Yes! It’s me! The amazing, the astounding, the salsa-dancing, rainbow-scented, award-winning author and silky vocal stylings of the Newbie-turned-Elementary Chinese speaking Frank Fradella!

*ahem*

Sorry. Aric lent me his ego for the weekend and I was just trying it on. What do you think? Does it make my ass look fat? (It was the bold on my name, wasn’t it? That pushed it over the top. It just sounds bold when Aric says it.)

So, hi! Nimen hao ma? It’s great to be back. The cold bug had really kicked the snot out of me, but I’m back in the saddle now and learning Chinese again. And, hey… I have a confession to make. It wasn’t just the cold that kept me from the keyboard. No, no. You see, my personal life has recently taken a dramatic turn for the better.

Wait for it…

Waaaiiitt…..

I have a girlfriend.

(Colleen, I could really use that cricket chirping sound right about now…)

So, yes. My time is now being split between ChinesePod, the girlfriend, writing the new novel, publishing the award-winning magazine, promoting, soliciting agents, book signings, dance lessons, the day job, going to the gym and City of Heroes. I sleep about 3 hours a day. It’s nuts.

On the plus side, I have used my Jedi-like powers of persuasion to convince my girlfriend to learn Chinese with me! Mwahahahaha! Yes, we have welcomed her into the fold of rabid ChinesePod listeners. Giver her a big round of applause!

All that being said, I started back on The Octagon with Aggie last night (here on the “Ocho!”). We did a review of the first two weeks and I’ve come to realize that I’m not yet ready to brag about any kind of fluency in this language. I’m doing much better on understanding what she’s saying, which was a big step, but I have a long way to go before I can string together a sentence of any depth.

Ah, well. Better get back to it. Have a great day all!