High tide, low tide

The sea at Xiamen has substantial tidal movement, with high tide normally about 5 meters above low tide, but sometimes the tide surges to well over 6 meters, like during this week. I always check the tidal chart before going for a swim, because it's much better with high tide, when clean water is coming in from the open sea. The low tide carries a lot of dirty water from the the river delta and ports to the area where I swim. Better to avoid that.
Today's high tide was more than a meter higher than usual, flooding the boardwalk which is normally high and dry above the waterline. The preceding low tide last night was also lower than usual, giving good opportunities for clam diggers and other entrepreneurial types to find something valuable in the mud. The rocks which are completely submerged at high tide, were now fully exposed, the perfect time to harvest oysters clinging to their surface. Some locals even bring ladders to reach the upper parts of the large boulders, walking away with buckets full of seafood.
The low tide coincided with sunset, which made it a nice photo opportunity. One guy brought an elaborate analog camera rig fitted with an ultra-wide Schneider-Kreuznach lens, to take some razor sharp landscape shots, no doubt.

While I was looking out over the sea at high tide today, I spotted a small sea turtle. I was very surprised to see it, because I never saw one here before, and from the distance it looked more like a pet turtle lost at sea than a proper sea turtle. I have seen some large species in the wild in Malaysia while snorkeling there several years ago. This time the small (about 15 cm) creature was trying to navigate itself towards the boardwalk on which I was standing, while bouncing up and down on the waves, and I managed to capture a short movie of it.

Beach monks

Sometimes, while sitting on the beach, you see a monk passing by in his yellow or brown robes. I don't know if these monks are residing at the local Nanputuo monastery, or just visiting.
Today I went to the beach with a new female student friend, and we were greeted by a passing monk carrying a satchel around his shoulders, who stopped right in front of us, broadly smiling. He started off on a lecture about God knows what, in a beautifully articulated voice, although I did not understand a word of it. My friend explained later it was some kind of fortune telling story. He ended his speech by reaching into his satchel and offering a prayer card with an image of Buddha in 3D. I curiously accepted the offer, not realizing that now it was my turn to offer a small donation. I actually did not want to give him money, so I took out a branch of  longyans (龙眼), which I had bought while leaving the campus, across the road from the beach. The monk accepted the fruits, but looked slightly disappointed. After another series of greetings, he walked away.
Longyans are delicious now, juicy and sweet, at the peak of their season. You can find them hanging from the trees in my village, or buy them from fruit vendors everywhere in town. They are similar to lychees, but slightly smaller, and with a yellow skin, instead of red.

My first class

Time to take out the textbooks again. Today was the fist class of the autumn semester. Since Friday, when I met my teachers and classmates, my class has grown considerably, with some more Koreans added, three French girls, two Germans, an Irishman, another Thai, and an overseas Chinese from unknown whereabouts. We now have 26 people in our class. Quite a lot, and exactly the same number as last year in Nanning at the start of the semester. But a few weeks later the number of students had dropped to under 20, and I expect some movement here too. Students are free to attend other classes during the first week, and decide if they want to switch to another level or not. I'm quite OK with this level, going up would be far too challenging, and going back to the basics unnecessary.
We started with the second book, which we had already finished in Nanning, but it's good to rehearse it, because a lot of the knowledge has evaporated. The teaching style is snappy and interactive, giving a lot of opportunity for oral exercise. Now I can feel how much my oral skills have improved, and my reading and writing skills have degenerated during the second semester when I did not take classes in Nanning, but instead lived more among the local people.

Butterfly garden

This weekend is Mid-Autumn festival, which draws some extra tourists to the coast of Xiamen island. There are fireworks, and every night a performance of Chinese folk opera in a small open-air theater right next to the beach. On my daily stroll along the boardwalk, I met a girl from Guangzhou who was in Xiamen to attend a conference, and tacked on the holiday weekend as a gift to herself.
As it happens, we spent most of the weekend together, sharing meals and going for walks, swimming and drinking tea. We also went to the nearby Taiwan Folk Village, which includes a butterfly garden. I don't understand what the reference to Taiwan was all about, because it didn't see anything related to Taiwan at all. Walking among thousands of butterflies darting about in the humid air was nice though.

Meeting my teachers and classmates

The results of the entrance exam were posted this afternoon, and everybody was trying to find their name on one of the many lists. Quite a hectic affair with 300 new students. On the website of the Overseas Education College everyone has their own profile page, but the class schedule was not yet updated there.
I found my name on the list of class 8, among many different nationalities. We went to room 305 to meet our teachers, Wang Li Yuan and Liu Yan. Two young women still in their early twenties. My classmates are mostly Asian: Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Thai, and Indonesian, but also a Russian, Armenian, Estonian, Israeli, and me as the only Western-European. To my surprise (and relief) no Americans and no other Dutch in my class.
We all did a short introduction of ourselves in Chinese, which gave a nice indication of the varied levels, even within this class, which was already put together based on the entrance exam result. I expect there will be some movement between classes after the first week, when it becomes more clear if the class level is the best fit for each student. For me, it will partly be a rehearsal of last year, since we will start with the second book, which I already finished. But since I forgot most of it, it won't do any harm to redo it.
My class schedule is very relaxed. I only have classes in the afternoon, from 13:00 to 14:30, and from 14:40 to 16:10, five days a week. So I don't have to get up early and have the mornings free to either sleep in, go swimming or do homework ;-)
I took my Israeli classmate (Lulu) to my village to direct her to some real-estate agents. She tries to find a place to live here, but didn't find anything suitable at her first round through the village. Most of the foreign students are either living on campus (many of the Asians who have a scholarship), or in one of the highrise buildings opposite the West gate, paying up to 2000 RMB for a single room.
I count myself lucky in Zeng Cuo An.

