1st day of school

My first day of Chinese was supposed to be on Thursday but the typhoon decided otherwise so Friday was day number one. I'd have to say that I was really excited although my being sick didn't really allow me to have the proper excited energy. I woke up, got myself together, picked up a lemon red tea and I was off to school. The campus is about 3-4mins away by bike...really close. I arrived at 8:12am....2 minutes late...I guess I won't stop for tea next time. I walked into a room of 7 people..only one of which was white...most were asian. There were 4 Japanese students, 1 Korean and 1 German. The teacher is a 50ish year old lady named Fan Lao-Shi (lao-shi=teacher). She was very welcoming and speaks great english. We got right to business and I would say the lesson was challenging but not frustrating. My comprehension was excellent but my pronunciation was weak...the teacher made me repeat things several times because my tones were incorrect. The Chinese language uses 4 tones..so one word can mean four different things depending on how you pronouce it. I know I'll get better with practice...that's why I'm there right. During class the teacher demoted two of the students asking them to change into the beginner class....she said I was fine. I thought it was funny that she did that in front of the class. After class our teacher told us to do some homework in the a/v lab...we had to listen to a tape of the lesson and watch a VCD of the lesson. It only took 30 mins but I think it was helpful. I also have some other homework....I have to practice writing 4 characters....my reading and writing is super shaky so hopefully the teacher doesn't demote me in that area. Ok...that's it for Chinese class but I'll be back again to moan about the probable Riders loss in the Labour Day Classic.