I can' believe it has been about a week since I last posted! I really do want to be updating this journal more. Here's what I've been up to since my last post:
- Lots of 听写's (dictation quizzes) - I've got at least 30 new characters to learn per day. My brain is about to explode.
- Talks and speeches - Yesterday I gave a talk at Beijing Normal University. I was pretty nervous because I've never given a speech in Chinese in front of that many people (200+) before.
- Broke my toe - Wish I was joking, but I'm not. I've got some good traditional Chinese medicine that I can spray on it which helps a lot, but let's just say I haven't been exploring the city this week. Today my classmates are on the Great Wall and I can't go. It's OK though...I've been there dozens of times before.
- Catching up with old friends. It has been about 7 years since I was here last, and 10 years since I lived here! It has been great meeting up with old friends.
- Discovering all of the cafeterias on campus. Here on the 民族大学 (Minzu University) campus there are about 10 different cafeterias! My favorite is the #10 cafeteria. It looks like a food court but each of the different kiosks has food from a different part of China. A veggie dish there is about 10 Yuan, and a meat dish is about 15 Yuan. Talk about cheap!
- Playing "Assassin". Do you guys know how to play this game? There is no violence involved, I promise. It is a role-play game where you have to solve a mystery. My teachers are really into it and want to play it all the time (after class of course). It is actually really good language practice as you have to interrogate people and argue that you are innocent all in Chinese!