On Monday afternoons I teach listening to the class in Room 503. Usually, I feel like beating them with sticks by the end, and not just chopsticks but big sticks.
To make myself feel better, I stop in Room 505 afterwards since it is conveniently next door. The kids in Room 505 are the ones who randomly invited Tom and I to accompany them to Tianmu Lake. They are talkative, funny, and light-hearted. Today they had a flat-iron plugged in and one girl was straightening hair. I said, "Oh! You have a beauty salon in here!" Their reply was, "You! You sit! You do it!"
The current customer was pushed off the stool, my books were taken from me and my backpack was mysteriously removed. About 15 of them crowded around me with combs, mirrors, and lots of advice to the girl weilding the flat iron. They fussed over me for a good 15 minutes then declared that my hair was very lovely, like Audrey Hepburn, and looked Chinglish (I *heart* that word). I am not sure Audrey looked Chinglish, but I will take a compliment where I can get it.
I was summarily sent down to my office so, "Tom can see you and say 'Wow!'"
They crack me up.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Turning Chinese I think I'm turning Chinese
I have been patiently growing my hair out since last May. Unfortunately, I am not that patient of a person and yesterday at the hair salon I gave in.
The guy was given free reign through Lydia (the student translator we brought along) and voila! my hair is short again - short being a relative term. Because my hair is not board-straight like the Chinese's or my mom's, the poor guy was having a fit getting it to look the way he wanted. He must have tried to blow-dry it straight four times but it kept flipping back out. It is a very Chinese haircut, which looks wildly different on my head, but you will have to wait for new photos to see.
Tom was getting his hair trimmed up behind me and all I could see were flashes of the barber's elbows and scissors going snippitysnipsnipsnipsnipsnpsnipsnippitysnip! When we got home I immediately played the Bugs Bunny satire on Barber of Sevillie, Bunny of Seville. I miss witty cartoons.
This past weekend I bought a red jade dragon necklace. It is awesome! I am quite pleased. Many of the people here wear these types of necklaces. In theory I suppose I should have gotten a mouse since that is the animal for the year I was born. But I like the dragons! They symbolize power and look fabulous.
Also, Tom and I have used complete sentences to order food. ("Follow him. He speaks in sentences.") Progress! Tonight I will make tomato soup and grilled cheese even though I have no clue how to actually make tomato soup. Thank goodness the basis of my mom and mawmaw's cooking lessons was informed culinary improvisation.
P.S. Please see past posts on Tianmu Lake and Shanghai for recently added pictures!
The guy was given free reign through Lydia (the student translator we brought along) and voila! my hair is short again - short being a relative term. Because my hair is not board-straight like the Chinese's or my mom's, the poor guy was having a fit getting it to look the way he wanted. He must have tried to blow-dry it straight four times but it kept flipping back out. It is a very Chinese haircut, which looks wildly different on my head, but you will have to wait for new photos to see.
Tom was getting his hair trimmed up behind me and all I could see were flashes of the barber's elbows and scissors going snippitysnipsnipsnipsnipsnpsnipsnippitysnip! When we got home I immediately played the Bugs Bunny satire on Barber of Sevillie, Bunny of Seville. I miss witty cartoons.
This past weekend I bought a red jade dragon necklace. It is awesome! I am quite pleased. Many of the people here wear these types of necklaces. In theory I suppose I should have gotten a mouse since that is the animal for the year I was born. But I like the dragons! They symbolize power and look fabulous.
Also, Tom and I have used complete sentences to order food. ("Follow him. He speaks in sentences.") Progress! Tonight I will make tomato soup and grilled cheese even though I have no clue how to actually make tomato soup. Thank goodness the basis of my mom and mawmaw's cooking lessons was informed culinary improvisation.
P.S. Please see past posts on Tianmu Lake and Shanghai for recently added pictures!
Monday, April 16, 2007
Shanghai
I am finally having some adventures, which is good because I have settled into a routine now and am unphased by sucking snake off the spine or the ridiculous amount of dirt where I live.
On Saturday Tom and I accompanied Chen Li Jun (Caroline, our Chinese teacher and friend) to Shanghai so she could sign up for a national English exam. If she passes the exam, she will be certified as an interpreter for large companies, international conferences and the like. The train ride was not too bad since we bought standing tickets for the way there but the people sitting next to us got off at the first stop and we grabbed their seats.
