Art

I think I’m going to skip clever intros and just cut to the chase:

My art teacher came to class with a hangover.

I probably could end this post right here, but I’ll explain a bit. He’s a grad student here at Xiada, studying art. He’s really good and loves what he does. He really wants to help us and wants us to get it. A nice guy, albeit a bit single minded at times. For several days, he would come to class late. Like an hour late. We didn’t mind too much, we’d just paint. However, the day before, he was absent and the assistant director of our program happen to be in the building and stop in. When she heard our teacher was absent, she made some phone calls to the Overseas College here. He showed up.

The next day, he was on time! Like right on time!

With a hangover.

Now, that isn’t even the best part. Class started like this.

He walks in, looking a bit tired, under the weather. We’re getting ready to paint.

He goes to the board and begins to write on it. He says, and this is a direct quote, “Yesterday, I am drinking.” The mistake made there makes a ton of sense now that I speak a little Chinese. They do not conjugate verbs. They have one word for am, are, is, was, were, will be. You just throw another word after it to denote time. Anyway, I was a bit surprised, and on reflex, everyone turned to look at Ted, our TA, who had been translating for the class (the teacher speaks some English). He looks back and says, “What? He has a hangover.”

I understood, I was just a bit shocked.

Anyway, we’re done with painting now.

I just have one exam left, my Chinese 2 exam, and a short paper to write. The exam will be interesting because of the oral part. I’ll probably spend most the weekend studying. The biggest problem I have is usage: Chinese grammar, although loose in some areas, has a fairly rigid structure. Word order is extremely important. Sure I know the words. Sure I can say them with reasonable clarity. But where do I put them? Study study.

Picking up my ticket to Beijing today. Six days from now I leave for Beijing. A week from today I leave for America.