With all these Mandarin lessons, I've been trying to go out on my own a little more, interact with the Chinese, and be a contributing member of society, aka shopping! I have failed every single time.
Shelly and I were browsing a store about a block away, but I wanted to wait to make a decision. When I went back later and described what I wanted to order, and when I would be back to pick it up, he go the totally wrong impressions. I ended up calling someone to translate, and then he called someone to translate, it was just a mess, and I ended up coming back with Shelly the next day to make the purchase.
Shelly actually seems to save the day a lot. I was heading to RT Mart (grocery store) to pick up a couple of things, and I asked her if they had eggs there. The Chinese are a little iffy on dairy so it was a legit question. She then offered to accompany me. It turns out, eggs are sold like fruit, but they have an employee bag how many you want, and put them on the scale for you before check out. Then, I actually needed an RT Mart card to purchase them. Shelly didn't know she was going shopping with me, so she didn't have her card on her, and she ended up asking the guy at the next register if we could borrow his.
Thank goodness for Shelly and the random stranger buying groceries next to us, or I would never have been able to make brownies!
Also, it's almost time to leave so I went to the bank to withdraw money in USD to bring with me. It's cheaper than transferring :) Before I went, I thought I was clever, I had Lisa write down in Chinese characters a message that said I had come to withdraw from my account and the amount I wanted in USD. Lisa then asked me, "you have everything, right?" Then I learned, in order to make a withdrawal, I have to have my passport, my foreign Chinese resident document, my pay slip and my tax slip. Woah. And it turns out, the bank requires not just one pay slip, but all my pay slips for the money I wanted to take out. I have to prove that I deposited that money, and that I was paid legally. It's not enough that the money is in MY account, I have to prove that I earned it. NER.
Well I have one more glorious day of school, and then I'm home free! So I'm signing off for now. More blogging to come January 7th.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Raising a Nation of "Little Emperors"
I'm finding myself a little peeved with the way the parents and grandparents spoil their children here in China. They:
- put on their shoes, socks, and zip up their jackets for them.
- spoon feed them all meals
- pull their pants both up and down to go to the bathroom
- and give in to pretty much anything if their child is screaming.
It's not a hard fast rule, but I notice a HUGE difference between my Chinese nationals, and my foreign students in terms of independence. My foreign students can figure out buttons and zippers on their jackets. My national students still haven't figured out velcro shoes. It hurts a little inside!!
My assumption is that, since the One Child policy was instated, China is raising a generation of "little emperors". Nothing is too expensive, no whim or want too small. They do EVERYTHING for their children here, because they only have one child, one opportunity to show their love. And that child is precious to them. I understand that, but does China really understand the type of people they are raising? An entire nation of entitled emperors will likely cause problems in the future. Just saying...
One entertaining interaction in the block center - My ELL and I were busy building racecars. I guess my racecar building skills/knowledge aren't quite up to par.
Me: "That looks like a fast racecar."
Elf: "No. That one fast racecar. This one is slow."
Me: "Why is that racecar faster than this racecar?"
Elf: "Because it ate pretty flowers."
Me: "Oh, I see."
Elf: "Yours is not a racecar. Please?"
Me: *I offer him my 'non'-racecar*
Elf: *Proceeds to take apart the racecar I built, put it together in a different way, and offer it back to me* "Now it's a racecar!"
At snack time, the kids eat the weirdest looking things to me. Seaweed is actually very popular. At first, I thought I understood why the kids don't eat at lunch time. I wouldn't eat that either! It looks funny! But if I pick up the fork, they open their mouths expectantly. Oh little emperors! Anyways, whenever I see something new or different, I ask the kids what it is. Sometimes they give me the Chinese name because an English name doesn't exist. But that doesn't mean we can't try ....
Me: "What's that called?"
Elf: "So yummy."
Me: (I double check just to make sure I heard right) "Oh, that's called, 'so yummy'?"
Elf: "Yes." *devours snack*
At recess, I watch over the whole early years program, so sometimes I help negotiate problems the that kindergartners encounter. Wendi has taught them the High/Scope way of solving problems, and I only step in if things get off track. I was watching 3 kinders discuss who the red ribbon belongs too (end-of-the-world problem solving here!) when the discussion got quite heated so I stepped in.
Elf 1: "It's mine!"
Elf 2: "No, it's mine!"
Elf 1: "No it's mine! I found it!"
Me: "Okay [Elf 1], if it's yours, where did you find it?"
Elf 1: "I found it in Elf 2's hand."
Me: ................................. *uncontrollable laughter*
Check back tomorrow for tuctuc adventure pictures. I meant to post them here tonight, but it appears I forgot my sim card at school.
- put on their shoes, socks, and zip up their jackets for them.
- spoon feed them all meals
- pull their pants both up and down to go to the bathroom
- and give in to pretty much anything if their child is screaming.
It's not a hard fast rule, but I notice a HUGE difference between my Chinese nationals, and my foreign students in terms of independence. My foreign students can figure out buttons and zippers on their jackets. My national students still haven't figured out velcro shoes. It hurts a little inside!!
My assumption is that, since the One Child policy was instated, China is raising a generation of "little emperors". Nothing is too expensive, no whim or want too small. They do EVERYTHING for their children here, because they only have one child, one opportunity to show their love. And that child is precious to them. I understand that, but does China really understand the type of people they are raising? An entire nation of entitled emperors will likely cause problems in the future. Just saying...
One entertaining interaction in the block center - My ELL and I were busy building racecars. I guess my racecar building skills/knowledge aren't quite up to par.
