Communicating in Chinese

Two sucess stories, or should I say sucess moments?
Last night, my host parents asked me why I went to Beida (Peking University) the day before. - Mind you, this is all in Chinese. - So first of all, I understood the question. Then I thought about it, and said that it is difficult to say in Chinese. But then I thought about it some more and realized I could explain it after all: "In America, I work at a university. We have an office at Beida." - Easy! I even knew all those words and did not need to look them up. All a matter of simplifying your speech. That was a happy moment. :-)
This morning was the first time that I did not show the cab driver the address of where I wanted to go. I TOLD him. Oh yes. See, it's getting better every day.