Unexpected Gifts

Of all things to benefit from my time in India, the last thing I would have anticipated to improve is my Chinese (or Mandarin, to be specific). Yet thanks to ample amounts of free time and a few conversations with encouraging friends, my Mandarin is a little less stilted, a little less awkward. Over these past few weeks, I have learned how to be comfortable by myself and maximize my time; instead of letting the hours fly away with Netflix, I appreciate the hours I spend writing down my research and experiences in Mandarin. As of late, my journal’s scribbles and sketches have morphed into those of an English-Mandarin dictionary — I had forgotten how complicated the characters for “grape” were! <a href="https://medium.com/thenextnorm/unexpected-gifts-cdad9e5e7edb">Read More</a>