Jess
I've made a pretty good friend since we have been here. She wants work on her English, so last week we decided that we would read an English book together and discuss the content. As we were looking at the collection of books we brought with us from Canada, I realized that many of our books would be unsuitable. Until I looked at the Narnia books! Perfect! They are short. They are written for children and for adults. They are famous. They make for very interesting conversations. And they already have two movies!
She read the first chapter and loved it. For eight pages she had 44 questions, but somehow she was still able to understand and enjoy the story. I would call that very gifted! She told me that she was speaking to an American the day after she read chapter one. The guy was complaining about how hot it was. She responded by saying, "Well, that door over there is a wardrobe, and if you walk through that door, you'll be in Narnia where it is always winter!" The guy was very surprised to hear that she knew about Narnia and she was very excited to have proof that it actually is famous!
We will be discussing the first two chapters today. As I reviewed them last night, I suddenly became aware of how much old British WW2 talk and dated turns of phrase there are in that book. Suddenly it makes sense that there are 44 questions. For example, one of the first things Peter says is "We've fallen on our feet and no mistake...", or they say "stop going on!" The only other thing in the room with the wardrobe is a "dead blue-bottle"! Or how about Tumnus, "I've taken service under the White Witch".
One of the reasons I am excited is that I get to introduce someone to Narnia. In Canada and the US everyone just knows about it. Its like I get to remember what it was like to be a kid and have my Mom read them to me for the first time!
We recently bought the boys memberships to the local swimming pool here. It is good because it is one of the only places they interact with kids. Kids their age are all in school already during the day time. They really enjoy going and it is good to see them with other kids. But we don't give Chinese swimming pools any points for family friendliness in terms of rates. Children are charged the same amount as adults and there are no family rates! Doesn't seem very strategic to me!
In other news, we've had many people ask how the rising tensions in a certain neighboring country will impact us in our work here. The truth is we do not know, but we certainly appreciate your keeping us in your prayers. We continue to become more involved in our volunteering and of course in our studies. I will be taking a day trip to Chengdu (in Sichuan again) next week and James will be taking a day trip to Inner Mongolia in the near future. Its also looking like I may be heading to Cambodia for a few days in July. If this is the case, James and I are finding it very ironic that my first trip to Cambodia will be without him, since my main connection to Cambodia has been that James lived there. But someday we will go together! James consoles himself by saying that he doesn't want his first trip back to be only for a few days. One of the reasons I love him... he's not a naturally jealous person!
Farewell from the Mainland!
June 16, 2009
June 09, 2009
Words Truly Have Meaning in Chinese
In Chinese:
The word for sad is "shang xin" (both first tone) meaning "hurt heart"
The word for joyful is "kai xin" (both first tone) meaning "open heart"
The word for violin means "small thing you pick up and play"
The word for tomato is "xihongshi" (first, second, fourth tones) meaning "western red thing"
The phrase for one finger typing is "yi zhi chan" (first, third, fourth tones) meaning "One finger kung fu"!
The word for fast food is "la ji" (both first tone) meaning "garbage"!
To get married is "jie hun" (second and first tones) - hun means dizzy or confused, jie means connect... marriage is the connection two dizzy and confused people!
To do something immediately is to do it "mashang", or "on a horse". (I've been told that this can't be translated too literally.)
Ari turned four on the eighth of June. We had great plans, but all of them were foiled so we had to improvise the whole way. First we planned to go to the water park, but it rained for three days in a row on the weekend (in Beijing, this is very rare). So instead we went for a boat ride on a huge pond with canalways and giant edifaces along the edge. Then James was going to buy a cake (since we didn't have the ingredients to make something fun), but he only only had 35RMB on him (~$6) at the bakery, so instead we got four chocolate covered donuts. Then both options A and B for his birthday present disappeared into thin air (literally, one of the stores just disappeared with a big hole in its place).
But he enjoyed his donut and there were some other gifts to open (puppets from Grandma Barclay, face paints from our MCC reps, a hand made card from one of our teachers). And since we didn't have any candles, Ari got to blow out a lighter. Now that's classy.
