This evening I went with my church to help out another church in serving dinner and putting on a Christmas party of sorts for families of prisoners. All I did was carry in a tray and scoop food out of a disposable aluminum pan. I am no hero. But I loved it and I think it really meant something. There is something about the ability to serve in Christ's name that really just makes my day. I was looking around at all the children with full tummies and smiles, the essentially single mothers that didn't have to cook for a night, and the little boy who went through the line 4 times, and I just grinned. I had the ability to put a little sunshine in a gray sky, and that was worth every minute of my Friday night not doing whatever else.
I met one of my students, Cora, for lunch today as a friend instead of as a teacher. She'd taken something that goes with a gift, translated it for me and bought me lunch when she was my guide in Zhuhai, so I wanted to treat her as a thank you....plus, she's just absolutely delightful to be around. I made the mistake of telling the sweet girl in my invitation email that it was my treat, so she ate beforehand and 'wasn't hungry' I'm sure so that she wouldn't 'burden' me with cost. We talked about a variety of things, and I find she still learned quite a bit. For example, I taught her that mono- means one. Monochromatic...these are things I talk about in day to day conversation. Yep, I'm a nerd. She also gave me a neat fossilized piece her dad gave her from her hometown so that she wouldn't get homesick. Wow. That was such a personal gift and it meant so much.
Before helping at the church tonight, I was walking around and the wind was going right through my clothing...chilly. I stopped into the cute little ice cream parlor I'd been to a while back hoping they might have hot tea. I asked for it in poor Cantonese (lit cha), and the guy spoke English. ha. They were a bit surprised that I was ordering hot tea to go from there, and the owner ended up giving it to me for free. Maybe they were impressed by my poor Cantonese. Maybe they saw my cute mittens. Then again, maybe people are just genuinely nice and sometimes surprise you :)
I know I said I wouldn't blog, but this really will be the last one for a bit as 'to infinity and beyond' is about to begin!
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good...everything :)
Friday, December 16, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
One More Day
This morning I jogged to meet up for breakfast with a German, a Czech, a Taiwanese person and 3 delightful Americans at a local restaurant. 3 continents together for breakfast. Nice.
My off day meant doing a lot of errands like buying last minute things, getting my ferry ticket, printing off maps, etc. In the mix of the day, I also had a delightful 'Christmas lunch' as I'll call it with my fellow MPI ETAs and our Malaysian friend Alvin. It was at a fancy little cafe in Macau Tower called Singing Bean Coffee. Lauren and I had read about the set lunches last time we were at Macau Tower and were looking for a reason to splurge. This was kind of like a going away departure lunch. I had a nice salad with crispy tuna and green beans to start. I thought it was unique to find green beans in a traditional looking salad. There were these cute, tiny hard boiled eggs in the salad as well. I'm not sure what type of bird they came from. The main dish was beef braised in a red wine sauce with something on top of it resembling potatoes. Here's the dish:
For dessert I had a fancy brownie thing with hot tea. It was not super sweet, but was okay. Overall, I think we were under impressed for the amount of money we spent for the small plates of food we got. It wasn't bad but it wasn't spectacular. I have this theory that anytime they put a plate under the plate the food is on, you can assume it's because they acknowledge the small amount of food they are giving you and hope with the extra plate to make it look bigger.
When I was walking our Czech couchsurfer back to the apartment to get her things, we were stopped by a group of school children doing a scavenger hunt survey with english speaking tourists. They asked us in very clear english if we had a moment, to which I said yes. Then they asked me if I drank milk everyday. Haha. That's not the question I was expecting, but I told them yes. They asked Linda something as well, and we both wrote our first names saying that we did. Here is the group of cute 4th graders. They also gave us cute handmade Christmas cards.
This is on the antiques street on the way to St. Paul's Ruins/ Senado Square.
This evening we went exploring and got dessert at a milk pudding place. I had what they call a coconut shake, but is actually milk mixed with some coconut milk. Ray let me try his hot milk pudding with red beans...not my thing. Beans for dessert is still a challenge for my sweet tooth to grasp.
This is likely to be the last blog for 2 weeks. We'll see if there are blogworthy things tomorrow.
