UCT, the #1 university on the continent

After about a week of tracking down head of departments and meeting with advisors and getting papers signed that were really unnecessary I finally ended up in some classes!


ECO3025- Applied International Trade Bargaining... A world trade organization simulation course in which every student picks a country attached to a sub-plenem devoted to a specific WTO issue. I'm Hong Kong 4a- Dispute Settlement Mechanism Procedures and Implementation. (HK is a "special administrative region" in china which is basically autonomous except for foreign affairs and defense) This class is at 10AM 5 days a week plus two 1.5 hour online chats per week and apparently requires a lot of work but is over by Nov 2nd.

ECO2007- Cooperation and Competition - an economic game theory class that is supposedly an easy A but you will never get a seat in the lecture hall, and lets not forget that an A here is a 70 because they like to make everyone feel as if they will never fully understand something.

SOC2004- Race, Class, and Gender sociology - Three different lecturers in 3-4 week increments, 2 days a week for 2 hours.. interesting enough

SOC1005- Individual and Society - Easy enough to comprehend, but lecturers make it pointless to attend. Nevertheless, Im there 3 days a week for 45 minutes.

Extracurriculars:

IAPO pays for 3 clubs for international students.
Popular choices:
1. Surf Club - sometimes sponsor free board days (like yesterday 8/30 at Muizenberg), can set up lessons for you, and get discounts on surf rentals
2. Mountain and Ski Club - Hiking trips and mountain climbing just about every weekend
3. Underwater club - Clubhouse with bar right next to UCT gym, get NAUI scuba diving certification, rent gear for cheap and freeze in the UCT pool!
4. Wine and Culture Society - Wine tasting events, a lot of americans talked about joining but not sure if many did...
5. SHAWCO - volunteer organization... sosaw can update more about it, I didnt join because of class conflicts :(

Gettin Started

SO I'm a little behind on the blogging.
It's the last day in August and time has flown by, just yesterday I feel as if I was rushing to pack and negotiating with my mom whether or not I could bring more than two pairs of jeans.
I'm still deciding whether or not I should backpost everything we have done since first arriving or just starting fresh right now.
How to NOT do it right in CT:
1. Forget to make a blog before you leave
2. Forget to make a blog in the first month
3. Never blog at all for the first 6 weeks
4. Swim in the unheated pool at the gym (55 degrees fahrenheit)
5. Use a crapload of internet every day on nothing important. at all.
6. Run out of vodacom airtime every month
7. get mugged
8. bring coffee into the library
9. buy power converters in the states because they will. not. work.
10.complain, at all, because its damn BEAUTIFUL HERE :)