As many of you know (hopefully all who are reading this), my birthday was just a few weeks ago. I was a little skeptical about what to do on my birthday, but it turned out to be a really great day, probably one of my favorite birthdays in memory.
In the morning, the Vice-Dean and Chairman of the office of our department (Foreign Language Dept.) surprised me in the break between classes by showing up in my office with a cake and some of my students in tow. So, I got to have a little birthday party in my office right there. They had this really neat candle, too. It's supposed to be like a lotus flower. It starts closed up, but when you light the middle it lights these other candles on the petals that cause it to open up. It's really neat, but it played "happy birthday" non-stop until we couldn't take it anymore. So we had to break it to stop it. I was still in my office enjoying the surprise, when Oliver (one of the other foreign teachers for grade 2) surprised me by bringing in my former class to wish me a happy birthday. It was so great! I got to see all my old students, and I was just thrilled that they were there to wish me a happy birthday.
I went home for lunch, as usual, and spent a few minutes calling 2/3 of my brothers. I told them I was calling them so they could wish me a happy birthday. :) But I really just wanted to hear their voices. At 4:00 I got to learn some more wu shu, which was fun and energizing, but I had to cut out early because I knew Mom would be calling me, which was also exactly what I wanted. Then I got to talk to the other half of my family (Mom, Dad, and Sam).
To top off the evening, some of my friends took me out to a Korean restaurant in town. They also gave me a cake and some small gifts, but really it was the company that made the night. We watched "Father of the Bride" after dinner, and while walking home one of them tripped on the last stair -- but saved the cake! :) Anyway, it was a great day. You can all rest assured that I did have a very Happy Birthday.
25 November 2005
"Follow me to freedom!"....
I'm sure those were the last words from the fish's mouth before jumping out of the tank onto the floor of the restaurant, splashing me and the lady I was eating with in the process. Naturally, the waiters all stood around and watched it flopping around on the floor for a minute before picking it up and putting it right back into the tank. D'oh!!! You just can't win around here.
That was just one of the many interesting things you would see in China, but probably wouldn't see in the States. Have you ever seen turtles on a string? The other day I was riding home on a bus, and saw a guy carrying around this string with about three turtles on it, all attached by the leg. I sure hope (for their sake) they were already dead.
What about electricians? Ever seen someone working on power lines in the States? They're awfully careful in their cherry pickers, right? Imagine, if you will, tying a rope around your waist and the pole, and wearing these weird boots that have these long hooks on the end of them. The hooks fit nicely around the pole, and you use them to climb up to where you can reach the wires or the generator or something. I really should just carry my camera around with me everywhere. There are some things you just need to see to believe.
That was just one of the many interesting things you would see in China, but probably wouldn't see in the States. Have you ever seen turtles on a string? The other day I was riding home on a bus, and saw a guy carrying around this string with about three turtles on it, all attached by the leg. I sure hope (for their sake) they were already dead.
What about electricians? Ever seen someone working on power lines in the States? They're awfully careful in their cherry pickers, right? Imagine, if you will, tying a rope around your waist and the pole, and wearing these weird boots that have these long hooks on the end of them. The hooks fit nicely around the pole, and you use them to climb up to where you can reach the wires or the generator or something. I really should just carry my camera around with me everywhere. There are some things you just need to see to believe.
18 November 2005
Mystifies Me
I know I've already posted like, 5 blogs in one day, but this is the last one for today, I promise!
One of my friends here said something once about being mesmerized by the reflection of light on water and wanting to look directly at the sun or into some light, like the little ones you see in the ground at parks or on sidewalks etc. How his eyesight is still 20/20 I just don't know. I was thinking about that this morning while riding the bus, because the sun was a brilliant, bright orange in a hazy pink sky. I wanted to look at it directly too, but I found I couldn't. It hurt my eyes too much (not to mention I don't want to go blind before my time). But it got me to thinking, you know, God is kind of like that. We couldn't look at Him directly, we'd go blind or mad or die or something. Instead we have to content ourselves with looking around Him (like at the area around the sun, where you can still see the glory of the sun in the corner of your eye) or looking at everything that His light touches. Sometimes you have to go all squinty-eyed to get a good look at the sun. I think sometimes the same is true of God. He is too glorious for us to look at Him full-on.
