ICLP Writing Classes

Two weeks ago, ICLP posted a sign-up sheet for writing classes on the announcement board. I signed up for it because I'm always game for any activities the program offers its students.

The first class was last Tuesday but I was still too dazed from my whirlwind visa run to the Philippines (the visa problem I mentioned earlier) to remember the class. I was pretty disappointed when I realized I had forgotten about it.  The following week, I certainly did not forget about the class. I got to the classroom at 2 pm today and bumped right into the instructor who was about to shut the door.

"No way! (不行!)" she said sternly before I could even utter a word.

She eyed me for a half a second, "Didn't Miss So-and-so tell you that you can't attend?"

I returned a lost stare.

"If you didn't show up for the first class, you are not allowed to attend this class, sorry." With that, she curtly shut the door.

I can't really think of any other way she could have rejected me out of the class, but really, the rudeness was a little uneccessary. The class had 3 students in total and that empty seat I saw was calling my name! If a student is going to make such an effort to remember the class's location and attend it even after the sign is taken down, couldn't the staff be just a little more friendly in light of such diligence? How much more trouble is it really to have one more body in that empty fourth chair? Especially given that I paid $3000 USD to come here?

The class is a beginner's writing class (i.e. learn the 214 radicals and their meanings) and not an essay writing class as I had originally thought. Not to say that learning the radicals more solidly wouldn't have been helpful! I'm always amazed at how many times I fall back on the radicals when learning or recognizing new characters. A refresher course would have been really good.

Fortunately my classmate IS in the class and will be sharing with me his notes.

A Little Bit Tired

Over four weeks of intense Chinese and I'm feeling a little tired. Perhaps I threw myself into my studies with a little too much gusto early on. Language acquisition is lot of studying with no shortcuts. Encounter, memorize, use, internalize, express, rinse, repeat. On the brighter side, I do feel like the learning curve has leveled off even further! I'm finally getting into a groove and it's just too bad that I have to leave in four weeks time; I know if I stayed I would learn so much more.

For students planning to study for a year at ICLP. I would suggest the summer term as the first term because the classes are only 3 hours per day rather than 4. I can't begin to imagine what having 4 hours a day of class at this intensity would be like for a newcomer.

ICLP Welcome Lunch

ICLP hosted a fabulous welcome lunch for us today with something close to a 200 dish spread. I was too busy eating the vegetarian goodies that I forgot to take a photo!!