The Chinese word for “stuff” and “things” is the same: “Dongxi.”
Dongxi literally means east (dong) – west (xi), and comes from the old center street, which would run east-west, where all the markets would be set up. It’s where you went to buy all your stuff and all your things. To me, the two are different. You don’t really need stuff; you need things. Stuff you can do without; I really like my things. Get where I’m going with this?
I’ll admit I’ve always been a pretty materialistic person (as in I like my stuff and my things), but I’ve tried this year to think more about stuff and things and see how different they really are. Whether I’m going to buy necessary apartment “things” or just to spend money on silly Chinese “stuff,” it’s all the same in the pu tong hua (common language): mai dongxi. In my head, “mai dongxi” (buying things) sounds negative. Bored wives with their husband’s credit card “mai dongxi,” foreigners with their Meiguode qian (US dollars) “mai dongxi.”
How much of my life do I want to “mai dongxi?” How much of my “dongxi” do I really need? China’s made me ask these questions, and I think that’s a good thing, stuff, whatever.
June 14, 2006
Apologies
It's been way too long since I've posted, so for that I apologize. I've been slacking off for sure of late, but I guess I feel less of an urgency considering home is now less than 2 weeks away. Actually I'm trying to figure this out: It's currently 5:10 a.m. on Wednesday at home, which means in 2 weeks I'll be somewhere 30,000 feet over the Midwest, 1 hour and 40 minutes away from landing in Pittsburgh. Craziness. Anyway, expect more stuff between now and then, but if you don't see much, you'll see me soon enough, and hopefully all of this will be even better in person.
May 25, 2006
Thunder claps & rocket booms
Last night it rained for real. And then, when the real rain stopped, they made it rain.
At about 9 o clock p.m. it started. The sound of the falling rain on the windows was nice as I sat inside, but far too often it's come and gone in a matter of minutes here on the edge of the Gobi Desert (plus, Beijing is in the midst of a draught) and then you forget about it. But last night it really started pouring. There was thunder and there was lightning and it was definitely the realest storm we've had in Beijing this spring. It kept coming down for a decent while, and then it petered out and eventually, it stopped.
A little while later, sometime after 11 p.m. (as I'm trying to go to bed) there is a loud BOOM outside that was assuredly not thunder. Just after said boom, the rain started up again. What was this boom, you ask? Somewhere, some member of the People's Liberation Army pointed a rocket launcher of some sort at a cloud and shot rain-producing chemicals into the night sky. Most likely from the back of a jeep, cruising the streets of Beijing. Picture that.
As I drifted off to sleep, the artificial rain kept falling, i.e. the Beijing sky spat out whatever they just shot in it.
At about 9 o clock p.m. it started. The sound of the falling rain on the windows was nice as I sat inside, but far too often it's come and gone in a matter of minutes here on the edge of the Gobi Desert (plus, Beijing is in the midst of a draught) and then you forget about it. But last night it really started pouring. There was thunder and there was lightning and it was definitely the realest storm we've had in Beijing this spring. It kept coming down for a decent while, and then it petered out and eventually, it stopped.
A little while later, sometime after 11 p.m. (as I'm trying to go to bed) there is a loud BOOM outside that was assuredly not thunder. Just after said boom, the rain started up again. What was this boom, you ask? Somewhere, some member of the People's Liberation Army pointed a rocket launcher of some sort at a cloud and shot rain-producing chemicals into the night sky. Most likely from the back of a jeep, cruising the streets of Beijing. Picture that.
As I drifted off to sleep, the artificial rain kept falling, i.e. the Beijing sky spat out whatever they just shot in it.
May 24, 2006
"His name is Mr. Jon"
I've been teaching "introducing others" this week. We've been working on "his" and "her" and "he" and "she" specifically, as in Chinese, the female and the male pronouns sound the same: "ta," but look different when written. A lot of Chinese people have a tough time with this then, calling a guy "she" or a girl "he" for example. My kids have done a good job with it (better than I expected) and today they produced this gem of a moment...
Little Jane is a jokester. We were on a field trip a few weeks back and we were passing the mic around the bus to let the kids tell a story or a joke or whatever. Jane got the mic and immediately started into a joke. I could understand the basics of it, a classic joke set-up; there was a Chinese person, a Japanese person and an American person, perhaps in a bar, having a conversation, and at the end the Japanese person said something and then the Chinese person said something that made everyone die laughing.
Anyway, in class today, as we were saying each other's names and we came to a boy who said he didn't have an English name. It ended up he didn't like his English name and wanted a new one. Class was relaxed today so we were all talking about it, and I asked if anyone had an idea for his name. Jane spoke up: "Mr. Jon." Everyone laughed and said, his name is Mr. Jon! They had the sentence we'd been learning down.
