For the most part, I'm trying not to use this blog as a way to mention every little thing I do every single day. That gets far too boring. But today's been pretty unusual, so perhaps I'll mention more about today than I usually do.
Class started at 8:30 a.m., as usual, and I sat in the lower level class for the third day in a row. This morning was the first time I sat in the main grammar class, though, which is 4 of the 10 classes we have in a week. (The breakdown goes like this: 4 grammar classes, 3 speaking classes, 2 listening classes, and 1 reading class per week. But obviously every skill is used in every class.) The grammar teacher is considered your primary teacher, so I was curious to see what I thought of the lower class's grammar teacher. Turns out I really liked her: middle-aged Chinese lady who really cares about her students. Kind of a mom to us. Awesome. As I sat through class, though, I was surprised to realize I understood just about 100% of what she said. The few words I didn't know she explained because no one knew. After class I approached her to ask about switching to her class, and I had a really helpful conversation with her. Since the higher class is too difficult and the lower class is too easy, I asked for her opinion on where I should study. She recommended that I stay in the higher class and get a tutor for the first month or two, because in that time I should be able to catch up. On the other hand, the lower class is going to remain too slow for me, and waiting for the other students to catch up to me is a waste of a lot of time and opportunity.
I'm going to take her advice. But for the second class today, I hadn't prepared to go to the higher level. Therefore, I decided it was a better use of my time to leave and study on my own than sit in the lower level speaking class, since that was far too easy for me as well. So I'm trying to get ready for class tomorrow... wish me well...
After some studying and some lunch, I stopped at a store with another student to try to find some superglue. What a comical experience! Having forgotten to look up the Chinese for "superglue" before going, we were left to our own devices for asking the clerk if they sold any. So here was my plan: pick up some regular glue meant for paper and ask if they have "a really strong version of this." Apparently that doesn't make sense in Chinese. Who knew? So we spent about 5 minutes trying to explain that we had a plastic tray that needed to be fixed, so we needed "strong glue." Amazing how long it took them to understand. In the end it at least partially worked out. We came home with superglue, even if the superglue ended up not working to fix the tray. Oh well.
Later on I left campus to go teach. I go to a different branch every time I teach, so it's always fun to see where in Shenyang I end up after getting into a taxi and showing the driver the address that they have texted to me. Today's location? Directly across the street from the Carrefour store that I used to frequent when I was living in Shenyang two years ago! It's been three weeks, but I finally found where I used to live! Unfortunately, I didn't really have time to go wander my way down to the actual school where I had lived then, but it's fun to know where it was. And now I know how to ask a taxi driver in the future to take me there. I also learned it's only 9.3 kilometers from where I live now, so if I'm ever in the mood for a nice long run...
The second session of my classes today was really really interesting. The students were very advanced speakers, so we spent the entire hour just talking. But they were very interested in my studies in the U.S. and what I want to do down the road. So we talked extensively - and quite openly - about many IR and poli sci issues. Fascinating, and educational, to hear what they had to say.
No comments:
Post a Comment