Registration Frustration

Today was the first day that I actually had to be awake early for something, and let me tell you, it's no fun. Especially since Sarah and I went in to Tel Aviv for someone's birthday, and didn't get back till after 2 am. In any case, today was the first day of the Fulbright orientation. It was really great to finally meet all the other people on the program. They all seem friendly and everyone's working on very different and interesting things. I hope we'll create some sort of community where we're all in touch, keeping each other informed of what we're working on.

A Professor Hazan, from Hebrew U came to present to us on the Israeli political system. It was actually a really great lecture explaining the differences between Israeli and American democracies. He was explaining how because we're used to our American system, we think the parliamentary system is unstable (all the votes of no confidence, etc), but how actually, in the parliamentary system, there's never a lame duck leader, and the no confidence motions are just part of the fluidity of the system. He said it much better that I am, but in any case, learned a lot.

Anyway, at about 12:15, I left the orientation to go to Bezalel to register for art classes. I figured I had a good 45 minutes before lunch at 1, should be plenty of time, right? Wrong. I think there's some saying about how one hand doesn't know what the other is doing. Well this is exactly how it seems to work in Israeli Universities (at least with the artists). I was circling between the fine arts department office, the registration office and the payment office and each one was telling a different story even though they are just a few yards from each other. One would say I needed a signature from the other. The other would say that I need to pay first before they can sign. The third said I didn't have to pay. Back to the second, who sends me to the first and then back to the third. Finally the second says I do have to pay and then they'll reimburse me, but then they charge too little because they forgot that I'm a foreigner, so they have to make sure to take more money from me. Then I can't get a receipt till the first puts me in the computer, but she needs help from her boss who's busy with the third. After about two hours, having missed lunch and just barely making the bus for our trip to Migdal David, I walked away with my three courses put into the computer - I still have to go back to pay the extra foreigner fee one of these days... can't wait.