I'm laughing (a lot) but I say, "he can't be Mr. Jon, I'm Mr. Jon." And Jane says, "You are Mr. Jon, and he is Mr. Jon." I tell them that he can be Jon, but he can't be Mr. Jon. She recognizes the comedic value in this (as did I) and she picks it up later. We continue with class and eventually we come to some point where Jane has the oppurtunity to say his name: so she does. "Mr. Jon." I laugh... no, he's not Mr. Jon. He's talking later... "Mr. Jon, be quiet," Jane says. She keeps looking for a chance to say it, and everytime the class loves it. I give in and call him "Mr. Jon" once. They go nuts.
I weighed the benefits and the costs of really giving this kid the English name "Mr. Jon" and decide it has to go. After class I talk to them all and we decide on plain-and-simple Jon. The now-named Jon's cool with it, Jane's cool with it, and so's the real Mr. Jon (me). Then I say to Jane, you're one funny girl. "Thanks, Mr. Jon."
Little Jane is a jokester. We were on a field trip a few weeks back and we were passing the mic around the bus to let the kids tell a story or a joke or whatever. Jane got the mic and immediately started into a joke. I could understand the basics of it, a classic joke set-up; there was a Chinese person, a Japanese person and an American person, perhaps in a bar, having a conversation, and at the end the Japanese person said something and then the Chinese person said something that made everyone die laughing.
Anyway, in class today, as we were saying each other's names and we came to a boy who said he didn't have an English name. It ended up he didn't like his English name and wanted a new one. Class was relaxed today so we were all talking about it, and I asked if anyone had an idea for his name. Jane spoke up: "Mr. Jon." Everyone laughed and said, his name is Mr. Jon! They had the sentence we'd been learning down.
I'm laughing (a lot) but I say, "he can't be Mr. Jon, I'm Mr. Jon." And Jane says, "You are Mr. Jon, and he is Mr. Jon." I tell them that he can be Jon, but he can't be Mr. Jon. She recognizes the comedic value in this (as did I) and she picks it up later. We continue with class and eventually we come to some point where Jane has the oppurtunity to say his name: so she does. "Mr. Jon." I laugh... no, he's not Mr. Jon. He's talking later... "Mr. Jon, be quiet," Jane says. She keeps looking for a chance to say it, and everytime the class loves it. I give in and call him "Mr. Jon" once. They go nuts.
I weighed the benefits and the costs of really giving this kid the English name "Mr. Jon" and decide it has to go. After class I talk to them all and we decide on plain-and-simple Jon. The now-named Jon's cool with it, Jane's cool with it, and so's the real Mr. Jon (me). Then I say to Jane, you're one funny girl. "Thanks, Mr. Jon."
May 23, 2006
Canadian David
He's Chinese, of course, but he lived in Canada for a few years. He's also one of my newest students (post-May holiday) and he speaks some pretty fine English, which is really awesome (especially because I hear that Canadian accent in his "yahs" for example). I've been wanting a student all year I could talk to a bit, and it's great to have David. He's not a native speaker as his parents speak to him in Chinese, but living overseas has made his English way better than the rest of my kiddos. It cracks me up the answers he gives to my questions--normal kid answers--but a riot compared to his classmate's words or two (which are sometimes hilarious too). I'll try to get a picture and post some funny stuff he says in Canadian.
Today after class David asked me if I'd see him tomorrow. I told him no, since we don't have class, but when he seemed pretty disappointed, I said I'd see him Thursday. He asked if I could meet him tomorrow outside his class to say hi tomorrow, and I told him I'd look for him. Warmed my heart, it did, to know I have a little friend I can talk with. And as I stood there, thinking about David, this other kid Jake ran up to me, licked his finger, put it on my arm, pulled it off real fast while making a sizzling sound, shook it and said, "ooh, hot."
They're all special in their own way, ya know? Be it Canadian David or Smooth Jake. (And yes, I am teaching my kids ridiculous pick-up moves.)
Today after class David asked me if I'd see him tomorrow. I told him no, since we don't have class, but when he seemed pretty disappointed, I said I'd see him Thursday. He asked if I could meet him tomorrow outside his class to say hi tomorrow, and I told him I'd look for him. Warmed my heart, it did, to know I have a little friend I can talk with. And as I stood there, thinking about David, this other kid Jake ran up to me, licked his finger, put it on my arm, pulled it off real fast while making a sizzling sound, shook it and said, "ooh, hot."
They're all special in their own way, ya know? Be it Canadian David or Smooth Jake. (And yes, I am teaching my kids ridiculous pick-up moves.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
