This week has been really busy since I had midterm exams and needed to prepare for the hiking to Yushan mountain. When I took Chinese classes at Williams, besides from midterm and final, I had small quizzes or dialogue performance every day, and unit tests after finishing a few chapters. ICLP, however, only has a midterm and final oral examination, and the standards for daily performance in classes are vaguer. Preparing for midterm exams this week, I realized even though I thought that I was well prepared for each class every day, I did not study as hard as I would have if I had small quizzes and unit tests that are graded. Also, even though studying for exams is really stressful and tiring, I couldn’t help but admit that it is an efficient way to review previous chapters.
This coming week is a language mission week when all of the ICLP students participate in special programs instead of attending classes for 3 days. I chose to participate in the most demanding program, namely hiking to Yushan mountain for 2 nights and 3 days. This is my first time to actually hike for more than one day, so I’m a little worried. I even needed to spend much more time than I expected to borrow/buy some proper clothing, such as a windbreaker, raincoats, and hiking boots. I hope this would be a great chance to refresh both my body and mind after exams.