Is the cold weird, or is it just me?

It's been raining the past few days. And for the first time, I had to wear a LONG-SLEEVE shirt and pants today. And shoes. It feels so weird, wearing all these clothes. Or is wearing shorts on Halloween and not feeling cold weird? I can't figure it out...

I'm almost at the end of the school quarter and I have to choose a new class. I was thinking of doing the intensive course, which is three hours a day instead of two and goes faster than the regular course. Since my knowledge of Chinese characters and grammar is slightly more advanced than what we're doing now, it may not be that hard. And the intensive class has less students, so it would give me more opportunities to talk. Also, right now I'm on a scholarship, which means I can devote a lot of my energies to studying. Come May, when my scholarship runs out, I'll have to start working to support myself, and will not be able to devote as much time to my Chinese studies.

On the other hand, I'm not exactly the most diligent student, and the increased class time and homework load may be too much for me, even without working.

I think the real reason I want to do it is because I'm kind of annoyed at the fact that after studying for two years in France, my level is equivalent to someone who has been studying here for 8 months (taking into account that those are school years, it means it took the students here about half the time it took me). If I do the intensive course I can catch up to what I feel my level is supposed to be.

But what is my level 'supposed' to be? Since I'm here, and I'm not planning on going back to France anytime soon, I don't have anything to set my standards by. So does it really matter whether I take the intensive course or not?