And another week is about to begin…the weeks here seem to go by so slowly, it feels like a month has passed since I last updated. Oh wait, I’ve learned a month’s worth of Chinese, which might explain everything. Looking back at that last sentence, I can’t help but think that learning Chinese is detrimental to my grasp English grammar. The random fragments separated by “dou hao” (,) are appearing more and more in my English emails.
This past week went better as far as academics goes. I think I’m starting to get down my routine and have learned how to manage my work a little bit better. Last Tuesday, I was even able to finish all of Tuesday and most of Wednesday’s work so I could go out and watch the American soccer game that night! A few friends and I went out to a local restaurant, met some law students from Chicago, and cheered on as America won our group with that overtime goal.
Of course, the very little sleep did not help as on Thursday, I was scolded by the program director rather severely. According to her, teachers had heard me speaking English around campus and she wanted to remind me that I signed a language pledge. I really haven’t broken my language pledge, however, so I’m pretty sure they’re mistaken. In any case, I’ve started to talk really loudly in Chinese when I’m outside in case Big Brother is watching. I’m not willing to give up my good test scores because teachers think they heard me speak English.
This past weekend was another eventful one. We went to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall on Saturday, an absolutely incredible experience. There actually weren’t as many people there as I thought there would be, especially compared to the last time I went (although that was Badaling, not Mutianyu). The downside was that we had to climb up miles of really tall stairs in order to get to the Wall itself. I was a complaining, whiny baby – many apologies to whoever was with me on the way up. There also were vicious bees following everyone around. As I’ve never been bitten before, I had mental images of being bitten, finding out I was allergic, and having my airways close up on a deserted stretch of the Great Wall. Fortunately, that didn’t happen.
Going down the Great Wall was the best part. We rode down on little toboggans that were basically a wooden raft with a semi-working lever that acted as a brake. We slid down on these on a tin half-pipe that wound down the mountain. The lack of safety measures was unsurprising, but still a bit unnerving. In any case, it was a blast.
Another big part of this program that I haven’t talked about yet is the language partner. On Mondays through Thursdays, I meet with my 语伴儿(language partner)，陈晨(Chen Chen) who is a first year student at the college. After hearing about other yubanrs, I think I am really fortunate to have one who is extremely dedicated to her job. We don’t have much in common so it is hard to talk as friends about things unrelated to the class, but lately we’ve gotten into a lot of interesting conversations mainly regarding differences in culture. Being forced to speak an hour of Chinese nonstop was so tiring at the beginning, but I’ve definitely noticed myself getting better at being able to carry on a conversation about whatever the topic of the day is. Chen Chen is very good about helping me learn new vocabulary – she emails me a list of 生词 after our talk every day. I’m not as good a student as she is a teacher, but it is still helpful to learn phrases that I want to say but haven’t learned the words for yet. She is also good with helping with pronunciation, and has been very patiently confused when I accidentally revert to Shanghainese when flustered. The college final exams are over on 7/15, so she is already making plans for taking me out to Beijing to play. I’m curious to see what exactly she means by that.
No comments:
Post a Comment