The day after posting my first update, I got an email from Maria that soothed my fears. In order to respect my language pledge (even though it had not yet come into effect), she wrote in Chinese.
从某种角度说，你害怕的是事的确会发生！但这是好事吧？如果每次一张口说话都那么刺激，我早就英年早逝了。
“From a certain point of view, what you fear will indeed come to pass. But isn’t this a good thing? For if small talk remained so stimulating, the constant excitement would surely dig you an early grave.”
我记得第一次被英文玩笑意外逗到笑出声，第一次用英文把别人逗笑出声，第一次用英文和商家交涉，第一次能够真正欣赏到英文作者的文笔风格，第一次体会到英文诗歌的美妙，第一次为英文电影或小说而哭， 等等等等。
“I still remember the first time a joke in english made me laugh, the first time I told a joke in english and made someone laugh, my first time using english to haggle, the first time I was able to appreciate the writing style of an english author, the first time I could appreciate english poetry, the first time an english movie made me cry…”
Maria’s point, of course, was that while it was true that the feeling of wonder of being able handle basic communication in a new language would indeed disappear, this would be, in effect, in order to make way for experiences that are far more rewarding.
I thought about how when I picked up a book in English, I would usually say to myself within a few sentences “oh, this person is a greater writer” or “this person is a total bore”. I tried to imagine what it would be like to be able to do the same in Chinese.
I had previously characterized Chinese as “A machine for transforming boring experiences (running errands) into interesting ones”. Now I was losing that machine. However, in its place a whole new world was opening up, provided I had the patience to stay the course.
I decided it was a good trade.
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