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(Hopefully, I’ll have pictures inserted throughout this long-ish post soon.) The first stage of cultural exchange is commonly called the “honeymoon” period, the time when baby expats get moonstruck by being in a brand spankin’ new place. But when I first got to China, I didn’t feel particularly excited. It could have been a [...] So the phrase “你吃饭了吗” I know means literally “have you eaten,” but I also know that it is often used like a passing hello. An acceptably ordinary response would be “吃了,” or “I have.” Like saying “not much” in response to “what’s up?” But here is my question: The Los Angeles Times is the only paper that I have read which consistently runs the occasional column on Chinese and Chinese-American interest stories, and more remarkably, only about 50% of them are the Communist-demonizing insinuation pieces you usually find in American media. Today’s article was one of the other 50% and speaks of [...] Last week I got two small, baby turtles from a street vendor. Their names have alternated from “Emeril and Dolce” to “Elmo and Remington” to “Bebop and Rocksteady” (follow the link if you are not of my generation/are Chinese) and are currently “red turtle” and “green turtle.” They are sleepy things, usually sitting [...] I can’t really sleep (I think I drank too much tea) so here’s one post for you. Teaching a foreign language has been an interesting challenge for me, since I’m the kind of arsehole who has trouble keeping my syllables down. A friend once affectionately (euphemistically, I thought) said “you talk just like you write!” [...] One of the biggest complaints of previous Asian-American teachers in China that I have heard of is that we have a relatively difficult time securing extra-legal (to use a euphemism) employment that most other foreign teachers enjoy. That is, because of the technical restrictions on our visas, it is illegal for us to teach [...] I usually see the same guards every time I return home, usually because it’s later at night and only a few of them must have those shifts. By that time they are often not in the guard house attached to the gate, but have pulled a school desk and chair into the courtyard further away [...] I just had a phone conversation with my grandma and I am psyched about it. Explication: she doesn’t speak English; I’ve never spoken much Chinese. She lives in China; I only just got here. She is the telephone grandma whose voice you come to love through the receiver of a handset, and [...] The writing project is going very well, even though I still haven’t actually gotten around to bashing any of it out. It takes an hour to get to Chinese classes in Futian using the combination of Bus 72 and Line 1 of the Shenzhen Metro, and I use the time to sit there and [...] Between class periods where I pretend to be a teacher, I occasionally go back to being a student. Success with Chinese, Chapter 12: Shopping at the Market. English definition: vegetables, greens |
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