Today was the last lesson of my evening classes in Mandarin which I have been taking this semester. We drank green tea and repeated some of what we’ve learned. Our teacher presented me with a Chinese calendar as a top of class reward, which I was very happy to receive. The short speech I gave is reproduced here verbatim as a source of future amusement:

wǒ xiǎng shuō yìdiǎnr dōngxi. Xie lǎoshī, xièxie. nǐ lǎoshī hěn hǎo. wǒmen yǒu xué yìdiǎn hànyǚ. qiū zài jiàn.
(I would like to say something. Thank you teacher Xie. You are a very good teacher. We have learned a little Chinese. See you this fall.)

Earlier today I completed the application form for Chinese language studies at Beijing Language and Culture University. I will send the application tomorrow and, if all goes well, the last part of my speech will not come true because I will be in Beijing in September. The plan is to stay for one year. wǔ hěn gāoxìng! I’m very excited!