My off day meant doing a lot of errands like buying last minute things, getting my ferry ticket, printing off maps, etc. In the mix of the day, I also had a delightful 'Christmas lunch' as I'll call it with my fellow MPI ETAs and our Malaysian friend Alvin. It was at a fancy little cafe in Macau Tower called Singing Bean Coffee. Lauren and I had read about the set lunches last time we were at Macau Tower and were looking for a reason to splurge. This was kind of like a going away departure lunch. I had a nice salad with crispy tuna and green beans to start. I thought it was unique to find green beans in a traditional looking salad. There were these cute, tiny hard boiled eggs in the salad as well. I'm not sure what type of bird they came from. The main dish was beef braised in a red wine sauce with something on top of it resembling potatoes. Here's the dish:
When I was walking our Czech couchsurfer back to the apartment to get her things, we were stopped by a group of school children doing a scavenger hunt survey with english speaking tourists. They asked us in very clear english if we had a moment, to which I said yes. Then they asked me if I drank milk everyday. Haha. That's not the question I was expecting, but I told them yes. They asked Linda something as well, and we both wrote our first names saying that we did. Here is the group of cute 4th graders. They also gave us cute handmade Christmas cards.
This evening we went exploring and got dessert at a milk pudding place. I had what they call a coconut shake, but is actually milk mixed with some coconut milk. Ray let me try his hot milk pudding with red beans...not my thing. Beans for dessert is still a challenge for my sweet tooth to grasp.
This is likely to be the last blog for 2 weeks. We'll see if there are blogworthy things tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Ho ho ho (in Cantonese that means 'good good good')
Today was delightful.
I taught 5th grade this morning and it went surprisingly smooth considering that the holiday starts next week for the students. This afternoon, our boss took us out to lunch at a fancy Dim Sum restaurant. It was delicious--even the tripe, and I ate far too much as I often do with these sorts of settings. A kind Chinese coworker continued to add things to my plate as a courtesy. I learned a few interesting tidbits about Chinese culture and dining today from our boss. First, when doing cheers with a tea cup, it's a formality in the northern part of China to put your tea cup at a slightly lower level than the other person's cup to show a sign of reverence/respect. Since they in return would make their cup lower, it's a strategy of doing it last second. Our boss told us that some officials will try to cheers and then end up with their cups all the way to the floor fighting to have the lowest cup.
Also, when someone fills up your tea cup for you, you can tap on the table to show a sign of thanks. Refilling someone else's cup is a common courtesy that should be done before refilling your own tea cup in traditional culture. Macau seems to be such a mix of cultures, and we rarely eat with local people so I haven't seen this much here. For lunch we had a nice mix of Pu'erh and Chrysanthemum tea. I'd never had them brewed together before, but the high quality tea and the mixed flavors were delicious. Interestingly, the fresher the Chrysanthemum tea (picked within a few weeks), the better the tea is, but the older the Pu'erh tea, the better it is. Mao told us there are bricks of Pu'erh tea from the Qin Dynasty that sell for millions of dollars. Tea... Forget stocks, you now know what to invest in.
We have a Czech and German staying with us as couchsurfers tonight. They are both nice. The German is extremely friendly, having just returned from a trip to the U.S. She was telling me tonight that she loved the place but that the people were very surface level nice, as in they weren't willing to build relationships and invest in people. I tried to explain to her that America is a very big place and that cultures can vary even across a 20 minute drive, but also that Americans are somewhat reserved and suspicious (as a generalization and stereotype--not true for all) sometimes because of the media, the lack of foreign visitor interaction in some places, and silly liability issues. I told her about the McDonalds coffee lawsuit when she told me a couchsurfing host in the U.S. was concerned for their own good in case she got hurt hitch hiking. Obviously, I love America, but there is a high focus on valuing time as money which bothered her. It was interesting to hear the different perspectives from someone who seems to be a very pleasant person.
The picture of the day today is of a card that one of my 5th grade boys gave me..Ms. Ho. haha. And it's Pokemon. Fantastic. It has a sweet note inside and provided a chuckle from having my name wrong.
I taught 5th grade this morning and it went surprisingly smooth considering that the holiday starts next week for the students. This afternoon, our boss took us out to lunch at a fancy Dim Sum restaurant. It was delicious--even the tripe, and I ate far too much as I often do with these sorts of settings. A kind Chinese coworker continued to add things to my plate as a courtesy. I learned a few interesting tidbits about Chinese culture and dining today from our boss. First, when doing cheers with a tea cup, it's a formality in the northern part of China to put your tea cup at a slightly lower level than the other person's cup to show a sign of reverence/respect. Since they in return would make their cup lower, it's a strategy of doing it last second. Our boss told us that some officials will try to cheers and then end up with their cups all the way to the floor fighting to have the lowest cup.