The city is huge with a beautiful skyline. It was a very quick trip, but I think during the May holiday we will go there for a few days. We are (somewhat) familiar with the subway lines at this point and almost all of the signs in Shanghai are in Chinese and English.
One of the most interesting things was at Shanghai International University where Chen Li Jun had to sign up for the test. There was a saying on the wall that read:
I have tried to find the quote online, but cannot. Perhaps it was translated improperly, but for Tom and I it was a good insight into the difference between American and Chinese students, as well as the general differences in thinking about society and its advancement.
On Saturday Tom and I accompanied Chen Li Jun (Caroline, our Chinese teacher and friend) to Shanghai so she could sign up for a national English exam. If she passes the exam, she will be certified as an interpreter for large companies, international conferences and the like. The train ride was not too bad since we bought standing tickets for the way there but the people sitting next to us got off at the first stop and we grabbed their seats.
The city is huge with a beautiful skyline. It was a very quick trip, but I think during the May holiday we will go there for a few days. We are (somewhat) familiar with the subway lines at this point and almost all of the signs in Shanghai are in Chinese and English.
One of the most interesting things was at Shanghai International University where Chen Li Jun had to sign up for the test. There was a saying on the wall that read:
Intelligence is the result of diligence; but genius the result of accumulation.
I have tried to find the quote online, but cannot. Perhaps it was translated improperly, but for Tom and I it was a good insight into the difference between American and Chinese students, as well as the general differences in thinking about society and its advancement.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Tianmu Hu
Yay! Our first mini-trip in China!
Tom and I were invited by Chia Liang from one of the Tourism classes to come along with them to a place called Tianmu Hu (Tianmu Lake). We met them at 6:50 am on Sunday for the two hour bus ride at the beginning of which they passed out barf bags for everyone. (I thought this was particularly good because on Friday afternoon we had to stop the school bus so Tom could up-chuck on the side of the road.) There was a tour guide who entertained the students on the way with jokes, magic tricks, and singing songs. Tom and I were coaxed into singing/butchering "My Heart Will Go On."
The bus got a flat tire about an hour into the drive so we pulled off into a small town. The class piled off the bus to use the WC (since they speak British English). The WC was at the market where I was almost sick to my stomach watching people gut fish and hack animal legs apart. Luckily, I was still in the toilet when a man pulled a chicken from a cage, whacked its head off, and casually drained the blood while chatting with a customer. (Tom told me all about it.)
All of the students were wearing identical yellow t-shirts, which we found amusing at first but were incredibly grateful for once we entered the park. The park was packed with people and having everyone in bright yellow was a blessing. Never again will I laugh at such tour groups.
The park was lovely. It was refreshing to see green everywhere and have water all around! We walked around the lake all day. There were some crazy fountains and an area that resembled an amusement park with games where you could win stuffed animals and other souvenirs. We went in a pagoda, walked through fields of tea on the side of a mountain, walked through a bamboo forest, and saw wild monkeys! (Speaking of monkeys, I saw a man with a monkey on a lease in the city on Saturday.)
The students were tons of fun and gave us food all day long. The strangest thing they gave us was pea flavored ice-cream. I wonder who decided to grind up peas and put them in ice-cream. It was an odd flavor, not my favorite but I will make anyone who comes to vist me try some. Also, when my mom and dad come I will take them to Western Beer Beefsteaks in South Street because they have purple ice-cream that tastes like purple happiness. And before you go getting any ideas, purple happiness tastes nothing like grape.
It was a lovely trip. It was so nice to get out of the city and breath some clean air! I am looking forward to more travels.
Tom and I were invited by Chia Liang from one of the Tourism classes to come along with them to a place called Tianmu Hu (Tianmu Lake). We met them at 6:50 am on Sunday for the two hour bus ride at the beginning of which they passed out barf bags for everyone. (I thought this was particularly good because on Friday afternoon we had to stop the school bus so Tom could up-chuck on the side of the road.) There was a tour guide who entertained the students on the way with jokes, magic tricks, and singing songs. Tom and I were coaxed into singing/butchering "My Heart Will Go On."
