Sure, it can be busy and tiring. Four hours of class and three to four hours of homework, review, and class preparation make for full days, with the brain firing on all cylinders through most of it.
And, granted, the language learning process itself is fraught with frustrations, especially with an aging brain that doesn't always do for me what I'm used to expecting of it. There's just so much vocabulary to learn, so many grammar points to master. And if you really want to learn, you have to go out and actually talk to people, making mistakes and wondering what they are saying back to you. For someone who has tendencies toward shyness and perfectionism, it's a situation that alternately (or simultaneously) produces feelings of humiliation and exhilaration.
Even taking all that into consideration, though, this sure beats my regular life. The gazillions of to-do lists that used to clutter and dominate my life are a thing of the past. The hassles and anxieties of tending to the job, keeping up the house, doing a million errands, meeting deadlines ... they've all kind of sloughed away, like an uncomfortable extra layer of skin. It feels like I'm ten years younger. I go to class, I sit at home or in a cafe and do my homework, and then there's even a little time to read or post a blog. Every day I get something done, I make some progress, and I have some fun. I'm already wondering why I'm going to go back after only three months ....
Here's my student ID card, newly issued. If I feel ten years younger, perhaps it's no surprise, given the date of birth they've put on it.
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