was awakened from my slumber at 6:30 this morning, to the tune of Chinese folks songs – my alarm. I had to do some studying for class today, and luckily, there wasn’t very much to do. I read what I needed to get through class today, ate some breakfast, donned my winter clothes, and headed off to class, eating a banana as I read through the vocabulary list.

I was a little drowsy in class today, but other than that class went well. I do have one problem with class, though. The desks are made for midgets. I really am sorry if I’ve offended any midgets out there reading this, but you should really come to China. You can sit in all of the chairs, for they are all made for people your size. So I sit like Will Ferrell from Elf, kicking the desk every time I move and making an inordinate amount of racket. The seats also have no cushion. They are designed specifically to make students uncomfortable while they are in class.

Class finished, and I trudged back to the dorm, eyes heavy. I needed a nap to survive the rest of the day, and I did just that. I got up, and skyped Morgan for a bit. Then I went back to my individual class with Teacher Zhu. Teacher Zhu can make the afternoon classes pretty interesting, and I really am feeling good about the progress of my Chinese since I’ve been here. My tones are slowly getting better, and that is good news for me.

Then I got some top-food at Ma Lan – o trustworthy and faithful Little Chinese Herb! Top-food (gai-fan) is where you put some food on a bed of rice, and it is delightful. The cashier’s daughter was there, hanging out behind the register. She was really cute, and I talked to her some. She was seven, and it made me think of Amelia back home. Amelia, I met your doppelganger today! She was sassy and businesslike, telling me my number and that my food would be out shortly with an air of authority.

After leaving my phone at the restaurant and having to return and retrieve it, I went to my pronunciation class, which basically entailed talking to a teacher about whatever and her telling me all of my tonal mistakes. It was slow going, as my mistakes were plentiful, but it was worth the trouble. Then I went to my cheng yu (ancient Chinese proverb) class. The class was pretty fun, and I learned lots of Chinese proverbs. The meaning of these proverbs doesn’t translate to English very well, so I won’t bother trying to tell you what they mean. Maybe one day in the future I will, when we are all very bored.

Then I came back to the dorm, where I ran into Joy. She was about to watch a rather creepy movie by herself, and wanted to know if I’d like to watch it. I didn’t really have anything special going on, and I agreed. The movie, banned in China, is about two coal miners that get tired of their meager earnings and decided to make money by pretending to be relatives of fellow coal miners, killing them, and then collecting bribes from the mine boss. It was a really weird movie, to say the least, but was very well filmed. I really enjoyed it, and this certainly had something to do with the fact that I like movies that are social critiques.

Then, I did a little homework, and around 8 Joy and I went to get some food. No one else in the dorm wanted to get food, and it was getting a little late. We ate a vegetarian meal at the Roast Duck restaurant (how ironic). We talked about our plans for the future, and Joy also wants to work for a multinational corporation. She also has a marginal interest in Chinese investment in Africa, and has a friend living here in Beijing that is trying to get an internship at an African firm this summer. It sounds like this guy and me have some similar interests, and she gave me his email address.

Then we went back to the dorm for the evening, where I finished my studies, and then read a little Sherlock Holmes before retiring.

I’ll write soon!

Love,

Jamey