Winter break is over..

Well it's back to school next week. Amazing how time flies when you are having fun. That being said if I didn't have school to go to, I would be driving myself (and Mark) crazy trying to occupy my time while Mark is at work all day.

Earlier in the week Justin and I headed to the university to get our grades from the last semester. I ended up with an 85% which is better than I had expected. Justin, on the other hand ended up with a 94%. It probably helps that your relatives are from China and Hong Kong!

So yesterday we met up to register for the second semester. Unlike the first semester, this went fairly quick. They wanted us to go to the opening ceremonies again, and listen to all the speeches. You start with the university anthem, the welcome speech, then a few professors say a word or two, then the police tell you about procedures that need to be adhered to, and finally the Dean speaks. It's always fun to listen to what the rules are when it comes to visas here in China. The cliffs notes version is something like this: You cannot work while you are a student in China, you must register with the police within 24 hours, and you will be fined 500 RMB to a maximum of 5000 RMB for overstaying your visa. You may also be deported and not able to return to China for the next 5 years.

This is where we exited and tried to figure out where we register. We were told to go to the 3rd floor but no one was there. We went to the second floor and found a teacher that I happen to recognize, that tutored our friends here in China. She told us that we do not register here. You need to go to the Overseas Student's Building.

We find the offices where we need to register. We asked where and when we would find out about our schedules and purchasing books. The reply Saturday. Okay when Saturday? Afternoon. Anytime? Yes. So I can come to the university for my books and class schedule at 1pm? No, you should come at 3pm.

So I guess anytime, really didn't mean anytime, it meant 3pm.

As we were lining up in queues for various reasons, it dawned me after watching this process how we foreigners learned from the Chinese, rather quickly I must say, just how to cut in front of each other. It will be interesting to see people back in their countries attempting this Chinese manoeuvre. I suspect it won't be quite as accepted in the native land as it is here in China.

We were out of there in about an hour.