We’re almost at the end, and that’s incredible for me to wrap my mind around. Today we retook our diagnostic test to compare with the first time we took and see how much we’ve improved. I have to take a moment to share some good news with you all.
I’m not sure if any other programs do this, but at ACC we roughly have an essay due each week and whenever we have one, ACC chooses the best essay from each level and posts it onto a bulletin board in the hallway. Since 3rd year is the biggest year, they do choose two third year essays. However, this week can you imagine the surprise I had to hear my friend say “曼伊!” and see my name on the bulletin board!!! I honestly couldn’t believe it and cried when retelling the story to my mother later that day. It was such an emotional time for me because, as I mentioned earlier in these posts, I came out of Williams feeling incredibly shaky and unconfident in my Chinese skills. It was to the extent that I thought I couldn’t continue the major even if I wanted to, so you could already imagine the 压力 I had on myself at this point. It gave me a surge of confidence in myself and made me trust in the progress I have had through ACC.
On another note, this weekend I had the chance to try my new favorite burger in the whole world. I know, it sounds pretty silly to hear that out of all the places in New York City (my hometown) I think the best burger lives in China. You know, maybe you’re right. Maybe the craving for a burger was so strong that I thought it was much better than it really was. But I fell in love with that burger. (It’s at a restaurant called Slowboat in Sanlitun if anyone wants to know.)
On Saturday I also went to the 动物园！Can you guess which animal I went to see? Of course, a panda. I went with a couple of friends and it was honestly tons of fun. I still think the Bronx Zoo is the best zoo in the world, but we don’t have pandas, so there’s that.
I’m both super excited and kind of sad to start my last week at ACC, but if truth be told, I do miss home.
Bulletin Board (My name is 罗曼伊）.
Best burger in the world.
Panda!!
