Life @ the Big Green

Hi everyone!

      I know it has been forever since I've posted anything... but better way late, than never, right? Anyway I ended up choosing Dartmouth College, and honestly I don't think I could be happier anywhere else in the world right now. Except maybe Hawaii ;). But really, I am having such a blast at Dartmouth. Yes, I grew up in the area, so I am a local and familiar with the town and weather. But where to begin? I love many aspects of my school, and no, I am not being paid to say this! After an admittedly stressful time choosing classes (because of the many adds/drops), I finally got my finalized schedule which I really really love (History 24: Cold War and American life, Chinese 4: Advanced Beginners, and Music 56: String Performance). History with Professor Jennifer Miller is fabulous; her lectures are intriguing and thought-provoking, the workload has plenty of reading and some writing but is reasonable (the primary sources and readings are generally very interesting), and discussions days are always very helpful since you get to hear all your incredibly smart classmates' thought processes. Chinese 4 was very difficult at first, and still is very labor intensive (I am a fluent, native Mandarin speaker, but completely illiterate before the class). However, my professor is brilliant and the class is worth it. I just have to keep myself motivated to keep on studying as much as I did the first couple of weeks since I am becoming more familiar with the material (to give you an idea, the first 4-5 weeks I would practice writing characters anywhere from 3-5 hours a day in an attempt to learn 40-60 new characters every other night while retaining previous lessons). Chinese 4 compresses Chinese 1, 2 and 3 all into 1 term...... it is not for the weak-hearted (many people dropped the class within the first few days; we learn traditional instead of simplified characters).  Most of my classmates went to Chinese school or studied Chinese throughout high school so it was not nearly as big of an adjustment for them. After taking Chinese 4, I will be done with my language requirement, but I hope to get a Chinese minor so I will be taking Chinese 22 (the next level up) n the winter term. And I am having a blast with my music class- every lesson is like a refresher from the rest of the world, a study in meditation, where you can immerse yourself in the beauty of music without having to worry about anything else. My teacher Marcia knows exactly what I need to work on with my technique, and has wonderfully peaceful yet effective way of teaching. Lately I've been going to practice more simply because I enjoy it, not out of obligation.
       I have had quite a few high school classmates come home from college to visit me on campus. I also get to see some seniors from my high school when they come to Hanover. People say that they can tell I am happy here, and I am. Still trying to figure out what I'm doing with my life, but I have an amazing group of Darty friends to depend on and share my experiences with. When I went home to celebrate my brother's early birthday with my family, they all told me that they could already tell an improvement in my spoken Chinese. My brother also noted that I seemed more mature. How so, I really cannot tell you. Nonetheless I am so glad that Dartmouth is already having a positive effect on me.

Love,
KC

PS: I will try to post again very soon! :)