Had to pull my first all-nighter last night. I’m officially going on as little sleep as possible. My body sometimes reacts in the opposite way than I would expect. For example, I was tired up until I got to my apartment and then it suddenly went away. I was awake and somewhat wired. Enough to give my apartment a much needed cleaning. I also decided to try out my window cleaner and see if I could add some shine to my windows.
Man oh man were they dirty. I’m relatively certain that from the date this building was built until today, no one had even thought of cleaning those windows. The difference is incredible. I wish I had taken a before/after picture because the outside world suddenly looks wonderfully clear and shiny.
In addition to my inability to sleep, I’m also forcing myself to eat. I haven’t eaten since maybe 8 pm last night. It’s getting close to a full 24 hours since my last meal, and food’s the last thing on my mind. I made myself eat some fruit and drink some water just to be on the safe side. Finals are coming up and the last thing I can afford is getting sick.
Our classes are divided into three different sections: Writing, Speaking and Listening. In my Speaking class, we need to write a 1,000 character composition about a topic of our choosing. I’m going to write either about a trip I’ve taken or about my impressions regarding China and Nanjing. I had originally thought that it’d be easy inasmuch as that I’d think up of what to say in English and just translate it over, but the more I learn about Chinese, the more I realize that it’s easier said than done. Regardless, this bad boy’s getting written this weekend. Paper is due next Friday.
In Tingli (Listening), there’s not much I can really do in terms of studying for it. A lot of it is based on the teacher asking us questions. And last time I kicked the mid-term’s butt, so I’m not too worried.
Writing, however, has me scared. Lots of characters to review and commit to memory and I’ve got less than a week to do it.
This upcoming week is going to be stressful in a variety of different ways. First off, the exams. However, my family is also coming to visit smack-dab in the middle of exam time. As glad as I am to see them and to spend time with them, I’m a bit sad that while I’m off traveling with them, I won’t really be able to say my goodbyes to all my friends I’ve met here who will be going back to their respective countries as the semester ends.
Truth be told, I’m not looking forward to having to do the whole “make new friends” thing once again. Somewhere along the line I had forgotten that Nanjing is basically a hub. People come in here for a set amount of time and then leave again. Few are those who will be here a full year or even longer than that.
And now it’s time to go learn me some characters…