I have found a number of resources on the web that have really helped me in terms of learning Chinese and helped me in dealing with the frustrations of living in China (yes….even though this place is fantastic, it can be VERY frustrating at times). I thought I would first share these links with you:

1. Talk Talk China is a blog published by three foreigners who claim to have collectively lived in China for over 45 years. They take turns posting based on some sort of schedule, and for the most part are correct in what they say. I find their comments to be very helpful on those days when I am just extremely fed up with how things work in China, or just need a break to laugh. Good reading.
2. Chinese Pod is a site that offers up free daily pod casts to help people learn Chinese. Utilizing their service after having studied Chinese for around 5 months, I find the site to be quite helpful. Having said that, I don’t think it would benefit absolute beginners at all. I have been trying to listen to 2 or 3 of their pod casts every day to try and catch up (They have several bit-torrents set up that allow you to download past pod casts). I think that if you have studied Chinese for a little, you will find their service to be extremely helpful. I like the format of their broadcasts, and love the idea behind the site, however not everyone agrees. Their early pod casts are much worse than their current ones and they seem to be quite open to suggestions and interested in making their site as useful as possible. They also offer a subscription service that allows you to do exercises and go over their lessons in greater detail. I have not subscribed yet so I can not comment on this content, but my intent is to subscribe once I get a bit more caught up on their older pod casts. All in all, I like their service and highly recommend it.
3. Sinosplice is another blog. This one happens to be from a grad student in Shanghai, John, who is an American from Florida. He has been living in China for over 5 years now and has some great perspective on the language and life here. He is keenly interested in the language and thus many of his posts deal with the finer points of the Chinese. I found one of his posts on the difference between shitting and a thesis defense to be rather amusing.
4. Going Native is another blog from a foreigner living in Shijiazhuang. This blog is not nearly as good as the other 2, but I find it interesting because the blogger lives in the same city as me, and because it centers around the Beijing PanAm flight school and flying in China. If any of you are considering flying in China, this might be worth checking out.

As far as my daily schedule is concerned, here is a typical weekday for me:

• 05:30am – Wakeup and leave the house as quietly as possible. Ride my electric bicycle to Lian Ban Ming Du to meet Leo
• 05:45am – Do cardio with Leo for around an hour (usually riding the regular bicycle or running)
• 06:45am – Eat a quick breakfast which usually consists of either porridge or guanbing, the best 1 kuai (1/8 of a U.S. Dollar) you can spend in China
• 07:00am – Enter the bath house for a sweat, shave, and shower
• 07:45am – Walk back to Lian Ban Ming Du
• 08:00am – Start class (Monday and Wednesday morning with Michael, otherwise with Willa)
• 10:00am – Finish class and ride my electric bike home
• 10:15am – Answer emails, catch up on news, call the states, and try to get to my homework (which usually doesn’t happen)
• 12:00am – Eat lunch
• 12:30am – Get back to using the computer and trying to do homework
• 02:00pm – Ride the electric bike with 申琦(Shenqi) and go to the gym to meet Leo and workout
• 03:00pm – Leave the gym and ride my bike to the bath house (kai sa), sweat and shower again
• 04:00pm – Ride the electric bike to Lian Ban Ming Du for class (Michael Friday, Willa every other day)
• 06:00pm – Ride the electric bike home for dinner
• 06:30pm – Eat dinner
• 07:00pm – Start doing homework
• 09:30pm – Get ready for bed and prepare for the next day since I can’t do anything at 05:30am
• 10:00pm – Crash…..

• lather rinse repeat

Not quite the high flying circus act as you might have expected, but I am learning a lot and enjoying myself.

Until next time…….再见。。。。。