Be Prepared to Play Charades

I haven't spoken English in 4 days, but it's crazy how long four days can feel when you are translating every thought.

"Where's the bathroom?"

Translate into Chinese.

"What do you mean when you say..."

Translate into Chinese.

But we are all human. I laugh when I think about the first morning of the Language Pledge when my friend and I accidentally said "Good Morning" to one another in English.

Oops... (我现在得在中文说。不好意思！）

(We must speak in Chinese. How embarrassing!)

Despite the difficulty, its humbling to know I am in the same boat as everyone else.

When it comes down to it, we play a lot of charades. Acting out this word or trying to ask someone this question but not knowing how to say it. The teachers laugh and we take notes, constantly improving our Chinese.

I go to class for 4.5 hours a day and then do my homework for about 4 hours. It's tiring but extremely interesting and certainly rewarding.

In between the work, I eat meals with people from all over the world--all who have some connection to the Chinese language. One woman teaches English in Taiwan while another girl works in a bank and just happens to think Chinese is interesting.

I also go running around the beautiful countryside and town of Middlebury (*note the picture). And when I take the hour to unwind, amongst all the stress, I am reminded that you can run in any language.

How convenient!

And so, my first week at Middlebury comes to an end, but the charades shall certainly continue.