Oddities

So yesterday after many hours of sitting in a lecture hall being talked at, i finally decided to make a list of the things that are a little (or very) different regarding their language, especially regarding higher education. Just so you'll know what i'm saying when i come home and don't think i've completely forgotten the english language.


Queue: This is the most important one for you to know. Queue. It is a noun and a verb. You can stand in a queue or you can just queue. Either way, it's a line.


Fruit and Veg: a local produce market, but also just the blanket term for fruits and vegetables. So, the question might be asked "Did your veg go bad? I know you forgot to put it in the fridge"

Peninsular: yes, this is indeed how they spell and pronounce the word for a land mass surrounded by water on 3 sides. So on Sunday we all went on a "peninsular" tour.

Paper: It's longer, and if i had to guess its 8 1/2" by 11 1/2 or 12". So i don't know if that means all my papers will have to be longer? it's kinda funny no matter what.

Braai: A braai is a barbecue. South Africans believe that their way of cooking raw meat over fire is extremely special, and these braai's are regular big community gatherings. We're going to one Thursday for all the freshers so I'll let you know if their way of smoking meat is inherently superior.

UNIVERSITY EDITION!

Freshers: Freshmen. First years. New students. They have a million different names, but here they are almost always called "freshers".

Faculty: This is not the professors and staff members who are responsible for your learning environment, instead it is the term they use for colleges within a university. So for all you Belmont kids, instead of the Mike Curb College of Music Business, it would be the Mike Curb Faculty of Music Business, or the Music Business Faculty.

Writing Exams: You don't take exams, you write them. So instead of "Oh i have to go take my exam for my 9am class" it's "Oh i have to go write my exam for my 9am class".

Rewriting Exams: Apparently if you fail an exam you get the opportunity to retake it, i'm sorry "rewrite" it. So they specifically told us not to book our flights until at least 2 weeks after our last exam (which could be in mid-May, or could be June 10) in case we have to "rewrite". Do they REALLY expect us to be that terrible of students... and the grading scale totally works in our favor...

Grading Scale: This is how in "our favor" it is.
75-100%=1st Class (A)
70-74%=upper 2nd Class (B+)
60-69%=lower 2nd Class (B or B-)
50-59%= 3rd Class (C)
49% and under= Fail (F)
hopefully these will translate into nice grades at Belmont.

UCT's network: So internet here is a struggle. UCT spends millions of Rand a month (R7=$1 more or less) trying to get internet access for the entire campus, which is spread across the entire city. For that reason, all students are limited to 1G a month of internet usage (it used to be 400MB). Granted we aren't on campus so it's really not a big deal. What is a problem is they require you to use McAfee Anti-Virus if you wish to get on their network, or they have some one for Mac users. So, i will NEVER be taking my computer to UCT with me.

UCT Printing: They outsource their printing to a local company. they put the printers in the labs and libraries and service them. So i can't just pay to print with a R.50 piece, i have to go to this company's office and put credits on my card. I'm not a fan of this idea.

Pre-Reg and Registration: With being an international student comes hoops to jump through. In this case it is entitled "Pre-Reg". Oh what's that you say? Well, it's actually 2 different things and BOTH are called "pre-reg" and NO ONE differentiates which one they're talking about. "Pre-Reg" is either when you turn in your documents to IAPO so they can sort everything out with the South African gov't to prove you're legal and a student OR it is when you pick your classes you want to take, sort of like at belmont when you meet with your advisor and make a tentative schedule that you never stick to. Both processes involve many queues. Then there is actual registration. It doesn't occur on Bannerweb or the internet at all for that matter. It is instead you standing in line for hours just to hand over some paperwork and hope that they later put it into the system correctly.

Timetable: Now i know this one is pretty normal, a timetable is a schedule. So for example there is a course timetable that you follow, not a schedule. Buses are on timetables too.


Other things to keep in mind,
VULA=UCT's Blackboard
PeopleSoft=UCT's BannerWeb
that way when i complain, you'll know what i mean.