Today we went to language class, which was actually pretty fun. We split up into two classes because our class was too big, so now me and Joanna are in separate classes. But it’s okay because I like my new class a lot more…the people are really friendly, and I sit next to a girl from the Netherlands and a boy from Norway. Talk about diverse! It’s so cool..there’s also a couple Japanese people in my class and a man from Finland who was born in Nigeria. Anyways. That was fun. We reviewed a lot of the stuff we learned yesterday, like sounds and the pinyin, but I suppose that’s necessary because those are the basics and we need to make sure we get those right. So we did those again, and the numbers, and we also learned a taxi dialogue. Like, “where do you want to go?” “To here…” “Stop here.” “How much does it cost?” “Can I have my receipt please?” Stuff like that. I liked today’s class a lot more because we actually got to practice a lot more with partners..and individually in front of the class, since our class is so much smaller. So yeah, a lot more practice definitely helped me a lot more than yesterday. And it’s so cool here, because as soon as I learn it in class, I can go out and use it instantly. Like after class, we met up with the moms and went to Wanda Plaza to eat lunch/shop more, so we got in the taxi and I was able to tell him where to go and stuff. And then when we went shopping, I could ask “How much is this?” And complete the transaction on my own. I know it sounds lame, because it’s really only like 3 lines of conversing in Chinese with someone, but it’s so much more rewarding when you can talk directly to a person in their own language, and not having someone translate for you. I think once I get the hang of Chinese, I’m really gonna like it.
After Wanda Plaza (I bought a few things from H&M ), we went to the student street because me and Joanna needed to buy a Chinese-English dictionary. We finally found one with pinyin so that when we try to translate stuff we can sound it out using the pinyin. I also bought a pair of earrings and OMG THREE pairs of shoes. They were SO cheap though!!! They were all like around 10 USD, so three pairs were only like $30 total. All three pairs together were less than one pair in the US. Ridiculous! I love how cheap things are here…I’m gonna miss it when I go back to America. It’s too bad I can’t find any clothes I like here…Chinese girls’ clothes aren’t really my style, so I haven’t bought any clothes yet (except from H&M, but that’s not even a Chinese company). BUT, there’s plenty of other things for me to buy :) :) :)
Getting up for class in the morning has been SUPER hard. Class starts at 8am, and we need to leave by 7:30 because it’s a long walk, so we have to wake up at 7. It’s KILLING me. I’m always so tired in the morning and a walking zombie on the way there…but it’s not so bad once I’m in class. Class is actually a lot of fun….well, not fun, but interesting I guess. No, not interesting…I can’t think of the right word. I guess I mean that class is very engaging. I’m always listening to the teacher, or repeating some Chinese, so I never get bored or zone out like I usually do in classes. And even though the class is 3.5 hours, I don’t really feel like it’s that long. The time seems to go by really quickly, and before you know it, I’m out of class! It makes a huge difference since I’m totally engaged in the class. Plus, they give us 15 minute breaks after every 45 minutes of class, so it’s almost like a 2.5 hour class. But still, I think the biggest difference is that I’m interested in learning the material, so the time goes by quicker.
At night we had dinner with Uncle Wu and his wife and son (see picture). They are so cute! We went to this SUPER fancy restaurant that served REALLY good Chinese food. Of course, me and Joanna took pictures of every single dish. I think when I get home and have some high-speed internet, I’m going to upload a photo album of JUST food that I ate here. Anyways, his son didn’t have an English name, so we named him Michael. Hahaha. He looks like a Michael, though, so it’s not like it was totally weird. Dinner was really fun…very hard, because Uncle Wu & his wife barely speak English and Michael understood a lot of English, but couldn’t say a lot of it. And me and Joanna’s Chinese is just nonexistent. So it was mostly my mom talking, partly because she’s the only one who could speak both languages and partly because she always talks a lot anyways. But we all still had a lot of fun.
Sigh, tomorrow the moms are leaving. It seems like these past 2 weeks with them went by so fast. Tomorrow we’re eating breakfast with them, but they have to leave while we’re in class, so we won’t see them again after that. So sad :(
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