One of my friends here said something once about being mesmerized by the reflection of light on water and wanting to look directly at the sun or into some light, like the little ones you see in the ground at parks or on sidewalks etc. How his eyesight is still 20/20 I just don't know. I was thinking about that this morning while riding the bus, because the sun was a brilliant, bright orange in a hazy pink sky. I wanted to look at it directly too, but I found I couldn't. It hurt my eyes too much (not to mention I don't want to go blind before my time). But it got me to thinking, you know, God is kind of like that. We couldn't look at Him directly, we'd go blind or mad or die or something. Instead we have to content ourselves with looking around Him (like at the area around the sun, where you can still see the glory of the sun in the corner of your eye) or looking at everything that His light touches. Sometimes you have to go all squinty-eyed to get a good look at the sun. I think sometimes the same is true of God. He is too glorious for us to look at Him full-on.
Musings 3
Everyone should experience the Chinese traffic system; not knowing what it is you're eating; knowing what you're eating and not caring; trying strange foods; riding a 3-wheel taxi; watching the laborers at work; pushing through crowds; having the electricity shut off at random and without warning in order to save money (and freeze to death ?it thins the crowd); being told about events (such as rehearsals) with no warning, and having to adjust your schedule accordingly at the last minute ?after all, foreigners don't have a life in China; :) waking up at 4:00 a.m. just to hear the sound of silence; walking down a deserted Wen Hua Lu late at night, just to see the trees bowing to each other in the streetlamps. Everyone should try living in a small, insignificant town of only 600,000 people. Everyone should experience 15 degrees C as being warm. Everyone should try eating in a restaurant wearing a coat and gloves, using chopsticks. Everyone should try picking fish off the bones with chopsticks. Everyone should try walking through an open market to get home, buying something from a street vendor, walking in the bitter cold of night with the moon pouring down over snuffed-out street lamps, covered pool tables, empty streets, houses, walls and faces, turning everything blue like the sea.
Musings 2
Everyone should have the chance to try real Chinese food. That stuff we have in America just doesn't quite compare. :) I'm afraid I've been spoiled for the real thing. Everyone should taste the delights of vegetables in China ?I never knew how much I liked eggplant until I came here. Everyone should try some Chinese "Papa John's"-- a kind of thin, salty bread made with eggs & onions. So delicious! Everyone should see buildings being torn down - or built - by human hands sans machinery. Everyone should watch Chinese workers tearing up the roads. Everyone should meet the Good People of China and learn to love them, should learn to appreciate the sheer variety of faces. In America it's easy to think all Asians look the same. In China it's impossible to think that. You have to learn to see the differences between them, but once you do there's no mistaking them. Everyone should experience the rare beauty of a clear, cloudless, crystal-blue sky as a backdrop for the mountain. Everyone should try to control a bunch of college kids who act like 10-yr-olds on too much candy. Sometimes I wonder why I'm here. I'm not really cut out to be a teacher, you know. Sometimes I forget that I'm in China, it feels so natural to be here. Sometimes I forget what we think a stereotypical Chinese person looks like. I know that sounds weird, but once you start seeing the differences between them, you don't remember what you used to think.
17 November 2005
Musings 1
Recently I've been really pensive. I don't know why exactly, but I've tried to capture some of my musings and write them down occasionally. The trouble is that usually by the time I can write them down, I forget what I was going to say. But here's a sample....
Everyone should try living in China. Everyone should try living in standards that are lower than they originally thought they could bear. Everyone should experience riding a bus, taking a train, taking a taxi, and trying to communicate with someone who has no understanding of English at all. Everyone should endure being stared at, should learn to stare back, spit, squat, and ignore cries of "helloooooo!" and "foreigner!" Everyone should have to learn to wait. Everyone should experience being cold when you step outside and even colder when you step inside, enduring the cold of winter and heat of summer. Everyone should climb Mt. Tai to watch the sunrise, should go as far south in the city as you can, where the city lights are so scarce you can have proof of the stars you thought you remembered, should walk late at night to a park alone (or with a few friends) to just appreciate stillness, quiet, aloneness, and the fact that no one is staring at you, the foreigner, like so much meat, because no one else is around -- just you and God, living alone together in a foreign country.
Everyone should try living in China. Everyone should try living in standards that are lower than they originally thought they could bear. Everyone should experience riding a bus, taking a train, taking a taxi, and trying to communicate with someone who has no understanding of English at all. Everyone should endure being stared at, should learn to stare back, spit, squat, and ignore cries of "helloooooo!" and "foreigner!" Everyone should have to learn to wait. Everyone should experience being cold when you step outside and even colder when you step inside, enduring the cold of winter and heat of summer. Everyone should climb Mt. Tai to watch the sunrise, should go as far south in the city as you can, where the city lights are so scarce you can have proof of the stars you thought you remembered, should walk late at night to a park alone (or with a few friends) to just appreciate stillness, quiet, aloneness, and the fact that no one is staring at you, the foreigner, like so much meat, because no one else is around -- just you and God, living alone together in a foreign country.