Also, when someone fills up your tea cup for you, you can tap on the table to show a sign of thanks. Refilling someone else's cup is a common courtesy that should be done before refilling your own tea cup in traditional culture. Macau seems to be such a mix of cultures, and we rarely eat with local people so I haven't seen this much here. For lunch we had a nice mix of Pu'erh and Chrysanthemum tea. I'd never had them brewed together before, but the high quality tea and the mixed flavors were delicious. Interestingly, the fresher the Chrysanthemum tea (picked within a few weeks), the better the tea is, but the older the Pu'erh tea, the better it is. Mao told us there are bricks of Pu'erh tea from the Qin Dynasty that sell for millions of dollars. Tea... Forget stocks, you now know what to invest in.
We have a Czech and German staying with us as couchsurfers tonight. They are both nice. The German is extremely friendly, having just returned from a trip to the U.S. She was telling me tonight that she loved the place but that the people were very surface level nice, as in they weren't willing to build relationships and invest in people. I tried to explain to her that America is a very big place and that cultures can vary even across a 20 minute drive, but also that Americans are somewhat reserved and suspicious (as a generalization and stereotype--not true for all) sometimes because of the media, the lack of foreign visitor interaction in some places, and silly liability issues. I told her about the McDonalds coffee lawsuit when she told me a couchsurfing host in the U.S. was concerned for their own good in case she got hurt hitch hiking. Obviously, I love America, but there is a high focus on valuing time as money which bothered her. It was interesting to hear the different perspectives from someone who seems to be a very pleasant person.
The picture of the day today is of a card that one of my 5th grade boys gave me..Ms. Ho. haha. And it's Pokemon. Fantastic. It has a sweet note inside and provided a chuckle from having my name wrong.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
drip drop love
Today I'm grateful for water pressure. This is one of those non-essentials that we often overlook. Water, yes, is essential, but water pressure is not. When we finally get around to being thankful for the things we often overlook, we rarely think of water pressure...or at least I do. I was washing my hands at work today, and I was holding some papers for work under my arm that kept my right hand for fully reaching the faucet. I had to do one of those mini dance moves where I got water on my left hand and then scrubbed my right in a repetitive fashion. As I was doing this, the first thing that came to mind was how much water I was wasting by not having my hand under the faucet. Then I was thinking about how much longer it took to get all the soap off my hands this way. That led to thinking about staying at our farm house when we were little. There was no water heater at our farm, so when the pipes were likely to freeze, we would warm water on the stove and pour it over our hands. This method takes both assistance of someone pouring the water and more time. This is just one simple example of why I'm grateful for water pressure, but it's something many people go without. It makes rinsing your hair, staying warm in the shower, washing your car, washing dishes, and so many more things in our lives easier. So today, think a little more about that precious moment of even just washing your hands. It's the little things.
At work, I helped conduct the 3.5 hour long Speech and Debate final. There were 3 approximately hour long debates on "This House would make universities more challenging," "This House would require marriage counseling before a divorce," and I forgot the other one currently escapes me.
Tonight was the last Cantonese class, even though we originally thought it was Thursday. I learned some interesting bits of information today, including the words for taxi, ferry terminal, and airport--each of which will soon increase in importance. Also, KFC in Cantonese is romanized as hang-dak-gei (which sounds like 'Kentucky' with a Chinese accent). My language teacher thought it was Colonel Sanders' name. Kentucky is world famous...but not. haha. That sounds about right.
This picture is actually from dinner the other day. This is one of those times that I wish I knew how to completely communicate in Cantonese. I ordered this dish, which I've had before. When the waitress turned around to tell the cook, I heard a bunch of words and then 'she doesn't understand' in Chinese. Shoot...what don't I understand. It ended up they didn't have one of the main ingredients for this dish but they couldn't communicate that to me, so when it came out it was less than par. It was fine, it was safe, but it could have been better. We have a couch surfer staying with us for the 2nd night in a row who's originally from the Czech Republic and teaching English in South Korea. Hanging out with all these Europeans fluent in English as their second language makes me feel so underaccomplished. Learning a language is difficult that's for sure.
Dinner tonight was with my fellow ETAers. We had eggplant and noodles at Lauren's favorite Dong Bei (Northeastern Chinese food) near work. I was thinking today how I get really excited about home, but how I will miss things about Macau when I leave for good. At the top of things I'll miss is how they make eggplant here. Mmm.
At work, I helped conduct the 3.5 hour long Speech and Debate final. There were 3 approximately hour long debates on "This House would make universities more challenging," "This House would require marriage counseling before a divorce," and I forgot the other one currently escapes me.
