Trials of a Mandarin Summer School Student

      In late June, in our Mandarin tutorial, my classmate, George, mentioned a summer program he had joined and asked our tutor, Cheryl (周Zhou 芷Zhi 瑄Xuan) if he should go to advanced or intermediate classes. I wasn’t quite sure what he was referring to. I was more concerned with whether our  tutorial would continue in light of our tutor leaving for a six-week summer camp program. The only time she was available was Wednesdays from five o'clock to seven. 
     That evening, George Messaged me with the link to the Mandarin program he had joined: “Free Chinese Courses for New Immigrants” at the Taichung Teachers College which ran the Chinese Language Center we were being tutored in. A 1000 NT registration fee would be refunded after we completed at least 48 hours of the 60 hour course that would run from June 26^th to Sept. 15^th. I chose Intermediate 2 with Ms. Chen meeting Mondays and Thursdays from 6:30-9:00 pm; a 2 1/2 hour session, 5 hours a week. I told George  Intermediate was enough for me; I didn’t want to work that hard and could use the review.  I’d be studying Mandarin three nights a week.

     George had registered for an advanced class but considered joining the intermediate level class with me until the center got back to him and said they thought he should try the advanced level.
     I waxed philosophical about it after a Facebook friend sent a video on Facebook of a father sharing wisdom with his daughter. "Like a potato, egg, and coffee bean," he said, "in three minutes of boiling water there would be different reactions." The daughter had feared fourth grade would be too difficult for her. "Under adversity," father said, "a potato softens inside, an egg hardens, and coffee beans transform into coffee drink." 
     I shared my thoughts with George saying I was a coffee bean to Mandarin learning and he chided me. “I’ll let the teacher decide,” I explained. "Synchronicity tells me all. If intermediate is too easy I’ll find out." I was  having a difficult class with Cheryl which egged me on, pun intended, to take it over easy; the experience is all that matters. I know, at sixty-three, I am going nowhere with Chinese, but George, a young man, should try harder. 

     George tracked into the free advanced summer Mandarin class. He said he’d change classes if advanced was too hard. We would have two weeks to see if our classes were suitable and could transfer.
    On class day, I rode the bicycle  from my  last Shengang EFL class to the New Immigrant class in room R512台中市西區民生路227 號5 樓  Location: 5F,No.227, Minsheng Rd., West Dist., Taichung City. Lucy sent a notice yesterday (Hsing-Mei, Chen 陳幸瑂 Lucy. 

From the e-mail list announcing class, it looked like there would be eight students in the class,

 I rode the bicycle for almost two and a half hours the first day of classes; from home to Shengang Middle School (45 minutes) Shengang to Taichung Teachers College (1 hour), and then back home again (30 minutes). It all worked out. I ended the class in Shengang and started the summer Mandarin class. Lucky for me, the hour ride there was on a downward slope or I would have been too tired to pay attention in class.

The summer Mandarin intermediate class was fun. I arrived tired and thirsty and took my seat in the brand new air-conditioned building with eight ex-pats; four more came later. Most of the students were women from Indonesia, The Philippines, a few from Vietnam, a guy from Korea (“Both Koreas,” he said) one from New Zealand, and one from the U.S. 

The teacher, Chen (Lucy) Hsing-Mai was from Taichung. She was energetic and a professional, starting with an ice-breaker of us introducing ourselves to one other, then asking us to make questions for each other to answer such as, “Why did you come to Taiwan and not China?” I said I retired here where my wife is from. We were each handed different photos and I did a description of Las Vegas. Later, Ms. Chen put key vocabulary to use in a story creation we were to write. I wrote a paragraph and handed it to her before I left. The group is diverse in Mandarin ability with an encouraging young Korean man who speaks a lot with an accent, and  a Filipino woman who has lived in Taiwan for 17 years and speaks quite well. I am probably one of the best overall Mandarin users in class, but that was okay; I had a lot to review and the group was supportive and fun.

     When I got home, I Messaged George and reported on my class as he asked. He was going to the advanced class that evening and would send me his report, too.

     By mid-July, the class was going nicely with Lucy bringing in card games for speaking interaction and even tests on Quizlet to review new vocabulary and grammar patterns. She checked our tones and accent and had us send her a Line recording of the article she asked the class to read, She reviewed it with details of thirteen tone errors I’d made saying I had otherwise read well. I replied that she was flattering me. Meanwhile, George and I continued to meet Our tutor Cheryl once a week.

     As the weeks passed, Teacher Lucy's was starting to ease into a good vibe with the summer Mandarin class, a class that changed in size and participants often, from a high of 12 students. The class had only six students last evening, with one new Thai woman. Lucy didn’t ask for the homework she assigned unless we offered it. She had introduced an app for the karaoke song and gave us the lyric sheet, but said nothing of it the next class. She started a Line group for the class, and I was the first to sign onto it, but only two classmates added comments. Because the classes are free, students come and go as they wish with no repercussions; they'd merely  lose a 1000 NT deposit and not get a certificate. The same indifference occurred in George’s class and probably others. Each week is a different topic so we can come and go without missing much. 

