Class is in session...again

So after spending three weeks doing contract work for my old job in China, then decompressing and being a bum for the past 4 weeks (well I actually studied and reviewed Chinese everyday for many hours..but that also included drinking a lot of beer and watching Battlestar Galactica episodes at the same time), I finally started my Chinese 2 class today. It is a 12 week class, five days a week, three hours a day, course that is at the same University I attended two years ago: Chinese Cultural University (文話大學) in their Mandarin Learning Center department.

I arrived at class and found out it was the same original teacher I had for Chinese 1 two years ago, but that was only for one day. I switched to an earlier class with a different teacher the rest of the semester two years ago, so I'm not sure how this new (old) teacher will be.

It's only been one 3 hour class, so I'll keep my observations short:

• There is a LOT of talking in this class. I'd say 90% of the class is some student talking, so that is VERY good. I don't push myself to go out and speak Chinese unless I have to, so this is a good way to force me to listen and speak Chinese every day.
• I'm old. I'm twice the age of some of the people in the class. It is a small class of 11 students, there are a few older people, but 8 out of the 11 people are in their early 20's.
• Everyone in the class can speak some Chinese. This is great because there is no excuse for me to not be speaking at the level of the other people. Some people are better, some are worse, but it's great to be inspired by the others to keep practicing and stay on my toes.

There are daily tests and homework, as well as a Midterm and Final, but I think if I keep up with things and study I should improve quite a bit with my level of Chinese. If after the course is completed, I can actually feel "comfortable" speaking Chinese with others, then it will be Mission Accomplished.

We shall see.