Me: "That looks like a fast racecar."
Elf: "No. That one fast racecar. This one is slow."
Me: "Why is that racecar faster than this racecar?"
Elf: "Because it ate pretty flowers."
Me: "Oh, I see."
Elf: "Yours is not a racecar. Please?"
Me: *I offer him my 'non'-racecar*
Elf: *Proceeds to take apart the racecar I built, put it together in a different way, and offer it back to me* "Now it's a racecar!"
At snack time, the kids eat the weirdest looking things to me. Seaweed is actually very popular. At first, I thought I understood why the kids don't eat at lunch time. I wouldn't eat that either! It looks funny! But if I pick up the fork, they open their mouths expectantly. Oh little emperors! Anyways, whenever I see something new or different, I ask the kids what it is. Sometimes they give me the Chinese name because an English name doesn't exist. But that doesn't mean we can't try ....
Me: "What's that called?"
Elf: "So yummy."
Me: (I double check just to make sure I heard right) "Oh, that's called, 'so yummy'?"
Elf: "Yes." *devours snack*
At recess, I watch over the whole early years program, so sometimes I help negotiate problems the that kindergartners encounter. Wendi has taught them the High/Scope way of solving problems, and I only step in if things get off track. I was watching 3 kinders discuss who the red ribbon belongs too (end-of-the-world problem solving here!) when the discussion got quite heated so I stepped in.
Elf 1: "It's mine!"
Elf 2: "No, it's mine!"
Elf 1: "No it's mine! I found it!"
Me: "Okay [Elf 1], if it's yours, where did you find it?"
Elf 1: "I found it in Elf 2's hand."
Me: ................................. *uncontrollable laughter*
Check back tomorrow for tuctuc adventure pictures. I meant to post them here tonight, but it appears I forgot my sim card at school.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Routine Routine Routine
Between school, mandarin, and weekly planned outings, I'm getting a really good routine down. Just in time to come home for the holidays:
Hair Washing Friday!
It's only 10 kaui, which is maybe $1.50 ish to get your hair washed with good smelling things and hot water, your head massaged, and some fun curls. Such a relaxing way to end the work week and start the weekend! This time around however, there was no shyness. The guys openly walked up and just started touching my hair and playing with it. My hair stylist this time was not amused and he kept glaring at every guy who approached. It cracked me up. I took this picture trying to show the pillow in the hair washing bowl, but Alice and Shelly and the hairwashers immediately started laughing uncontrollably the moment they saw my camera. I feel like a silly tourist, but so many of you have been asking for more pictures. So, this one is for you.
Muslim Noodles Shop:
I'm still trying to find a local restaurant that doesn't make me feel sick. The Muslim Noodle Shops are the most popular. They're like a starbucks for Seattle. There's 4 on Shin Da Road alone. And they're popular with the teachers at the school. At the closest location, their menu is posted in pictures on one entire wall. And one of our school board members translated other basic requests like "extra rice" and put them up on the wall too.
Alice was a little disappointed in the "simple" noodle dish that I chose to order. I asked her if she could request no bones in the chicken. Usually they just slice the chicken, bones and all, and you just have to spit out the bones as you find them, but sometimes they're willing to scrape the meat off for you before they cook it. By the looks of the conversation between Alice and the waiter, they were not willing to meet this request. But then at the next table over, 4 gentlemen started talking to the waiter. The waiter looked very frazzled and indignant. It got worse when the next table down, another 4 gentlemen, started talking very sternly to the waiter as well. Of course when I go anywhere in China, everyone knows that a "lao wai ren" is present, and apparently they were all arguing on my behalf. Alice was giggling and told me they were all telling the waiter to have the kitchen staff suck it up and give me boneless chicken! I asked Alice to tell him not to worry about it and just switch it for lamb, which already comes without the bones.
Mandarin:
- On Tuesdays, I work with June at Cup of Joe for about 2 hours. She's been insisting for weeks and I've finally givin in. I'm learning the Chinese characters. She keeps telling me it will be easier than "pinion" which is the phonetic spelling of Chinese words using English letters... we'll see. I'm memorizing 6 a week. She's given me a work book that most 1st graders use. Awesome.
- The general way to say Christmas is "Sheng Den", but another way to say it is, "Ping An". "Ping" is a root word meaning safety, but it's also a root in my favorite word "ping guo" meaning apple. Hence, on Christmas Eve, many Chinese friends give each other apples as a way to wish their friends good safety and show that they are important to them. Consequently, apple prices also skyrocket around Christmas time.
- Even though the Chinese don't technically celebrate Christmas, there are Christmas displays everywhere. They always get so excited when they see a tree, or a reindeer, but no one seems to know the name of Santa Claus. They always ask me his actual name, because they just call him"Sheng Den Lao Ren", which literally translates to, "Christmas Old Man".
- Similarly, the Chinese also have a name for the logo guy on KFC. They call him, "Ken De Ji Ye Ye", Which literally translates to, "Kentucky Grandfather".
- KFC brings me to the family names, like grandfather. Grandfather is "ye ye", but that would be your dad's dad. Not to be confused with "wai gong", which also means grandfather but that would be your mom's dad. It starts getting more complicated when you talk about your mom's older brother's wife, who really should just be your aunt, but it's a different name than your dad's younger brother's wife, who should also just be your aunt. Ner. Don't get me started on the cousins. Depending on whose side of the family, and their parent's age, and their own age, your cousins will have different names. There is no generic, "Hey there cousin! That would be too easy :)
- Also, at some of the Mandarin lessons, the Chinese have been showing up to learn more English and Western Culture. I don't remember how it came up, but we got to explain the phrase "Go dig to China" to them. I'm not sure a reverse joke from this side of the world seems as funny.
