Getting things started...

so... I have a blog! It looks incredibly lame right now - I need to post some pictures, maybe choose some different colors, figure out how I'm going to format everything... but for now, it works! I am currently scheduled to leave for China in less than a month - I will be arriving in Beijing on January 10th - so in the next few weeks, I will be trying to figure out the whole blogging thing, and also (hopefully) using it to study for my big job-related Chinese tests (listening on the 18th, reading on the 22nd). I am not even sure how to go about studying, but I thought I would start by going back through my notebook and writing down the random Chengyu and various phrases that I don't want to forget (whether or not they show up on the test). My notebook is where I write down everything we talk about in class, which runs the gamut from getting married to getting vaccinated. Hopefully it will be interesting to those who are learning Chinese - and I promise that once I get to China, I will focus more on my daily life, and less on the language. It's just that for now, my daily life is somewhat less-than-interesting ("Today I filed my tax extension! Then I paid my credit card bill! Then I did laundry! CRAZY!!!") but the language itself is something I really need to focus on. so... here goes! bear with me. and your comments are always welcome!