Language in China
The national language is Putonghua (the common speech) or Mandarin, which is one of the five working languages at the United Nations. Most of the 55 minority nationalities have their own languages. Cantonese is one of the local dialects of southern China. As a written language, Chinese has been used for 6,000 years. 
Life has definitely been a roller coaster over the last few months.
We started language classes about two months ago and our days have descended into a sort of constant trudging here and there, being full time students and full time teachers. There are obvious benefits to this, for instance, the other day my Chinese teacher was telling us (in Chinese of course) that this particular grammar concept was really quite simple and she didn't know why we didn't understand something so simple, and I just started laughing because I could think of all the times I had wanted to say the same thing to the students or teachers where I work in regards to some of the finer nuances of the English language.
Being a simultaneous teacher/student presents one with numerous opportunities to sort of view the benefits and disadvantages of various teaching and learning styles, but it really does not leave one much leisure time to think through them, and that has been our greatest struggle. At this point, we never have a real day off, and sleeping in has become a thing of the past. My typical day is getting up at seven, getting ready, going to school, classing for three hours, eating lunch, going home, taking a nap or trying to relax for two hours, going to work for several hours, going home, doing a little homework, going to bed. My weekends are still twelve hours of work.
“My school, Gangdong Elementary School in Centum City is amazing and I love my job. Also my apartment is much more than I had expected. Again, thank you for the hard work you put in and I hope to represent you guys well here in Korea.
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