ShiDa Registration
Bite count: 3 :(
Up at 6ish again! I wonder how long I can keep this up! I putzed around
deciding what to do about housing (plus, I'm really slow in the mornings).
Finally, got ready and went down to breakfast of Chinese buns (the bread
kind, not the steamed kind). It was raining in the morning and my great
aunt said there was a typhoon coming.
Today, I needed to register for classes at ShiDa, but first I needed to go
to the bank so I could exchange enough money for tuition which was to be
paid at registration ($19,309 NT in cash!!!!). Also, my mom felt obligated
to check out one of the places we couldn't reach the day before because
she'd told her friend to save the room for her. So first, we went to see
the room around 9ish (the earliest the lady could meet). It's REALLY close
to my relatives. Seriously, like < 5 min walk. On the walk there, I was
dreaming about all the yummy dinners I could get living so close to them!
:) It has a separate entrance to the second floor than the main apartment
which is nice (but no elevator...booooo!). And the room is huge with lots of
windows and hardwood floors with A/C!! But the rent went up from $5000NT
(what my mom was told before) to $6500NT/mo! I'd have to pay for
electricity myself. There was no TV and not even a phone line. And the
room wasn't furnished. So forget it. It would be way too much trouble (and
expense) to deal with all of that! And the rent isn't even that much
cheaper. So it's not worth it.
Next we walked to the bank near ShiDa (took 40 minutes!!) to open a
special USD account. But the Bank of Taiwan had so many fees and charges
when dealing with USD that we decided to just exchange some money, but the
lady who was helping us (not too kindly..I don't think chinese people know
the meaning of customer service) started helping other customers and
ignoring us! And as we waited, we saw the exchange rate DROP for USD to
NT, so we left to try another bank. There was one conveniently located
just next door! :) On top of having a better exchange rate, the Taipei
Bank was a little bit friendlier (which isn't saying much, but hey, it
made a difference!). So after much discussion, we learned there was a 0.5%
charge everytime there was a transaction involving USD. That's not too
bad, but it'd be a big pain to have to pay the fee twice (once for
depositing and another for withdrawal if I have leftover money at the end
of the year) so we decided to just open an NT account and transfer all
the cash I'd brought to Taiwan currency so I'd only be charged once. Then,
we discovered that in addition to my passport, I needed some kind of
form/certification which, although it was free, we had to go to some
out-of-the-way place to get! So forget that. We finally, just exchanged
some of my USD for NT so that I'd have enough to pay the tuition. But of
course, there was only one teller in the entire bank that does exchanges,
so we had to wait in line for that. By the time we finally left the bank,
it was almost noon!! And the registration people at ShiDa were on lunch
break until 2pm!!!
So now we had to putz around some more. We went for lunch in the ShiDa
night market area. Lots of cheap food near the university! :) There was a
place with tomato beef noodles that I think Mimi recommended, but it was
nothing special. Not enough tomatoes I don't think! Maybe I was supposed to
get the soupy one. Ah well. Also had some dumplings which were ok. When we
got to the Chinese Language Center building, it wasn't even 1pm (more time
to waste) so we decided to check out the computer lab cuz my mom
remembered it was free between quarters. So I got to check email! Yay!
Lots of junk mail though. Felt kinda awkward cuz it seemed like I was the
only one who had brought a parent with them! Heh. But thankfully, I saw one
other parent in line for registration, so I felt slightly better. But
really, how can I turn down my mom's help? She'd be worried if she didn't
come and it's so much easier when she's there! :) After registration, I
took a preliminary oral exam that decided what placement test I should
take (there were 3 levels). I got approved to take the middle level test
and my tester said she'd been teaching for 24 years and she thought I was
at level 4 (I'm trying to get into level 5 and there are 7 levels total I
think). I had to wait some more until the designated test time (3:10pm),
so my mom and I went up to the office to ask for more information about
the scholarship program. But I found out that the earliest I'd be able to
take the test for a scholarship was for the March quarter and it's a
6-month scholarship! So that totally doesnÂt work for me (since I might
have to go back in June for family stuff). Looks like the only help I'll
get with tuition is if I find those tutoring jobs (which I should probably
get a move on)! But at least that's less pressure on me to get that
scholarship: maintaining a 85 grade, rarely being absent and taking a
really competitive test!
