textbook early--15 chapters in 4 weeks (and I arrived only for the last
2 weeks and had to catch up!!)--so the last two days we did Chapter 16
from the second textbook. That was done by 10:00, so for the rest of the
morning we watched the Disney movie "Mulan" in Chinese. I kept an eye on
the sub-titles and my ears open for words I could recognize, although I
have to say that there wasn't much in the 16 chapters we studied about
war tactics.
In the evening, the Director and a few of the university staff and
volunteers took us out for dinner. We went to a restaurant nearby the
school and they ordered a massive amount of food and drinks. We sat at a
big, round table with a large, glass "lazy susan" in the center. After
everyone did a self-introduction in Chinese, the Director said a few
words to toast. We all held up glasses of Mons beer (from Harbin); in
most other countries I've been to, people sitting at large tables
struggle to clink glasses together, or give each other an understanding
nod, but in China they tap the glasses on the table a few times instead.
We commenced eating and drinking, and since all of the other students
were Japanese, there was a mixture of talk in Chinese and Japanese.
Near the end of the meal, the Director gave another toast, telling us to
all continue in our studies, and that we were all already great Chinese
speakers. Then she presented us with our course completion certificates.
They came in somewhat ornate envelopes, along with the group photo we'd
all taken together a few days prior.
We finished dinner and everyone walked out together. I bid the Director,
staff and other students farewell, as they were all headed back to the
school and the dorms, and I jumped on bus 708 back to Xishanshuiku. It
was the second night of the full moon, and out the window of the bus I
could see it looming large in the sky between the buildings. As the moon
begins to wane, so does our time in China, but it's certainly been an an
illuminating experience.
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