INTERMISSION

Hey everyone!

I'm going to interrupt my retelling of old tales to bring you some up-to-the-minute news on my return to Beijing.

Last year, when I first applied for this program, I was told that I knew too little Chinese to take the Chinese Language Immersion courses at Beida. This, I found out within the first few days of my being in China, was an inaccurate report. So, I switched. Instead of taking Politics, Business, Philosophy, and Chinese language, I, as a martyr to a fire, am throwing myself into Chinese language, full-time. Monday through Thursday, class commences at 9AM, and ends at 12PM; class begins again at 1:30PM, and ends at 3:00PM; we then have one-on-one sessions for thirty minutes per person. Fridays, an hour-long review commences at 9AM, and a large comprehension test and oral interview caps off the week. The oral interview and comprehension test accounts for fifty percent of our overall grade. To top it all off, we have, by entering into the program, agreed to sign a language pledge, which bars us from speaking English for the next three months, excepting, of course, conversations with family members and American friends. Every infraction will cost us 1% of our overall grade.

NOTE: The language plege, although quite firm in its almost Biblical "thou shalt not speak English", is in reality saying that we are forbidden to get caught speaking English. Although I am grateful for their expertise in language immersion, I do enjoy my tidbits of conversation with my classmates I so dearly adore.

Can I hear a YIIIKES from everyone, please?

It sounds rough, yes; however, I like to think of it like this: Time flies in Chinese class, mostly because it's so mentally intensive and also so fun. Similarly, the studying I need to do (which is actually quite a lot...) isn't so much work as much as talking to myself for however-many-hours. And it's not even so much like talking to myself, because I really don't know what I'm saying just yet, it's more like competing in a scavenger hunt so that I can express myself. Like charades!

Like charades all day long.

I found myself, the first day, leaving class with a goofy smile on my face, conjuring sentences in my head, constructing lists of phrases, words, dialogues that I needed to learn... I've had an incredible time. Things got harder as the days progressed. On Tuesday night I signed my language pledge, and then I truly knew the dangers of being unable to express oneself. I have studied between three and seven hours every night, depending on how exhausted I was from the day's lessons.
After today's test, I contentedly spent the last two hours with my headphones in, chatting online with my "American friends", and in general ruthlessly drowning out any traces Chinese around me or in my head.

I'm really sick of Chinese--I think this immersion thing is working so far!