There's my bicycle on the right, under the rainbow.

      On July 22nd I  rode the bike to meet George for lunch at the Uptowner Diner. He treated me for my birthday and  at three o'clock, we walked a few minutes away to a bubble tea place where we met the class that invited us to a  demonstration.  Afterwards, we walked back to the Uptowner, studied a little, and I left while George waited for his girlfriend. 

     Teacher Lucy sent Line messages to the class group she created with a reminder of a test she will give us the next class. Most of it was within my reach and I passed because I reviewed. There were eleven students one class but six the day of the quiz. 

      Towards the end of July, trouble started brewing with the class It was cancelled one evening due to Teacher Lucy’s stomach virus; she contacted the class through the Line account she had set up for us. I took the Quizlet tests she sent us to prepare for the class test. I knew 90% of the characters. Meanwhile, I wrote the first half of Teacher Cheryl’s homework for the next day. Her homework is more challenging. 

The next week came. I hoped it was not raining around 5:30 when I had to get ready for the summer Mandarin class; Teacher Lucy had taken off the last week due to a stomach virus. I hoped she felt better. If it was pouring, I would wear my full rain gear and bring an extra dry shirt for the one that would be sweated through like chicken soup, to use a Taiwan idiom. I don’t want to take the car in the rush hour traffic and look for a place to park. 

      The day felt like a pivotal day. Maybe it was in my mind. As a student and then as a teacher in New York City, August 1^st always reminded me that summer was half over but when one is retired, every day is summer. But with the second tropical depression passing Taichung in two days with little repercussion, and the return of summer Mandarin class after Teacher Lucy took a week off because of a stomach virus, the day dragged on despite keeping busy.

      Luckily, the rain stopped in the afternoon. Someone in the Line group asked if there was class that day and Lucy said yes, if it wasn’t inconvenient. I did my summer Mandarin class homework and rode to school with pockets filled with a rain poncho, washcloth, extra t-shirt, smart phone, notebook, dictionary, pencil, sharpener, eraser, iPod (technically hanging from my belt and not in my pocket) keys, candy, and money. It didn’t rain any more. In class, Teacher Lucy announced that Aug. 10 would be her last class with us; she said she had to go to Taipei to get her medical condition checked on; another teacher would take over until Sept. 19^th. The class was discombobulated as ever but it was fun. I was the only student that handed in homework. She didn’t give us a quiz as she had planned before her illness. I thought we should have a farewell party for her next Monday. 
Before Lucy left, she arranged a farewell activity for the class, a get-together on a Friday evening outside of school. Being a lover of card games, she would introduce us to a lounge in downtown Taichung  with many board games. Afterwards, we would go a short distance away fir those classmates that wanted to go bowling, too. 

      The next week, my wife and I went on a long-planned holiday and I missed the first class with our new summer Mandarin teacher. We had gotten back from Taiping Mountain at eleven o'clock at night the night before and I had to get ready for Mandarin tutorial at 9:30 the next morning. 

     Though I missed the first class with our new summer Mandarin teacher, I saw some classmates had written in our Line group they’d be late. I wrote I was in Taipei. Teacher Lucy added the classroom was changed to 510. Our new teacher was on it, too. I would meet her Thursday. 
    That Friday, I got on my bike and followed GPS to find Board Game Leisure. Because of the screwy Taichung house number ordering (188 across from 101) I got lost and had to communicate with Lucy on Line to find the establishment. I ended up arriving almost an hour late, tired, hot, and in no mood to play games. Four of my classmates were there, however, having a good time. I tried to get with it and finally caught on. I rested enough to join two of my classmates who also wanted to go bowling and we left for the lanes. 

     I rode to Chinese Learning Center at Taichung Teachers College twice the following Thursday; once in the morning for a class with Teacher Cheryl moved to Thursday at her request, and the second for a regular summer class with a replacement for Teacher Lucy. I had really been pushing myself a little too hard and it was starting to catch up with me. A few days later, it all came tumbling down.

   That Saturday started out normally. I rode my bike up the HanRiver studying a little Mandarin and reading some. When I went to pee off  the side of a rice paddy, my urine was red! I had no fever or cold sweat. I decided it was a bladder infection because of overworking stress on my body and not drinking enough water; the main culprit was riding to Mandarin class twice the Thursday before in a rain suit that overheated and dehydrated me. In addition, I was not getting enough rest because my wife's sister and niece were here visiting. The temperatures had consistently been in the 90’s and I over-exerted myself.

I told George  what happened to me and  e-mailed Cheryl to cancel the tutorial.  I was ready to give up the class and teacher to him and change teachers when we get back from Pittsburgh Oct. 24^th. I left the ball in his court. He said he’d think about it. Last day of tutorial with Cheryl is Tuesday. I would still have my summer Mandarin class until Sept. 19^th.

      On August 28th, Leona spent six hours at the emergency room with me. We didn’t get the final diagnosis until midnight; I suffer a .5 mm kidney stone infection that caused my urine to turn red and gave me a low fever. They were hoping I would be able to pass the stone in the next few weeks or I would have to go  back for treatment. 