Tonight was the last Cantonese class, even though we originally thought it was Thursday. I learned some interesting bits of information today, including the words for taxi, ferry terminal, and airport--each of which will soon increase in importance. Also, KFC in Cantonese is romanized as hang-dak-gei (which sounds like 'Kentucky' with a Chinese accent). My language teacher thought it was Colonel Sanders' name. Kentucky is world famous...but not. haha. That sounds about right.
Dinner tonight was with my fellow ETAers. We had eggplant and noodles at Lauren's favorite Dong Bei (Northeastern Chinese food) near work. I was thinking today how I get really excited about home, but how I will miss things about Macau when I leave for good. At the top of things I'll miss is how they make eggplant here. Mmm.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Wait, who gave Rudolph a bloody nose?
Work went by quickly today. That was in part because my normal Monday is at least 10 hours and today was only 6.5 hours. Nice.
This evening I finally invested in a heater. I found one for about $25USD and decided it wouldn't be a waste of money. This decision was made in part because I've recently had a lot more sinus issues. I figure it'd be a lot better to be slightly warm and maybe cut my risk of sickness. It's not extremely cold here, but the humidity makes it feel that way. I told Lauren last night that it feels like camping in KY in November...but doing that every day without ever getting in your car or going inside a building to thaw out. I was wearing my gloves at my work computer today. I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining, I'm content but explaining. As Athena's uncle told her, we have to stop thinking like Americans. I will be LOVING central heating in the states in just a bit!!!! Cherish yours. It's not even 'winter' here yet..which is another reason I bought it. The prices are supposed to go up.
I set out to find a unique Portuguese shop I'd discovered online tonight. It was closed, but I was able to locate it. A funny story related to things Portuguese--the other day I was walking through the strip of Chinese antique shops near Senado (many of which seem to be tourist traps). I saw this set of salt shakers with the white and blue patterns similar to the Portuguese tiles I've posted some pictures of. They were set out on a little table on the sidewalk, so I thought I'd flip it over to look at the price as I passed by. Who would have thought, but stamped on the bottom was "Pier 1." Haha...I'm going to go ahead and say they weren't genuine Portuguese antiques.
Here is a glimpse of how Macau is celebrating Christmas. My first grade class today could not identify any of the Christmas related words and pictures I was using to teach today, so these things are clearly for tourists.
This evening I finally invested in a heater. I found one for about $25USD and decided it wouldn't be a waste of money. This decision was made in part because I've recently had a lot more sinus issues. I figure it'd be a lot better to be slightly warm and maybe cut my risk of sickness. It's not extremely cold here, but the humidity makes it feel that way. I told Lauren last night that it feels like camping in KY in November...but doing that every day without ever getting in your car or going inside a building to thaw out. I was wearing my gloves at my work computer today. I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining, I'm content but explaining. As Athena's uncle told her, we have to stop thinking like Americans. I will be LOVING central heating in the states in just a bit!!!! Cherish yours. It's not even 'winter' here yet..which is another reason I bought it. The prices are supposed to go up.
I set out to find a unique Portuguese shop I'd discovered online tonight. It was closed, but I was able to locate it. A funny story related to things Portuguese--the other day I was walking through the strip of Chinese antique shops near Senado (many of which seem to be tourist traps). I saw this set of salt shakers with the white and blue patterns similar to the Portuguese tiles I've posted some pictures of. They were set out on a little table on the sidewalk, so I thought I'd flip it over to look at the price as I passed by. Who would have thought, but stamped on the bottom was "Pier 1." Haha...I'm going to go ahead and say they weren't genuine Portuguese antiques.
Here is a glimpse of how Macau is celebrating Christmas. My first grade class today could not identify any of the Christmas related words and pictures I was using to teach today, so these things are clearly for tourists.
Notice the Portuguese "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year" is similar to the Spanish Feliz Navidad you know. It says "Feliz Natal E Bom Ano Novo"
Both of these pictures come from Senado Square. The tree here is not broken, but it lights up one tier at a time. Ohh la la.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Sleep Overtime and the Game Winning Point
I keep forgetting to blog recently. I think it's because I'm so distracted and excited preparing to travel! YAY!
Here's a brief update:
Today, I overslept on accident. I woke up cuddling my phone, which meant that I had woken up long enough to turn off the alarm and turn over. Oops. So instead of going to church, church came to me....from Nashville. Check out this church Ekklesia Nashville if you ever want to listen to sermons online: http://www.ekklesianashville.com/.
