Archive for the ‘School’ Category

Picture This

January 13th, 2011 by Manda | 6 Comments | Filed in School, Travel

Me, at the airport on my way to Beijing

  • One 14kg duffel bag with a wheelie thing
  • One 7kg duffel bag
  • One 7kg backpack
  • One 3kg plastic bag
  • One 1.5kg purse1

Me, in my new apartment

  • Assigned to a room meant for two, but no roommate
  • Translation: double the closet space, my own bathroom, and a spare bed

Me, as an orientation leader

  • “Wait, which subway line is the university on again?”

Me, as a returning study abroad student

  • Teacher: Manda, you started last semester with a really strong Cantonese accent but had lost it by the end of the semester. But after spending winter break in Hong Kong, your accent has come back!
  • Me: *demoralized*

Oh, Beijing. It’s so, so good to be back. <3

  1. This was filled with electronics like my iPod as well as my wallet, which had a ton of coins, hence the weight. []

Tags: ,

This Is When I Know I’m In Trouble

January 7th, 2011 by Manda | 7 Comments | Filed in Family, School

Scene: I’m on the phone with my mother, getting told off for one of the various things I do (or don’t do) that bothers her. In an attempt to salvage the situation, I play one of my trump cards (or, “the news of a personal success that I save for informing my mother of when I need rescuing from a lecture”).

Me: My grade1 for the semester got posted. I got a 96.
My mother: That’s not bad.
Me: …that’s 4 points away from a perfect grade.
My mother: Yes, four points.

Sometimes, I wonder why I bother with saying anything.

  1. Because I was enrolled in an intensive language study program, the grades for my language classes were combined into one collective grade. []

Tags:

Fall Semester Abroad: Complete

November 29th, 2010 by Manda | 2 Comments | Filed in School

As of 11:45a.m. today, I have officially completed my fall semester abroad.

It’s so surreal, to be finished with such an intensive semester. No more 听写 (tīng​xiě​ / dictation) to prepare for, no more 生词 (shēng​cí​ / new words) to learn, no more new 语法 (yǔ​fǎ​ / grammar) structures to learn… the semester is over. I’m done.

Now, I have two days to party it up in celebration of successfully completing my semester (my final exam went very well!) as well as pack for the opportunity of a lifetime I’ll have in December: a whole month of traveling, what?!

Tags: