Remeber the toilets during our Primary school/secondary school days? Wet, dark, eriee. There were bound to be a few cubicles perpetually locked up and we were made to believe some unfortunate events took place inside or some evil spirits spook those space.

So this nostaglic feeling came back to me again when I visited Zeeyau school. The toilets are just like what we used to have - squat pan style, wet and eriee.

Our kids grew up with clean, dry and nice smelling washroom (sitting toilet), such that using a squat pan toilet become a big challenge. Everytime before we leave the house, I have to make sure they emptied everything that might need to be  discharged and urge them to do it again if we find clean toilets. Its unhealthy, but I discourage unnecessary fluid intake unless they start complaining of extreme thirst. Whinny kids are still more pleasant then dirty toilets.

The problem is simply because they don’t know how to do it while squatting. It gets even more difficult during the cold seasons wearing thick clothings and long pants. They either wet their pants with bad aiming, or worse, the little boy insist that he needs to take off his pants so he can do his big business.

So, we had mock sessions at home, practicing how to squat, how to remove the pants, how to posistion herself, before Zeeyau finally conquere the school’s toilet.

And yes, the girls still like to have toilet break together like we did - packing 2 or 3 girls into a cubicle.

Back to the previous practice of sending the kid to kindergarten myself since Didi’s kinddy doesn’t have school bus service. Without the comfort of driving a car, I can only opt for the more environment friendly mode of transport and join the local by riding a bicycle.

With the rapid increase in car ownership in Beijing, the number of people commuting by bicycles has fallen sharply. That is to my advantage since I don’t have to fight for space with the others while enjoying a smoother ride on the bicycle lanes.

“Love Knows No Borders” International charity sale by diplomatic organisations at Chaoyang Park and we were there to show some support since the park is just right across the road of our place.

While most (maybe all) other countries took up 1 booth, our Singapore stall was operating from 3 booths! What a crowd they attracted and I think most of the staff operating the booths seemed to be enjoying the brisk sales. I was hoping to find some items that could perhaps cure some homesickness, but the usual pork floss buns (BreadTalk), bak kua (Bee Cheng Hiang), laksa paste (Prima) etc, didn’t much caught my fancy. Would be really delighted if I can find some curry puff, pineapple tarts, kueh kueh or even those left over red and white T-shirts that go on sales during our National Day season.

First day of school for Didi in Beijing today! He was the first to arrive and seemed rather disappointed to see only teachers and no other children around. He looked apprehensive initially, but quickly made himself busy when the teacher gave him an activity to work on. Right, that is a Montessori based school he is attending.

When I asked him what he did in school today, he said he played with some dinosaurs, then ate apples, and then it was time to sleep. My goodness, if that was what happened in school today, those must be some awfully expensive dino toys and super duper royal apples to munch on. If there is a reason why we need to go back Singapore, it would probably because his school fees is god damn expensive and have burn big holes in every single pockets we can find in our wardrobe.

Primary 1 students from the international division gathering near the school entrance.

Zee Yau and her classmates waiting patiently for the rest of the class to arrive before their classroom teacher 苏娜老师 leads them to class.

I have to bring Zeeyau to school today though we have signed her up with a schoolbus. According to the schoolbus coordinator, parents of new students will send and pick up the kids on the first day and ride the schoolbus home with the child so they will know where the exact location the bus is going to pick up the kid in the morning. It is definately a hassle to make another 2 trips to the school today, but then, it makes Zeeyau less nervous and give me an opportunity to snap some photos.

The first day of school is somehow chaotic in an orderly manner. There were many anxious parents like myself, the traffic outside the school is bad (as usual) and there is even a camera man filming. Some students are in school uniforms and some aren’t. The girls wear plaid skirts, but in differernt colours, I wonder why. Students from the international division only needs to put on school uniforms on Monday, but I really hope she could wear it everyday.

Hopefully everything goes well. Now I have to get started on my second task, enroll Didi somewhere so he can attend school as soon as possible.

The nurse was right, I probably won’t be able to get a queue number if I was lazy and didn’t arrive early at the hospital to 挂号。 Apparently, they only issue 40numbers a day, and being the peak period now, queue number went out fast.

I reached the hospital at around 7.15am and manage to get number 14. Businese started at 8am on the dot as stated. Didi was required to do a blood test, body checkup and hearing screening. Unlike in Shanghai, urine test is not required.

They took out 2 quarter tubes of blood from the kid! Why on earth would they need so much blood from the little ones. I remembered they only need to do a simply prick test back in Shanghai. All the poor children looked scared and bewildered, though I must admit the nurses were pretty skillful as most of the children didn’t complaint of pain or discomfort.

We managed to get everything done before 9am. However, the report will only be available the next day. Meaning I have to make a 3rd trip back to the hospital to complete the task. Almost like an Olympic scale obstacle course.

Finally got hold of Didi’s kindergarten entrance health checkup report today! Mission accomplished! I was told that Didi needs 3 shots of Hep B vaccine. WTH!? He has had his required shots back in Singapore and all his immunisation is up to date with schedule. I believe they won’t know if he has had his jabs and I wouldn’t want him vaccinated there anyway.

