Heinz 57

This picture's from last weekend at a Western food restaurant in Beijing. I was delighted to see Heinz ketchup--complete with Chinese characters--and though I doubt it was bottled in Pittsburgh, I made sure to tell everyone that Heinz is, of course, from Pittsburgh, and used this as a good segue into talking about why Pittsburgh is the most beautiful and best city in America.

Likewise, when Chinese people ask me where I'm from (to which I typically respond, "America" because that's all the more specific they want--maybe sometimes they'll say "where in America" to which I'll say, Pennsylvania... doesn't do much, normally I have to end up saying near New York City, in the northeast. Not too specific but the best I can do--they know NY and LA, basically. BUT when they ask my hometown I get to tell them about Pittsburgh and how it's the most beautiful and best city in America. I tell them about the three rivers and the hills and PNC Park, maybe sometimes the inclines, and make sure to tell them: If anyone ever asks you what's the most beautiful and best city in America, you can say, "Pittsburgh, PA."

Anyway, just wanted a chance to say that I miss home. I've been looking at pictures of the fall colors on the Post-Gazette's Web site. Sure is purty. Say hi to PA for me.

Good morning

It's raining in Beijing... always cause for excitement. The gray color and the wet roads and the hope of a blue sky day just around the corner. The bike jackets are out in full force this morning and, as I've started to do more and more, I enjoyed a Chinese "breakfast burrito." Don't think Mickey D's, think two pieces of "bing" bread--this sort of thick tortilla-type thing--fried with one egg each, and then put the two egg-bings together, slap some plum sauce and a piece of lettuce in the middle, and you've got one tasty breakfast treat, made by this little man in a cart down the street. All that's missing is a carton of chocolate milk.

In other school news... are you all sitting down? Arnold's coming, for sure. I'm serious. THE Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governor of California, is coming to my school in China. (Is that crazy or what? Maybe the craziest thing I've ever even thought about.) He'll be in Beijing in November speaking about education, and our school extended an invitation. Apparently it was accepted. Not sure if he'll be visiting my classroom, but I'm sure gonna push for it :) Preview of my next Chinese lesson...

Jon: Duebuchi laoshi, jumme shua, "It's not a tumor?"
Teacher: Shenme?
Jon: "It's not a tumor."

One can only hope I get the answer. "Kindergarten Cop 2: Arnold Comes To China."

Old Summer Palace, part 2

The first picture is sort of a side shot of the sweet maze I was telling you about. I wish I could've gotten a better angle, but hopefully you get the idea. Next is me and my Big Green class--put that one on your fridges. Next is me and some ruins (and some Chinese people). Then's some more kids and a plaque, followed by a model of the old palace in a plastic case with some weird reflection stuff going on. Kinda cool... peace out.

Old Summer Palace, part 1

The first picture is of some kids checking out a plaque about some stuff. I liked the shot. The second is of my Big Green class chillin'. Then some girls eating some bananas. (These pictures are kind of self-explanatory, huh?) Next is Big Purple and a ledge. Not THE ledge, but a ledge. Finally that's Kelly, who I think is sooo cute. Doesn't she look like a Peanuts character or something?

I predicted yesterday that the weather would be awful for the trip--I was wrong. Couldn't have been better. Someday I'll get a smog picture, though, and you'll understand.

Sorry mom, this post says pee (and poop)

Today’s field trip was another success. We went, not as I thought to some garden, but to the old Summer Palace, destroyed in 1860 by English and French forces. I have no idea why the English and French were in Beijing in 1860 and why they messed with the old Summer Palace, but they sure did leave behind some sweet ruins. The only thing that bugged me about the whole trip was everywhere I looked—and I mean everywhere—was something I wanted to jump over/across or climb on, but because of the kiddos looking up to me, I thought it best to set a good example.

Top two moments of the day: 1) There was this awesome, awesome maze in the middle of the park, that I guess is left behind from the old Summer Palace? Anyway it leads to this stone pagoda in its center, and though I didn’t explore the maze, watching these kids from another school run through it with their yellow hats was really cool. I would’ve done it except I ran out of time.

The second highlight of the day was 2) at one point, we’re going through this part of the ruins that used to be this water park thing… so it has all these sort of empty swimming pool-type things. And I’m thinking, “Man, these ledges were like made to pee off.” But again, I remember—set an example for the kiddos. Well, lo and behold, even without my example, the boys had the same idea I did. So I look over and five or six of my little buddies have their drawers dropped and are letting their stuff fly. Have I mentioned that it’s totally acceptable for kids in China to pee (and sometimes poop) in public? It takes some getting used to—especially when I look to my left and see some girls doing the exact same thing. Anyway, that was just one of those moments when I remember how similar and how truly small we people are (you get a lot of those in another country). When guys see a ledge, they wanna pee off it—any age, any culture.

