Ni hao?

I found a Mandarin tutor on Craigslist and have my first session with her in 30 minutes. This means I am not chowing down on Zushi Puzzle with my best mates, but I know you'll understand...

This is kind of a big deal for me because:

1) I don't know Mandarin, but no one knows that I don't know Mandarin. Waitresses from Shanghai to Cupertino assume I'm hard of hearing/mute before devolving into that half-chuckle, half-sigh of realizing, oh, she's one of those kids.

2) This is something I've been meaning to do for a really long time. First, I went the do-it-myself route and bought an impossible computer program (see left) centered around an American exchange student named Sumisu (Smith) with a cloying voice and the fashion sensibilities of Bart Simpson. Then, for about a week, I practiced my pronunciation with Eli, going through all the pinyin sounds. I felt bad because it was so time-consuming, and I wasn't exactly the most focused student.

3) This represents me getting off my ass! I'm driving myself to my tutor's house. Seriously! I don't like to drive at night, but I don't want to be a hermit either. Mommy, I'm all grown up.

More to come once I return...