Some weeks are busier than others. Others are a mixed bag. This one is the latter.
Whenever I administer language tests — as I did on Monday and Tuesday afternoon — the days are a bit longer. But they’re also quite rewarding. I get to see a lot of smart young people show us all what they can do, and I have to admit, in general what they can do is better than what they could in the old days. As far as language ability goes. I just wish there was a way we could bottle some enthusiasm for it so they could all get the value of the gift that is knowing another language. As Charlemagne said, “To have another language is to possess a second soul.” I felt that when I stood in the middle of Tiananmen Square — in the heart of Beijing — surrounded by an entire nation of people whose language I could speak well enough to understand and so thoroughly enjoy.
I feel the same way about Korea too, especially when I’m out on the bike, travelling through places not frequented by foreigners. This is something unique. Something the people with which I grew up have never gotten to experience…at least not at the frequency and level that I do so often.
And speaking of the bike: I woke early enough to do my fourth BCFB this morning. It was quite chilly, but a wonderful way to start the day. Leaves me tired now for sure (it’s nearly 6pm right now), but it should also help me sleep well tonight — something I haven’t done for a few days. Not since I rode those hundred miles on Saturday. You’d think that would’ve worn me out enough to help me sleep for a week, but actually, I think it just threw off my metabolism. IAt the least, I’ve been overheating on occasion. Feeling better now. Good enough to ride quite well this morning, actually.
Today was also market day. I love the bustle of the market. The people are fascinating and quite often funny if you watch and listen to them long enough. And there are so many kinds to see. Micha and I ate dinner at a little hole-in-the-wall. The cook really flies in there, and there’s just way too much going on…which I don’t mind at all. It reminds me I’m in a place that’s really quite unique and that I’m lucky to be there. Micha also bought some flowers, which is always a good thing. And bananas.
I’ve been making decent progress with Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead. I won’t be finishing it in a day like the last Pulitzer, but it’s not gonna be a slog like Angle of Repose was (although I still liked it — it just took me forever to get through). So far so good on Copperhead. The story is interesting and it moves, although I wonder to what destination sometimes. I suppose I could cheat and read the notes on David Copperfield, from which the novel got its inspiration. But if all Kingsolver was going to do was a modern-day Copperfield, well, what’s the point?
Still, the book is moving along well. It’s keeping me engaged, and I don’t mind reading stories that meander through a person’s life, as long as there’s still some kind of climax to it all. I’m a bit over a third of the way through, so there’s plenty of time to figure it out. For now, it’s doing just fine. Right there in the middle of the pack, under The Goldfinch (a story that has its similarities…but is better so far). Give me a week or two and it’ll find its spot.