That was also one of those moments when I remember to always wash my hands before doing anything after spending any amount of time with Kindergartners.

A book about monsters or Roy Oswalt

It's been a long week, but Thursday's over and tomorrow the Kindergarten (and myself) will go on field trip #2--this time to some garden or something. Expect pictures, although if tomorrow looks anything like today, you won't be treated to a pleasant site. The sky is about as thick, yellow and smoggy as I've seen it in Beijing, or I guess ever really. Yesterday afternoon was probably the worst class I've had so far, too. But I bounced back, just like the Houston Astros. Even when Pujols takes one yard with 2 outs in the ninth or the kids are crazy and there's not a Chinese teacher in site, it's nice to know you can bounce back with a book about monsters and some goofy motions--or Roy Oswalt. But really I am glad the week is (pretty much) over.

In Tizo last night, we started a study of John's first letter, from this one "good book" I know. I'm really excited about that... times in the Word with my team have been great so far. The guys have a lot of insight and I think there's a great oppurtunity for us all to grow and stretch. Be lifting that up.

My Chinese is progressing. I'm realizing--this is probably terribly obvious for all of you, but I never got it til now--that learning a new language isn't like turning on a translator switch, but instead learning a new set of vocab words. It's not like someone who is fluent in Spanish as well as their native English hears a Spanish speaker translated into English in their head... they just hear and understand Spanish. For some reason I was expecting a Babel Fish and am just getting some new words. Thus, Chinglish... I'm mixing together the two like it's my business (with, of course, only about the five Chinese words/phrases I know well). I'm enjoying it nonetheless.

So I feel bad that I haven't passed on my congratulations publically to Sam Wilsey and Elizabeth Miller on their recent engagement. Congrats :) I have a funny feeling, though, that I’m going to feel a lot like Han Solo, waking up from a carbonite sleep (or 10 months in China) to find Zeke engaged, Sammo married, G a dad, and Luke a Jedi Knight. “I'm out of it for a little while, and everyone gets delusions of grandeur.” You said it, Han. Really I couldn't be happier for everyone, but it sure is weird all this stuff going on at home without me there. Expected question next summer: "So Jon, what have you been up to for the since graduation?" Playing with little kids, mainly.

Actually, Matt (my team leader) and I were talking about this just yesterday, that for being placed by the school with basically no reason whatsoever in the Kindergarten office, I sure do feel like it's exactly the place I should be. Let alone me choosing to come to China with basically no reason whatsoever... seems to me like Someone might have sort of plan for me... maybe I've read that somewhere. Who knows. Oh, some of you will be interested to hear this: Os Guiness is coming to speak at BICF West (my international fellowship) on the 30th. This Sunday I'm going to visit a Chinese fellowship. Be lifting that up, I think it could be a really great experience--but of course, it'll be all in Chinese.

I'm trying to think what else I've been thinking about recently. I dunno. Life's good. Miss home. Hope you're all well.

From wegetables to witality

Just like I have trouble saying a lot of Chinese sounds (their "R" sound for example... I swear there's a "Z" in there somewhere), many Chinese speakers have trouble with certain English sounds. One of the big ones I've noticed is the letter V. I've been teaching my students "V" this week, and it's a battle to say the least. The first time I held up my vegetables picture card and heard "wegetables" said back to me, I laughed and then thought, "woah." And I'm realizing it's not an easy nut to crack. They're trying hard but it's not a sound they say in their native tongue, so it's a sound I'm totally teaching them--and it's one I want them to master. At the Peking opera thing a few weeks back, one of the highlights was this translator lady who looked like a Chinese flight attendant/tour guide robot, always with a plastered smile and a high, happy voice, butchering the English language. Her best line: while explaining this one song and the combination of instruments it used, she said, "It represents China's strength and witality." I don't want my students to talk like her someday. Anyway, as you're back home saying and hearing the letter V with no problem, think of me and my kiddos. And, of course, think of our wegetables.

Baseball

All morning I've been reading about Sunday night's games and I had to post and say how much I'm missing the playoffs this year. Astros-White Sox, can it be happening? When the Braves and Yanks went down, I knew this October was looking good. And not that I dislike the Red Sox or Cardinals, but I really don't like them either. Anyway, pitching pitching pitching, playoff beards, and the thought of Lance Berkman in the World Series is definitely enough to make my baseball-loving heart beat a bit faster. A preliminary thanks to my good bud Adrian for taping some LCS games for me and sending them on over here. Finally, there'll be some baseball being watched in China.

Caveat: I know it's only 3-1 in the NL, but I'm sure Scrap Iron Phil'll get the job done. Go 'Stros!

