my class

1 Fin
1 Frenchman
1 Mexican
1 Kazakh
1 Jordanian
1 Uzbek
1 Tajik
1 Korean
1 Japanese
1 Ghanaian
1 Turk
2 Columbians
2 Pakistanis
2 Dutchmen
2 Ukrainians
and Me

I'm the only one in the class whose native language is English (although many grew up learning English), yet the class is taught English to Chinese.
One Pakistani for sure doesn't understand English the way our teachers talk, I think it is a little fast for him. So this morning(before class) in the cafe downstairs the Ukrainians were helping him through their broken English to help him practice. We have a really interesting dynamic in the class. Right now we are still getting used to each other, although the Ukrainians and I are already chatting all the time, the Turk speaks English and ok Russian. Regardless it is really nice that the only other girl in the class and I share a common language(she's one of the Ukrainians, her and her boyfriend are in the class together).
As we become more comfortable I hope we get less formal with each other. There are three in their late thirties I think...but most seem to be in their 20s.
Bonus! in our classroom building the restroom has western toilets, hand soap, paper towels and a hand dryer! Now this sounds like a lot to get excited about I'm sure. But Chinese public toilets are squatters and are devoid of hand soap, paper towels and often toilet paper. So it isn't really a mystery why the most advanced strains of diseases develop here, because the sanitation is poor, no one washes their hands properly after the toilet, and it is densely populated.
Anyways, I don't know if toilets like this are standard on campus, or if they are just like this in our building as a courtesy to us. Seeing as how we pay WAY more than the Chinese students to be there, and if that is what our tuition gets us...AWESOME.
So far I haven't learned too many new words, but I'm sure it will get difficult soon enough, over the weekend I need to ask our close Chinese friends to give me a Chinese name, we are supposed to pick one by next week or they will assign us one, but they said it is better to have someone who knows you pick a name for you, or help you pick a name. So for those of my friends that know Chinese, any suggestions?
PS - Also, I found Jelly Bellies at Toys R Us in Hong Kong...good day!

Back to School

So, less than a year after I graduated I'm super excited to be back in school, granted I'm just studying one thing, but I'm studying that one thing in earnest. Being around people my age is nice too(I'm mostly around children or people my parents age, or just my parents)
First I need to detail a little bit of the drama that I'm still going through to get my student visa.
A week ago I registered for classes, I was given a list of documents that I needed to get in order to get my student visa, I wasn't told where to get all of them, or that I would need an assortment of other documents from other places in order to get the listed necessary documents. The list doesn't look so bad, only 7 items if you are over 18 years old, and they give you one to start with. Not so bad right?
1. The Original and photocopy of your valid passport and Chinese visa.
2. A form of Application for Visa and Residence Permit which you have filled correctly, and one of your recent passport-size 2 inch color photos(full face without hat)
3. The Notice for Residence Permit and Records of Conversations with a Foreigner Applying for Residence Permit(Students are required to apply for such documents by themselves from the Nanshan Branch, Shenzhen Public Security Bureau if they apply for the first time)
4. A Registration Form of Temporary Accommodation for Aliens issued by local street police station.
5. The original Admission Notice issued by the Teaching Office for International Students.
6. Your Health Certificate issued by Shenzhen Port Hospital.
7. Form JW202 (form of Chinese Visa Application for Foreign Students)
Ok...which one do you think the International Student office already?
if you though #5, you'd be wrong.
#5, when I asked about where I get #5 they said "here, of course" and I said, "well, can I have it?" my only answer "it is not here"
#1 - easy
#2 - was given this form at the Security Bureau, but then told at the Police Station that it is the wrong one, and I must get the right one from them
#3 - still have no idea what this is, and no one is telling me
#4 - finally got this on my 3 trip to the police station, they kept sending me away telling me I didn't have the right documents, and even on the third visit they told me to go next door and make a copy of the page in my passport of my last entry stamp, which they hadn't told me I needed before.
#5 - this mysterious document the International school is missing or something
#6 - This I went to the hospital, they checked me all over, even swabbed my gums - and in a week I can go back to see if I can be admitted to the country...only I'm already here.
#7 - This is the form that they did give me in the International Student Office.
So I'm missing a few important pieces to my Student Visa puzzle....and Thankfully I have 30days after my start of study to complete the process, but knowing the way bureaucracy works in China, I will need all 30 days.
Second thing, less that 24hrs before classes start, I finally found out where and when my classes are, and who my teacher is. This occurred after 2 hours of mind-numbing "Opening Ceremony" then in no particular order it seemed, different classes were called out and then you had to listen to see if your name was called and then go to the front of the auditorium and meet your teacher, or someone who is meeting you on behalf of your teacher, and get your schedule and then are lead to your classroom. It was chaos, the names of the classes were read off in alternating English and Chinese, which mish-mashed pronunciations, mixed with a echoey auditorium and the chatter of students and the distraction of the heat, it was chaos. Efficiency is not the name of this game
Document hassles aside, I got a cable on my electric scooter repaired today and I'm set to scoot all the way to school tomorrow.
I bought pencils, notebooks and a stylus for my iPad to enter the characters by stroke function easily.
Yeah, that's right...I'm excited.