[madrona]

When I went on a foreign exchange trip to China in HS, I brought along a bunch of coursework for my other classes back home. Of all the books I chose to write a report about, I chose Ulysses, because of its critical reception.

Once I arrived in China I cracked open the book for the first time, and the nightmare began. I searched in vain for any English-language bookstore I could find in the hopes of replacing Ulysses with something more... comprehensible. Writing that report was more painful than wisdom teeth extraction.

[w1ntermute]

How long ago was this? I can imagine the experience wouldn't be nearly as painful with internet access.

[madrona]

1997

[w1ntermute]

Oh, wow, I can imagine that must've been pretty bad. What did you end up doing about the report?

[madrona]

Waving my hands about the syntax and myriad literary devices in the book to distract the teacher from the fact that I had no idea what was actually going on. :)

[w1ntermute]

Haha, as a recent college graduate, I can only imagine how much preparation must've been necessary back in the day in order to do anything. Nowadays, you can be completely unprepared and still make it work as long as you've got an internet connection.