Breaking out the long john's
This morning when I woke up it was 14.6 degrees (C) in my room. 14.6 C. That's pretty nippy. That translates to about, oh, 58.3 American degrees. Bed never felt so comfortable.
The thing here is not that it's so much colder than the U.S., but that it's so much colder inside here than it is inside in the U.S. It's so much cheaper to just not turn on the heat that the school decides it's worth it to just freeze to death. This morning we got a nice surprise when we walked in the office, though: they finally turned on the heat in our office! (yesterday we shorted the fuse twice using our little space heater)
The city controls the heating in our apartment building. They still haven't turned it on. Imagine this: a concrete building with single-pane windows, some windows that don't quite close all the way and some with holes in them, and 0 degrees C at night. I see now why most Asians don't take showers in the morning. You have to thaw yourself out once you're through. I have a little space heater, but I'm reluctant to start using it yet. I would certainly be happy to have it on physically, but psychologically I just can't make myself break it out yet. I just keep thinking it's going to get much colder. I think if I can convince myself that right now it's not as bad as it can be, that it will get much worse, then when it does get much worse I can turn the heater on and it will feel so much better. That's my reasoning at least. Sound reasoning, I think, but we'll see how sound it is come January.
All that is to say, I finally broke down and put on the long john's this morning. I've been trying to save them until I just couldn't take it any longer. I probably could've lasted a few more days, but I know that my friends have already given in. So I felt like less of a wimp for already wearing them in November. ;) (not that my friends are wimpy....the fact that they've already started wearing clothes under their clothes probably makes them smarter, actually)
The thing here is not that it's so much colder than the U.S., but that it's so much colder inside here than it is inside in the U.S. It's so much cheaper to just not turn on the heat that the school decides it's worth it to just freeze to death. This morning we got a nice surprise when we walked in the office, though: they finally turned on the heat in our office! (yesterday we shorted the fuse twice using our little space heater)
The city controls the heating in our apartment building. They still haven't turned it on. Imagine this: a concrete building with single-pane windows, some windows that don't quite close all the way and some with holes in them, and 0 degrees C at night. I see now why most Asians don't take showers in the morning. You have to thaw yourself out once you're through. I have a little space heater, but I'm reluctant to start using it yet. I would certainly be happy to have it on physically, but psychologically I just can't make myself break it out yet. I just keep thinking it's going to get much colder. I think if I can convince myself that right now it's not as bad as it can be, that it will get much worse, then when it does get much worse I can turn the heater on and it will feel so much better. That's my reasoning at least. Sound reasoning, I think, but we'll see how sound it is come January.
All that is to say, I finally broke down and put on the long john's this morning. I've been trying to save them until I just couldn't take it any longer. I probably could've lasted a few more days, but I know that my friends have already given in. So I felt like less of a wimp for already wearing them in November. ;) (not that my friends are wimpy....the fact that they've already started wearing clothes under their clothes probably makes them smarter, actually)
Office Hours
Life here is such that I am not always able to post blogs as often as I would like. There is a computer in our office, but as it turns out it is so slow that by the time I've loaded this page it's time to go to my next class or meet with the next group of students, etc. Usually I type out what I'm going to say and save it while I'm waiting for the site to load. So it may happen that one day I post like 50 blogs at once, but they're all about random unconnected events that have happened over the past month. Anyway, here's one that I wrote several weeks ago, but it gives some idea of my life at present:
Last week I was utterly exhausted. In case I haven't posted my weekly schedule yet, allow me to do so now. I teach 6 classes this semester, for a total of 12 hours, and I should have at least 4 hours in my office each week. So far so good. Well, last week with all the extra appointments, I ended up staying at school all morning Mon., and all morning and afternoon Tues., Wed., and Thurs. That's not really supposed to happen. I could barely concentrate by the time Thurs. rolled around, and I had such a headache! The really annoying thing is that the students haven't learned just yet that they need to sign up before they come to my office. That's something I've been complaining about today because yet again no one has signed up until the last minute, and here I am in the office waiting for the one group of students I have coming when I could be at home grading all these journals instead. I know I'm here for the students, but sometimes I really just want to be selfish and get enough rest, you know?