All in all it was good. Yesterday I found a present, a stuffed Bugs Bunny, who already apparently needs mending since he's losing his inerds through a hole in his neck. If he had a jugular, he'd be dead. Might explain why the sales lady was so eager to sell him to me at a discount. Oh well, I have a sewing machine!
The word for sad is "shang xin" (both first tone) meaning "hurt heart"
The word for joyful is "kai xin" (both first tone) meaning "open heart"
The word for violin means "small thing you pick up and play"
The word for tomato is "xihongshi" (first, second, fourth tones) meaning "western red thing"
The phrase for one finger typing is "yi zhi chan" (first, third, fourth tones) meaning "One finger kung fu"!
The word for fast food is "la ji" (both first tone) meaning "garbage"!
To get married is "jie hun" (second and first tones) - hun means dizzy or confused, jie means connect... marriage is the connection two dizzy and confused people!
To do something immediately is to do it "mashang", or "on a horse". (I've been told that this can't be translated too literally.)
Ari turned four on the eighth of June. We had great plans, but all of them were foiled so we had to improvise the whole way. First we planned to go to the water park, but it rained for three days in a row on the weekend (in Beijing, this is very rare). So instead we went for a boat ride on a huge pond with canalways and giant edifaces along the edge. Then James was going to buy a cake (since we didn't have the ingredients to make something fun), but he only only had 35RMB on him (~$6) at the bakery, so instead we got four chocolate covered donuts. Then both options A and B for his birthday present disappeared into thin air (literally, one of the stores just disappeared with a big hole in its place).
But he enjoyed his donut and there were some other gifts to open (puppets from Grandma Barclay, face paints from our MCC reps, a hand made card from one of our teachers). And since we didn't have any candles, Ari got to blow out a lighter. Now that's classy.
All in all it was good. Yesterday I found a present, a stuffed Bugs Bunny, who already apparently needs mending since he's losing his inerds through a hole in his neck. If he had a jugular, he'd be dead. Might explain why the sales lady was so eager to sell him to me at a discount. Oh well, I have a sewing machine!
June 04, 2009
Herbs
Greetings from the Mainland!
Our house has a side room that would be altogether functionless if not for the plant kingdom. It's about 6x4 feet with a big window on the east side. The rather unusual feature to the room is that it open into the bedroom through a rather spacious hole, but unless you feel like slithering over the desk to get there, it's not very convenient. I've decided to transform this room into a plant room. It's more or less my only opportunity to feel as though I'm connecting on some level with soil here in dusty Beijing.
And in my little chamber of greenery, I'm growing a number of fun plants. I started some basil a few weeks ago, and it's already in the 3rd leaf stage. I planted mint at the same time, but the seeds are so small that it should be no surprise that the plants are still incredibly small. Next I planted a variety of eggplant called "Ethiopian". According to the picture on the package, it's red and about the size of a golf ball.
Then I threw some strawberry seeds into the soil. I know that strawberries are normally grown through "vegetative propagation", or runners. But I have no runners (just sneakers), so I'm giving the seeds a whirl. Of the several dozen seeds I planted, only 4 came up. Of these, 3 have withered and died, but one lone plant perseveres. If it lives, it will become my clone factory!
The last seeds to see the inside of a pot were some flower seeds called something like Seafoam Spray or Salty Foam. I threw away the package already, so I don't know. But they looked nice, and I thought I might as well grow a flower. I'm normally the 'veggie' type, but with this small space to work with, I think I'll go with a few flowers.
Maybe I'll have to try making a salad out of all the 'produce'. A mint, basil, eggplant, strawberry, seafoam salad!
Our house has a side room that would be altogether functionless if not for the plant kingdom. It's about 6x4 feet with a big window on the east side. The rather unusual feature to the room is that it open into the bedroom through a rather spacious hole, but unless you feel like slithering over the desk to get there, it's not very convenient. I've decided to transform this room into a plant room. It's more or less my only opportunity to feel as though I'm connecting on some level with soil here in dusty Beijing.
