Day 80 -- August 12

Today was a difficult on the learning side. Every once in a while in the classroom native english speakers encounter a cultural barrier that is directly connected to Mandarin. One that Laoshi is often not aware is different in our culture. There is a particular grammar structure that came with a very ambiguous set of instructions, every single english speak got this section wrong because we were required to make the sentence the opposite of the original statement. To me this was not at all clear but Laoshi was incredibly confused as to why we all got this point wrong. And to her it would make perfect sense because this concept exists in a very specific context in Mandarin but not in English. (I would explain in more detail but then I would have to go over an explanation of basic grammar and I’m not anywhere near being able to do the language justice). These encounters with Laoshi are incredibly frustrating because for her she’s never thought a different way but for me it’s a totally new concept. It just becomes something to memorize but not understand until later, which bothers me on a intellectual level. I will ask around and hopefully get this all cleared up.

    It was a four hour class so by the end of it I was totally done. There was a plus that weather recently has been cooler and a nice breeze has been blowing through the island. Makes waiting around for the bus much nicer. I had a boat load of homework to get to so I went home and started grinding. I emerge for a quick trip to the local market for some quick food. I’m not sure if I will miss night markets or not. On one hand they are incredibly convenient but on the other you tend to get stuck in a food rut and just eat from the same restaurants everyday. Other than that I didn’t really go out. Tomorrow I am planning go out again with Shilin. We have become much closer, it makes me very sad she is leaving on Friday and Meling will be gone on Saturday.They made my stay in the dorms fantastic and I hope I will see them again. Saying goodbye is difficult and I will be doing it a lot in the next two weeks. I am slowly beginning to gather my things getting ready for the major move home. It feels weird this is my last full week of school. I’m in the final stretch of this race, here we go!