Hair Washing Friday!
It's only 10 kaui, which is maybe $1.50 ish to get your hair washed with good smelling things and hot water, your head massaged, and some fun curls. Such a relaxing way to end the work week and start the weekend! This time around however, there was no shyness. The guys openly walked up and just started touching my hair and playing with it. My hair stylist this time was not amused and he kept glaring at every guy who approached. It cracked me up. I took this picture trying to show the pillow in the hair washing bowl, but Alice and Shelly and the hairwashers immediately started laughing uncontrollably the moment they saw my camera. I feel like a silly tourist, but so many of you have been asking for more pictures. So, this one is for you.Muslim Noodles Shop:
I'm still trying to find a local restaurant that doesn't make me feel sick. The Muslim Noodle Shops are the most popular. They're like a starbucks for Seattle. There's 4 on Shin Da Road alone. And they're popular with the teachers at the school. At the closest location, their menu is posted in pictures on one entire wall. And one of our school board members translated other basic requests like "extra rice" and put them up on the wall too.
Alice was a little disappointed in the "simple" noodle dish that I chose to order. I asked her if she could request no bones in the chicken. Usually they just slice the chicken, bones and all, and you just have to spit out the bones as you find them, but sometimes they're willing to scrape the meat off for you before they cook it. By the looks of the conversation between Alice and the waiter, they were not willing to meet this request. But then at the next table over, 4 gentlemen started talking to the waiter. The waiter looked very frazzled and indignant. It got worse when the next table down, another 4 gentlemen, started talking very sternly to the waiter as well. Of course when I go anywhere in China, everyone knows that a "lao wai ren" is present, and apparently they were all arguing on my behalf. Alice was giggling and told me they were all telling the waiter to have the kitchen staff suck it up and give me boneless chicken! I asked Alice to tell him not to worry about it and just switch it for lamb, which already comes without the bones.
Mandarin:
- On Tuesdays, I work with June at Cup of Joe for about 2 hours. She's been insisting for weeks and I've finally givin in. I'm learning the Chinese characters. She keeps telling me it will be easier than "pinion" which is the phonetic spelling of Chinese words using English letters... we'll see. I'm memorizing 6 a week. She's given me a work book that most 1st graders use. Awesome.
- The general way to say Christmas is "Sheng Den", but another way to say it is, "Ping An". "Ping" is a root word meaning safety, but it's also a root in my favorite word "ping guo" meaning apple. Hence, on Christmas Eve, many Chinese friends give each other apples as a way to wish their friends good safety and show that they are important to them. Consequently, apple prices also skyrocket around Christmas time.
- Even though the Chinese don't technically celebrate Christmas, there are Christmas displays everywhere. They always get so excited when they see a tree, or a reindeer, but no one seems to know the name of Santa Claus. They always ask me his actual name, because they just call him"Sheng Den Lao Ren", which literally translates to, "Christmas Old Man".
- Similarly, the Chinese also have a name for the logo guy on KFC. They call him, "Ken De Ji Ye Ye", Which literally translates to, "Kentucky Grandfather".
- KFC brings me to the family names, like grandfather. Grandfather is "ye ye", but that would be your dad's dad. Not to be confused with "wai gong", which also means grandfather but that would be your mom's dad. It starts getting more complicated when you talk about your mom's older brother's wife, who really should just be your aunt, but it's a different name than your dad's younger brother's wife, who should also just be your aunt. Ner. Don't get me started on the cousins. Depending on whose side of the family, and their parent's age, and their own age, your cousins will have different names. There is no generic, "Hey there cousin! That would be too easy :)
- Also, at some of the Mandarin lessons, the Chinese have been showing up to learn more English and Western Culture. I don't remember how it came up, but we got to explain the phrase "Go dig to China" to them. I'm not sure a reverse joke from this side of the world seems as funny.
Friday, December 9, 2011
You Could Win a (one way) Trip to Thailand!!!!
In order to improve tourism, foreigners living in the greater Ningbo area are being asked to submit their blogs to the Ningbo government for the ultimate blogging competition! Theory being ... if we're telling all our friends about it, they will want to come live in Ningbo too. They advertise many benefits for entering the competition: not only will I get a wider audience for my blog, but if my blog is interesting and popular, I could win a trip to Thailand or one of the other 26 grand prizes. Too bad I'm using an illegal website ... like many other foreigners. We're wondering if they're trying to catch those of us using VPNs and send us on a way trip out of China. The prizes kinda sound good ... but I am avoiding anything and everything to do with the Chinese government. Kyla's only request was don't cause an international incident, and I'm proud to say that today, I am honoring that promise :)
The Elves:
- The elves call me Ms. L since Ms. Lanham is hard for them to say. But this morning we read a book about owls. One elf told me I look like an owl. I said why is that? He said because Ms. L is like Ms. Owl. And the way they pronounce it, it's totally true! I am now Ms. Owl.
- Elf 1 offered Elf 2 some "cheese" that he made. Elf 2 wasn't interested. Then Elf 1 offered me some cheese. I said okay. But I had to follow him to the home center to eat it. That made sense, we have a kitchen and a table for a restaurant in our home center. But when I arrived he grabbed my hands and said, "Got you! I eat you now. Yummy. You dishous! (delicious). You taste like turkey!" So now I have cannibal children. Better yet, he started cooking mushrooms because he says they go good with turkey. Once he had me "tied up" and the mushrooms cooking, he went around to the other elves and TAs saying, "Cheese? Anyone, cheese?" I don't remember the full story of Hansel and Gretel, but it sounds VERY similar. Just minus the bread crumbs.