When we got home I fell right asleep without a shower but woke up at 1:30. I was on the verge of getting chills and didn’t want to disturb Leona so I went to the tea room with the air-con off and tried to make myself comfortable. Although my left back doesn’t really hurt, it is still like sleeping on a pea and I couldn’t get comfortable; I woke up a half dozen times to urinate, too. Somehow, I made it through to morning and fed the cats. I  would relax that day but, as I wrote to George that morning, I wasn't sure if I was ready for anything the next day. I had contacted both Mandarin teachers to say I would be absent.  

Actually, I could have gone to Mandarin class that morning; I felt better , but I decided I had better rest.

     I wrote a LINE message that I wouldn’t go to class. The teacher said rest. I told her I had a kidney stone problem, Teacher Lucy read the message and sent me best wishes. I said I hoped she was feeling better, too.

David, Lucy, Maku, Gao-Ji, Sherif, Dee-Ling, Yi-Sen, Zack, and Yi-Qing

      By September 1st, I felt a little better than the week before with one exception: I had pain killer and muscle relaxant in me to make my back feel better and help me sleep. I knew the stone was still inside me and I would feel it when the medication wore off. I felt a bit dizzy, weak, but it didn't affect my retired life style; if I were working, I wouldn’t be able to go on like that too long.

Teacher Lucy returned for the finale 

      My Mandarin class with Cheryl was ended; George finally realized my three weeks in the States would interrupt another 30 hour tuition period. I was glad to have that doubling up of classes in September off my back. The summer Mandarin class didn’t interfere much during the summer because Cheryl only taught us once a week while she was teaching summer camp, but the last two weeks of four days of classes, especially last Thursday when there were two, couldn’t go on through September, especially now that I was dealing with a kidney stone and possible procedure to remove it. I could set my sights on Monday and Thursday’s 6:30-9:00 class for two more weeks, until Sept. 15^th, and think about where to continue studying Mandarin when we got back in late October from the wedding trip to the Northeast.

     The first week in September, I did not go to summer Mandarin class; I even thought of stopping going altogether. I didn't know if I could be a part of the end-term program. If I didn’t get a certificate for 48 hours attendance and lost one thousand NT, so what? My health was more important. Finally, on September fifth, I think the kidney stone passed; I slept with no pain in my back. 

Sub Teacher Yi-Cen

 I then had to start building up my endurance.  I was out of breath when I rode the bicycle to my spot on the river. I wouldn’t dare ride to summer Mandarin class in the evening. However, I thought  I may ride to the class that Thursday and finish going to it for my certificate, thousand dollar refund, and the graduation performance. It would be good practice for my ride to the final class and lunch with George and Teacher Cheryl Friday. I would see how it went on my ride back up the river that day, and perhaps a 10 lap swim the next day. 

I was feeling stronger every day but was not going to waste my energy studying or going to any more Mandarin classes; I was saving my energy for the  last morning tutorial and lunch with Teacher Cheryl and George. at DJ House. I would have a good time. I would ride my bike there and take it easy.

Our last class with Cheryl and the lunch at DJ House was suitable. I never minded the digressions from the textbook during conversation but the exercises Cheryl prepared assumed that I had done preparation myself; read over the unit’s text, vocabulary, grammar patterns, but I usually hadn’t done enough. I wish she would have gone slower and gone over it with me in class, but she had to satisfy George, too. It was fine for him because he was prepared, doing book 3 for the second time. I always played catch-up, except for the baseball unit #12; it pushed me to learn faster but it also put pressure on me. For this reason, I am glad that my class with Cheryl is over. Things worked out as planned. I let my illness be the closer; glad George “realized” I wouldn’t be in class in October and changed his mind about paying for another 30 hour session. I have enough knowledge in book 3 to keep me busy for a while. Perhaps, after the Lunar New Year, after we get back from babysitting in Pittsburgh, I will start book 4. I will never regret the partnership I had with George. 

George's 'advanced class' graduation

    That week, Teacher Lucy sent the words and music to our final presentation song, "Kites." I would go back to finish the summer Mandarin program that night. There were three more meetings left, one of them a program in which all classes would perform I  listened to the song over and over and downloaded the words with pin-yin one evening. I had missed four classes in two weeks weakened by my kidney stone, the last because of a scheduled dentist appointment 

      By the second week in September, I had gotten a clean bill of health from Dr. Joe. My kidney function was back to normal; the stone had indeed passed. I will have to go back in two weeks for a check-up; Dr. Joe is thorough. The show must go on!

On September 16th, the final program and graduation ceremony were fun. It was good I returned to class the week before week because there was some doubt our class would be able to perform; many students had stopped coming. But in the end, there were seven of us. I added the comic element, my strong voice, and harmony had everyone clapping their hands. The song "Kite" meant a lot to me because of what I had just gone through with my kidney stone. 

Afterwards, some classmates are asking when the class will stat up again. I wasn't aware it was anything other than a summer class but Our teacher said there would probably be new classes by the end of October! 

Mandarin Summer Graduation 1

Mandarin Summer Graduation 2