The way I have my office hours set up: on Tues., 2:00-3:30 is supposed to be the time for classes 3, 4, 5, & 6 to come in small groups for specific questions or speaking practice. Each group should have 3-6 people and can sign up for a 15-min. slot. On Wed., the same time is reserved for classes 1 & 2. Also on Wed. I have a time set for some "free talk" when any of my students can come in for as long as they like, and that time is 3:30-4:45, giving me just enough time to get ready to catch the bus. It's not really so bad, and I think the set-up (with some small groups coming for 15 min. at a time, and only one hour for the really big group) helps the time go by. It still just gets to me when they constantly ask me the same questions again and again. I mean, you can only answer the question "can you use chopsticks?" so many times before you go certifiably insane. For more information about the kind of questions that can commit you to a mental institution, visit the website angrychineseblogger.com and go to the section about "what not to say in China" or "how not to answer questions" or something like that. Of course, to understand the full scope of what this guy is saying, you'd need to experience it first-hand, but you definitely get the idea of what it's like. :)
Another annoying thing about my office hours is when some students from other classes (not my students, in other words) try to sneak in. I know they just want English practice, but I get tired enough just talking to my own students for hours on end without trying to placate students from other grades or departments. There's one guy whose English is already pretty good, but he keeps wanting to come in to my office hours. I've had to tell him a few times that these times are reserved for my own students, but that hasn't really stopped him entirely. Last time he tried to come in he said something to the effect of, "I think all men are created equal." Nice try, buddy, but that doesn't work on me. No, really, he's a very nice guy, I just for him to respect my students' time, and I will also be happy to respect his. But such is the life of the foreigners on campus. We're here for show. ;) Actually, we've been invited to sing a song at some big "party" that the school is hosting for like, 3,000 people. They want us (me, Oliver, & Beate, the other two foreign teachers here) to sing one English song and one Chinese song. Of course, I'm sure they're expecting some kind of pop English song, and they want us to sing a Chinese song like we're some monkeys performing for them...man, I sound bitter or something. I'm not really, I promise....but I bet they're going to be surprised when we start singing in German from the Ars Musica in 3-part harmony. (I'm sure they'll clap politely after we finish Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen and sit in eager anticipation of "My Heart Will Go On"....which I'm sorry to say, but they won't get) I'll let you all know how that turns out after the fact.
Last week I was utterly exhausted. In case I haven't posted my weekly schedule yet, allow me to do so now. I teach 6 classes this semester, for a total of 12 hours, and I should have at least 4 hours in my office each week. So far so good. Well, last week with all the extra appointments, I ended up staying at school all morning Mon., and all morning and afternoon Tues., Wed., and Thurs. That's not really supposed to happen. I could barely concentrate by the time Thurs. rolled around, and I had such a headache! The really annoying thing is that the students haven't learned just yet that they need to sign up before they come to my office. That's something I've been complaining about today because yet again no one has signed up until the last minute, and here I am in the office waiting for the one group of students I have coming when I could be at home grading all these journals instead. I know I'm here for the students, but sometimes I really just want to be selfish and get enough rest, you know?
The way I have my office hours set up: on Tues., 2:00-3:30 is supposed to be the time for classes 3, 4, 5, & 6 to come in small groups for specific questions or speaking practice. Each group should have 3-6 people and can sign up for a 15-min. slot. On Wed., the same time is reserved for classes 1 & 2. Also on Wed. I have a time set for some "free talk" when any of my students can come in for as long as they like, and that time is 3:30-4:45, giving me just enough time to get ready to catch the bus. It's not really so bad, and I think the set-up (with some small groups coming for 15 min. at a time, and only one hour for the really big group) helps the time go by. It still just gets to me when they constantly ask me the same questions again and again. I mean, you can only answer the question "can you use chopsticks?" so many times before you go certifiably insane. For more information about the kind of questions that can commit you to a mental institution, visit the website angrychineseblogger.com and go to the section about "what not to say in China" or "how not to answer questions" or something like that. Of course, to understand the full scope of what this guy is saying, you'd need to experience it first-hand, but you definitely get the idea of what it's like. :)
Another annoying thing about my office hours is when some students from other classes (not my students, in other words) try to sneak in. I know they just want English practice, but I get tired enough just talking to my own students for hours on end without trying to placate students from other grades or departments. There's one guy whose English is already pretty good, but he keeps wanting to come in to my office hours. I've had to tell him a few times that these times are reserved for my own students, but that hasn't really stopped him entirely. Last time he tried to come in he said something to the effect of, "I think all men are created equal." Nice try, buddy, but that doesn't work on me. No, really, he's a very nice guy, I just for him to respect my students' time, and I will also be happy to respect his. But such is the life of the foreigners on campus. We're here for show. ;) Actually, we've been invited to sing a song at some big "party" that the school is hosting for like, 3,000 people. They want us (me, Oliver, & Beate, the other two foreign teachers here) to sing one English song and one Chinese song. Of course, I'm sure they're expecting some kind of pop English song, and they want us to sing a Chinese song like we're some monkeys performing for them...man, I sound bitter or something. I'm not really, I promise....but I bet they're going to be surprised when we start singing in German from the Ars Musica in 3-part harmony. (I'm sure they'll clap politely after we finish Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen and sit in eager anticipation of "My Heart Will Go On"....which I'm sorry to say, but they won't get) I'll let you all know how that turns out after the fact.
