Summer Session- Back To School Blues

Well, after a one-month break from anything remotely resembling studying Chinese, I got back to studying Chinese on Wednesday morning. Early morning, I add. 8AM is a hard time to start class, particularly when you are accustomed to not being awake for at least another two hours.

Since there are not many people who arrive in the beginning of July, I was put in a class which started at the beginning of the regular quarter, in June. When I got there, short of breath from walking quickly to avoid being late, I was met by a tall blond foreigner.

"Are you here for the class with Yan laoshi?" I asked (and may I add that the teacher's name "Yan" is the first character for the word "strict").
"Yes," said the young man.

We entered the empty room and exchanged our attendance papers so we could check we were in the right place. According to the paper, we were. The bell rang. I found out he was a new student at Shida, unlike me who is a returning student. He is a Dutchman who is to start his doctoral studies at Taida in September.

To make a long story short, we went down to the administrative offices, only to find that the classroom had not changed. When we got back, we found the teacher and one student, and slowly students filed in late. I should have known better.

To tell you a bit about the class, there are three Indonesians, one Vietnamese, two Koreans, as well as me and the aforementioned Dutchman.

Anyway, after the initial shock (what? writing test the first day!?), I think I'm getting back into the swing of things. At the same time I'm in a kind of visa limbo as I messed up when I went to Japan and just got a landing visa. I'm also trying to figure out what kind of job I should get. Now that my scholarship is over, I have to find some way to sustain myself.