We had our second Chinese lesson this morning – I don’t think it’s going nearly as smoothly as the Spanish lessons and I’m feeling rather nostalgic about them now. Here we are three people in a small windowless classroom, poring over a textbook and shouting out seemingly meaningless syllables in unison. There, I sat in pretty courtyards under flowering trees, sipping coffee and making halting conversation about art and history. Well, having watched the training sequence in Karate Kid, Star Wars, etc, I understand that boredom and suffering is supposed to be beneficial for the soul.
Oddly, they changed our teacher: it seems their teachers are supposed to be interchangeable since they are all teaching from the same textbook. Today’s teacher was much much better than last week’s so we have requested we keep her for all lessons, though I am not hopeful. Well, let’s see. If I don’t feel engaged through these few weeks, when we shift to the other school (and start new sessions there) I will drop out or try to find a less regimented teacher of my own.