The bus got a flat tire about an hour into the drive so we pulled off into a small town. The class piled off the bus to use the WC (since they speak British English). The WC was at the market where I was almost sick to my stomach watching people gut fish and hack animal legs apart. Luckily, I was still in the toilet when a man pulled a chicken from a cage, whacked its head off, and casually drained the blood while chatting with a customer. (Tom told me all about it.)
All of the students were wearing identical yellow t-shirts, which we found amusing at first but were incredibly grateful for once we entered the park. The park was packed with people and having everyone in bright yellow was a blessing. Never again will I laugh at such tour groups.
The park was lovely. It was refreshing to see green everywhere and have water all around! We walked around the lake all day. There were some crazy fountains and an area that resembled an amusement park with games where you could win stuffed animals and other souvenirs. We went in a pagoda, walked through fields of tea on the side of a mountain, walked through a bamboo forest, and saw wild monkeys! (Speaking of monkeys, I saw a man with a monkey on a lease in the city on Saturday.)
The students were tons of fun and gave us food all day long. The strangest thing they gave us was pea flavored ice-cream. I wonder who decided to grind up peas and put them in ice-cream. It was an odd flavor, not my favorite but I will make anyone who comes to vist me try some. Also, when my mom and dad come I will take them to Western Beer Beefsteaks in South Street because they have purple ice-cream that tastes like purple happiness. And before you go getting any ideas, purple happiness tastes nothing like grape.
It was a lovely trip. It was so nice to get out of the city and breath some clean air! I am looking forward to more travels.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
I want a hamburger, pizza, beer, stuffed bell peppers, macaroni and cheese, and...
Adding to the list of strange foods I have eaten (or at least tried):
Chicken foot - pale, bumpy, and cold (yuck)
Goose foot - spicy and fried (edible)
Jellyfish - clear and much crunchier than expected (edible)
Fried fish with ketchup - I know, this sound normal, but it was a FISH a whole FISH that was fried and was smothered in a ketchup-like sauce with peas and carrots. (very edible)
Fried corn - with sugar and sprinkles cut in pizza shaped slices (very edible)
Apple and pineapple covered with mustard sauce and sprinkles - very odd (edible)
Chicken foot - pale, bumpy, and cold (yuck)
Goose foot - spicy and fried (edible)
Jellyfish - clear and much crunchier than expected (edible)
Fried fish with ketchup - I know, this sound normal, but it was a FISH a whole FISH that was fried and was smothered in a ketchup-like sauce with peas and carrots. (very edible)
Fried corn - with sugar and sprinkles cut in pizza shaped slices (very edible)
Apple and pineapple covered with mustard sauce and sprinkles - very odd (edible)
Lessons for everyone
To help my students practice speaking the past tense I had them play a game this past week where they had to tell two stories about their past - one that was true and one that was false. Then their group had to guess which was true and which was false. Since they have difficulty understanding directions I usually do an example.
My example was 1) I can do traditional Indian dance called bhangra, 2) I was on the bowling team in high school. The all thought the second story was true. (HA! Fooled them!) What I hadn't thought of when picking these stories to tell was that my students were going to ask me to dance. I should have realized this since they have already forced me to sing for them. I use the word "forced" because when there are 48 girls and 2 boys yelling for you to dance you do it. So this past week I was bhangra-ing for my classes in my high-heeled boots then having them dance for me. Some of them are very good dancers! Class was a lot of fun with all of the music, clapping, and dancing.
There is nothing like being peer-pressured into singing and dancing in front of fifty 18 year olds to help a person get over stage fright.
My example was 1) I can do traditional Indian dance called bhangra, 2) I was on the bowling team in high school. The all thought the second story was true. (HA! Fooled them!) What I hadn't thought of when picking these stories to tell was that my students were going to ask me to dance. I should have realized this since they have already forced me to sing for them. I use the word "forced" because when there are 48 girls and 2 boys yelling for you to dance you do it. So this past week I was bhangra-ing for my classes in my high-heeled boots then having them dance for me. Some of them are very good dancers! Class was a lot of fun with all of the music, clapping, and dancing.
There is nothing like being peer-pressured into singing and dancing in front of fifty 18 year olds to help a person get over stage fright.
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