Studying, Exams and Overreaction

One of the things about studying Chinese that I am really starting to appreciate, is how important momentum is. The last two weeks I had been on a real role and making a lot of progress and for the first time giving me the confidence to actually believe that I could speak to Chinese people in their language, knowing that I wouldn't be perfect and would make mistakes.

However, this past weekend, without classes on Friday and a bunch of activities to do with friends I got a little lazy and didn't really study much. On top of that, I wasn't able to meet with my tutor because of a time confusion. Then on Sunday, the day I had reserved for studying, I got a real stomach virus and spent much of the evening around the toilet and in my bed. On Monday, I was still not feeling well with a dehydration migraine and wasn't able to meet with my tutor again. So, essentially, I missed four days of studying and while it doesn't seem like much it really has thrown off all my momentum. When I met my tutor today, I had forgotten a bunch of grammar points and vocab words, and in my one exam I forgot one of the easiest grammar points I had learned (luckily I was able to make up for it in other parts). To get back on track, I spent six hours studying today, two with my tutor and four by myself, between Starbucks and my apartment. So, here's to momentum and getting back on the Chinese language wagon!

I've only had one exam so far this week, and it was pretty easy. My next two will be much the same because the one is mostly in pinyin (few characters) and the other is just listening, so I am not worried about them.

Another thing of note that has happened recently is the closure of the outdoor night market in Wudaokou. Wudaokou is the college area of of Beijing, with at least 15 universities within a 15 minute walking radius.

The outdoor night market in Wu was huge, with dozens of mom and pop sellers; selling clothes, books, food, and just about anything else you could think of. As recently as a month ago it had been getting very crowded and hard to navigate for people just passing through. Something obviously had to be done to resolve the situation but in typical Chinese fashion, the police overreacted and instead of perhaps organizing, or making people pay for permits to sell things they just shut down the whole market and erected these hideous blue walls! Anyway, here is a picture of the newly erected fences.

Also, here is a picture of a girl I took a few weeks ago, who seemed to either be mocking the worldwide economic recession or just couldn't read English and thought the outfit looked cool (I am hoping for the latter)!!!

As for the stalker story, I am going to leave that for tomorrow...only so I can give the story the proper writing it deserves.