HSK

I have been turning myself into a robot for the last 2 weeks or so in preparation for my HSK exam. The HSK is a Mandarin proficiency test run by the Chinese government. It consists of 154 multiple-choice questions covering listening, grammar, reading comprehension and fill-in-the-blanks, along with 16 questions which require you to fill in a Chinese character. In all, there are 170 questions, which have to be done in 145 minutes! Time is really tight so the only way to get a good score is practise like mad beforehand. I took the test yesterday and found it fairly tough. For no reason I can figure out (except for laziness on the part of the people who design the exam questions), they don’t release past papers for HSK, except for one 2005 paper, which is available to buy. I did that test on Saturday and did fairly well on it. Compared with that test, yesterday’s seemed a lot tougher! Well, let’s hope I can fluke a good score! Results are out in a month.

Disaster Relief

I’m still in Chengdu, and earthquake fever has more or less subsided here. There are still allegedly a few aftershocks here and there, although I haven’t noticed them. Have had 2 weeks of lesons since resumption of classes here.

Our fundraising efforts hit another record last weekend, following our exponential trend in kit production. First 100, then 300, then 600 and finally 1200 kits last weekend. The cost of the kits was around 26,000 RMB (€2,500). We got the prices down thanks to our expert bargainer, Alice (a local) and had the assembly line running at nearly full efficiency! We reckon in total we have raised about 55,000 RMB (around €5,000). Thanks again to all who donated!

Again, we used the Bookworm as our distributor, however this time they invited us to come out to the disaster zone to help with the distribution. We had 3 truckloads of kits, quire an impressive sight, and in all 9 of us went out (3 local drivers and 6 foreigners, including the boss of the Bookworm, a fellow Dublin man. We visited Deyang (德阳), Mianzhu (绵竹) and Hanwang (汉旺) among others.

After passing through Deyang, the earthquake damage really became noticeable. Most of the buildings in sight seemed have been reduced to rubble, and vast amounts of tents were pitched by the roadsides. The organisers knew the route well and stopped off at various points along the way to hand out kits, with the usual routine being to talk to the head of the village to see what they needed. The people were honest and friendly, and for the most part, took one kit per household.

I am told the atmosphere is a lot better than it was before. People are getting used to the situation and soldiering on. The Chinese, especially those who live in the countryside, are a resilient people and have lived through many hardships. I admire their spirit. We saw many a smiling face throughout the day despite the area being reduced to what now resembles a war zone. What struck me most is the extent of the damage – it is massive and widespread. Some towns have been reduced to absolute rubble. It is hard to imagine the enormity of the task faced by the Chinese government in rebuilding the area and more importantly, rebuilding people’s lives. I hope it goes well for them.

We still have some money left over from our kit-buying sessions. The idea of school kits has been mentioned. By now, I think most of the people in the affected areas do have the essentials, so now the important task is to get people back to quasi-normal life.