First day at school

The past week was some kind of introduction and yesterday the courses started for real. The exchange students began at 08:00 with "International Business" and we who only study Mandarin began at 09:50. A very nice surprise is that we can also choose up to 3 extra courses for free if there is enough space left in the classes. Of course, this is an opportunity I cannot miss, and I am amazed that the other Swedes don´t follow the same line. I applied for the following 3 courses:

• Chinese Economy
• International Trade Operation
• International Business

The only sacrifice is that I must go up 2 hours earlier every morning, 06:15 instead of 08:15, and that is nothing compare to what I will receive. Since I only could chose 3 extra courses I had to miss "International Finance" and "International Management". Hopefully I am still allowed to participate in Chinese Taiji (Tai Chi) on Monday evenings.

As I wrote before we began at 09:50 with Chinese "Intensive reading". Basically the goal is to learn how to read and write Chinese characters. It was easier than I thought, but then I have a technique that works very well for me. The class started with pronouncing the vocals and we were suppose to repeat the sounds after the teacher. I must admit I felt a bit silly at first but then started to enjoy it. We all felt like 1:st graders again, haha.
Because of the cold a 2 hour long lunch break was very welcome. The heating inside the classrooms is very under-dimensioned. Today it's only +2 degrees Celsius outside and windy. On Friday there will be +18. Weird, right?

After the lunch break we had a class in "Listening and speaking". Sadly, this lecture was a bit confusing and I am not sure if we learned that much. The teacher jumped from one thing to another before we really understood the previous. She spent some time writing characters on the border and quickly asked us to forget it, since the class is about listening and speaking, not writing. This procedure was repeated a couple of times until we decided to throw some questions in her direction.
I understand is she was nervous so I do not judge her. Teaching a class full of foreigners the same age as herself cannot be easy. I am sure that the next lecture will be much better.

Vincent and Veta

Celine, Emilie and Marisol chatting during a break

Lunch break is almost over. It is time for my first class in Chinese Economy. One thing I love about China is; nothing is impossible. I applied for the course 2 hours ago and can start directly. I am really looking forward towards the lecture but try not to have any expectations.
I am tempted to spend the evening with my friends but I really must stay at home to study Chinese characters and the distance course of statistics.