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!
October 17, 2005
October 10, 2005
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."
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."
October 7, 2005
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.
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