Beattie Bloggin'

It's the first day of classes here at UCT and I am currently wasting time between my first class (Southern Africa in the Twentieth Century) and my next class (Third World Politics) in the Beattie Humanities Computer Lab in Upper Campus. For some reason, US based websites (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are loading slowly if at all, so instead of enriching my learning experience, I'm just gonna ramble about weird things I've found here so far. I hope you enjoy it.

First off, and I may have already told some of you this, so if I'm reapeating myself bear with me, but I have found the greatest substance ever created in the history of mankind. I say that without qualification. It's called Sweet Chilli Sauce, and I am anxious to know whether it can be found in the States. It's like sweet ketchup with chilli peppers in it. It's the perfect accompaniment to an afternoon boerewors or other braai meats, or, as we found out yesterday in the Cecil Road house, with an omelette in the morning, along with pretty much anything else you can imagine. I'm keen to try it on cereal, it's that good. So anyway, I need some recon from back home. If you can find it, let me know. Also, you should buy some and put it on everything you eat. You'll thank me later.

Second, for all the moaning and groaning we do about class registration at Tufts (and we have done plenty over the 26 - or so - years I've been in college) it is NOTHING compared to the unimaginable hellscape of UCT registration. I'm pretty sure they just don't care about the inefficiency either, which also really grinds my gears. Let me see if I can encapsulate the process for you in 57 easy to remember steps. First you have to get pre-approved for any course you want to take. This process started for me with interstudy back in April when I chose a list of 8 courses I was interested in taking. Then, those pre-approvals have to be approved, but not by your academic adivsor as at Tufts, no, here you have to get INDIVIDUAL APPROVAL FROM EVERY PROFESSOR in order to take any class, each signing an individual pink pre-approval form. Oh yeah, and they don't like emails and they refuse to answer their phone. So, you have to go find them in their offices, except they're never there. So inevitably you end up going and begging a secretary for help, and they don't really like study abroad students (at least in the Poli Sci department, grrr...) so you end up having to kiss a whole lot of ass jsut to get these approvals.

So now you're pre-approved. What does that mean? Pretty much nothing except that you get to stand on not one, not two but FIVE massive queues in order to register. Seriously, five, I counted. This process takes place on one morning, for every student and includes filling out MORE forms most of which don't even get processed before you get to stand on ANOTHER queue in order to have someone enter your classes into a computer in order to end the registration process.

Then you have to go get a student ID, but - trust me - that's another rant for another time.

Despite all this inefficiency, I managed to speak to one bureaucrat who explained, and I quote, 'Well, at least it's better than the old system.'

Unless the 'old system' involved water torture and/or human sacrifice, I fail to see how it could possibly be better. They have lots of excuses, but my legs hurt from standing in so many queues. Of course, I'm horrifically out of shape (as I learned at Cape Point) but still...

Anyway, that's all for me, I'm off to Third World Politics. And seriously, if anybody finds Sweet Chilli Sauce in the States, I want to know immediately.

Cheers!