Day 24

SCU vs. UCT

I always thought Santa Clara was an extremely unorganized university. SCU has nothing on UCT's organizational level. When I registered for classes, I did it on paper. Paper. Biggest problem, as classes fill up, there is no way of knowing until after someone has gone through the paper stack. I learned this the hard way. On my online student account, one of my classes wasn't showing up. I was passed around from department to department, until I finally got answers. The class I had registered for, and received approval, was apparently full. A week and a half into the semester, the Economics Department tells me that my form is still in the stack of papers and they didn't know if there would be room in the class for me. I would then just be randomly put into another econ class. No way was I going to let that fly. A little arguing and dropping the phrase "I'm an international student through CIEE". They somehow made room for me. Absolutely ridiculous.

The grading scale here honors a 75% as an A. One would think it'd be a joke, not so much. School is hard. Apparently no one gets As. I learned that the hard way when I got a 65% on my first homework assignment. Quite discouraging, but at least a typically failing percentage is actually a B.

All the random seating areas at SCU, I am finally appreciate of. There are no places to hang out on campus. If you want to sit and socialize, you're on a bench or staircase. People watching however is primal. 

There is also no where warm. Once you're cold, it's not getting any better. No buildings are heated and they're also mostly open air. Pidgins like to roam through Leslie Social Sciences. If needing something to generate heat, the chi lattes are absolutely bomb. 

Americans are generally perceived as being rude people. Come to Cape Town. People are so pushy it's unreal. Getting onto the Jammie shuttle is a war zone, no one moves aside for anyone, no one says excuse me, and the whole "ladies first" thing, not at all acknowledged in this culture. 

The Jammie shuttle is a must. But it's great. Free transportation to and from campus stopping at many hubs all around town. 

UCTs campus is divided into three sections, Upper, Middle, and Lower. Upper Campus alone is about 2x the size of SCU campus. Once you're in one sector, stay there. Otherwise you're getting your workout in by climbing a million stairs. 

In the spirit of Santa Clara, five of the seven broncos here reconnected at dinner the other night. I think we all could agree the little sense of home was extremely comforting and much needed in the midst of all the commotion. I volunteered to call the cab for our transportation, a responsibility I should never again assume. I called Cab-driver Mark, whom to our discovery was Blacked-out Mark. Pretty convinced our cab driver was hammered. Close calls on multiple car accidents, he didn't remember me telling him to reset the meter from the beginning of the ride so our fare was super cheap, and he talked about the Black Mamba snake for the entire ride.

Thursday night consisted of a typical Blinky's Throwback-Thursday, except one hundred times better. Nightclub / bar-ish joint playing all songs from the 80s (or songs the DJ thought were from the 80s) intercepted by a couple more current tunes. It was awesome. This of course was after a lovely dinner with about 10 other girls, where I ordered cheesecake and promised the chef I wanted it for my wedding. Maybe a long shot, but best cheesecake I've ever had. 

Now that the school year is well underway, there are many things I miss about The Clara; seeing familiar faces all the time on campus, five minute walks to class, Lucas hall, (yes, I miss the Bronco), a non-intimidating library, classes of less than 300 people, but overall UCT is quite the place. Beautiful campus and excellent chi. Good to go. 

Go Broncos!