I was counting down to the estimate date that I’ll be leaving Manila to head to Beijing and I realized that I’ve got 5 and a half weeks left. That’s only half a week from my last count, but 5 and a half weeks sounds so much shorter than 6 weeks even with the slight difference.

Late last Monday I finally received my documents from TsingHua, after about a month and a half of all the worries. The weekend was not very nice to me as I was constantly worrying about the arrival of my documents. A friend of mine had to remind me that courier’s don’t usually service during the weekend, so my worrying was really uncalled for. I was up early on Monday but my documents had not yet arrived so I decided to sleep on it. It arrived around 5pm and I was ecstatic beyond belief.

I excitedly tore of the top of the package (I’ve never really received packages like this before, so it took me a while to tear) and discovered my documents inside. A little disappointed with the few measly pieces of paper inside, I had to remind myself that I was only applying to a program and not an undergraduate course of some kind (like when applying to university here – with all the welcoming documents and the like).

The autumn semester calendar.

I have 3 holiday breaks before the end of the semester – Mid-Autumn Festival, Golden Week (in celebration of Independence Day) and the New Year Holidays. Winter Break is not included as that’s after the term.

Registration Guide

Included inside are visa reminders, including an estimate of costs I’ll be spending for one semester. O_O

Other than document-related needs for my enrollment, I’ve been spending the last few weeks preparing some of the things I’ll be bringing, most especially in preparation for the Winter season that I’ll be experiencing for the first time. A few days ago, my dad left for China, bringing in his bag a few of my winter accessories (scarves, gloves) and a few heavy toiletries (my special conditioner, etc.) which he’ll be transferring to a smaller bag and leaving in Xiamen, which my uncle who lives in Beijing will then bring with him back to Beijing when he goes to visit Xiamen the week after my dad leaves. That, to some extent, lightens the things I’ll need to bring with me.

In the picture above, I’ve placed in a small temporary duffel bag (which I’m probably bringing with me as well) a few things I’ve prepared so far. In case my memory fails me last-minute, my copy of Time Traveler’s Wife is inside for Beijing I-need-a-good-book use. Half of the winter accessories I have like coat, scarves and gloves are here (the others were in the bag my dad brought) in case something happens to the other bag. I’ve got a few notebooks as well for use there, because I tend to use notebooks when practicing my Mandarin vocabulary (writing them over and over again so I don’t forget) and also because I think some China notebooks are cute but are not practical for writing use. There are a few plastic bags there as well, because I use those for holding and carrying around things in my bag – like for shoes, and what will later be for my chargers and the like. That white plastic bag over there on the right on the other hand contains some meds I need, and also an emergency first aid kit.

These are a few thermal wear that I’ve already prepared. 2 tops and 1 pair of leggings…

which is of course from….

Marks and Spencer. A little expensive, but paying for quality products is worth it.

Emergency Numbers and Adds.

A few weeks ago I began tagging places to go to in Beijing, tourist spots and places of importance.  I also started tagging important places like the Philippine Embassy, places where I can have my camera and laptop repaired, Churches, and other places. But because Google has been having problems with China, and I’m so afraid that my Google Maps location-tags will be useless once I’m there, I’ve taken the liberty of looking for the addresses and numbers of a few important locations, including the Philippine Embassy of course. Also, it makes it somewhat easier in case I’m riding a bus or a taxi and I don’t know where exactly I should be going, at least it’s already in my notebook for me to glance at.

And yes, in the picture, it says IMPORT instead of IMPT (as shortcut for IMPORTANT) because I didn’t notice that I didn’t finish the word and moved on to spell ‘addresses’. In fact, I didn’t notice it until I was writing this entry and was putting up the picture. Haha.

Excited much? 😛