As Lovers Go

Week one is over! Finally? Already? I'm not quite sure what I feel about the first week as of now--though, one thing is for certain--I am so relaxed it is the weekend.

After the first week of classes, I greatly appreciate the fact that Chinese is the only subject we have to study for. Without other classes to divide the attention, I feel like I'm really absorbing everything that has been taught in the lessons. Let's break it down one by one:

The teachers: Much better than I expected. Did you know that they work harder than us (most of us) ? One of the teachers that I knew before told me that they had 5 hours of work outside of classes everyday (in addition to preparing for their end of the year tests, for some of them). The instruction has been superb. Since I'm a Hua2 Yi4, I'm in the advanced class for the 3rd years, and the extra talking that they make us do in class has been the most beneficial for me. I actually tested into 2nd year when I took the 1st test, but after talking to the teachers and (begging) them to let me go up a year, I'm in 3rd year now! They're willing to help anytime, even after classes are over, and most of them are cool people too.

The homework: I realized this after the first day--you can get by if you do a lackluster job on studying, because there is so much instruction that you will be fine when it comes to the big test on Friday. Still, the problem is that if you want to absorb everything and really learn learn the material, then I suggest just going over the book (which is a princeton book) front to back 2 times. The lessons have about 50 words that you need to memorize, and there are about 7 grammar structures that they go over the next day. 3 Solid Hours (of studying) should do the trick.

The Culture and the Language Pledge: Beijing is cool. Though I've been here for 3 weeks already, the fact that there are a whole bunch of people living with you who can only speak Chinese helps me to improve so much. Though the Language Pledge isn't that strictly enforced, especially when people are in their rooms, it has helped so much for me when there are day to day interactions that need to be done. More on this to come--I've been studying and staying in my room too much to tell you anything new haha.

Language Partner: I LOVE HER. Not that way, dude. But she is amazing--even though we only had to meet from Monday to Thursday, she came on Friday to help me out for the test that was at 1pm that day. She's a student at Capital Normal University, going into her 3rd year, and majoring in English. She tries really hard to use all the grammar structures that we were learning, and she even took me to the library, the cafeteria, and the main campus! Best part, we're friends too, which makes asking her questions and hanging out much easier.

I want fruit, especially Asian Pears. I also hate the internet connection here-- te4 bie3 slow. But I like the dorms we're in, especially because they're all air conditioned and don't have squatting toilets. I'm accustomed to the food here now. I think I like Asian girls better than white girls. I haven't listened to American music for at least a month now. I want to eat a Big Mac. KFC is really weird here, the menu is, to put it lightly, wak. Finally, I have to extend my visa, and it's going to cost 1000 yuan. Never put yourself in that position--get the 90 day visa. Till next week!