Then we went back to wait for my placement test. There were LOTS of
Americans waiting too. A group of them were talking and said that it would
take like 10 years of really studying Chinese in order for them to carry
on an everyday conversation. That's a lot! Then one guy came out who'd
take then middle test and he said how horrible it was and how he didn't
know ANY of the characters and so that's why he was able to finish so
early! Hee hee. Again, I felt awkward beinging nearly the only one with a
parent. I felt like a kid who was supposed to be an adult. Hrm..but it's
sooo comforting to have my mom there to help translate and stuff! I guess
I'm just a big baby at heart. :)
Oh my gosh! The test was AWFUL! I was really feeling pretty confident gong
into it, cuz I did so well on the oral exam and I'd looked over my
sister's textbook and thought it was pretty cinchy. But I've forgotten a
LOT of characters since college, cuz I recognized a lot, but couldn't
remember what they were and therefore, didn't do at all well in the vocab
and reading comprehension sections! I think I did alright in the listening
comp, except it was the first section and I had trouble concentrating at
the beginning (it's been so long since I've had to take a test!). But I
think I really aced the grammar section cuz all you really need to be able
to read are the key phrases that connect sentences (like sui ran, ju ran,
yin wei, etc) then if you can sorta pick out the basic idea of the
sentence then it's easy to pick the right answer! :) But it took me the
full 70 mins cuz of all the guessing I had to do on the other parts! Ugh!
I hope they don't place me even lower than level 4 now!!!!
While I took the test, my mom searched for more housing (since we were no
longer satisfied with the one we had after that shady business). She found
a couple of promising prospects so we made some calls and there was one
place, really close to school that we decided to check out. It was SOOOO
sketchy! And I'd have to live with the landlord, who, frankly, was a
little weird. And the room was tiny. And no TV, no phone, no DSL. So I
guess I'm just gonna go with the one we already had. It was looking better
already! :) So my mom and I went over to the apartment and settled the
contract terms with the landlord (we had been dealing with his son before
that, since his son actually lives in the apartment). The landlord was
super nice cuz my mom's friend is his cousin. He only took $3000NT for the
deposit (which typically is 3 months rent ($21,000NT / 34 = $600+USD)!)
and gave me the keys right then and there and told me to move in whenever!
Heh. He was also ok with the me possibly not staying for the whole year.
And there wasn't really any contract or anything. So great finding things
through connections! :)
We didn't leave till around 8ish and stopped for a quick bite for dinner
at a night market. We had oyster omelette, but it wasn't very good. But
dinner for $40NT for the both of us (since we shared) made it worth it!
Since it'd been raining off and on all day, my feet were SOOOO dirty and
slippery (cuz I still hadn't learned my lesson, and was still wearing my
flip-flops). I lost count of the number of times I almost slipped and
fell!! So I've decided that sporadic raining is sucky! And I really think
I'll need to retire my flip-flops at least in Taiwan. :( And until I can
find replacements, I'll have to wear tennis shoes.
Back at my relatives, my mom and I suddenly remembered that we had a bunch
of chocolates (we brought some for snacks) that were probably melting from
the heat!! So we had a huge chocolate fest that night before going to bed
at 10pm!
Up at 6ish again! I wonder how long I can keep this up! I putzed around
deciding what to do about housing (plus, I'm really slow in the mornings).
Finally, got ready and went down to breakfast of Chinese buns (the bread
kind, not the steamed kind). It was raining in the morning and my great
aunt said there was a typhoon coming.
Today, I needed to register for classes at ShiDa, but first I needed to go
to the bank so I could exchange enough money for tuition which was to be
paid at registration ($19,309 NT in cash!!!!). Also, my mom felt obligated
to check out one of the places we couldn't reach the day before because
she'd told her friend to save the room for her. So first, we went to see
the room around 9ish (the earliest the lady could meet). It's REALLY close
to my relatives. Seriously, like < 5 min walk. On the walk there, I was
dreaming about all the yummy dinners I could get living so close to them!
:) It has a separate entrance to the second floor than the main apartment
which is nice (but no elevator...booooo!). And the room is huge with lots of
windows and hardwood floors with A/C!! But the rent went up from $5000NT
(what my mom was told before) to $6500NT/mo! I'd have to pay for
electricity myself. There was no TV and not even a phone line. And the
room wasn't furnished. So forget it. It would be way too much trouble (and
expense) to deal with all of that! And the rent isn't even that much
cheaper. So it's not worth it.
Next we walked to the bank near ShiDa (took 40 minutes!!) to open a
special USD account. But the Bank of Taiwan had so many fees and charges
when dealing with USD that we decided to just exchange some money, but the
lady who was helping us (not too kindly..I don't think chinese people know
the meaning of customer service) started helping other customers and
ignoring us! And as we waited, we saw the exchange rate DROP for USD to
NT, so we left to try another bank. There was one conveniently located
just next door! :) On top of having a better exchange rate, the Taipei
Bank was a little bit friendlier (which isn't saying much, but hey, it
made a difference!). So after much discussion, we learned there was a 0.5%
charge everytime there was a transaction involving USD. That's not too
bad, but it'd be a big pain to have to pay the fee twice (once for
depositing and another for withdrawal if I have leftover money at the end
of the year) so we decided to just open an NT account and transfer all
the cash I'd brought to Taiwan currency so I'd only be charged once. Then,
we discovered that in addition to my passport, I needed some kind of
form/certification which, although it was free, we had to go to some
out-of-the-way place to get! So forget that. We finally, just exchanged
some of my USD for NT so that I'd have enough to pay the tuition. But of
course, there was only one teller in the entire bank that does exchanges,
so we had to wait in line for that. By the time we finally left the bank,
it was almost noon!! And the registration people at ShiDa were on lunch
break until 2pm!!!
