Why is it whenever we get just a little bit of rain, Vancouver drivers think the speed limit is 5MPH? We’ve been having great weather for quite a while but today we got some rain and it happened before I went to Mandarin school. I left at my normal time which gets me to school with a good 20 minutes to spare. However, traffic on the Oak Street Bridge was heavily backed up because people here think driving in the rain is the same as driving on ice. I made it to class with just 1 minute to spare. At least I wasn’t late, which was more than I can say for some of the other students.

Mandarin is going very well for me. Sarah has been helping me practice everyday so I come to class extremely prepared for the night’s lesson. I have notice more and more people speaking Mandarin around Richmond. A few years ago, when you walk into a Chinese mall, all you heard was Cantonese. Now I would say it’s about 60/40 Cantonese and Mandarin. This is because most of the people immigrating to Vancouver are now from mainland China instead of Hong Kong.

I have two more classes before graduation from Level 1. I have the option of continue to level 2 when fall semester starts. My fellow students like our teacher very much and one of them is trying to get all the other students to sign up for level 2 so we can stay together and get the same teacher. I think that’s a great idea. Even if he doesn’t get the other students to go to level 2, I plan to continue anyway.