I Got Sunshine. I Don't Need Much Else.

Today, two very interesting things happened. First, we had a sunny day. This is kind of a huge deal for us, as we have nothing but rain, rain, clouds, rain, rain, snow, rain, more clouds, rain, rain, and did I mention rain? I was starting to feel waterlogged, so when I walked out of class for a break, I was amazed by the large glowing orb in the sky. I am not going to say that the weather was perfect (the wind was a little bit stronger than usual) but on the whole it was an improvement over most of the days we have been having. I figure I should enjoy this day, as it is probably the only nice one we will get all month.

This positive turn of events fit in nicely with the second interesting event of the morning. We have been writing essays for the past few weekends on a variety of subjects. This week, the topic was “Report,” which confused us. Our professor explained that we would be going to a neighboring university, and we would be asking people questions about themselves…in Chinese. This combined my two most favorite things in the whole wide world (note the dripping sarcasm): talking to people I do not know, and talking to people in a foreign language. 

Needless to say, I was not completely ecstatic about the assignment.

Still, at least I was with a group of people, who were as experienced in Chinese as I was. When we got to the university, we split into small groups. I was working with Nikolaj (yes, that is how you spell his name) and Weston, and we were initially just trying to find people who were on their own and did not seem to be in any hurry. Eventually Nikolaj was able to wrangle a person to talk to; at the same time, I noticed a young lady walking behind us. I did an about face, and started to ask her questions. She seemed a little confused at first, but was able to settle in, and we had a nice conversation about the questions. I am sure she was likely disturbed a little bit by the questions I had to ask, but I didn't pick them.

So, I ended up talking to a girl named Rane (Chinese name Liu Xueying). She is from Shanghai, and is a general studies student. She has 5 family members, and no pets. Her birthday is January 14th. She has a lot of American friends (I had to ask her how many, and it turns out she studied in America for a while along the East Coast. Small world.)

On the whole, it was a very interesting experience talking to Rane. It was the first extended conversation I have had with someone in Chinese. Before this conversation, I think my longest conversation was along the lines of "Can I get an order of that over there?" I am glad that I was able to be understood, and it gave me a huge boost of confidence that I could understand her responses. I now look at the work I have to do for that class with a renewed vigor.

On a side note, next weekend is our long weekend. I will be sure to give some kind of a update soon after the weekend ends.

Until next time, Zaijian (Goodbye)!