(Very cool art exhibit from Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama)

The day has finally come! I have a mandarin tutor and am studying the language. Some may ask why it took the long; I’ve been living in Shanghai for 7 months. It is easy to get by in Shanghai with little knowledge of the language given the international and global culture of the city. HOWEVER, I did not want to be one of those foreigners who moved here and never took the time to learn the language beyond little phrases. There are plenty of those types of expats.

My tutor is named Arwen and she is great! Her style is very rapid fire and thinking on the spot and making up sentences. Right now I am focusing on speaking, but will be adding characters as that is so critical. I’ve practiced speaking with my students and some of them cover their ears and say “no Chinese in class teacher” as a I tell them!

The Chinese language is notoriously challenging because of the tones and I am excited to tackle this challenge! One of my roommates quit his job and enrolled in college to learn mandarin full time while the other two are quite good and well versed. It’s time for me to join the band wagon.

Chinese is not just a language you pick up. Moving to another country has had me quite busy between life and work and I’m excited to carve out time for this next endeavor.

And a beautiful picture of the skyline from the art museum because it’s so iconic.

-Kaila