在我最近参加的国际象棋比赛中，我最大的错误甚至在第一轮比赛开始之前发生了。怎么了？我也不太清楚，但因为一般说更好笑对自己而不要隐藏尴尬的事件，我会向读者透露我的愚蠢。简单地说，我去了错误的省份。我以为这次比赛在河北省举行，所以提前在网上订票，然后当天我很早就到达北京西火车站。我一出去河北高铁站，我就找到了一位司机开车带我去比赛的地点。不过，没想到司机没有认识到我很清楚地告诉他的酒店。因此，我给比赛的委员会打电话，让他给司机导航。我等着一分钟，司机挂上了电话转向我，不改色地说，“你在错误的省份。”
A very international team, with Koreans, Afghans, Spaniards, Americans…
那天晚些时候，我最终到了位于北京燕郊（六环之外）的酒店。幸运的是，那一天只是报名比赛的一天，而且从河北到北京坐高铁不到一个半小时。除了交通的方面以外，我这次的表现不错。虽然没有得到冠军，因为我没有中国的国际象棋等级分的关系，我还有很多机会与最强的棋手比赛。
我最近从山东省的青岛回来了。我在青岛的老城区呆了四夜，过了比较悠闲轻松的时间。对一位想念在欧洲的海滩假期的人来说，去青岛旅游很有吸引力。我花了很多时间懒懒地躺在沙滩上一边读书一边打盹。其实我还做了些更积极的活动。例如，我在海洋大学留学的同学让我第一次经历定向。不言而喻，我还参观了那里的一所名胜古迹。那就是青岛啤酒博物馆。在啤酒节，吃着海鲜，喝一杯原浆青岛肯定是这一年的一个亮点。
参加足球训练或者比赛时，我从来没遇到任何交通问题，只有自己的足球水平和健康的问题。自从二月来，我与对外汉语学院的足球队参加北大杯。所有专业的学院有个队，你可以想象今年数学系（1-2输了）和国管学院都是夺冠热门。现在是小组赛的阶段。与别的学院比起来，因为大部分的学生是交换生，我们队只有很短时间在一起练习，熟悉队友的优势和弱势。无论如何，这周日与化学系的比赛是肯定要赢得。希望会有有力的天气。
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
The start of a gruelling 80 minutes against the mighty maths faculty.
In my most recent chess tournament my first blunder occurred even before the start of the first round. How so? I’m still not so clear myself, but because it’s often said that it’s better to laugh at one’s errors than to conceal them, I have decided to divulge my stupidity to the reader. Basically, I went to the wrong province. I was sure that the tournament was to take place in Hebei , so I booked my train tickets in advance online, and on the day I arrived in good time at Beijing West station. As soon as I left Hebei high speed rail station, I found myself a taxi to drive me to the venue. However, the driver rather unexpectedly did not recognise the address I so clearly told him. And so I called one of the organisers to navigate this clueless driver. I waited less than a minute before the driver hung up the phone, turned to me and said very matter of factly, ‘You’re in the wrong province.’
Later that day, I finally arrived at the hotel in Beijing’s Yanjiao district (outside the sixth ring road). Fortunately, it was only the event registration day, whilst the high speed from Hebei back to Beijing took less than an hour and a half. Aside from transport, my performance in this tournament wasn’t bad. Although I did not win the event, partly due to my lack of a Chinese chess rating, I had the chance to be paired against a number of the tournament’s strongest players.
Having tried both now, I can honestly say I prefer my beer in a mug than in a plastic bag – but to each his own.
Recently, I arrived back from Qingdao in Shandong province. I stayed in Qingdao’s old town for four nights, having an appropriately leisurely and relaxed time there. From the perspective of someone who misses family holidays by the sea, Qingdao held a clear attraction. I spent a great deal of time lazing on the beach, reading and dozing off (not because of the book). I did in fact also partake in some more active activities. For example, my classmate studying at Qingdao Ocean University took me orienteering for the first time. Of course, I also visited the Qingdao beer museum. Enjoying the local seafood with a glass of draft Qingdao on Beer Street has certainly been one of the highlights of this year.
When going to football training or matches, I have never encountered any problems with transport, only problems with my footballing ability and fitness. Since February, I have been playing in the Peking University Cup with the faculty of Chinese as a second language. Each faculty puts forward a team, and as you can imagine the maths and international relations faculty are once again favourites this year to take the cup. We are presently in the group stages. Compared to the other teams, because most of the students in my faculty are short term exchange students, we have had only a short period of time to practice together and get to know each other’s weaknesses (and some strengths).
In any case, this Sunday’s match against the chemistry faculty is a must win, a real six-pointer. Hopefully the weather will be favourable.