And in my little chamber of greenery, I'm growing a number of fun plants. I started some basil a few weeks ago, and it's already in the 3rd leaf stage. I planted mint at the same time, but the seeds are so small that it should be no surprise that the plants are still incredibly small. Next I planted a variety of eggplant called "Ethiopian". According to the picture on the package, it's red and about the size of a golf ball.
Then I threw some strawberry seeds into the soil. I know that strawberries are normally grown through "vegetative propagation", or runners. But I have no runners (just sneakers), so I'm giving the seeds a whirl. Of the several dozen seeds I planted, only 4 came up. Of these, 3 have withered and died, but one lone plant perseveres. If it lives, it will become my clone factory!
The last seeds to see the inside of a pot were some flower seeds called something like Seafoam Spray or Salty Foam. I threw away the package already, so I don't know. But they looked nice, and I thought I might as well grow a flower. I'm normally the 'veggie' type, but with this small space to work with, I think I'll go with a few flowers.
Maybe I'll have to try making a salad out of all the 'produce'. A mint, basil, eggplant, strawberry, seafoam salad!
June 03, 2009
Chinese Under Pressure Makes for Embarrassing Errors!
It seems that if someone wants to hear me humiliate myself in Chinese they just need to surprise me. Particularly on the bus or in the market.
Scenerio 1
Someone on the bus stomps on my toe and says "Duibuqi!" (I'm sorry).
My response: "Bukeqi" (You're welcome)
Scenerio 2
I stomp on someone else's foot on the bus and say "Xie xie" (Thank you!)
Scenerio 3
I accidently hit someone from behind at the market with the stroller when she stops abruptly in front of me. She turns to shoot fire at me with her eyes and I fumble around saying "Meguanxi" (Oh that's alright! Don't worry about it! I forgive you etc")
In all three scenerios I had to stifle my laughter and quickly leave with a red face. It reminds me of a time back in Winnipeg when James and I were riding the bus to the University. The bus driver lurched, and as I tried to catch my balance I stepped on someone's toe (I realize that I am making myself seem very awkward on my feet). The guy screamed in pain as though I were wearing baseball cleats. I tried to apologize but it was our stop and we had to get off the bus (At least I didn't say "thank you" to him!). As we got off the bus we heard him say "It had to be THAT toe!"
One more speaking mistake. I was reading a sentence in my book that said "That woman has recently become fat, she should eat less" (Yes, this is becoming a theme in our textbook). Instead I ended up saying, "That woman has recently become fat, she should eat her hand". Less is shao (third tone) and hand is shou (also third tone). My teacher and I had a good laugh and I pantomimed gnawing desperately on my hand.
Scenerio 1
Someone on the bus stomps on my toe and says "Duibuqi!" (I'm sorry).
My response: "Bukeqi" (You're welcome)
Scenerio 2
I stomp on someone else's foot on the bus and say "Xie xie" (Thank you!)
Scenerio 3
I accidently hit someone from behind at the market with the stroller when she stops abruptly in front of me. She turns to shoot fire at me with her eyes and I fumble around saying "Meguanxi" (Oh that's alright! Don't worry about it! I forgive you etc")
In all three scenerios I had to stifle my laughter and quickly leave with a red face. It reminds me of a time back in Winnipeg when James and I were riding the bus to the University. The bus driver lurched, and as I tried to catch my balance I stepped on someone's toe (I realize that I am making myself seem very awkward on my feet). The guy screamed in pain as though I were wearing baseball cleats. I tried to apologize but it was our stop and we had to get off the bus (At least I didn't say "thank you" to him!). As we got off the bus we heard him say "It had to be THAT toe!"
One more speaking mistake. I was reading a sentence in my book that said "That woman has recently become fat, she should eat less" (Yes, this is becoming a theme in our textbook). Instead I ended up saying, "That woman has recently become fat, she should eat her hand". Less is shao (third tone) and hand is shou (also third tone). My teacher and I had a good laugh and I pantomimed gnawing desperately on my hand.
