My desk during the writing of my first multiple-page essay in Chinese ... I chose to write about American politics. Namely, the 2012 elections. I thought it would take 3, 4 hours at most, but who knew copying over a draft of 1200 Chinese words onto "official paper" would take 2.5 hours on its own? Not I. In total, I worked from 10 in the morning until 3 the next morning, on and off. Crazy. But who knew I had that much to say, comparing Romney and Obama? Especially in Chinese. Not I!