The Fall semester started yesterday and I started my second year of Mandarin Chinese language study last night. So far. I was only partially successful in sticking to my summer plan to keep up my skills, such as they are, but judging by how the first day of class went, I seem to have retained more than many (if not most) of the other students, so I'm in decent shape. Our first homework assignment is to write an essay of at least 180 characters describing -- wait for it -- what we did on our "summer vacation." I got a start on it last night and was feeling pretty good about my ability to actually say something in this darn language. However my optimistic mood took a nose dive today as I was catching up on the ChinesePod blog and found a link to this article on why Chinese is so damn hard. Seems like I might as well just give up now!
Well, despite what that article and common sense might dictate, I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet. Of course, it's only September 6th. I'm not at all sure how I'll feel on say, November 6th. In addition to my regular job and my class, I am participating in the University of Minnesota's President's Emerging Leaders program this year (yes, yours truly is an "emerging leader." Go me!). In a couple of weeks I'll be assigned to a major project as part of that program. My weekends are completely tied up through October 1st with the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, where I perform with a vocal group called the Court Revelers.
As for the treatment for my insanity, I'll have to pencil that for sometime next February.