myretroperspective

Ok, that might be a bit of a stretch, but let me explain. I started Chinese tutoring this week. The consulate (is awesome and) sponsors a program for both it's employees AND THEIR SPOUSES to study mandarin for free! (note- not all consulates/embassies do this) So Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I have this cute (in a cartoon-type of way) 25-year old (? guessing other ethnicities' ages is so much more difficult, isn't it?) ring my doorbell and take me through Chinese lessons for an hour and a half. Before our first tutoring sesh I was asked to complete a brief questionnaire about my language ability. I didn't want to overstate my skill level, but I may have inadvertently understated it quite a bit. I explained that I studied for 3 years while living in Asia, but I guess that can mean a lot of different things for different people. I was pretty up front about my biggest challenges being my self-confidence and just straight up remembering what I learned 2.5-5.5 years ago....

photo complements of a friend from my frist year in Asia Many friends have asked with kind concern over the stresses on our marriage during this time of transition.  Heck, I've wondered myself about how we will weather moving our life literally around the world every few years as a part of this lifestyle.  R and I make a pretty good team and while tensions have risen at points in recent months, with so much of our life being in flux, we remain committed to understanding one another. We also always seem to balance each other out- when one is discouraged the other can find something to cheer them up. While this whole foreign service thing is quite the test, my (re)learning mandarin might be the ultimate test of constancy.  You see, I am painfully insecure about my mandarin. This insecurity slowly developed as I was dating R the second half of my time in Asia. I was competent and able to relate on the heart level with friends in chinese, but whenever I was with R I let him o...