- We have a poster that shows the faces of many different emotions. As you know, "I'm angry" remains the most popular, though sometimes I question if they understand what they are saying. This morning when I pointed to the jealous face, one student asked what jealous means. The best I could come up with was, "If another student has a toy that you want, but you can't have it, then you are jealous of that student". Later that day we had to walk to the cafeteria with our umbrellas. We were short umbrellas today so several students had to walk with a TA and two students had to share one. One elf didn't get to hold an umbrella. He folded his arms up, gave the two students sharing an umbrella the evil eye and said, "I'm jealous!" He was so upset, but we were all so happy he was able to apply what jealous is!
- As we were walking back from the cafeteria, I felt the first raindrop. Within about 10 seconds, everyone had felt one raindrop. One elf pointed up at the clouds and said, "Oh no! It's broken!"
- When we laid down for nap time, I noticed the car horns from the highway were particularly noisy today. One of my students sat up, and said "Outside, too loud. That's not okay." Then he looked very sternly towards the noisy honking and said, "Calm down!"
The Elves:
- The elves call me Ms. L since Ms. Lanham is hard for them to say. But this morning we read a book about owls. One elf told me I look like an owl. I said why is that? He said because Ms. L is like Ms. Owl. And the way they pronounce it, it's totally true! I am now Ms. Owl.
- Elf 1 offered Elf 2 some "cheese" that he made. Elf 2 wasn't interested. Then Elf 1 offered me some cheese. I said okay. But I had to follow him to the home center to eat it. That made sense, we have a kitchen and a table for a restaurant in our home center. But when I arrived he grabbed my hands and said, "Got you! I eat you now. Yummy. You dishous! (delicious). You taste like turkey!" So now I have cannibal children. Better yet, he started cooking mushrooms because he says they go good with turkey. Once he had me "tied up" and the mushrooms cooking, he went around to the other elves and TAs saying, "Cheese? Anyone, cheese?" I don't remember the full story of Hansel and Gretel, but it sounds VERY similar. Just minus the bread crumbs.
- We have a poster that shows the faces of many different emotions. As you know, "I'm angry" remains the most popular, though sometimes I question if they understand what they are saying. This morning when I pointed to the jealous face, one student asked what jealous means. The best I could come up with was, "If another student has a toy that you want, but you can't have it, then you are jealous of that student". Later that day we had to walk to the cafeteria with our umbrellas. We were short umbrellas today so several students had to walk with a TA and two students had to share one. One elf didn't get to hold an umbrella. He folded his arms up, gave the two students sharing an umbrella the evil eye and said, "I'm jealous!" He was so upset, but we were all so happy he was able to apply what jealous is!
- As we were walking back from the cafeteria, I felt the first raindrop. Within about 10 seconds, everyone had felt one raindrop. One elf pointed up at the clouds and said, "Oh no! It's broken!"
- When we laid down for nap time, I noticed the car horns from the highway were particularly noisy today. One of my students sat up, and said "Outside, too loud. That's not okay." Then he looked very sternly towards the noisy honking and said, "Calm down!"
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Cold Snap
We finally had our cold snap last week. Summer/Autumn is officially gone, just in time
for December! The weird thing was it happened mid day. I checked the temp before I left for work, it was 70°, perfect skirt and Tshirt weather, and that was 7:30am. One could only expect it to get warmer. But by 1 pm, the temperature had dropped to below 50 degrees and windy! Now 50 isn't bad, but we were just so unprepared for it. Now I never leave for work without a good winter/rain jacket and mittens. My building isn't heated very well so I wear them all day. And back in the apartment, I finally have my heater figured out. I treat it like the washer. Just push buttons until I get what I want, since all the buttons are in Chinese.
Saturday I got a biking tour of Beilun.
- We found a neighborhood that looked like Mexico to me, if the homes hadn't been so gray. They were all attached, with clothes lines, and shattered glass on top so no one could climb them.
- The zoning was weird. Skyscrapers turned into farming fields that turned into dead
streets that turned into bustling shops. The next block was always totally unpredictable.
- I was surprised to find a really nice gym, and an amusement park.
Saturday night a dinner was held for all the expats" (or foreigners) at a fancy hotel.
- Some of the entertainment provided included dancers, magic, mask changing and sand art. The mask changing guy totally scared me. He came out into the crowd right up to me, stared me down, I blinked, and he was wearing a different mask. I was a little too freaked out to take video at that time, but I got some a minute later. The picture is of the sand art. It was really cool because the image would only be there for about 10 seconds before the artist would manipulate the sand into a new image. And he would use the shapes from the current image to create the next one. I wish I had video of this too!
- The awards and honors were given out in Chinese. The Ningbo government wanted to
recognize foreigners who have come to be a part of the community. Our music teacher got an award :)
- I was a little embarrassed by our table, they were very chatty, but I was listening to the Chinese, and I recognized the name of our school in Chinese so I got to shhhh everyone and tell them that Elaine was being announced.
