First Time for Everything

Well on Saturday I sat in a pool and had fish eat the dead skin of my legs, how was your weekend?

We went to a hot springs on Saturday (pictures coming soon). Super fun. Different. They had several different pools, lots of massages. A cucumber flavered(?) pool, a rose pool, etc. And there was one pool where they had little fish about 2 inches long, and if you sat still enough, they came up and nibbled on you. Now I've always been afraid of swimming with fish. I don't like things touching me in the lake, and snorkeling was scary enough. But I clenched my fists, actually my whole body really, and I sucessfully sat there for about 20 minutes! Those little suckers tickled soooo much! It was a full on ab work out just to hold still. One of them really liked the arch of my foot. And there was also a naughty little fish that would sneak up high on my hamstring. Surprise! This is also when I learned that the Chinese are not ticklish. You could always tell when Daniela, Julie and I were getting nibbled on because of the uncontrollable laughter or the tension in our faces. The Chinese were all submerged up to their necks, and from them, no reaction. Crazy.

And okay, so many this isn't a first-ish, but it was awesome. Coming back from the hot springs, I got Daniela, Julie and I dropped off in Ningbo where we met up with people in LaoWaiTan (foreigner's land), and we had TWO dinners. YUM. First gyros from the Greek restaurant, and then on to enchiladas at the Mexian restaurant. Oh so good! Once again, you could probably have rolled me into the taxi and prayed that I would fit. So now I can't understand after so much food, why I woke up at 3 am STARVING, when sometimes I only eat 1/2 a dinner and I'm barely hungry the next morning? Where is the reasoning in that, body? I'd like to know.

I've never been openly stared at by so many naked women. We've been swimming at the pool lately, and the culture difference just cracks me up. The foreigners are okay with the itsy bitsy bikinis in the pool, but are totally disgusted by the locals who just walk around naked in the locker rooms. While the locals wear the most conservative bathing suits (full body tank tops + shorts/skirts) and then, well, walk around naked in the locker rooms. And me, just by walking into the locker room (fully clothed) they all stop and stare.

I actually got my first WOOOOOWW! I was at the Chinese school next door, they have a better playing field for soccer, and I was just leaving in all my sweaty gloriness. As I walked out into the courtyard, I crossed paths with 2 eighth graders. This was the full dropped jaw effect, kinda reminds me of when Aladin first saw Jasmine. That kinda wow.

This weekend I also drove for the first time in China. Woot woot! Going to go check up on my life insurance policy before I do that again :) Daniela let me drive the e-bike to the pool the other day. I'm starting to become Chinese. I only froze up once in a game of chicken. Other than that, I'm really starting to understand the rules of the flow of traffic. It's probably going to get me killed back in the States, but there really is something beautiful about the way traffic flows here.

I went out to dinner with Alice this week. I tried octopus for the first time :) And as long as I wasn't thinking about ocotopus while eating it, it was actually okay! She also took me to the produce guy who sliced up some pineapple for me. Yum yum! I call this my pineapple lollipop!

It's Official!

It is official. I am staying in China one more year. I have signed the contract to be the 2nd grade teacher here next year. I'm so excited to be in a classroom where bodily liquids (i.e. snot, pee, tears) will not be as much of an issue. And I'm really excited to stay connected with some awesome people I have met here. I have found my niche :)

Food: *giggle*
So food here, I'm still not able to eat much from the local restaurants but I'm at the point where I can go out and sample some dishes. So that's good. But then I promptly go to the American cafe for actual dinner. It's really cute though when the Chinese try to understand typical western food.
- I can't remember if I've mentioned this before, but at school, they serve rolls with cream cheese in the middle. We were really surprised since cream cheese is not typically very available here. Turns out it was cool whip, which was a shocker. We think they've seen pictures of bagels and cream cheese and just assumed it was whatever white fluffy stuff they had available.
- Yesterday I got a breakfast sandwich and some hash browns, when I went to get a napkin, my server wanted to get it for me, only he offered me the syrup instead. Really? No. But the foreigners are the only ones who use the syrup, so I think as a foreigner, he just assumed I wanted the dark sticky stuff.
- Food in China in 1991: 300 ml of milk a day was permitted for only the elderly, the ill, or children. Cereals, oil and sugar were rationed and foreigners were not allowed to have ration tickets. Foods not yet in China include wine, fruit juice, coffee, cheese, olives, lettuce, round cabbage, broccoli and snow peas.
- This week was Earth Week, and our PTA organized a vegetarian potluck for lunch on Wednesday. You're not going to believe this, but it was SO delicious! I ate soooo much food! And after that I of course ate my own lunch, just something familiar for my stomach. After school we were supposed to go swimming, but I was sooooo fat that day, I'm not sure where I fell on the fat scale. I was either so fat I would float, or so fat I would just sink and scuttle like a crab on the pool floor.