Entrance exam

This morning was the entrance exam, but before this, the opening ceremony. Not much of a ceremony, really. Just a short series of speeches (most in Chinese), and a talk by a female police officer from the Public Security Bureau, the same who accepted my residence permit application on Monday. The whole affair was very similar to the opening ceremony last year at Guangxi Daxue, and equally boring.
After this formality, the oral part of the entrance exam took place at the 3rd floor of the same building, which will also be our teaching building. Each of the 300 or so new students present were given a short oral exam, one by one, in six classrooms simultaneously. The exam consisted of reading a paragraph (in Chinese of course), and then answering some questions, interview style. The teacher first asked me how long I had been studying Chinese, and then selected the appropriate paragraph for reading. I was given paragraph number 2, out of 14. The text was not too hard, although there were a few words I didn't know. My score was 70%/70%/80%, for the categories reading, comprehension, and speaking.
Then up a floor for the written part of the exam. This was much harder, and of the 60 multiple-choice questions, I only felt comfortable with the first 10 or so. I could not even finish it in the time given. It's amazing how much you can forget in a few months, although I have to admit I hardly studied since the end of my first semester in January.
I had lunch with some Thai students, all from Bangkok, but they met here. A nice bunch. There are quite a few Thai, and also a lot of Korean and Russian students. Other nationalities include American (less than expected), German, French, Japanese, Indonesian, and Dutch (more than expected), among others.
In the afternoon we had a campus tour, led by a very cute female teacher ("you can call me Ju Ju"). She is a master's student (like Li Yong Mei, my cutest teacher at Guangxi University), and speaks English very well (unlike Li Yong Mei).
Friday afternoon the test scores and class allocations will be posted in the lobby. I expect to be just one level above absolute beginner, which suits me fine.

Registration day

Today (and tomorrow) is registration day at the Overseas Education College of Xiamen University. I had set my alarm to make sure I would be there on time, and after getting up and a 15 minute bike ride I arrived at the registration office, well before 9 o'clock. I already knew where it was from my previous visit, so I didn't have to waste time finding it. There were already quite a few people at the office, but the whole situation seemed less chaotic than last year at Guangxi University.
A friendly young woman greeted me in English, and gave me a checklist of 8 tasks to complete (in English and Chinese). Last year I received a similar checklist at Guangxi University, but it was written only in Chinese and Vietnamese, so not very helpful to the Western students.
I had paid the tuition fee and registration fee already at the bank (the ICBC branch near my home), as advised at my previous visit in July. In order to collect the cash to deposit into the university's account, I had to visit the ATM several times on consecutive days last week, using two different cards, since the daily limit is only 2,500 RMB, and I needed 16,400 RMB in total.
After all tasks were completed, I could go to the Public Security Bureau with all my signed and stamped documents and photocopies, to apply for a new residence permit. There was only one slight hiccup: the passport photo I brought was not accepted, because it was too small. I was sent outside to make new ones across the street. After that, my application was accepted, and I can pick up my passport with a new permit next week, valid until August 31st, 2012.
Now I have to prepare for the entrance exam on Wednesday, which will determine the class that I will join. Hopefully I don't have to start all over again. Classes will start next week Tuesday the 13th.

My new quarters in Zeng Cuo An

Things can move fast in China. Within 24 hours of my arrival in Xiamen, and being kicked out of my apartment, I was already moving into my new place. Yesterday afternoon it was decided that I would move here. It's actually a nice room, spacious and quiet. I live on top of a family of three, with a 19 year old daughter who speaks a little English. I have a neighbour on the second floor, but I haven't seen him yet. It's a Chinese man, that's all I know. Our rooms are separated by an open corridor, used for hanging laundry, so I don't expect too much noise. The two rooms upstairs are reached by a steel staircase attached to the outside of the house, so I have my own entrance, without having to go through my landlord's house, like at my previous location.
The view is not as great as before, but at least there is some open space behind one window, and a big tree behind the other, so not too bad. I have seen much worse. The building density in the village is very high, so most windows just face another building at just a few meters distance. The only thing that changed in my address is the number, since the whole network of streets and alleys in the village count as one street, as far as the postal service is concerned.
I don't have my private internet connection yet, but I am using the family's WiFi, with their permission, of course. It's actually pretty fast. However, I do hope my private line will be moved, since I payed for a whole year when I got connected last July.