Still Life: Chinese Class

They just put me in my own Chinese class a couple of weeks ago. Now I get private tutoring 12 hours a week! Woo, Pitzer. 2 hours a week of just regular tutoring, 6 hours of "intermediate Chinese", and 4 hours of medical Chinese! I'm learning the names of bones in Chinese that I've never bothered to learn in English.

Up there is the result of a regular tutoring session using my Medical Chinese textbook - we ended up taking about blastomeres and abortion, as well as microbiology and primary cell cultures. I'm missing scienceyness more and more, so it's very refreshing to be able to discuss medicine, in Chinese, from a few different sides.

Of course I'm still studying TCM, but - I'm a little ashamed to admit - I do miss the comforting complexity of cells, organelles, proteins, and neat little boxes and acronyms to sort the world into. Entering the world of Chinese medical philosophy is taxing and confusing, and every now and then I just want to retreat to my already furnished, Western mindset. But I have to keep chugging... and eventually it will all make sense. I hope.

Also pictured in still life: plain sunflower seeds, guzheng tuner. And that's my tutor's Chinese handwriting.