I was waiting all week for Chinese classes. I was so excited to finally learn basic phrases and be able to try and converse with the natives. I woke up ready to grab my favorite new notebook just to see that it was missing. I searched high and now for it and could not. My morning was already on to a bad start but as soon as I sat down, I was ready to learn.
The first thing we learned was how to pronounce pin yin letters. I started if ok because the vowels were close to IPA transcription. At this point I thought I would be pretty decent in pronunciation until we went further into the lesson. It was hard for me to listen and pick it up without writing things down. To remember things I need to write them down and try and transcribe the sounds myself but we were moving so fast I couldn’t.
When we got to sentences my brain was already fried. I tried to keep up but our teacher moved so fast. Everyone aground me seemed to pick up everything and understated so I was discouraged. I checked out from the class pretty early. It’s far too hard for me to understand. The tones made it so much worse. Having the whole class try and repeat the tones messed me up. Everyone sounded different so I couldn’t tell what was correct. It was all a mess. I think I’ll just stick with sign language.
Luckily lunch was amazing. We finally got spicy food on the menu. I ate so much more today than the past week combined. It instantly took me out of the bad mood.
Our adventure for the day was touring the Bank of China headquarters. It was far more beautiful than expected. There were 15 meter bamboos trees and still water with pretty rocks in the lobby. Every decoration, piece of decor, and even lighting was carefully placed in accordance to feng shui. The bank was gorgeous even beyond the lobby. It honestly made me think about some how working there.
Today was a pretty relaxing day. I hope to be and to explore the night life and shopping again soon.