Happy Chinese New Year!

XIN NIAN KUAI LE

I wish all of you a new year full of happiness.

For all of those who would like to know, here is my class schedule for this spring 08' semester.

Intermediate Classical Chinese- This is my second year of classical Chinese. Its kind of funny I am actually better at classical Chinese than I am at regular spoken Chinese. I can recognize a lot of characters and have gotten better at deciphering the meaning from very terse texts. Right now we are going through the Meng Zi. Pretty tough.

Public Speaking 2- I am taking this class for Developing Inherent Wisdom credit. So it will be more challenging because i will have to speak regularly to new audiences. I might be speaking at this year's DRBY conference in Berkeley, and when Humboldt State University comes to CTTB.

Dhyana Paramita- This is my third year in this amazing class on what Dhyana meditation is, and how it is practiced. Continues to amaze me...

Bodhsattva Precepts- I took this class for a year, and it turns out I need more credits in the Vinaya category (Buddhist regulations). Interesting, there are precepts in which you have to act, instead of abstaining from action.

Chinese Music Appreciation- This is the second semester of the class. We are concentrating now on various types of Chinese music, and musical instruments. Lots of listening.

Buddhist Ethics- Professor Martin Verhoeven is teaching this class on Buddhist ethics. Very interesting, I expect to post on what we will cover in this class. Some of the topics we will cover will be how Buddhists approach genetic engineering, abortion, homosexuality, monasticism, and lots more.

Intermediate Chinese- I am taking this class in the Boys high school. I have spoken Chinese now 5 times a week which is really helpful. Fridays are calligraphy day! So much fun.

Enjoy some of the pictures of my new class teaching the little kids who live at CTTB kung fu.