Ting bu dong

"I hear but I don't understand." Pretty much sums up my grasp of the Chinese language thus far. When I tell my students "ting bu dong" after they've just given me a lengthy discourse about something obviously near and dear to their hearts, the look on their faces is priceless. First, a blank stare, probably thinking, "Why doesn't the silly foreign teacher care about what I'm telling him," followed by a realization that I just said something in Chinese (their little brains are working overtime now), ending with a smile and a laugh. "The silly foreign teacher hears, but he doesn't understand!" They then run off to their friends, shouting something to the effect of, "Mr. Jon just said 'ting bu dong!' Mr. Jon just said 'ting bu dong!'"

But today, I finally made some progress! I didn't practice speaking much over break, besides "ting bu dong," "bu yow" (I don't want it), and "tai guela" (too expensive), but I did practice a lot of listening, and I think it helped. Chinese is, of course, a tonal language, five of them to be exact, and I'm getting that down I think. Adults still speak too fast, but if a student says it and I've learned it, I can understand it. My own speaking is limited, but getting better--I think my pronunciation is actually pretty good, I just don't know a lot. The phrases I do know, though, seem to get the accurate response, which is important. However, today in lessons I was nailing it--a good feeling indeed. My pronunciation was there, my ear was on, and my tones were the best of anybody--I won't say they were good, but they were OK. Maybe I'll start to pick it up from here on out. We do have a good teacher, which is great, a Chinese lady in the high school who's travelled to 18 countries and knows a handful of languages herself. We see her twice a week, Monday and Wednesday afternoons.

Language can be a barrier here and has been in some ways for me these first few months (thankfully, though I'm in Beijing)... I just haven't caught on very quickly, so hopefully I'm a late bloomer :) One other thing I'm trying is to pick up some Chinese characters. Most foreigners here just go for the spoken Chinese, but I figure if I can read and write, that'll help my speaking that much more. The tough part is that there's not an alphabet like we know it, instead just thousands of characters. Needless to say, those'll be a challenge to memorize. But, if I could recognize, say, the various meats we order in China, it'll improve our restaurant ordering ability that much more. Stuff like that. I'm more of a visual learner than an auditory one, so maybe it'll help out. And plus, it really impresses Chinese people when a foreigner writes characters. Tomorrow maybe I'll wow 'em with "I am a teacher." The problem is, when they say something in response, I won't understand.

But hey, at least I know "ting bu dong."

Temple of Heaven

On Wednesday, the day I got back from Xi'an, a group of CTF gals were going to the Temple of Heaven, one of the famous Beijing sites, and I tagged along. (At that point I wasn't yet dead tired.) The temple itself is under renovation for the '08 Olympics, but the park surrounding the temple and the other old stuff was neat, too. The first picture is of a Chinese man doing some water calligraphy on the ground in one of the outdoor walkways at the temple park. I thought it looked really cool so I snapped a picture. The second is of me yelling at the Echo Wall, this famous wall where if you talk on one end of it someone can hear you on the other or something like that. It's big, circular, and with all the people doing the same thing I was--it didn't work. But still fun to yell at. The last three are of Joelle, Helen and me being goofy. The end... I'm going to bed.

Xi'an cont.

These first two pictures I borrowed from Mark's site. I didn't have a group shot, so here is Bri, Dave, Vanessa, Susie and myself. Mark's taking the picture. In the next one he made me roar. The next two are some of the soliders on display. Each solider has a different face, and many of them (like these) completely different poses and personalities. These were two of my favorites. The last picture is of Susie trying on some sweet Mao shades in an alley where we were shopping. I'll have more to say about Xi'an soon, but for now, hope you like the pictures!

Xi'an

Some pictures. The trip and city were amazing... Xi'an was a city like I didn't expect in China. Unlike Beijing, Xi'an seems so authentic... still a walled city with structures standing from the 1300s, complete with thousands of terracotta soldiers unearthed just outside the city. Definitely one of the coolest places I've been in the world. I travelled with five other CTFers: Dave from here in Beijing and four teachers from Taiyuan, Mark, Susie, Vanessa and Bri. We stayed in a great place and I had my first train ride--14 hours in a hard seat. The first picture is Vanessa and Susie outside our hostel, right along the south wall of the city. Next is the center square of the city, where people were fond of flying giant kites--huge ones. On top of a mountain outside the city, Mark leans out to take in the view. We took a gondola ride to the top, where a Buddhist temple sat in the mist. The next picture is inside the giant rooms where the soldiers are still being dug out of the ground. There were three buildings this size. Last is a street in Xi'an full of food and good deals. I got a samurai sword and some wall scrolls with Scripture written on them, among other things.