Last week my semester at Fudan ended. It was a strange mixture of exams and farewells as many beloved classmates go back to their home countries, or move to other cities in China. We had a lovely party last week and I had a little blub (quite an achievement for me - just a little one not a full on sob) as my classmates have been such great fun for the last 5 months.
So, what now?
Summer school!!! Miss Freya is taking daily classes in business Chinese and working on grammar, writing characters and getting these damned tones sorted out. I have made progress, I am no longer monotone when I speak Chinese - but now I have 3 tones and not the necessary 4! For some reason, I cannot get any distinction between the 2nd and 3rd tones.
As well as going to school, I'm also teaching a lot more classes. All my childhood dreams of "being a teacher just like Miss McGowan" are coming true. Well, almost. My little Watermelon Boy told me he loved me on Saturday morning, right after singing "heads, shoulders, knees and toes" all the way through. Adorable.
I am learning that the elements of Chinese culture that are more familiar (working hard, being able to repeat something over and over and over again until it is perfect, constant practise) are necessary to learn Chinese. For example, remembering each individual character which may or may not have any clues contained within it as to its meaning or its pronunciation. I can't decide if it's fascinating, or frustrating (or perhaps a nice mixture of the two 'frasctrinating'). There is no "quick" way to learn any language - no fast road you can take - but there's only a slow boat to Chinese with very few short cuts. However, I'm on board. I've got a merry band of sailors with me and the captains not bad so here's to a safe passage!
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