Saturday later night, a group of 7 of us played Sardines in the apartment complex. For those who don't know, sardines is reverse hide-and-seek. One person hides and everyone else tries to find them. The trick is, once you've found the hiding person, you have to hide with them! So not only do you need a good spot to hide yourself, but you want to include at least 5 other people! We left the apartment doors open and played with 3 apartments on the 17th, 19th, and 21st floors. That was a lot of stairs for a reverse game of hide and seek!
Sunday was by far the best day ever. Dana, Matt, Julie and I biked to the base of Jiufeng"Mountain", which for all intensife purposes is actually a foothill, and we hiked up for about 45 minutes. The whole trip took about 3 hours. After we got back, I ate an entire large pizza by myself, and then I went and played soccer. The guys were a little miffed that I ditched on soccer early for the knitting club, but I was spent. And my new yarn from Tao Bao (online shopping) came in the mail!
Elves:
- At nap time yesterday, for some reason we could hear the car horns out on the interstate particularly well. I'm wandering if there was an accident or a traffic jam. One of my students sat up, and said "Outside, too loud. That's not okay." Then he looked very sternly towards the noisy honking and said, "Calm down!"
- Today as we were walking back from the cafeteria, I felt the first raindrop. Within about 10 seconds, everyone else had felt at least one raindrop. One elf pointed up to the clouds and said, "Oh no! It's broken!"
for December! The weird thing was it happened mid day. I checked the temp before I left for work, it was 70°, perfect skirt and Tshirt weather, and that was 7:30am. One could only expect it to get warmer. But by 1 pm, the temperature had dropped to below 50 degrees and windy! Now 50 isn't bad, but we were just so unprepared for it. Now I never leave for work without a good winter/rain jacket and mittens. My building isn't heated very well so I wear them all day. And back in the apartment, I finally have my heater figured out. I treat it like the washer. Just push buttons until I get what I want, since all the buttons are in Chinese.
Saturday I got a biking tour of Beilun.- We found a neighborhood that looked like Mexico to me, if the homes hadn't been so gray. They were all attached, with clothes lines, and shattered glass on top so no one could climb them.
- The zoning was weird. Skyscrapers turned into farming fields that turned into dead
streets that turned into bustling shops. The next block was always totally unpredictable.
- I was surprised to find a really nice gym, and an amusement park.
Saturday night a dinner was held for all the expats" (or foreigners) at a fancy hotel.- Some of the entertainment provided included dancers, magic, mask changing and sand art. The mask changing guy totally scared me. He came out into the crowd right up to me, stared me down, I blinked, and he was wearing a different mask. I was a little too freaked out to take video at that time, but I got some a minute later. The picture is of the sand art. It was really cool because the image would only be there for about 10 seconds before the artist would manipulate the sand into a new image. And he would use the shapes from the current image to create the next one. I wish I had video of this too!
- The awards and honors were given out in Chinese. The Ningbo government wanted to
recognize foreigners who have come to be a part of the community. Our music teacher got an award :)
- I was a little embarrassed by our table, they were very chatty, but I was listening to the Chinese, and I recognized the name of our school in Chinese so I got to shhhh everyone and tell them that Elaine was being announced.
Saturday later night, a group of 7 of us played Sardines in the apartment complex. For those who don't know, sardines is reverse hide-and-seek. One person hides and everyone else tries to find them. The trick is, once you've found the hiding person, you have to hide with them! So not only do you need a good spot to hide yourself, but you want to include at least 5 other people! We left the apartment doors open and played with 3 apartments on the 17th, 19th, and 21st floors. That was a lot of stairs for a reverse game of hide and seek!
Sunday was by far the best day ever. Dana, Matt, Julie and I biked to the base of Jiufeng"Mountain", which for all intensife purposes is actually a foothill, and we hiked up for about 45 minutes. The whole trip took about 3 hours. After we got back, I ate an entire large pizza by myself, and then I went and played soccer. The guys were a little miffed that I ditched on soccer early for the knitting club, but I was spent. And my new yarn from Tao Bao (online shopping) came in the mail!
 |
| Hiking up Jiafeng. We left our bikes in the valley. |
 |
| And coming back down. Those are some serious stai. |
 |
| I just love the language of this sign. |
Elves:
- At nap time yesterday, for some reason we could hear the car horns out on the interstate particularly well. I'm wandering if there was an accident or a traffic jam. One of my students sat up, and said "Outside, too loud. That's not okay." Then he looked very sternly towards the noisy honking and said, "Calm down!"
- Today as we were walking back from the cafeteria, I felt the first raindrop. Within about 10 seconds, everyone else had felt at least one raindrop. One elf pointed up to the clouds and said, "Oh no! It's broken!"
Saturday, December 3, 2011
"Cultural" Experiences
This week I finally started going out with my "local" friends, who all work at the school of course. No one else here speaks English. But that means I got to do some very fun, typical, Chinese "things to do".
The first was KTV. It's a major chain in China for karaoke. You can rent a room for about 8-10 people, complete with a huge TV, a touch screen computer, two microphones and who could forget the tambourines and the maracas?
- Alice, Jean and Helen are all TAs in my building. Shelly is one of the Mandarin teachers. All of them are in their young 20's. Bless them, they tried to speak as much English for me as possible.
- First, these are girls I've only seen at work. At KTV they are crazy happy. I've never seen many of the smile. But Jean was
so excited when I arrived she bear hug tackled me, linked arms with me, and dragged me into grocery store.
- One important thing with karaoke is the food. KTVs have grocery stores inside them. We were also brought a fruit platter, and a couple of the girls disappeared and came back with KFC for all of us. So much food!!
- I had to clear up one misconception really quick. Just because the song is in English, doesn't mean I automatically know it. Most of those songs were written before I was born.