Mandarin Language:
- Ma shang! Horse up! This is the new "suit up", I'm thinking. I actually recognized the characters when Shelley wrote them, and I was really confused. Horse up? The general meaning is, "right now", as in, "I'm getting on my horse right now, will be there soon!" So this is definitely a phrase that has stood test of time.
- It's just Dana and I now in language class. It's nice since we hang out so much, and learn in the same way, we get REALLY excited when we eavesdrop in on a topic that we have just covered in class.
- Ever notice how young ones never seem to be able to pronounce certain things like the /r/ sound? So my niece calls me Kawi instead of Kari. Or second language learners have a lot of difficult with the /th/ sound. So when sounding out "mouth" they write "mous" (that's an example from this week's 1st graders). Just a really interesting thing about one of my elves who is learning 3 languages at once, and he's just starting to understand the concept of language. AND he's a perfectionist, so he won't say anything to me in English unless it's perfect. He's said yes and no for months now, and then just yesterday he said, "Can I play in your block house?" ........ Now where did that come from? But anything in Mandarin he will happily parrot the first time. I realized that even though the sounds are funny to me, all the sounds that make up the Mandarin language are easy to pronounce. Just interesting.

School:
- I realized a serious misconception when one of my elves defined a "pillow" as anything you could sit on. At carpet we each sit on a pillow. It helps them to stay in one place instead of crawling and scooting around. But this elf pointed at the table where a chair was missing and sadly said, "pillow ... no pillow."
- Broken is a very popular word. Everything is broken. When the leaves were falling last fall, the trees were "broken". Or when it starts raining, the clouds are "broken". They just LOVE the word broken. Well one elf after lunch was pointing in her mouth and telling me "broken!" I was very concerned and started checking her tongue to make sure she didn't bite it or something. When I asked her to explain to me, she elaborated, "Rice. Inside. Broken!" Yes, I guess chewing the rice will make it broken, but in a good way.
- Oh bugs. We have so many bugs. Here's what happened.
Elf 1: "Come on come on, I see ladybug."
Me: "Oh ... it's an ant."
We all gather round to watch the ant. I start checking to make sure we don't have a colony.... when I hear a big splat.
Elf 2: "No more ant!"
Elf 1: "No more?"
Elf 2: *proudly announces* "On my shoe!"
Oh dear.




Homophones Issues:
- Somehow I wrote "tough" where I meant to write "stuff".

Shanghai

View of Shanghai from the hotel.

At the Pearl with Matty.

Had to locate some American food. Riri smiling with the Macarana dancers parading by in the background at Hooters. Woot.

Chinese Acrobats Show

These guys were my favorite, as evidenced by all the giggling. There were some pretty amazing physical strength acts, but I guess simple humor is universal.

Good Old Fashioned School

Just some school stories. I've had some pretty good giggles lately:

The fluent Mandarin speaker that I used to have in class is back. He started talking to my Taiwanese elf in Mandarin so I said, "English please." It's a common phrase they know. During class time they are expected to speak English; lunch and recess they can speak anything they want. Boy was I surprised when the elf repeated the original comment in English: "[Elf 2], I help you get Ms. L with snake!" ........ Say WHAT?!

We have a morning sign up for "jobs" in the classroom. I have enough jobs that I sign up too. We bounce around a lot, so I usually get the chance to model each job at least once a week so they can remember how it should be done.
As we were going down our jobs list, I asked the elves:
Me: "Who's turn is it now?"
Elf 1: "You, Ms. L!"
Elf 2: "No, Ms. Pumpkin?"
Me: "Who is Ms. Pumpkin?"
Elf 2: "You are!"
Me: " Why is my name Ms. Pumpking?" (fully expecting a comment about the color of my hair)
Elf 2: "Because you are so yummy, I eat you up! Ha ha ha!" ...........................?

One of my elves was coloring, and she was really excited about the white crayon. I made the observation that her paper was already white and maybe she should try a different color. Well she colored anyway, and I think she genuinely expected to see a change on the paper because after a moment she said, "Oh no! White is broken! *pouting lip* I'll use blue."

So we found some more bugs. Not termites this time. And they were in MY classroom. UGH. When I first spotted them, there were only about ten. But within ten minutes, they had multiplied to 100+! I kinda squeaked, "Alice!" and she came running. When she saw them, she squealed, "Jean!" ... and Jean came running. I think Jean screamed louder than all of us. She's technically the ayi/cleaning lady of the building. Anyway, she practically screeched, "Jackie!!!!!" Jackie is our go-to guy. By the time he got to the classroom, we were all huddled in one corner, and none of us spoke, we just pointed. These things had wings, and NONE of us were going to mess with them. And no worries, Jackie took care of it.


