit farther away you have Bellefonte, and Williamsburg has the old millionaires row (from the time of the Robber Barrons).
Even if it’s before classes start, there’ll be films around towns and there may be concerts or events at the Bryce Jordan Center.</p>
But I think it’s better to do that in the summer