Part 5: Through the Spring...

     At about this time last year, I began to see the end of school quickly approaching. It was also the same time I began to seriously consider studying Chinese as a major, trying to visualize what it would be like. If I studied Chinese, why would I do it?

    Before that moment of consideration, I hadn't given much thought as to WHY to study Chinese. I had just been immersing myself into everything chinese that I could get my head and mind into. For the first time, I began to think about if I were able to speak Chinese (with the understanding Chinese = Mandarin), where would I live and work? Hehe... Everybody wants Chinese speakers. Governments, banks, schools, large companies, little start-ups. The reality is, the United States is very intimately connected to China. Our futures are one and the same, so that for better or worse, we need each other. If anything, the current economic challenges highlight this reality. Our government is paying for the bailout using Chinese money. If we do not shop, the growth in China declines. Ipso facto: Chinese= very useful language. That meant there would always be some type of work related to Chinese. Still, money isn't everything.

     The more that I talked with my friend, the more that I saw of the differences between Chinese culture, and western culture. As I tried to read about modern culture, and began finding more about the story of change, that conflict of traditional values struggling, trying to find balance with the modern, widely interconnected world... That story fascinated me (it fascinates me all the time, actually), and drew me even further toward Chinese history and culture, ever changing, terribly violent and terribly beautiful all the same. 

     So I was going to learn chinese, out of respect and awe of its history, culture, and grammatical aspects. But what about all the funny looking shapes in chinese writing? And isn't Chinese supposed to be "the hardest" language to learn?

Well... That was something I would worry about later. At that moment, I had to find a job.

Part 4: Ending, and Beginning...

     With all of the Chinese people I began to talk to, there were two things I noticed about them. They were very proud to be Chinese, and also very curious about what life was like in America. What do Americans look like, what kind of food do we eat, how big are our normal houses (None of these questions are rude to ask)?

     The sheer curiousity of Chinese people to know what is outside of China impressed me. So often, Americans don't bother, or care about what happens in other parts of the world, so long as they have TV, Beer, a house, and relative comfort. In that way, perhaps Americans are selfish (or maybe self-centered)... of course, this is all generally speaking. Some Americans of course care very much about what happens around the world, too. 

     Remember also, that everybody that I was talking to was a person that was choosing to be curious about the world, by virtue of looking for language partners on the internet. Like any other nation, China still has people who just don't care about anything more than thier own little lives...but that wasn't my first impression during this time. (And my girlfriend pointed that out to me as I was reading a draft of my blog to her. 谢谢，亲爱的)

     And so it was, that with my new, but slowly building friendship with a chinese girl I began to share more of what my daily life was like, and what I was learning in my classes.

She began to share hers.

     Friendship grew stronger... so did my continuing interest in Chinese, and the culture...and it began to affect what I saw myself doing in the future, and what I wanted to learn. So, I began investigating, and found the public college in Utah which taught Chinese as a major. The result: the University of Utah, located in Salt Lake City....

     While there was another college in the state that taught both Mandarin and Cantonese, it was private, costing me at least 15,000 a year, as a result of not being a member of the religion. I'm not made of money (I don't have a lot of money to spend), so the University of Utah was also good for that. In addition, some of my family also lived in the area, in case I ever needed some help.

     I applied for financial aid, and tried to receive some help from the government. What resulted, was that I received a couple grants, a sizable scholarship, and some pocket-change. My tuition, in essence, was paid for in part by government and a private organization... I could never have been more grateful for the financial help I received (I want to give a scholarship in the future, when I am no longer in school...really, it helped me a lot). 

     Meanwhile, I was finishing highschool, and also graduating from college at the same time with an Associates Degree, and still trying to learn chinese during my free time, learning little phrases that helped in talking about events during the day, eating, drinking, sleeping, studying, etc. .

All of that was great... but how was I going to pay for my living at school?