the end of class

to add some continuity, I want to start this blog by adding onto previous ones: I wantched 'Hotel Rwanda' -a must see film for everyone. It was very true to what actually happened (I studied it at university) and very moving. If it gets you thinking then you can research on how the UN managed to let such a thing happen then, and how it still happens today.

I also want to say how great it is for Bus to delcare that the minute the EU scraps their trade tariffs, the US will too. Of course he is safe in the knowledge that the EU never will...but if him saying it adds a little bit more pressure to the unaccountable idiots in brussels, who now know that the impact of their decisions will be doubled, then great.

Today was my last class at BLCU (Beijing language and culture university) where for 4 months, almost every day i have attended 8am-12 noon with several other (good) friends. Its quite sad - it quickly became a routine and graduation (a free dinner with our certificates, no formal presentation) was on tuesday (3rd in my class i think). Actually it seems several people failed in each class, having asked around.

Most have stopped coming to class (exams already done), so today for 3 hours i had a 1-on-1 and it was great...in fact normally class was only 7-9 people out of 16 officially. I even realised how sensible most of China's provinces' names are (I had just not looked at their chinese characters before, and when i did i realised) -south of the river, north of the river, north of the lake, south of the lake, east of the mountains, west of the mountains etc all exist. As does some names made up of the words of cities in the provinces.

Most of us have realised we have progressed, by not as much as we could have due to some poor teaching (controlling the class) and us not making enough effort (homework, although weren't given any, but could have still done exercises in book) and speaking too much english in class. Our main teacher went on maternity leave 3 weeks ago, and the replacement was great. I am SO determined to ensure i make more progress with a tutor next year and some self-discipline..its all about routine i think!

Actually one thing i never mentioned was my dear old PDA (handheld computer), that my lovely parents bought me for my 22nd birthday and was so useful when at AIESEC UK. Here i obtained a chinese-english dictionary which includes the ability to write chinese characters on the touch-screen. A total life-saver. At least 3 students in my class went and bought the same thing just for the dictionary! -I still use the other funtions A LOT though!

Its been a nice week - a bit sad with people leaving, but most will be coming back next semester hopefully. We went out for some drinks, went to 'Water World' (a crappy, tiny water park that was SO much fun), went hiking/paddling in mountains/rivers again and so on. Soon its conference, then its travelling, then its WORK! (so exciting). It was a fun semester; with great times and funny times. Another great adventure down, more to come.

hope you are all well. Do please feel free to let me know or reply to any emails should you wish :) and of course, I feel so proud to be english as everyone in beijing of course knows about the olympic victory!