HSK exam

I recently took my first HSK exam which is the official testing system to grade a foreigner's level of Chinese language comprehension.  HSK stands for Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi which translates to 'Chinese Level/Proficiency Exam'.  There are 6 levels that a person can reach.

I wrote my level 2 exam which isn't all that much of an accomplishment.  Anyone studying Chinese for over 6 months should be able to easily pass the test.  I was, however, setting my challenge to ace the exam.  (still awaiting results but I don't think I managed to get 100%).

I took the studying rather seriously but I was writing on the same day as two friends, one taking level 4 and one taking level 5, in other words, they were taking the real Chinese exams.  Compared to them mine was pretty much stress free.  It was more stressful trying to get to find the test venue since, in typical fashion, I booked the exam without checking where it was ahead of time and scrambled to find in time.

Despite my test being simple I still went to my next Chinese class with a little bit of pride in completing my level 2.  So much so that I showed my teacher a photo of myself in the exam room sitting in front of the computer at a desk made for much shorter people than me.

pre-test smirk

On an aside, I firmly believe my Chinese teacher enjoys our lessons more than I do.  I basically put on a one hour comedy show for her, three times a week.   Some of this is intentional as I make jokes and tell stories and some of it is just her laughing at my mistakes...as teachers should.  I know I did.

Back to the picture.  When she saw it she said 'David, you look so handsome!'  (of course)  Then she said 'You are 很上像’   I didn't know these words so she translated for me.   With a straight face she tells me  'It's something we say to people who look so much better in pictures than they do in real life.'

So, it turns out she's a bit of a comedian herself.

My teacher, my therapist

As I've said before, since my Chinese lessons have revolved more about having basic conversation instead of focusing on memorizing new words from a textbook, my classes need conversation topics.

I've started to use my lessons as small therapy sessions.  It was a good chance to practice my spoken Chinese but also vent my frustrations about work, my coworkers, about Beijing, personal life, etc.   Of course these aren't serious frustrations but more like longer rants that turn into funny stories and I seem to entertain my teacher.

I'll give you an example..

Recently my parents came to China as part of a tour and stayed in Beijing to visit with me.  I had taken some days off to spend with them but did still have to work one day while they were here.  I hesitantly had to leave my parents to their own devices but they assured me they would be fine and they would mostly rest (as they had already done 2 weeks of schedule filled touring in China before arriving to Beijing).  They said they might wander out for a coffee or to the shopping mall nearby but said they wouldn't venture far.  I had shown them the coffee shop and the shopping mall, it was supposed to be impossible to get lost.

I had a Chinese lesson after returning back to work once my parents had left and my teacher, Alice, asked me, in Chinese, 'David, how was your parents' visit?'

I sat back in my chair with a big sigh, shaking my head 'Oh Alice!...you wouldn't believe...'

At this point she knows she's in for a good story so she chuckles a little bit and waits for me to continue.

I told her how on the day I had to go to work I had given clear directions to my parents on how to get to the shopping mall and I recounted how, that evening, I had found out that they had basically followed none of my directions.

Direction 1: Go out the main building entrance, turn left
Actual: Go out a completely different and hard to find entrance and walk straight.  Walk the complete opposite direction of what I said.
Commetary:  Once they realized that nothing looked familiar they turned around, thankfully

Direction 2: Walk up to the main road and turn left
Actual: Eventually, walk up to the main road and enter building, wrong building
Commentary: Why would you enter that building?  I never said to enter this building.

Direction 3: DO NOT cross the main road
Actual: Crossed the main road
Commentary: That road is busy and dangerous which is why I told you not to cross it!  What are you trying to do to me?

In the end my parents managed to go to two different shopping malls before getting to the right one. Now, had that been the plan then no problem but that was absolutely not the plan and they supported the worrying that I was doing while at work.  I was fearing the headlines back home on TV or in the Globe and Mail ...

My Chinese teacher really enjoyed my rant but she thought maybe I didn't do everything I could have to prepare them.  She asked a few questions to confirm....

- Did they know where to go?  Yes
- Did you give them clear directions? Yes
- Was it far from your place?  No
- Do you tell them to use the subway?  Hell No.
- Did you show them the building?  Yes
- Did they have a phone? Yes, but it's on airplane mode because of roaming
- Did you ask them to find wifi and send SMS when they arrived?  Yes

'So David, they should have been ok'.

'Yes Alice.  Yes they should have.'

I'm probably going to be in a bit of trouble for writing this one...I Love you Mom and Dad!