- The only song I did pick to sing was "Footloose". I felt it was important for their American education :)
- Other favorites that the girls picked out included: You Are My Sunshine, Jingle Bells & Jingle Bell Rock, I learned Alice is a big fan of Linkin Park, of course some Backstreet Boys, Kelly Clarkson ... and others I can't remember at the moment.
- All the Chinese songs sounded the same to me. Same pretty melody. And very similar dramatic, sad music videos about star crossed lovers in beautiful old Chinese dress in a serene, mountainous setting.
- French Fries came from KFC. Shelly picked up a packet of ketchup, looked at me and said, "tomato?". Then she looked confused and said, "potato?" ... then she went back and forth, "tomato ... potato ... tomato?" Then Alice grabbed the packet from her, looked at her meaningfully and said very slowly "kkkettchhhupp!"
The next day, Alice and Shelly took me to the hair salon. Another very Chinese thing to do, especially for the women, is to get your hair washed. Don't you love the feeling when you go to the salon to get your hair cut and they wash your hair and massage your head? Well the women here go every week just to get it washed and styled! No hair cut necessary.
- The women who work at the salon are the ones who do the hair washing. It's actually VERY comfortable. You get a full reclining seat complete with leg rest, and your head isn't in a bowl, it's more of a cushy water proof pillow that drains the water on the side. Very nice!
- It was very comfortable until the men figured out that I was in the salon. The men who work at the salon are the ones who do the styling. They must have heard a mei gua ren was in the salon, because I was relaxing with my eyes closed when I heard a HELLO! and opened my eyes to find about 6 guys leaning over me and staring at me hair. *Fantastic* The same "hello" guy told me I was very beautiful when I sat up with my hair wrapped up in a towel. Really? Not laying the flattery on a little thick there? My hair is in a towel!
- Of course there was one "lucky" guy who got to dry and style my hair. This took about 40 minutes. And during those 40 minutes EVERY guy would eventually saunter over, and here is what would happen:
First he makes jokes with my hair stylist.
Then he pretends to be very interested in the styling techniques, but I can see him slowly giving in.
Finally, he gets up the courage and touches my hair. Then he asks me if it's real. Of course I don't know what he's saying, so I stare at him blankly, so he asks Alice if my hair is real. Alice translates and tells him there is no coloring in my hair.
He looks confused, touches my hair again, and gives it a little tug. Yes, my hair is actually attached to my head!
Only a couple reach this step, they ask Alice if I'm looking for a Chinese boyfriend. If that question has to be translated, I'm sorry but it's probably not going to work out!
The Ningbo Focus:
This is a magazine that the city of Ningbo puts out every month. Usually it includes monthly news, interviews with new business and restaurant owners, and pictures of all the festivals from the last month. It's very popular so the magazine can be found anywhere, but I normally find it at Cup of Joe. Here were some interesting stories I found.
- Next year, the smart phone app for tracking public buses is coming to Ningbo. Cool! If only I had a smart phone ...
- There was an article about Erich (owner of Cup of Joe). He hosted a party with a "traditional pig roast" for a new business owner in Ningbo. Also in the November issue we saw pictures of people we met at the Halloween parties. Kinda cool that people submit photos to the magazine and you get to see people you know, or parties you went to!
- Beilun has been named the "Seed Breeding Base of Rhododendron of China" or ... more eloquently "Rhododendron Hometown in China". This is kinda cool, because Rhododendrons are my favorite flower. And flowers are still in bloom here in Beilun, but I'm confused because I've never seen a Rhododendron here. I'm thinking maybe there is a factory that exports the most Rhododendron seeds ... Not as cool.
- There was an article about the Ningbo Sinology School, which is cool because our elementary school is taking a field trip there this Friday. It's a hundred year old school that teaches the new technology but also the old traditions of China. So our students will be getting lessons in the old calligraphy :) Kinda neat!
The first was KTV. It's a major chain in China for karaoke. You can rent a room for about 8-10 people, complete with a huge TV, a touch screen computer, two microphones and who could forget the tambourines and the maracas?
 |
| Alice, Helen, (Me of course!) Shelly, Jean |
- First, these are girls I've only seen at work. At KTV they are crazy happy. I've never seen many of the smile. But Jean was
so excited when I arrived she bear hug tackled me, linked arms with me, and dragged me into grocery store.
- One important thing with karaoke is the food. KTVs have grocery stores inside them. We were also brought a fruit platter, and a couple of the girls disappeared and came back with KFC for all of us. So much food!!
- I had to clear up one misconception really quick. Just because the song is in English, doesn't mean I automatically know it. Most of those songs were written before I was born.
- The only song I did pick to sing was "Footloose". I felt it was important for their American education :)
- Other favorites that the girls picked out included: You Are My Sunshine, Jingle Bells & Jingle Bell Rock, I learned Alice is a big fan of Linkin Park, of course some Backstreet Boys, Kelly Clarkson ... and others I can't remember at the moment.
- All the Chinese songs sounded the same to me. Same pretty melody. And very similar dramatic, sad music videos about star crossed lovers in beautiful old Chinese dress in a serene, mountainous setting.
- French Fries came from KFC. Shelly picked up a packet of ketchup, looked at me and said, "tomato?". Then she looked confused and said, "potato?" ... then she went back and forth, "tomato ... potato ... tomato?" Then Alice grabbed the packet from her, looked at her meaningfully and said very slowly "kkkettchhhupp!"
 |
| Singing to Linkin Park with Alice. This is one of the first times I've seen Jean smile. |
The next day, Alice and Shelly took me to the hair salon. Another very Chinese thing to do, especially for the women, is to get your hair washed. Don't you love the feeling when you go to the salon to get your hair cut and they wash your hair and massage your head? Well the women here go every week just to get it washed and styled! No hair cut necessary.
