I Should Have Learned Spanish

I just finished taking my Chinese midterm and I must say that it did not go as well as it should have. The grammar section was first and by far the most difficult since I ain't not good at learnin' no grammars 'n such. The second part of the exam was listening. That is my specialty, so I did really well on that section, or at least I think I did. Tests have a way of deceiving you. Sometimes when you think you do an amazing job you get the test back and wonder why there is a big red "C" written across the top when you felt that it should be an "A" instead. The last part of the exam was the speaking section. I stumbled through that due to my lack of vocabulary, but the teacher was very helpful and patient. My teacher told me my pronunciation is great, which was surprising. She then politely told me that my reading skills aren't that good and that I should try harder to learn the Chinese characters so my speaking ability isn't wasted. I must say that I have never studied (crammed) this much for a test before. If I studied that hard all the time for every class I've ever taken I could have graduated college with straight A's by now. Unfortunately, that would also mean I would have had no fun for the past few years. I think finding the middle ground in this situation is the appropriate thing to do. I'll keep looking.

In other news, our group is traveling to Beijing this weekend. I'm really excited! We have a lot planned. I'll have to fill you in on the trip when we get back. After that I'll only have about a month left to spend here in China. Time flies. By the way, if there are any requests for gifts that you guys want I'll be happy to get them for you. Just make sure it isn't too expensive (you can reimburse me if it is) and that it can be taken back home easily in my luggage.