Wow! It has been a long time since my last entry. It is a little hard to believe how quickly the time is going by here in Beijing. I have been studying Chinese at my school for almost 1 month now and am about to finish the 2nd of 4 books. I feel that my progress is not too bad so far. We cover a lesson every other day which inclues about 25-30 new words, 8 Chinese characters, some basic grammar, translation, and much oral practice. I think that my confidence had increased alot too.

The biggest news for me is that I have located a place to stay here in Beijing. this was a major concern of mine. This past weekend I moved into my apartment. It is a 3 bedroom unit located about 20-30 by bus from my school. I am living with another student from my school as well as two Chinese guys. This will be a great way to improve my Chinese as well as learn more about Chinese culture.

I will try to put some pictures and other information on my blog later.

I have met with several of my former students who are currently living in Beijing. Normally they are not available until the weekend, so we meet for lunch. I think that there are about 20 or so ex-students here. So this is a good way to reconnect with them and build a relationship as well.

For all of you who are thinking about my . . . especially with the housing . . . thanks so much. I am really excited at the possibilities . . . so your thoughts have been answered . . . .

My Daily Schedule

It has been quite some time since my last entry. I have begun my classes - 3 hours each day, Monday through Friday. I find that it is quite challenging for me. I am learning some basic vocabulary for daily life, grammar, listening & oral skils, in addition to learning to write & read characters. I find that I can study something, but that it seems like an eraser just wipes it from my brain. So this time is really challenging for me.

I have one hour of 1-on-1 instruction, one hour of 1-on-2 instruction, and one hour of tutoring each day. We cover a chapter about every 2-3 days which includes about 25 new words. I try to learn 6-8 characters each day. Overall, I am quite pleaased with my progress. I find that I can understand more conversational Chinese and I am slowly developing more confidence in my speaking too. But I still need to practice the tones. It is very easy to have a lazy tongue and incorrectly pronounce a character.

My basic schedule is to get up about 6:45 and commute to the school arriving about 7:45 or so. I finish by 11:30, then I take my lunch near the school before returning to Ben & Patrick's apartment for a short rest. I study then for several hours.

I have not yet located a place to stay. Right now it is the sofa, and I want to find a more permament location. This is causing some anxiety for me. It is hard to get into a groove until I feel more settled. Otherwise it is just transition. So this is still something you can be thinking about for me.

Otherwise, I am slowly adjusting to Beijing life. It is quite different than Xiamen life. I miss very much seeing some of my students in Xiamen, so I try to say connected either by chatting on MSN or QQ or by SMS on my mobile. I have met with some former students who live here which I have found to be quite good.