- The women who work at the salon are the ones who do the hair washing. It's actually VERY comfortable. You get a full reclining seat complete with leg rest, and your head isn't in a bowl, it's more of a cushy water proof pillow that drains the water on the side. Very nice!
- It was very comfortable until the men figured out that I was in the salon. The men who work at the salon are the ones who do the styling. They must have heard a mei gua ren was in the salon, because I was relaxing with my eyes closed when I heard a HELLO! and opened my eyes to find about 6 guys leaning over me and staring at me hair. *Fantastic* The same "hello" guy told me I was very beautiful when I sat up with my hair wrapped up in a towel. Really? Not laying the flattery on a little thick there? My hair is in a towel!
- Of course there was one "lucky" guy who got to dry and style my hair. This took about 40 minutes. And during those 40 minutes EVERY guy would eventually saunter over, and here is what would happen:
First he makes jokes with my hair stylist.
Then he pretends to be very interested in the styling techniques, but I can see him slowly giving in.
Finally, he gets up the courage and touches my hair. Then he asks me if it's real. Of course I don't know what he's saying, so I stare at him blankly, so he asks Alice if my hair is real. Alice translates and tells him there is no coloring in my hair.
He looks confused, touches my hair again, and gives it a little tug. Yes, my hair is actually attached to my head!
Only a couple reach this step, they ask Alice if I'm looking for a Chinese boyfriend. If that question has to be translated, I'm sorry but it's probably not going to work out!
The Ningbo Focus:
This is a magazine that the city of Ningbo puts out every month. Usually it includes monthly news, interviews with new business and restaurant owners, and pictures of all the festivals from the last month. It's very popular so the magazine can be found anywhere, but I normally find it at Cup of Joe. Here were some interesting stories I found.
- Next year, the smart phone app for tracking public buses is coming to Ningbo. Cool! If only I had a smart phone ...
 |
| Cup of Joe. The green store front to the right is Hemingway's. Cup of Joe delivers coffee and wine to our apartment. Hemingway's delivers pizza :) |
- Beilun has been named the "Seed Breeding Base of Rhododendron of China" or ... more eloquently "Rhododendron Hometown in China". This is kinda cool, because Rhododendrons are my favorite flower. And flowers are still in bloom here in Beilun, but I'm confused because I've never seen a Rhododendron here. I'm thinking maybe there is a factory that exports the most Rhododendron seeds ... Not as cool.
- There was an article about the Ningbo Sinology School, which is cool because our elementary school is taking a field trip there this Friday. It's a hundred year old school that teaches the new technology but also the old traditions of China. So our students will be getting lessons in the old calligraphy :) Kinda neat!
 |
| At Cup of Joe you get to choose your mug. You can have rockwith your name placed in your spot so people know the mug isreserved. This is my favorite. I'm told someone else likes this one too, but it's always been available so I'm choosing to be adult share instead of reserve it :) |
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Lost on Planet China
Okay, so everyone knows I'm not really into a big hoopla about birthdays. Today more than ever reassured me that NO ONE IN CHINA WILL EVER KNOW MY BIRTHDAY!!!! Today is Wendi's birthday. It turns out that all of the parents of the Early Years were in cahoots on a big celebration that happened in the cafeteria in front of everyone. As scary as that idea is (the thought of being surrounded by hundreds of people singing Happy Birthday), the scariest thing was just the presence of the parents. I lose all authority when the parents are at school, because the kiddos know mom will take care of any woe as long as they scream loud enough. You can imagine the amount of crying that happened because EVERY student's mom came to lunch. And worse, the moms are force feeding their kids. I've learned the reason several of my kids don't eat at lunch is because they expect an adult to spoon feed them. If no one is spoon feeding them, they will literally sit there and stare at their food for all of lunch time and just not eat. No no no no no no way! NOPE! I'm not spoon feeding each of my students. Luckily they're figuring out that with me, crying will get you NO WHERE and NOTHING. Yesterday here's what happened (a couple of you have heard this story, but I wanted to share it with everyone):
I'm watching Elf 1 and Elf 2 playing in the block center. Elf 1 notices that a block from his airplane is missing. He opens his mouth and I see him just about to wail the most high pitched scream that I know all of them are capable of, but then he sees the look on my face and freezes, mid-cry. He knows that if there is a problem, he has to talk to me. With me, crying will not get the stolen block back. Elf 1 quickly points at Elf 2 and motions a swift and speedy take-away.
Me: "I notice your airplane is missing a block. Did you see [Elf 2] take it?"
Elf 1: *Shakes his head*
Me: "Okay, well let's look for the missing block. Maybe we can ask [Elf 2] if he knows where it is."
Elf 1: *stands up to talk to Elf 2* and sure enough, Elf 1 was sitting on the missing block the whole time.
Now this teacher would not have been a happy teacher if there had been a lot of screaming and tears shed over a stolen block that wasn't even stolen.
We are working on talking about our problems, as evidenced above. Phrases like "excuse me" and "please stop" should be used before any crying or pushing occurs. Of course my hope is that talking about the problem will make it so that crying is no longer necessary, again, as evidenced in the story above. My little Korean elf still seems determined not to pick up any English. Or so I thought. It turns out that what I thought he has been saying this whole time, "ping tu da", is not Korean at all, but in fact an attempt to say "please stop".
