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An IM conversation with Craig

星期六, 一月 21, 2006


Craig in front of some lake at the Summer Palace

One advantage of knowing mandarin in America...

fourdoztofreedom: it is fun
fourdoztofreedom: when telemarketers call my house
fourdoztofreedom: i answer in chinese
kitkatcthy: lol
kitkatcthy: NO
kitkatcthy: you don't
fourdoztofreedom: yes! they get all flustered

quickie post

星期五, 一月 20, 2006

Quick rundown of today and past two weeks in point form:

- I just arrived in Toronto. Between 3 flights and 2 connections, I am so tired right now and so happy to be home. But not too jetlagged thanks to these babies.

- I'm going through reverse culture shock. I am astounded that I can read and understand signs around me (street signs, store signs, notices etc). And that I can effortlessly eavesdrop on conversations.

- I'm talking in Cantonese but thinking in Mandarin(!)

- I hate writing grad school statements. They are due the end of this month and are to blame for the disgustingly extended blogging absence.

- Got exam grades back. Had my first fail ever for my character radicals class(because I missed the drop date and didn't care enough to attend class at all). I received the same grade for my other three subjects three subjects: reading (86), listening (86), and grammar (86).

- Wanted to go to Harbin but train tickets were completely, utterly, sold out. So much for seeing the snow and ice festival this year :(

- Is cheap airfare from Toronto to Fort Myers too much to ask for? I want to visit my boy :(

- You have to proceed through Chinese customs when departing China. This makes no sense to me either.

- Books make baggage very heavy.

- I got 80 (pirated) DVDs into the country. Yay!

- I paid far too much by getting my TuneJuice in China. Still, it is the best thing I have bought for flight home since it meant my ipod mini didn't die halfway across the Pacific.

- I really really want noise-reducing headphones.

- Thoughts while waiting in line for immigration control in Detroit/ Canada: 1) I feel shorter, 2) people are fatter here than in Beijing 3) Everyone around me is tan and returning from a cruise in the Bahamas.

- I went through 3 security checks: Beijing, Tokyo, and Detroit.

- Made a friend waiting in line for said security checks, an American named Roni who's teaching english in Beijing.

- Unblocked internet access, yay! Problematic wireless router, boo!

- I've lost my Canadian SIM card for my cell phone. This is 非常麻烦 because I need to pay extra monies to purchase a new SIM card and minutes and I lost all the numbers I had on the old card.

- I need another bookcase. My current bookcase runneth over.

Proper blogging with photos to resume the next few days - I have to catch up on past posts! Especially since I have nothing better to do than laze about at home until late February. Bliss :D

New year, new post. Finally.

星期六, 一月 07, 2006


Flashcards from the semester. There are 857 in this pile.


Belated Happy New Year! I meant to post more but have been busy studying for exams, taking exams, and being bedridden with the evil chinese 感冒 flu. Let me tell you, writing an exam with a fever is no fun. Especially in Chinese.

But I am nearly fully recovered and today was the first day of my 6 week winter break! So cue trumpets and fanfare. Or rather, firecrackers.

Full update regarding my fun New Years Day to follow once I no longer require ibuprofen to get through a day. In the meantime, here's a piece explaining Why Chinese Is So Damn Hard. Aside from the occassional exaggeration, the article is pretty much covers the trials and tribulations of learning this language. And again I ask myself: why am I putting myself through all this again??