The day in day out
October 19th, 2008
A regular week in the life of a foreign student (well, one of the nerdier ones) doing the intensive language course at Tsinghua:
Mon-Wed
6:45am: Wake up
7:30pm: Bike to school; pick up two boiled eggs for 1.5RMB (about 20c) on the way for breakfast
8am: ??! Start class. Snack continuously - and I MEAN continuously - until:
12pm: ??! End class. Mill around. Go to lunch at the Tsinghua canteen (MSG-loaded super cheap food - think about 80c for a plate of noodles) or bike over to the busy Wudaoku station area for something more Western. And lately: fulfil desire for handmade dumplings in restaurant in local alley.
1:30-2:30pm: either go home and review the day’s lesson if I’m feeling keen; hang out with friends or browse shops if not.
3-5pm: 1-on-1 tutoring at home.
5-7:30ish pm: study/review.
8pm: head out for dinner with people.
11pm: get back, hang out, have some awesome bumming around time (and if it’s Wednesday - which is ladies’ night in most of the bars/clubs in Beijing, and the day before which I have a bit of a sleep in - head out a bit), review if I found any characters reaaally hard
1ish pm: sleep.
Thu-Fri:
9am: wake up. Study Wednesday’s lesson/review old stuff.
11:30am: lunch with people.
1-5pm: class.
5:30-7pm: tutoring.
7:30ish pm: dinner with people.
After dinner: study/review.
Fri/Sat/Sun
Fri night: night out!
Sat: wake up late from night out, give self ENTIRE DAY OFF STUDYING WHOO (except when tests next week), hang out, night out!
Sun: review old stuff, study Friday’s lesson, hang out.
So in summary: lots of studying, but lots of meeting people too. I’m happy being busy though.
It’s funny, studying a Mandarin course is so different to when I was studying a course in my old uni degree/s. I think it’s a combination of the subject - a language as opposed to something drier and more academic - and actually being in the country of the language’s origin. It’s much more satisfying studying a language - the ways of use are so concrete and practical, even if the colloquialisms of the language change the very second you’re learning it. And being in the country, well, it just gives you one more motivation to keep up besides pure competitiveness or personal ambition. You want to be able to reply to the taxi drivers; talk back to the ass that just cut you off; get that object for the cheapest possible price.
Yeah, I actually like studying and learning here. It’s not a problem paying attention in class, I crazily enough like studying and am finding it easier and easier to pick apart and put together characters in my mind. Time passes by super quickly, and it’s good.
Di said:
your lighthearted happiness is rubbing off on me! =)
matty said:
Mon-Wed: 1ish AM ;)
trish said:
how weird…. i feel like studying a language now, you make it sound so fun, I think it’s much to do with the fact you are not aged 6-10 and being forced to attend the local chinese class when you’d rather be out playing netball like all the rest of your normal friends :P
Sounds awesome there Viv, a curiously good fit for you :)
oh, and with regard to the previous post - breathe less or something. or hey, even better, get one of those freaky looking hospital masks. heheh.
vivien said:
di - yay! life should be like this always :D
matty - oh yeah.. cbb changing it, such a fuss bc I have to retype all the paragraphing html
trish - the mandarin academy accepts late applications, nudge nudge ;p and I’m seriously considering getting some of those face masks, it’s just so gross.. I can taste pollution sometimes on my way to uni ><
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