11 November 2005
Buying things
One of the favorite questions asked me by my students is "when you go shopping, how do you communicate with people?" Fortunately I know how to ask "how much?", I know the numbers, and I know enough to say "too expensive". :) Also, I am fortunate to have a few American friends here who are learning Chinese and can help me out a LOT.
Living in China is really lots of fun, even when things go slowly or don't go the way you want them to. I enjoy living in another country, and I think everyone should have the experience sometime in their lives. Today I actually went downtown and paid my phone bill (yikes!). It used to be that you could just go to any bank and pay there, but now I guess the rules have changed or something (?) and you have to actually go to the phone company, called CNC. The people there were very polite, but I of course couldn't understand what they were asking me in Chinese. The customer at the next counter over was able to ask me if I just wanted to pay my phone bill, to which I gratefully replied "yes".
I've been excited by some recent purchases of mine. One of my American friends in town got a new cell phone, and gave me the old one. That has really come in handy. Although I will NOT give out my number to my students or random strangers, it's still very useful when I want to get in touch with some of the other foreigners in town. My other fun purchases the other day were a DVD player (again, one of my Am. friends who's studying Chinese helped me out there) and a bus pass. It's so much fun to use the bus pass, because then all the locals look at you with a kind of awe when you use it on the bus. And now that I have the DVD player, I can finally put my big-screen TV to good use. :)
Living in China is really lots of fun, even when things go slowly or don't go the way you want them to. I enjoy living in another country, and I think everyone should have the experience sometime in their lives. Today I actually went downtown and paid my phone bill (yikes!). It used to be that you could just go to any bank and pay there, but now I guess the rules have changed or something (?) and you have to actually go to the phone company, called CNC. The people there were very polite, but I of course couldn't understand what they were asking me in Chinese. The customer at the next counter over was able to ask me if I just wanted to pay my phone bill, to which I gratefully replied "yes".
I've been excited by some recent purchases of mine. One of my American friends in town got a new cell phone, and gave me the old one. That has really come in handy. Although I will NOT give out my number to my students or random strangers, it's still very useful when I want to get in touch with some of the other foreigners in town. My other fun purchases the other day were a DVD player (again, one of my Am. friends who's studying Chinese helped me out there) and a bus pass. It's so much fun to use the bus pass, because then all the locals look at you with a kind of awe when you use it on the bus. And now that I have the DVD player, I can finally put my big-screen TV to good use. :)
07 November 2005
Accidents, etc.
So, how have I been the past few weeks? you might ask. Well, things have certainly not been dull around here. Between teaching and English Department outings and meeting with students and just living in China, I've been wearing myself out on occasion. I have lots of stories, though, so I'll see if I can't relay some of them and still hold your attention.
For the first time since I've been in China, I think, I've seen a few accidents. A few weeks ago I was on my way to the McDonald's in town (yep, we have a McD's here, and two KFC's) in a taxi, when we passed this motorcycle on its side in the middle of the road. That wasn't so bad, but there was a woman lying next to it. She was holding her leg, but just lying there waiting for someone to help her up. I would've wanted to if I'd been walking. Then just last Sat. night I was walking home from something called "English corner" (more on that in a bit) with some of my friends, and we actually saw the accident when it happened. A taxi hit a little motorcycle/motor-scooter thing, and the guy who had been riding was trying to walk around, holding his leg. Again, I was tempted to help out, although I don't know what good I would've been. I did have that one class in "Injury Management for Dancers" and was desperately trying to figure out if he could've damaged his PCL or something. It looked like he was in serious pain, but he was able to walk off somewhere, so I think he'll make it. Just a few blocks later (same night, same people, same road) we saw the results of yet another accident. Makes you wonder what was going on that night. This one looked more serious. Although we couldn't see any people in the cars, there was glass all over the road, and the side of the van was smashed in. Sat. night must not be a very good night in these parts.
