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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

The interview process was well organised. As we enter the school lobby, there was 2 staff manning a little reception table, ticking off interviewee’s name and informing us to proceed to the second floor. We were handed a formal application form at the next stop and directed to a classroom to have it filled up. After that, we have to go to the next classroom to submit the form, have the documents (passport, visas, etc) verified and also paid the 500rmb application fee (which really isn’t too much compared to the 1000-6000rmb+ elsewhere).

After that, the kids will be lead by a teacher to the 3rd floor for the interview. Parents weren’t allowed to follow, but the school kept us occupied with information with regard to PTA and school bus routes.

Anyway, Zeeyau came back like 10min later. The interview went smoothly and she has passed. So we handed the result slip back to the teacher in charge and were done with the process.

We were then given another piece of paper informing us to set up a bank account (within 4 days), have the school fee deposited into the account and leave the ATM card with the school, the school will deduct school fees from it in future. This method is so much better then having to bring a whole big stack of cash to school for school fees payment (we don’t have cheque here!). This step finalised the whole application and acceptance process and confirmed a placement in the school.

朋友都快笑我，到上海那么久，连地铁都没见过，真不像话。噢，现在巴士和地铁我都搭过了，我也可以算是像话了，长进了。

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

我今天又长进了，是自己独个儿搭地铁到浦西去找老师。回程到科技馆站，出了闸门后，地下商场某处闹哄哄的，准是又有人在骂架。嚷嚷声很响，定是有人发火了。只见商场内的店主扔下店面不管，路人甲乙丙丁和其他闲杂人等都部落人后纷纷涌向事发地点。噢，不，大家更像是在进行百米冲线，怕错过了夺标机会。

谁说只有中国人爱看热闹。周围的老外们也都纷纷向前争看好戏。不看白不看，有一个还怕他朋友错过精彩的那一幕，马上喊道：”Hey, Brian, come over here and look at this!“，还边看边笑呢，肯定是了坏了，哈哈。