<div class="floatleft">(http://www.girlswithmuscle.com/images/full/746549258.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Brandt<br/><strong>Alias:</strong>Mantis<br/><strong>Dorm Assignment:</strong>Floor 2, Room 3<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Dormitory Level Two<br/><strong>Date/Time:</strong>September 2nd, Late evening<br/><strong>Wearing:</strong>Olive Drab Sweater, Light Gray Sweatpants<br/><strong>Tagging: </strong>Open<br/><hr/><br/>Mantis paid patient attention to her resident adviser/instructors instructions. She was more interested in him pointing out the various facilities and buildings of this recently constructed academy, as she continued to find it all rather compelling. This academy, nestled in the mountains on the eve of winter was quite an experience for the young Vietnamese raised woman. She wouldn't state that she found it quite shocking, but in fact was still coming to grips with everything she had been experiencing ever since her flights arrival here. Thanks to the modernization of Vietnam, the shock wasn't quite as profound as it might've been for earlier generations, but the plane flight alone was rather riveting. Her mind was still trying to catch up with the reason of how she was able to travel so fast across the ocean, even though, intellectually, she understood why. The massive indoor marketplaces that her SHIELD handlers have briefly visited whilst she was in their care first arriving in America had been a marvel, but one she easily reconciled due to her exposure to Western media via television and movies even if her access to such media whilst at the monastery was somewhat limited.<br/><br/>The most striking thing to her was the diversity of it all. Not just of the beautiful panoply of people, but of dress and style, of accents and clothing, of behavior and even choice in cars and food. There was one relief, it smelled far better here and as much as the locals might've griped, almost everything she had seen appeared to be cleaner, newer... fresher then the cities of her homeland. It was all beautifully organized chaos and for the longest period of time she had been grappling with coming face to face with tolerating and accepting such a multitude of differences.<br/><br/>Just as readily as she was plunged into the world of the West, or at least America, she had left it for this Academy. It seemed to combine the aesthetic qualities of the monastic life she was used to and raised in, and yet also combined strong elements of the Western civilization she had experienced in only brief, fleeting glimpses. The aesthetics, the diversity and the technology remained, but the energy and life and vibrancy of what she had seen in the American cities was gone. The limited blend of the two aspects was interesting to her, and in truth, was something she met with both relief and regret. She liked the intimacy of what the Academy would offer, but knew it would never compare to the tranquility she fled from whilst amongst the Priests of Pama. And while she liked she would engage in a gradual and limited version of immersion into the West, she would still long a bit for a true, more full breadth of experience like she had upon first arriving at the ACE Academy.<br/><br/>As Roman wound up his discussion, Mantis wasn't listening no less patiently, but was rather less interested. While she had no doubt that Roman was impressive as a physical trainer, and more importantly, like any physical instructor worth his salt, would be able to break down and whip into shape any crop of students, regardless of fitness, the truth was she wasn't terribly interested in his counsel beyond his limited purview. She knew it was her lack of technological knowledge that was a main weakness of hers. Despite having had access to a wealth of information while growing up, computers and moreso tablets and smartphones were not something readily accessible. She mostly read books, lots and lots and lots of books. Her time at the monastery, and subsequent career as a barmaid, opened her up to other forms of media. There were televisions at the monastery after all, it wasn't a Luddite facility. But still limited. She knew much of her electives time would be spent increasing her computer literacy to at least basic levels and Roman would be of little help in that regard.<br/><br/>Truth was, without realizing what her tablet's functionality and capability was, she was longing to get one of those 'e-readers' that she had seen one of her SHIELD handlers show her when she first arrived in America. Now those seemed like one of the best examples of Western technology and something she'd find useful. But alas... she was stuck with this space age, transparent tablet. Oh well, sometimes one had to adapt and overcome. As Roman opened himself up to questions, Mantis remained quiet, eager to get to her dormitory and settling in for the night. She had spent enough time in America to adjust to the time differences, but knew it was getting late. Plus before departing here, her SHIELD handlers had given her a literal crate of new books to read, and she was planning on maximizing her reading time whenever she could.<br/><br/>