聊天

I'm making the most of my unscripted summer time (soon to run out, as holidays and my summer course approach) by devoting the mornings to Mandarin. With the help of an intrepid teacher I've known for several years, I've rehashed and refreshed what I learned when I studied with a textbook, but we spend most of each session talking about stuff. Stuff? Like? Well, like walking in woods full of new green. Like what a long time it's been since we traveled to a foreign country. Like what fun it was to go to a big library again for the first time in a while. Like her enormous cats Pessoa and Spartacus. Like new art exhibitions and museums in New York and Oslo. Like why students prefer to meet on zoom than in person. Like how our floor threw a farewell party for a neighbor who had to move out. Like my trip 7 years ago to Datong, her hometown. Like how she cooked a French dinner from a cookbook she found at a free exchange table at her local library. Like how I wound up with so many books I can hardly remember on my office walls. But also like how I'm planning a course on religion and trees. And like what Juneteenth is and isn't. And like how Americans see Buddhism. I don't nearly have the words to discuss all these things, but somehow, with her help, we somehow manage.