Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Merry Finals!

Only 5 days until Christmas! ...And 6 days until final exams.

There are some things I like about Christmas in China...less commercialism (although that seems to be the only part that is catching on!), students/tutors/friends who are excited to take part in our Christmas traditions, listening to Christmas music on online radio, less overload of Christmas related activities (well, sometimes).

But a definite disadvantage of Christmas in China is that you may end up taking finals the day after Christmas. Fortunately Christmas is on a Sunday this year so we aren't taking finals on Christmas Day. For that I'm very grateful. But having a bunch of exams and studying looming over your head isn't the happiest way to spend the day. It's a good thing we are also having Late Christmas when my parents arrive (2 weeks from today!!).

How are we spending our last week of classes? Well, our teachers' responses have been varied. Most of them seem determined to pick up the pace and cram as much as possible into the last minute. Kevin's teacher decided they will cover two more units plus go over all the grammar in the remaining six units.

One of my teachers (the really good one that we love), is actually reviewing! What a novel concept! We are going through all the lessons highlighting the grammar and structures that are most important for us to remember. It's great. We love her. And she won't be here next term. :(

We asked our listening teacher how to prepare for our final exam and he said, “Review lesson 1-12 (i.e. all the content from the term). Don't worry!” Very helpful. We're going to fail.

Oh well. 8 days from today we will be officially free!
So Merry Christmas and happy finals to all.

1 comment:

Nate and Molly said...

Ruthie, I have fond memories of you walking up and down the dorm hallways studying for finals. I used your trick in grad school--I had a 1 mile walk to campus and would study my notes on the way. I really think it works! Of course it sounds way too cold to do that there!