So, English corner was started at McDonald's when I was here last time. There are some other Americans in town, and they were asked by the then-Manager of McD's if they could come in every Sat. night to talk with local kids and help them practice their English. So, now that I'm back I've gotten involved in that too. It's really kind of fun, and there aren't just gradeschool kids that come. I usually end up talking to the college kids instead, to my enormous relief. ;) Last Sat. was lots of fun because I got to talk to some college students learning *German*. :) It was really funny, because occasionally I would start to think of random words (for example, "yes") in Chinese instead of English or German, and we all got a laugh out of that.
And speaking of crazy things happening Sat. nights after English corner, try this one out. A few weeks ago we were getting ready to leave, when lots of people in McD's started staring at something outside. (This is a country of spectator sports -- nothing is private, EVER; don't assume that you can go unnoticed at any time) It's not rude to stare in this country, especially at foreigners. In fact, I frequently find myself staring at things, just like the locals. You know you've been in China too long when....anyway, so apparently there was this way heated argument going on across the street from McD's, some kind of family feud or something. I didn't hear any of it, and I don't understand most Chinese anyway, so it wouldn't really matter. The crowning moment was when about four policemen started forcefully carrying a young woman away from the huge crowd that had gathered. They each were carrying one limb, and her back was only a few inches off the ground. I think they stopped once to let her pick up her cell phone, but continued carrying her several hundred feet away. The only way to describe it is bizarre. Only in China....
For the first time since I've been in China, I think, I've seen a few accidents. A few weeks ago I was on my way to the McDonald's in town (yep, we have a McD's here, and two KFC's) in a taxi, when we passed this motorcycle on its side in the middle of the road. That wasn't so bad, but there was a woman lying next to it. She was holding her leg, but just lying there waiting for someone to help her up. I would've wanted to if I'd been walking. Then just last Sat. night I was walking home from something called "English corner" (more on that in a bit) with some of my friends, and we actually saw the accident when it happened. A taxi hit a little motorcycle/motor-scooter thing, and the guy who had been riding was trying to walk around, holding his leg. Again, I was tempted to help out, although I don't know what good I would've been. I did have that one class in "Injury Management for Dancers" and was desperately trying to figure out if he could've damaged his PCL or something. It looked like he was in serious pain, but he was able to walk off somewhere, so I think he'll make it. Just a few blocks later (same night, same people, same road) we saw the results of yet another accident. Makes you wonder what was going on that night. This one looked more serious. Although we couldn't see any people in the cars, there was glass all over the road, and the side of the van was smashed in. Sat. night must not be a very good night in these parts.
So, English corner was started at McDonald's when I was here last time. There are some other Americans in town, and they were asked by the then-Manager of McD's if they could come in every Sat. night to talk with local kids and help them practice their English. So, now that I'm back I've gotten involved in that too. It's really kind of fun, and there aren't just gradeschool kids that come. I usually end up talking to the college kids instead, to my enormous relief. ;) Last Sat. was lots of fun because I got to talk to some college students learning *German*. :) It was really funny, because occasionally I would start to think of random words (for example, "yes") in Chinese instead of English or German, and we all got a laugh out of that.
And speaking of crazy things happening Sat. nights after English corner, try this one out. A few weeks ago we were getting ready to leave, when lots of people in McD's started staring at something outside. (This is a country of spectator sports -- nothing is private, EVER; don't assume that you can go unnoticed at any time) It's not rude to stare in this country, especially at foreigners. In fact, I frequently find myself staring at things, just like the locals. You know you've been in China too long when....anyway, so apparently there was this way heated argument going on across the street from McD's, some kind of family feud or something. I didn't hear any of it, and I don't understand most Chinese anyway, so it wouldn't really matter. The crowning moment was when about four policemen started forcefully carrying a young woman away from the huge crowd that had gathered. They each were carrying one limb, and her back was only a few inches off the ground. I think they stopped once to let her pick up her cell phone, but continued carrying her several hundred feet away. The only way to describe it is bizarre. Only in China....
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