大家都生病了(Everyone got sick):
So the beginning of the eighth week marked an epidemic of illnesses at HBA. Everyone got sick, including me. So basically the first few days of the eighth week, our main fourth-year teacher Wang Miao Miao fell ill and was not able to teach during the entire week. Other students had all sorts of problems such as stomach illness or a cold. As for myself, I caught a cold that still hasn't completely gone away. It was a bit strange how I got sick, since it all happened pretty fast. On Tuesday morning of the eighth week I felt I was completely fine. However, about two hours before lunch I got a very strong headache and my throat began to hurt a lot. Later that afternoon I got a fever so I couldn't study very well. That was the only really bad day. After that I've still been coughing a lot and my throat still hurts, but it's nothing to really worry about. Many other students are also sick, but since HBA is about to end we're all resisting.
HSK:
AHH! The Advanced HSK exam was held last Friday and it was REALLY difficult! Since the exam was on a Friday, that same morning we also had to take our weekly HBA exam, which meant that day we had a total of seven hours of exam time. The advanced HSK is pretty different from the Beginning-Intermediate that I took at the beginning of HBA. Perhaps the most difficult section was the reading section. In the first part of the reading section we are given four articles to read and then some questions to answer out by hand (not multiple choice). The problem is that you're only given 15 minutes! It's literally impossible to complete unless you've trained yourself beforehand. The other sections in the exam weren't that bad, though. For example, I felt that the essay and speaking sections were relatively easy and fun. I really doubt that I'll be able to get a good enough score to reach the 9级 level, but I'm still glad I had the opportunity to take this test, and for free! It's really a good experience, since your Chinese level is really challenged and you're forced to use all your knowledge of Chinese to pass the exam. Hopefully I'll be able to retake the exam sometime in the future after I've learned more Chinese.
北京之夜(Beijing Night)
This past Saturday night was HBA's annual Beijing Night, in which all of the HBA students participate in skits, songs, presentations, etc. This year the students' shows were all pretty interesting and entertaining. Fourth year students participated in two skits, one in which I was a co-narrator. Other students had different presentations, such as playing instruments, performing gongfu, singing etc. Here are some photographs of the most interesting ones:
Science and Technology Museum:The day after Beijing Night I hadn't planned on going out anywhere else. However, my friend Lucky gave me a call and we went together to Beijing's Science and Technology Museum. This museum is specifically designed for children, so it was really interesting to see how Chinese children act in their natural environment. Although the museum was for children, I still found it pretty entertaining. We had planned to go to the China National Museum afterwards, but apparently it was temporarily closed do to some other activities. Therefore we only spent some time at this museum. Here are some pictures:
The clock is now ticking. HBA is almost over!!! I really do not know how to express how I feel about ending my experience at HBA. I'll leave that for next week's entry, which is probably the last entry I'll write about HBA! I'll give a preview, however! Next week after HBA ends I will be traveling to Shanghai for a few days, as I had written in my first entry before coming to Beijing. I've heard many HBA students are going to Shanghai too, so we might meet up. After Shanghai, then it's really over. On the 19th I take my plane back to NY :(. Well, there's still some time to enjoy Beijing. Until next week, then!
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