Nowadays, lots of foreigners are learning Chinese. Like many of them, I 1 knew two words of Chinese ("Ni Hao" and "Xie Xie") when I first came to Beijing, China in 2009. As you can guess, my life was 2 for a while after I arrived. Simple tasks like ordering food or taking a taxi were quite stressful.

    I knew I had to learn more Chinese, so I 3 a Chinese class. My teacher was 4, although I didn't learn enough to have a real conversation. Later I studied on my own as well, but my progress was still slow. And I decided to 5.

    Around this time, I started playing in a band with a Chinese man who became one of my best friends in Beijing. He taught me a lot of 6 about music, such as "melody". He learned a lot of English from me in return, so it was a good way to 7 language and culture.

    I have learned enough Chinese to 8 many problems like booking train tickets. These days, there are more foreigners who are studying Chinese. I can 9 why it's an amazing language. Finally, I found that the best way to learn a 10 is to make friends with native speakers and spend time with them.

    Mary always takes the subway to school. She likes watching people and relaxing. It's five miles to her school and takes about 5 minutes. Lin usually walks to school. It takes about 25 minutes. But sometimes he rides his bike. It takes about 10 minutes by bike. He can take the school bus, but he doesn't like it. He doesn't have any friends on the bus. It's boring.

    The following are the messages from Mike's moments (朋友圈) on WeChat during the trip to Beijing.

    Today is July 5, my birthday, the first day of our trip. It's 2:30 p. m. I'm riding a bike with my parents and my little brother Bob in Beihai Park. We are singing, listening to birds, and having a lot of fun.

    Today is July 6. It's the second day of our trip. We plan to visit the Great Wall. There area lot of people along the way. I feel a little tired, but I'm happy! While we are climbing the mountain, I talk about my future (将来的) job with my parents. What do I want to be? Ha! Maybe a teacher or a singer.

    My parents are visiting their old friend, a famous writer, at her place. I am having lunch with Bob and watching a show in Deyunshe. The food isn't so delicious but the show ... Well, it's so humorous and interesting. I really like it.

    It is the fourth day of our trip. We're going back home at 6:00 p. m. It's 10:00 a m. now. We are visiting the famous Chocolate Factory and making chocolate by ourselves happily. We are really having a great time here! Sweet Kiwi! I love you!