I'm currently sitting at home in Austin, Texas, but in four days, I will be flying to China and staying there for around ten weeks. I'm flying into Beijing, where I'll be spending the first few days, and then it's off to Qingdao, where I'll be studying for the majority of my time in China. There will also be a fair amount of travel to other places, but the majority of the time will be in Qingdao.
Qingdao (also spelled Tsingtao) is a city on the east coast of the country. It is a moderately-sized Chinese city with a measly 8 million or so people (that's China for you). It went through a period of German colonization, and thus there is extensive German influence. The city is known, among other things, for its beer, which you can find in stores here in the United States. In the next few months, I will discover much more about the city, and I'll be sure to let all you lovely people know more details.
As for myself, if you're reading this, I would assume you at least somewhat know me. I have been learning Chinese for about four years, taking classes starting my senior year of high school. This means that my Chinese is currently at a fairly decent level. Two years ago, I studied in Beijing for nine weeks, which was a great experience and worked wonders for my Chinese skills. I've managed to maintain my reading and writing skills pretty well, but I don't have quite as much confidence in my speaking and listening abilities, which have definitely deteriorated since my last stay in China. This time around in China, I'm going to work on my Chinese as much as I possibly can. I would like to seize every opportunity I can to talk to locals, both to gain greater insight into life in China and to work on my Chinese skills as much as possible. Of course, these goals are related, since having a better command of the language means that I will be more able to communicate with locals and therefore understand them better. Besides this, I just want to see and do as much as I have time for.
I could go on with other details, but I think I'll leave them for other posts. Later, my children.
