Or, *Middlebury College Chinese Summer School!

As you all probably know of the Middlebury Summer Language Schools by now (see Maxwell’s post!), I made my first real foray into the Chinese School this week. I have a handful of connections to students studying at the school, from fellow classmates from my Chinese classes at Midd, to a high school classmate, to my Mandarin teacher from high school. He was the one who invited me to eat lunch at the Chinese school dining hall. We first grabbed coffee at Crossroads Cafe, a student-run coffee shop in McCullough Student Center on campus. Then we met up with my high school classmate, Julia, and sat down for lunch. Because all the other Chinese School students were also there eating lunch, I ran into several Middlebury students, some of whom pulled over a chair and ate with me and my company as well. It was so much fun to be in an immersive environment and to practice conversational Chinese again. I really didn’t want to leave, and made a vow to come meet with them more often. Next stop: Chinese poetry reading? Or tea class? Or tai chi?!