And last, this didn't happen at school. I was in the locker room at the swimming pool when I heard some local girls talking about me in Mandarin. I gave them *the look* but they continued. Finally one said, "ting bu dong!" which basically means, "listens, does not understand". Then they taunted me, "Helllooo!" they called. So I finally turned around and said directly to the annoying one, "Yes, I understand you." I turned to walk away, but not before her little shocked face formed the words, "wo ting bu dong" meaning, "Now I don't understand." Yeah, that's right. Stop making fun of the English speaker if you're not prepared for it!

Li Ren Hua Yuan

Li Ren Gardens is my apartment complex. My school is also located within the apartment complex. I've posted pics before, but I was up on the 25th floor last week, and I guess there is just a much better view.

I was also took pics of the ridiculous parking that I was going to post, but I accidentally deleted them. Not to worry! There is ridiculous parking everyday, so I'm sure I'll get some more shots :) Pics of Shanghai also to be posted soon.

 Li Ren Apartments. My building is like that tower.

And you can see the school in the upper left corner I guess. The school is red brick, but I'm out in "Siberia". Out of the 3 white buildings, my classroom is in the far left one.



So I think you can legitimately say that I live in the city. But last week someone got a rooster, because I hear it seriously every morning at sunrise!

Shi shi shi shi.

There are a couple of tongue twisters that I have heard of since arriving in China, and this is one of them. Shelley has actually recited part of it for me. The word "shi" in Chinese is actually pronounced "sure", and from one of my earlier blog posts, you may know that I think it is the most common word in the Chinese language.
- It is the verb "to be" (I am, you are, etc.)
- It is the number 10, which get complicated because it is used to describe every other number. 32 is said as "three tens and two". Months are not named, but numbers. So December is the month "two and ten". So this usage of "shi"as a number comes up a lot.
- And of course, when you combine "shi" with any number of words it will change it's meaning. "Lao shi" meaning "teacher".
- I told my parents this weekend that I know every Chinese word there is to know. And I do. There really aren't that many. It's all about which tone you use and how you combine the different words and different tones to get the zillionth to the zillionth degree of meanings.

So here you have it: The actual Chinese, the pinion form spelled out, and the translation. And if you're really curious, in the pinion form here are the tones:
- 1st tone. Down slash. Start the pitch high and end low. The word is pronounced very shortly with finality.
- 2nd tone. Mini V. Start the tone high, dip down, and return to the same pitch you started at.
- 3rd tone. Straight line. Maintains the same pitch when said, which is a little bit higher on the scale than the start/end of the 2nd tone pitch."
- 4th tone. Slash up. Start the tone low and end high.

My Water Broke

Sorry, I'm just feeling that immature. But it's true. My hot water did break. In my apartment. A pipe broke over in Phase 2, luckily I live in Phase 3, so it only affects the hot water pressure... unless you get up for a shower at a ridiculous hour when no one else could possibly be showering, something I do automatically, even on Sundays.  AND when they came to "fix" it, they managed to turn the floor heating back on in my apartment (heated by hot water in pipes below the floor). SWEET!!!

Taxis:
- Dana told me this happens, but I never noticed till now. There's an automated hello message when the meter starts, followed by a second greeting in English: "Welcome to this my taxi!"
- We have non smoking taxis now! I noticed something was different. It wasn't just the smell, it was just the fact that the car was actually warm. No one had to roll down the window to do that thing that they do with cigarettes when they roll down windows. 2 kuai extra, but totally worth the extra cost.

Medical Exam:
- A lot of us have gotten a swimming membership at a new pool in town. It's been raining pretty nonstop, just like home :) Before you're allowed to enter the pool, you have to go to the hospital and get a physical. I'm the first one to have my name spelled correctly on my health check card. Matt is something like Matlhew, and Julie is definitely Jodie.
- The doc came in from break or something, called me into the room, he wasn't halfway through putting on his white doctor jacket before he'd signed off on my paperwork and sent me on my way. I wish I could read what my blood pressure supposedly was.  TIC
- I got squawked at for not wearing a swimming cap, but the guy next to me was permitted to make loud spitting noises in his mouth and then hock a loogie into the side drain of the pool. Really? More TIC

Soccer:
Enrique (from Chile) organizes the weekly soccer game. He's the one who tells me, "It's 3:30 Kari, you don't have to leave yet." And I'll say, "Enrique, I got hear at 3:30, you're not fooling me!" Well, a bunch of the Spanish speaking families hang out a lot. So one of the wives from their group was chatting with me, and she told me, "When you first showed up, the boys didn't know what to do. Now, when you leave early, they don't know what to do." It cracks me up. I invite them to knitting club every time! But for some reason they never join me.

Homophones:
- I definitely typed "halfway" as "haveway".