China for dummies - A prologue

It all started a late spring evening a little more than a year ago. I decied that Mandarin Chinese was to be conquered and pressed into my head, somehow. I guess there are just about a thousand reasons for starting a study of Mandarin, Putonghua（普通话）, the official language of China. Yet when people ask me this question, which they do pretty much ALL the time, I usually can't think of that many of them. But here are some:

First of all, because of the extremely facinating culture which stems from an even more facinating history. Learing Mandarin today, in 2008, makes me able to read original texts written by Confucius (孔夫子) during the Spring and Autumn Period about 500 years BC. Secondly, because of the people. Chinese people come in all sizes, shapes and personalities, and this fact makes getting to know them that much more interesting. Thirdly, because of the money. It is no secret, China is taking over the world, guchi-bag by guchi-bag and addidas-shoes by addidas-shoes...and yes, they are misspelled for a reason. And in the word of Green Day; to those of you above average intelligence, American IOU's by IUO's and stocks by stocks. Consequently, their economy will continue to grow, possibly to become what Britain was in the 1800-hundreds and the US in the 1900-hundreds, a superpower above all others. The fact that they are about 1.3 billion people, compared to the US at 300 million(half of them, to fat to walk...) and Europe at about 750 million(half of whom is about to, or allready retired), does not exactly weaken the Chinese superpower-candidacy. As a result of its growing importance, knowing Mandarin greatly increases my chances of getting a great job. As a fourth, and final point, simple and pure curiosity. It's said that it killed the cat, but I am no cat, thank God...

I this blog I will attempt to portray my study of Chinese language and my time in China during the fall of 2008. Please visit often, ask questions and/or post comments.