June 01, 2009
Horse Horse Tiger Tiger
This week has marked the beginning of both of us making up for our lost study time when traveling. Our visa is conditional upon 10 hours of school per week, so when we miss it, we have to make it up. James is spending the month of June doing four hours a day, and I am spending two weeks doing three per day. We seem to be making quite the impression at the school. There are forty teachers there and every time we change our schedules, we get new ones. The more teachers teach us, the more feedback we here about ourselves being spread around the school. A line we are hearing a lot is "Wo tingshuo ni.... (I heard that you...) from teachers we know and teachers we don't know.
"I heard that you play piano". "I've heard that you and your husband sing silly made-up songs together". "I've heard that you have two children and that you're only 25". "I heard that James' wife was very pretty, but I didn't know that you are his wife!" (All of this in Chinese of course).
Yesterday I found myself in a conversation where all of my facial features were being analyzed. "Your eyes are so big and blue. Mine are not! The bridge of your nose is so tall! Mine is flat! Your skin is so white!" I interrupted with "Keshi ni hen piao liang" (But you are so beautiful!)
White skin is a trait that is to be aspired to here. There is a huge market for whitening creams and they are shocked to hear that in North America people want their skin to be dark. You can imagine that I was surprised to hear for the first time, "Your skin is so white! So beautiful!". I wasn't sure if I should take offense or be complimented on what James and I refer to as our winter color. Not knowing what to say to most of this, I just say, "Oh! Um, thank you".
But yesterday I learned that yet another subtlety to Chinese culture is that when you are complimented you must instantly come back and say "No no, it is not so!". To say thank you means that you agree with them and that you are a very proud person. I've certainly heard of this concept before, but what I did not know is that the best response is...ma ma hu hu (Horse Horse Tiger Tiger!). This strikes me as such a funny response that I have decided that I'm going to use it all the time!
For example, if I hear "Your children are so smart!" I'll just say "Horse Horse Tiger Tiger!" (Oh those children? They're just horses and tigers!)
Or "You make the most elegant hors d'oeuvres!", I'll respond with "Horse Horse Tiger Tiger!" (after all, horse and tigers make the best hors d'oeuvres!)
I know it probably sounds like I'm making fun of it, but the truth is that English has plenty of its own strange phrases. For example, James once tried to explain to a non English speaker the phrase "Put your nose to the grindstone". Only after seeing the girl's extreme confusion did we realize just how pointlessly painful that expression sounds!
"I heard that you play piano". "I've heard that you and your husband sing silly made-up songs together". "I've heard that you have two children and that you're only 25". "I heard that James' wife was very pretty, but I didn't know that you are his wife!" (All of this in Chinese of course).
Yesterday I found myself in a conversation where all of my facial features were being analyzed. "Your eyes are so big and blue. Mine are not! The bridge of your nose is so tall! Mine is flat! Your skin is so white!" I interrupted with "Keshi ni hen piao liang" (But you are so beautiful!)
White skin is a trait that is to be aspired to here. There is a huge market for whitening creams and they are shocked to hear that in North America people want their skin to be dark. You can imagine that I was surprised to hear for the first time, "Your skin is so white! So beautiful!". I wasn't sure if I should take offense or be complimented on what James and I refer to as our winter color. Not knowing what to say to most of this, I just say, "Oh! Um, thank you".
But yesterday I learned that yet another subtlety to Chinese culture is that when you are complimented you must instantly come back and say "No no, it is not so!". To say thank you means that you agree with them and that you are a very proud person. I've certainly heard of this concept before, but what I did not know is that the best response is...ma ma hu hu (Horse Horse Tiger Tiger!). This strikes me as such a funny response that I have decided that I'm going to use it all the time!
For example, if I hear "Your children are so smart!" I'll just say "Horse Horse Tiger Tiger!" (Oh those children? They're just horses and tigers!)
Or "You make the most elegant hors d'oeuvres!", I'll respond with "Horse Horse Tiger Tiger!" (after all, horse and tigers make the best hors d'oeuvres!)
I know it probably sounds like I'm making fun of it, but the truth is that English has plenty of its own strange phrases. For example, James once tried to explain to a non English speaker the phrase "Put your nose to the grindstone". Only after seeing the girl's extreme confusion did we realize just how pointlessly painful that expression sounds!
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