I returned to Edmonton two days ago so all of the entries I write from now on will have an hour added to the time that it was published.
What can I say about my first day? For one thing, the SUB was like a zoo! Both the U of A Bookstore and Subtitles (the used bookstore) were packed with students searching for and lining up to buy books! I know I should've bought my books early. However, some books aren't available until much later and my schedule was still tentative up to that point.
Anyone planning to take a Chinese language course must obtain permission from the department in order to add a class to their schedule. Chinese classes are usually closed to web registration and an interview with one of the two advisors is required before they enroll you in a course that is suitable for your level. The university granted me credit for the Chinese class I took at Berkeley last summer and I now have credit for China 201/202. Basically, Chinese 1X is equivalent to China 201/202 so I knew I had to take China 301 (Intermediate Chinese I). I still needed to have an interview with one of the advising professors because there might be some discrepancies between Chinese courses in Berkeley and the U of A. A small line had already formed when I went to the professor's office for the interview. When it was my turn to go in, the professor gave me a questionnaire and a add/delete form. He then asked me to fill those outside before I come back in. As there was a line, I had to line up all over again after I filled out the forms.
When it was my turn to go in again, he spoke to me and asked me to answer in Mandarin as best as I could. He then gave me some Chinese textbooks and asked me to read a few sentences. Afterwards, he told me that based on my background, I will be enrolled in China 301. He also said he hoped that I will have fun with them and I'm sure I will because I had a very good impression of the class today.
My Chinese instructor is a Taiwanese lady called B. Chiu (I'll only indicate her last name). She taught in Taipei and in the States before she came to the U of A two years ago. Since today was the first day of class, she introduced the course and distributed outlines before we did some introductions. We were also required to write down our Chinese names on the board after our names were called because she will only call us by our Chinese names for the remainder of the course. As this is a third-year course, the class will mostly be taught in Mandarin, which I have little trouble in understanding because the class I took in Berkeley is an introductory course for Mandarin-speakers and I had no problem with it. I understand Mandarin at a basic level, but I can't speak it very well. I certainly cannot write Chinese very well either.
Most of the students in the class are second-generation Chinese-Canadians. There are also two Caucasian males, three Caucasian females and one Korean female. There was one Caucasian male who was able to speak Mandarin quite fluently. He conversed with the instructor in complete and correct sentences and his pronunciation was very good as well. In fact, he spoke Mandarin better than many of the other students in the class so I was quite impressed. The other Caucasian students understand and are able to speak Mandarin at a basic level. The Korean female is also able to speak and understand Mandarin at a basic and functional level. She lived in Beijing for about 1-2 years and I surmised that this could be factor in her acquisition of the language.
Aside from all this, my revised schedule for Fall 2004 looks like this:
Antwerp hotel roomsEnglish 388 (Folklore in Children's Literature) MWF 8:00 am - 8:50 am
History 295 (20th Century Warfare) MWF 1:00 pm - 1:50 pm
History 250 (American History to 1865) T Th 2:00 pm - 3:20 pm
History 494 (Comparative History: Asia and the Rise of the West) W 10:00 am - 12:50 pm
China 301 (Intermediate Chinese I) T Th 9:00 am - 10:50 am
Okay. Off to bed with me! I have to wake up at 6:00 tomorrow morning! Eep! I still need to buy my English books! =/!