"Lost On Planet China" by J. Maarten Troost
I've been reading this book that Ariana gave me. It's a guy who just travelled China and wrote about it. He seems to exaggerate a lot, but I found two quotes to be particularly insightful:
- "As I delved into 'Chinese for Dummies', I couldn't help but conclude that the Chinese language is the Great Wall of languages, a clever linguistic barrier erected to keep outsiders out .... take the issue of Chinese characters. There are 20,000 of them. Fortunately , you don't need to learn all 20,000, just 7,000 should you wish to understand what an educated Chinese person is talking about".
- "But then, remembering that human beings cannot produce 20,000 unique sounds, even if you were to include belching and hawking great globs of phlegm (which I think counts in Chinese), the linguistic powers that be - whoever they are - threw in tones, possibly to ensure that no foreigner over the age of thirty would have any chance whatsoever of understanding the Chinese language".
- At least with the English alphabet, I only have to memorize 26 characters. And each of those characters has a typical sound, making it easy to read. Chinese characters are in no way phonetic. Two words that have the same characters are actually pronounced completely differently.
My Struggles with Mandarin:
- My TAs have been encouraging me to speak Mandarin with them. I'm careful to do it when the students aren't around, to make sure they're learning the most English possible.
- Yesterday morning I saw my TA Jean who doesn't speak English. I told her "Jin tian xing qi er", which means, "Today is Tuesday". I know it's not very conversational, but it's something I can say in Mandarin. She just started giggling, and held both her hands up in peace signs, so excited I am starting to speak Mandarin :)
- One of my elves wanted more rice at lunch. And in an effort to keep her seated, since the kiddos tend to wander when they get out of their chairs, I offered to take the bowl for her. On my way to the kitchen, Alice stopped me, looked me in the eye, and said, "You can do this, you will order the rice in Mandarin!" Success!
- I love how they create adjectives. They combine the word for "very", which is "hen" (3rd tone), with a verb. For example:
Very eat = Delicious, "hen chi"
Very look = Beautiful "hen kan"
Weird, huh?
I'm watching Elf 1 and Elf 2 playing in the block center. Elf 1 notices that a block from his airplane is missing. He opens his mouth and I see him just about to wail the most high pitched scream that I know all of them are capable of, but then he sees the look on my face and freezes, mid-cry. He knows that if there is a problem, he has to talk to me. With me, crying will not get the stolen block back. Elf 1 quickly points at Elf 2 and motions a swift and speedy take-away.
Me: "I notice your airplane is missing a block. Did you see [Elf 2] take it?"
Elf 1: *Shakes his head*
Me: "Okay, well let's look for the missing block. Maybe we can ask [Elf 2] if he knows where it is."
Elf 1: *stands up to talk to Elf 2* and sure enough, Elf 1 was sitting on the missing block the whole time.
Now this teacher would not have been a happy teacher if there had been a lot of screaming and tears shed over a stolen block that wasn't even stolen.
We are working on talking about our problems, as evidenced above. Phrases like "excuse me" and "please stop" should be used before any crying or pushing occurs. Of course my hope is that talking about the problem will make it so that crying is no longer necessary, again, as evidenced in the story above. My little Korean elf still seems determined not to pick up any English. Or so I thought. It turns out that what I thought he has been saying this whole time, "ping tu da", is not Korean at all, but in fact an attempt to say "please stop".
"Lost On Planet China" by J. Maarten Troost
I've been reading this book that Ariana gave me. It's a guy who just travelled China and wrote about it. He seems to exaggerate a lot, but I found two quotes to be particularly insightful:
- "As I delved into 'Chinese for Dummies', I couldn't help but conclude that the Chinese language is the Great Wall of languages, a clever linguistic barrier erected to keep outsiders out .... take the issue of Chinese characters. There are 20,000 of them. Fortunately , you don't need to learn all 20,000, just 7,000 should you wish to understand what an educated Chinese person is talking about".
- "But then, remembering that human beings cannot produce 20,000 unique sounds, even if you were to include belching and hawking great globs of phlegm (which I think counts in Chinese), the linguistic powers that be - whoever they are - threw in tones, possibly to ensure that no foreigner over the age of thirty would have any chance whatsoever of understanding the Chinese language".
- At least with the English alphabet, I only have to memorize 26 characters. And each of those characters has a typical sound, making it easy to read. Chinese characters are in no way phonetic. Two words that have the same characters are actually pronounced completely differently.
My Struggles with Mandarin:
- My TAs have been encouraging me to speak Mandarin with them. I'm careful to do it when the students aren't around, to make sure they're learning the most English possible.
- Yesterday morning I saw my TA Jean who doesn't speak English. I told her "Jin tian xing qi er", which means, "Today is Tuesday". I know it's not very conversational, but it's something I can say in Mandarin. She just started giggling, and held both her hands up in peace signs, so excited I am starting to speak Mandarin :)
- One of my elves wanted more rice at lunch. And in an effort to keep her seated, since the kiddos tend to wander when they get out of their chairs, I offered to take the bowl for her. On my way to the kitchen, Alice stopped me, looked me in the eye, and said, "You can do this, you will order the rice in Mandarin!" Success!
- I love how they create adjectives. They combine the word for "very", which is "hen" (3rd tone), with a verb. For example:
Very eat = Delicious, "hen chi"
Very look = Beautiful "hen kan"
Weird, huh?
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