Class in session

Today was the first day of classes. It wasn’t a normal beautiful day in PE though. It literally rained all day so getting around was not so much fun. 

The classes I have registered for for the semester include: business ethics, organizational management, media ethics and international marketing. I might swap out the media ethics but I’m waiting on some e-mails from UNI. 

So my first class, business ethics, was scheduled to start at 1045--or so I thought. I went to the classroom had my notebook out and pen ready to take notes. Even said hi to the people sitting next to me who were from Botswana. I didn’t think twice when both told me their majors were in industrial psychology. So the professor comes and is introducing himself to the class, he puts up the syllabus and the course title is...organisational psychology. (If you notice our z’s are their s’s). Great, what a start. So I get up to leave and he’s says “young lady you can’t leave the lecture now.” I was embarrassed but after I told him I was in the wrong class he enjoyed meeting me for the short time and I left. When I had registered for classes last week the online module browser had said that this was the correct time and place. I went to the international office where I had to wait like 45 minutes to talk to one of the coordinators. So it happened that they had switched the time and place of the class sometime between last week and now. Luckily I hadn’t missed the class since it was later that afternoon. 

So I grabbed myself a caramel latte, caramel donut, and a caramel muffin (yes I love caramel) and surfed the net for a little bit after I got the NMMU Wi-FI on my laptop. I also looked at my other courses to see if there were changes, and there were a couple, so I was glad I had looked into it. I also went and signed up for the organizations (or societies as they call them here) that I am interested in being a part of.

I finally did make it to my business ethics course. I think there might have been about 60 students in there. I guess most people didn’t go to class because of the rain. Not going to class for rain? I told the guy next to me that we went to class in 10 inches of snow or more but he sad that he didn’t believe me, lol. I guess it is hard kind of hard to imagine if  one has never seen snow before. She didn’t lecture but instead gave a background of herself and also went through the syllabus. And yes we already have an assignment. 

My next class was at the 2nd avenue campus, so I went home and ate then walked about 20 minutes to get there. I found some Maggi Noodles similar to Ramen Noodles so I’m saved--I can have something to eat that is quick and easy. 

My next class was organisational management. We were only about 12 of us in the class, with the teacher referencing people not coming because of the weather. I also had another UNI Business student in the class with me. She lectured and gave an assignment already. Since there is another lecture during the day on Wednesday I will go to that one instead so I don’t have to worry about catching a cab/bus in the evening. The professor drove both myself and the other UNI student home. She said that walking after dark was not safe. Seems like those words have been drilled in us since day one. Which is fine, I’m not taking any risks. I’ve heard some crazy stories. The class was really interesting though and we talked about Wal-Mart in South Africa (I’ll have to go into that another time maybe) and other local businesses. She went on a tanget to talk about some of the university initiatives their new campaign called  “For a Better U.” Watch this video--> http://youtu.be/5iIFqHMOE1g to see how the school choir helped market the university. I think that the approach was really nice and it was cool to see that they did it at the local mall which I’ve been to a couple times. 

So the day didn’t go as smoothly as I had thought it would, but it I have made a conscious decision not to get so worked up about things while I’m here. My dad said I look prettier and it must be because of less stress. Less stress and I’ve gotten a minimum of 8 hours of sleep 90 percent of the time since I’ve been here so I probably look a lot less tired. But he could just be saying that because well he’s my dad, but either way I think more sleep makes a difference :] Don't get me wrong I have those times where it seems like the slow-pace everyone moves in works my nerves, but there is nothing I can do about it so I just go with it. That's why I always have a book to read for moments like that (which seem to be so many). All the Europeans here keep saying "Africa time" is too slow for them. And to tell you the truth its a lot slower with almost everything: the check out at the grocery, the people at the cafes, people walking, etc etc. But I think I'll enjoy this atmosphere while I can, before I have to go back to the the turbo speed lifestyle that most of us live in.

I’m excited for the course so far though, especially since they are all things are interested in. I’ll see what the rest of the week holds.