So now we had to putz around some more. We went for lunch in the ShiDa
night market area. Lots of cheap food near the university! :) There was a
place with tomato beef noodles that I think Mimi recommended, but it was
nothing special. Not enough tomatoes I don't think! Maybe I was supposed to
get the soupy one. Ah well. Also had some dumplings which were ok. When we
got to the Chinese Language Center building, it wasn't even 1pm (more time
to waste) so we decided to check out the computer lab cuz my mom
remembered it was free between quarters. So I got to check email! Yay!
Lots of junk mail though. Felt kinda awkward cuz it seemed like I was the
only one who had brought a parent with them! Heh. But thankfully, I saw one
other parent in line for registration, so I felt slightly better. But
really, how can I turn down my mom's help? She'd be worried if she didn't
come and it's so much easier when she's there! :) After registration, I
took a preliminary oral exam that decided what placement test I should
take (there were 3 levels). I got approved to take the middle level test
and my tester said she'd been teaching for 24 years and she thought I was
at level 4 (I'm trying to get into level 5 and there are 7 levels total I
think). I had to wait some more until the designated test time (3:10pm),
so my mom and I went up to the office to ask for more information about
the scholarship program. But I found out that the earliest I'd be able to
take the test for a scholarship was for the March quarter and it's a
6-month scholarship! So that totally doesnÂt work for me (since I might
have to go back in June for family stuff). Looks like the only help I'll
get with tuition is if I find those tutoring jobs (which I should probably
get a move on)! But at least that's less pressure on me to get that
scholarship: maintaining a 85 grade, rarely being absent and taking a
really competitive test!
Then we went back to wait for my placement test. There were LOTS of
Americans waiting too. A group of them were talking and said that it would
take like 10 years of really studying Chinese in order for them to carry
on an everyday conversation. That's a lot! Then one guy came out who'd
take then middle test and he said how horrible it was and how he didn't
know ANY of the characters and so that's why he was able to finish so
early! Hee hee. Again, I felt awkward beinging nearly the only one with a
parent. I felt like a kid who was supposed to be an adult. Hrm..but it's
sooo comforting to have my mom there to help translate and stuff! I guess
I'm just a big baby at heart. :)
Oh my gosh! The test was AWFUL! I was really feeling pretty confident gong
into it, cuz I did so well on the oral exam and I'd looked over my
sister's textbook and thought it was pretty cinchy. But I've forgotten a
LOT of characters since college, cuz I recognized a lot, but couldn't
remember what they were and therefore, didn't do at all well in the vocab
and reading comprehension sections! I think I did alright in the listening
comp, except it was the first section and I had trouble concentrating at
the beginning (it's been so long since I've had to take a test!). But I
think I really aced the grammar section cuz all you really need to be able
to read are the key phrases that connect sentences (like sui ran, ju ran,
yin wei, etc) then if you can sorta pick out the basic idea of the
sentence then it's easy to pick the right answer! :) But it took me the
full 70 mins cuz of all the guessing I had to do on the other parts! Ugh!
I hope they don't place me even lower than level 4 now!!!!
While I took the test, my mom searched for more housing (since we were no
longer satisfied with the one we had after that shady business). She found
a couple of promising prospects so we made some calls and there was one
place, really close to school that we decided to check out. It was SOOOO
sketchy! And I'd have to live with the landlord, who, frankly, was a
little weird. And the room was tiny. And no TV, no phone, no DSL. So I
guess I'm just gonna go with the one we already had. It was looking better
already! :) So my mom and I went over to the apartment and settled the
contract terms with the landlord (we had been dealing with his son before
that, since his son actually lives in the apartment). The landlord was
super nice cuz my mom's friend is his cousin. He only took $3000NT for the
deposit (which typically is 3 months rent ($21,000NT / 34 = $600+USD)!)
and gave me the keys right then and there and told me to move in whenever!
Heh. He was also ok with the me possibly not staying for the whole year.
And there wasn't really any contract or anything. So great finding things
through connections! :)
We didn't leave till around 8ish and stopped for a quick bite for dinner
at a night market. We had oyster omelette, but it wasn't very good. But
dinner for $40NT for the both of us (since we shared) made it worth it!
Since it'd been raining off and on all day, my feet were SOOOO dirty and
slippery (cuz I still hadn't learned my lesson, and was still wearing my
flip-flops). I lost count of the number of times I almost slipped and
fell!! So I've decided that sporadic raining is sucky! And I really think
I'll need to retire my flip-flops at least in Taiwan. :( And until I can
find replacements, I'll have to wear tennis shoes.
Back at my relatives, my mom and I suddenly remembered that we had a bunch
of chocolates (we brought some for snacks) that were probably melting from
the heat!! So we had a huge chocolate fest that night before going to bed
at 10pm!
posted by ss @ 6:15 AM
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