Entrance exam, interview, costly registration fees and that’s not the end of the pain to even get the kids enroll into a school. We still have one more step to fulfill, need to bring them for a body checkup before they are even allowed to begin school.

So, I have more or less decided on the kindergarten to send Didi to and was ready to go down to the school for application and payments. However, the staff requested the body checkup report with the application form. Hey, Didi just did a similar checkup back in Shanghai in February before he started school with Okiki, however, they don’t accept that report!? And no, I am only supposed to go to the 4 hospitals they have listed. Erm, whats wrong with the other hospitals? Does it implies the other hospital aren’t qualified?

Nevermind, I called 朝阳区妇幼保健医院 and check their consultation hours. The lady told me the hours today is until 11am and told me to come down before 11am. So I rushed down with Didi but was told there were no more queue numbers left. I was advised to arrive early on Monday at 7am as they start to allow 挂号 at that timing. Damn, that sotong woman should have told me that on the phone instead of wasting my time.

So it seems that I have to start my day early if I want to save money by visiting public hospital. I also called the (private own) United Family Hospital to check their rates, naively hoping they might have special package for such checkup. Fat hope, the check up alone cost 2000rmb and the next available appointment is like 10 days later!??? WTH, so many rich people around!!!???

I have had much pleasant experience back in Shanghai when I need to bring the kids for such routine. But Singapore is the best, no need checkup at all!

Okie, the school finally called grandpa (our proxy for P1 registration) yesterday and sorted out the correct mailing address. I wonder why would the letter be sent to our home address (which is rented out) when we specified that we are not in the country while providing alternative correspondence address and a contact person.

Anyway, not an issue and I appreciate the fact that Bt Panjang Pri called grandpa to make sure we are aware of the balloting result. Well, at least I am 100% sure now that Zeeyau did get accepted by the school.

Not the most bloodied battle compared to other sacredly divine schools, but with 102 applicants fighting for 70 places in phase 2C for Bukit Panjang Primary School, and every single one of those 102 live within 1km, I was slightly regretting not registering Zeeyau with CHIJ, Our Lady Queen of Peace to secure a placement. Oh well, but that would mean I have to go through the same ordeal again 3 years later when it is Didi’s turn for P1 registration. I was hoping the extra ballot slip Singaporeans get will give us a higher chance.

Ok, the grandfather wasn’t keen to visit the school to check the balloting outcome. Having fulfilled his mission of handing in the registration forms 2 weeks ago, he just wanted to go sip kopi with his kakis and didn’t show any intention of checking the result. Anyway, after several failed attempts calling the school late on Friday and on Saturday morning, I finally got someone to pick up the phone on Monday.

Well, we were successful! MOE claimed that a letter will be sent to the parents informing them of the application outcome. We have not receive anything yet. I wonder where they have sent the letter to! I hope the school didn’t make any mistake and told me the wrong result since the phase 2C supplementary has just closed.

With a secure placement back home for Zeeyau, our retreat plan has been put in place should we decide to go back home.

Primary 1 enrollment here in Shanghai is as crazy as Singapore if not more. Parents here buy property near key primary school （重点小学）, find connections, pull strings, seek backdoor, donate money or whatever within their means to secure a placement.

From what i have known, public schools here aren’t allow to conduct Primary 1 pre-enrollment interviews, unless approved by the state. However, private schools （民办小学）, international schools or international division （国际部) of public/private schools are free to do so.

While the interview is like one of the standard procedure when applying for international schools and international divisions, it is a really competitive and serious affair for students seeking a place in the mainstream education （中文班，local stream, local school）. Parents start preparing their kids by sending them to Maths, English, Pinyin classes to make sure they are able to handle the interview (and written test as well!).

Zeeyau’s class teacher also started preparing them from early this year. They have a short practice sessions in the morning where the teacher will ask questions like : Where are you from? What is your favourite food? Name 10 colours. Name 20 fruits. Name 20 countries. I had a shocked when I first learned about that. Can applying for primary 1 be so stressful and demanding!? Are the schools really going to reject the students if they can’t name fruits or tell you who their favourite author is!?

Took me some time to calm my nerves. I am sure the questioned posed will be simple enough for the kids to handle. However, I have heard from some parents that some extremely competitive school asked questions like “北极熊为什么不吃企鹅？”(why doesn’t the polar bear eat penguin) and also expect the 6years old to know additional/subtraction within 30. Well, that sounds demanding, but nothing surprising when you know that some schools recieved 800 applications for their limited 60 places.

As for Zeeyau’s case, she was asked questions like:
你叫什么名字？
你是哪里的人？
你在学校学习了什么？最喜欢学习什么？
11－3＝？
3＋4＝？
你愿意不愿意到芳草地念书？

Luckily this kiasu mom has been practicing basic additional and subtraction with her at home, else she would be stumped by those two maths questions. Anyway, I felt as long as the student is decent enough, can hold simple conversation and doesn’t require special attention/care, they will accept whoever applied. Well, all her classmates who applied to international schools or international divisions have been accepted by their choice school.