Welcome to everyone who'd be joining soon - I'm starting to work on your invitations asap! To get you into the right spirit for next semester, I'd like to invite you to tell us about your holiday! Have you been visiting another city (or country!)? How did you keep yourself busy? Was it exciting, or did you again have a boring holiday as usual?! Come on, pse tell us!
To start the discussion, I'll tell you briefly about my (mostly boring!) holiday! Amongst others, I visited an old friend in Tangshan for about a week just prior to Chinese new year. He was a Post Grad student at our university before and one of my old students. We were also tennis partners. Although he was working most of the time, we did play some tennis on the Saturday, watched some movies, played billiards, talked much (so that he could practice his English, of course!), and ate a lot (and he was cooking for us, mostly!). I had gone there by bullet train which only took 90 minutes for each trip!
Apart from that, I read a lot (I am a bookworm!), read online news sites, got my emails updated, watched some movies, walked a lot (to Shoushan, the beach, and to the river), and lastly, I have been studying the Chinese language (around 3 hours per day, most days)! So, I kept myself out of mischief!
Now it's your turn! [Of course I hope to hear from at least one of you that you've practiced some English ...!]
John
P.S. As soon as our classes start next month, I'll start new groups for each class and I'll send you your invites to join your group. We can then continue our discussions in the new groups.
Replies
Thank you for the comment, Su Xu. Glad you have enjoyed your holiday. So, you have your own house now?! Wow, and you are still so young?! Now you must just get a husband! I know of some boys (at least one big one!) who would be interested ..! But please finish your studies first! About your little brother ... what I can't understand is why you bought him a dress?! Does he like wearing women's clothing? Okay, maybe he's different ... in this 21st century the boys aren't anymore the same as in my younger days. The world of today is going crazy by the day! See you Monday! ;-)
Thanks for the comment, Zhi Huayu. Yeah, I am glad that I can teach Class 12 again; although not all of them want to be in that class, I still like them all! And I miss you too. Glad you did enjoy some of your holiday and that it wasn't all boring! I guess the cooking and eating were the most exciting! Many students will return after this holiday quite overweight ..! I'll pretend not to see! Oh, I also love reading in bed before I go to sleep; it's become so much part of me over the years that I can't think of living without my reading! Hope you read some English too ...?! See you next week.
Doesn't matter, Lusia; at least you do it now! And thanks for the comment! Wow, so you were the mother of the house this Spring festival! So you had to give the red envelope to your niece without getting one yourself?! Sorry for you! Maybe Sun Xiaoxia can share with you as it sounds like her red envelope was a fat one! But I am very happy to hear that you have practiced your English skills on your little niece! Maybe I can use you as my assistant during our future classes! I'll ask Xiao Hao if that would be okay! ;-)
It's nice to see you too, Li Kaiyu; and thanks also for the comment! Sounds like you worked much harder on your holiday than during the semester when studying! Glad you've enjoy the time with your old schoolmates too! You know, I attended my only reunion last year in August when our Grade 12 class of 1973 has gotten together after 40 years ...! We had to be introduced to one another as we couldn't recognize each other (too grey, too many wrinkles, too fat, etc, etc!). I could only recognize about 2 or 3 from nearly 60 people! But it was still great to be there! And not to mention the excitement to see some of the old-old teachers who have survived! You mentioned something unpleasant that's also happened to you this holiday ... We'll chat about that in class next week as you can see from the lesson schedule (posted in the Class 12 group). ;-)
Thank you for the comment, Sun Xiaoxia. And you are not late; most students from class 12 haven't registered yet! I hope they will do that before our first class next week ..! However, it will be good if they can do that this by this weekend as I'm going to upload the first lessons for next week. I am glad you sound positive about our new website! I am excited about it as I can see how much it would help the students who are serious to improve their language skills (like you)! But the secret is .... participation! So, start getting familiar with the site and all the many features!
Sounds like you have enjoyed your time at home! Hope your brother has paid you for working for him ...! But at least the red envelope has made up for that, I guess! Yes, it's quite demanding to look after small children (that's why young parents let their parents do that ..!). Now you know and can plan ahead not to get too many of them yourself one day! ;-)
Hi Annabel; thanks for the comment! Yes, if one wants to live in another's country, one must learn the language! But believe me, Chinese is much, much more difficult than learning English! I suggest you never try it as you may never pass! ;-)
I don't know that word you used when describing the treatment for your grandmother, but I guess it's about the same as the job of a chiropractor or a chiropodist! Both treat bodily disorders like legs or spines! You are so nice to have done that for her! And about the books you're referring to, I hope at least one of them was in English ...?! I myself have nearly finished two books (no, not in Chinese as I would never read or write that difficult language!), both around 400 to 500 pages. Glad you have great dreams for the new year! Go for it! :)
Thank you for the comment, Wen Xin. I am looking forward to see you too (and your class)! Wow, you had an exciting holiday in Heilongjiang! I've been there twice before and every time I have enjoyed it so much! I just loved the cold and the snow and the ice! I went to the famous Harbin Ice Festival twice! It was so great! The first time I went with 3 of my Post Grad students, and then last year with one student (my friend from Tangshan while he was still one of our students here) and my brother and his wife who were visiting from South Africa. I also love Harbin! I actually got a job interview there in December, but I cancelled it as I have decided to stay here! During my first visit there (January 2012), we had also gone skiing, but boy, did I have great crashes going down those hills! You should tell us more in the class next week! I'm looking forward to hearing more! :)
Thanks for the comment, Li Zhenling. It'll be nice to see you again too! Sounds like you had a more exciting holiday than most of the others because of your friends visiting from abroad! You are so lucky! I hope they told you many things about their host countries and that they motivated you to excel in the English language! Maybe you can follow them later! Enjoy the new semester! :)
It is exciting to hear that you still teach us this term. I think it is a good thing for us to learn English. Thank you, teacher. In my view, my winter holiday is ordinary, maybe a little boring. Watching TV is the thing I always do. And the happiest thing is that I can stay with my parents to celebrate the Spring festival which is the most important festival for us. Also I had seen some friends who we had not seen for a long time. I am so happy to play and talk with them. But there is a bad thing happen to me. My wallet was stolen by someone, and my ID card, bank cards, some important things and some money. I was very very angry, but it is usefulless. In all, the winter holiday is fast. Now we have return to school, and I am ready to study. Looking forward to seeing you.
Thanks for the comment, Wu Qiong. Looking forward to see you too! I missed my classes! Glad you have enjoyed your Spring festival with the family. But sorry to hear about your loss ... such a frustration when they also took the cards. Hope you didn't lose too much money! Now that you are ready to study, I hope you'll have a great semester! :)
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