Are you American?

I have discovered people do not think I look American. Such as the other day when a girl approached me to say something about "Ruskie?" I think she was asking if I am or speak Russian, but I said no and left. People sometimes ask if I am mixed blood, meaning multi-ethnicity. "Well", I say, "All my relatives came from parts of Europe." People have said they thought I was German, Italian, French, and now Russian. Maybe they think I am European and not American because I don’t look like the cookie cutter faces in Hollywood movies, etc from America.

My hair used to be brown when I was a kid, but now its very dark brown, approaching black. Sometimes I really wonder if that comes from years of eating oriental foods. But my grandfather’s hair is dark too. It has to be genetics, right? Well, I started classes last week and have been pretty busy since. I take two classes every morning that are required and some electives in the afternoon. I have also been working at night from 6 to 9, but starting next week I will only do that on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

I have three teachers. One of which is a man. In all my years of study, I have never had a male teacher teach me Chinese. I am glad to get a male teacher, because it is a little harder to get used to and understand men speak. It should be good practice. The required classes are the same as last semester including reading, grammar, speaking, listening and writing. I am taking three electives including Chinese Cultural Geography, Business Chinese, and Mandarin Pronunciation. You may think why am I taking a Pronunciation class after having studied Chinese for over three years. Shouldn’t I already be able to do that? Honestly, I think I still have trouble with producing the sounds well, though I have made progress. But my progress has been haphazard. I hope this elective class will systematically and thoroughly improve my speech and listening. I already took one class and was happy with the results. I discovered certain sounds come more from the front of the mouth and others from deeper in the throat. It helps to distinguish between AN and ANG. The first sound starts in the front of the mouth, the later from deeper in the throat. Just getting my mouth to make the sounds with the right tone and do it quickly can feel like strenuous exercise.

Ouch, my student loans have come due. Now I have to find ways to save money, convert it to dollars, and send it back to the states to pay those debts. All the conversion fees, money order fees, and interest on the loans make my head spin. I wrote to the loan agency to tell them I am studying at a university in China, but it seems I still have to start making payments now.