So... I was a bit pissed yesterday... grrr... Here me out now... I am a member of the graduating class of 1995 at the International School of Beijing... Ok, I wasn't particularly fond of my alma matar... I hated the guts of those kids who thought they were doing the world a favor by debating world politics during lunch time and I also hated those spoiled rich sons and daughters of diplomats (which the school had more than enough of). The fact that I still hate politicians and spoiled rich kids are probably all from those days... Nonetheless I have an affinity for other aspects of the school. After all, it was I.S.B that had opened my eyes to the fundamental ideas that has shaped my current outlook on life. Not only that, but contrary to the popular belief, there were actually lot of people in my class that I thought were great people. Leila, you're one of them, so stop hating!! :P But, I digress...

As I was packing my bags getting ready to leave for Beijing I thought of how cool it would be to pay my alma matar a visit... ya know.. to see how it has changed, maybe talk to somebody there about what has happened since my graduation. Well, so I followed my plan yesterday... Guess what happened? I couldn't even lay one foot inside the gate. I was stopped at the front gate (a huge gate, I might add) by a Chinese guard who refused to let me in (terrorist threat was one of the reasons.... dang... spiky haired terrorist who has been sent to blow up an almost empty school... ) *SIGH* So the guard picks up the phone and gets busy on the digits. After a short dialogue he hands me the phone. On the other end of the line was a Chinese lady who insisted that I can speak English to her, and so I did.

Me: Hi, my name is Seung Chan Lim. I'm an alumni of this school. Class of 1995. I am visiting the country and I thought I'd pay my alma matar a visit.
Her: Excuse me. You're a what? And who did you say you're visiting? Mr. Mother?
Me: Oh, no no... I'm an alumni of the school and I just wanted to visit this school.
Her: I'm sorry, I don't understand... Wait a moment

Oh, here we go... the good ol' "on hold" game in full effect not only in the U.S. but in China... To make matters worse, it was 34' centigrade outside where I was holding this friggin phone... So the ring tone finally came to an end and there was yet another Chinese lady on the other end of the line.

Me: Hi, my name is Seung Chan Lim. I'm an alumni of this school. Class of 1995. I am visiting the country and I thought I'd pay this school a visit.
Her: I'm sorry. What are you, sir?
Me: Oh, I'm an alumni of the school: "Bi Ye Sheng" (Chinese for alumni).
Her: Oh, wait a moment.

o_0 What the... dang... these guys really know how to transfer people... When I get back to the states I'm gonna have to make sure I practice this valuable skill on my phone at work.... -.-;; Ok, so I was finally on the phone with a non-Chinese dude this time.

Me: Hi, my name is Seung Chan Lim. I'm an alumni of this school. Class of 1995. I am visiting the country and I thought I'd pay my alma matar a visit. (My god, that line sounds familiar)
Him: Do you have an appointment?
Me: Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize I needed an appointment to just take a look.
Him: You're going to need a sponsor to enter the school.
Me: A sponsor? Ok... How do I get myself a sponsor?
Him: You need to call the admissions office and see if anybody is willing to be your sponsor.
Me: Oh, ok. Would you be able to help me out? I'm just an alumni who wishes to have a look around.
Him: No, just call the admissions office, but I bet they're busy so you probably won't be able to get a sponsor
Me: (thinking to myself, then what the hell is this guy implying?) I see. What do you suggest that I do?
Him: Just call the admissions office.
Me: Hmm... ok.

Damn... I bet it's a lot easier to get into the North Korean embassy with a U.N. nuclear inspector's badge... *SIGH* I was then transfered to the very first lady I had spoken to.

Me: Hi, so am I going to be able to get in today?
Her: I'm really sorry, sir. But I don't think so. Could you come back in August maybe?
Me: Ha Ha Ha! I don't think I'll be here then. You guys really know how to greet a "Bi Ye Sheng"...
Her: No problem. We're happy to help the graudate students.
Me: -.-;;; Uhm... nevermind... Could you please transfer me to the admissions office?
Her: I'm sorry they're busy. They cannot help you. You cannot come in.
Me: Well, I was told that I need to make an appointment with the admission's office to get into the building. Can you make that appointment on behalf of them?
Her: Wait a moment. I can transfer you to the admission's office
Me: (Man, she's definitely not listening to me) Xie Xie.... -.-;;

Well, so this person at the admission's office finally is at the other end of the line, and to my surprise she's very friendly and helpful unlike all the other people I've talked to. So I am able to make that friggin appointment to get into this tightly secured fort knox of all International Schools... sheesh... So I actually got to meet the last lady I had talked to at the admission's office today when I revisited the school. Her name is Caroline, a Canadian lady who used to work at the Lido Holiday Inn. Apparently it has only been a month since she has started working at I.S.B. She gave me a tour of the fort knox and I must say the school is unbelievable in many areas. First of all, the tution is off the hook... $20,000 + $15,000 in deposit... Hot damn... I think it's like $4000 cheaper for kindargarten... They must be teaching the next generation nanotechnology at this kindargarten... They now have 3 ( another one on the way) indoor gyms with a full size basket ball court, rock climbing facility with bleachers and all... They have two main fields: one for football and another for soft ball. There's another field which is divided into multiple basketball courts. Then of course they have a pretty darn nice theatre and a swimming pool. You can imagine a small university and you'd be right on track. I must say it's pretty damn sweet... But, of course after talking with the lady it has become clear that the school no longer has that small tight familiy-like atmosphere, but rather the typical private international school atmosphere.... Oh well... I supppose that's the price you pay for growing... At any rate, I was hoping to meet some teachers and students, but since everybody was on break that seemed to be out of question. Well, given the type of greeting I got I'm going to have to think twice before donating any money to this friggin school.

Click here for some photos that I took.