Athena and I cleaned and cooked lunch before heading out to explore the streets of Macau. We came across a neat little cafe that teaches lessons on how to pull espresso shots, latte art, roasting, etc. Although I know some of this stuff, I would love to learn more. I'm tempted, but not for the price....I'll just YouTube this stuff and learn it for free. It was a unique find though. We also stumbled upon a local art fair....we were there before they'd fully set up. Before Athena and I departed ways, we went to Cafe Y Nata. Interestingly enough, the guy who 'invented' the egg tart that is so popular here had an ex-wife who opened up this lovely cafe and made bank on his fame. Ehh, women ;) The line was very long, but we were just getting drinks so we were able to skip the wait.
Planning, packing, reading, and watching Sweet Home Alabama closed another lazy, chilly weekend. I'm glad things have slowed down a bit. I only work 3 days this week--one of which our boss is taking us out to lunch. I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT EVERYTHING THIS WEEK HOLDS!
Be excited with me: enjoy your day!
Here's a brief update:
Today, I overslept on accident. I woke up cuddling my phone, which meant that I had woken up long enough to turn off the alarm and turn over. Oops. So instead of going to church, church came to me....from Nashville. Check out this church Ekklesia Nashville if you ever want to listen to sermons online: http://www.ekklesianashville.com/.
Athena and I cleaned and cooked lunch before heading out to explore the streets of Macau. We came across a neat little cafe that teaches lessons on how to pull espresso shots, latte art, roasting, etc. Although I know some of this stuff, I would love to learn more. I'm tempted, but not for the price....I'll just YouTube this stuff and learn it for free. It was a unique find though. We also stumbled upon a local art fair....we were there before they'd fully set up. Before Athena and I departed ways, we went to Cafe Y Nata. Interestingly enough, the guy who 'invented' the egg tart that is so popular here had an ex-wife who opened up this lovely cafe and made bank on his fame. Ehh, women ;) The line was very long, but we were just getting drinks so we were able to skip the wait.
Planning, packing, reading, and watching Sweet Home Alabama closed another lazy, chilly weekend. I'm glad things have slowed down a bit. I only work 3 days this week--one of which our boss is taking us out to lunch. I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT EVERYTHING THIS WEEK HOLDS!
Be excited with me: enjoy your day!
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Joseph, Andy, and the great winter non-snow-snowstorm
"Oh my, oh my, we're lazy and fly,"--this is what Athena said to describe our day today. Okay, she actually said that after I told her to say it. It's a good description for our day though. We were sitting here talking about what all we've accomplished today and realized...there wasn't actually much. Both of us stayed up significantly late (4am for me, 5:30 for her) and thus woke up at noon. I woke up and worked on packing a bit before Ray suggested we have snack bonding time. Okay, he didn't call it that, but that's what it was. Off to Pacific Coffee we went, racing through the mobs of people in Senado. Weekends are especially ridiculous for crowd navigation. Some days it seems people just resolve to stand still versus moving forward on the street...I find that REALLY helps progress ;) At one point in the 3 of us racing to get through, an American tourist told me 'good luck.' I responded, 'ha, I work here, I walk through this every day.' I figure if there is a black belt for crowd navigation then it's on my waist!
Running home to change, catching the bus, and staff Christmas party followed. The Christmas party was at a snazzy place and the buffet wasn't bad, but most of our department wasn't there. We were informed afterward that most of the people we work with don't come, and that only the ones with kids do. I could see why...the kids get free bags of goodies! After Athena recovered from non-goodie bag depression, we departed ways and came home to have cinnamon apple hot tea and a ridiculous movie night. Athena's one of those really sweet people who just likes to be nice--what's with that, right? ;) She realized that I was freezing and decided to use up her expensive little pocket/hand warmers she'd bought. They are these neat little things called 'tic toc stove' that are shaped like characters. You click this thing inside them, and the rest is kind of like a glow stick in how it works...minus the glowing part, of course. Chemical reactions and such end in a warm snowman (I don't know how he doesn't melt! ;)). So here are our fine fellowed friends Joseph (the bear) and Andy (the snowman). And someone has bought Joseph a flower with a bad hair day! (that would be my creation during tonight's movie).
That's pretty much our lazy day. Church in the a.m. As Tiny Tim, Bob Dylan, or someone maybe said once, "merry weekend to all, and to all a good night." And for you, maybe you're thinking 'end of blog; good riddance.' ...now don't think like that, it couldn't have been as bad as a burnt set of cookies...now, that's a tragedy.
Running home to change, catching the bus, and staff Christmas party followed. The Christmas party was at a snazzy place and the buffet wasn't bad, but most of our department wasn't there. We were informed afterward that most of the people we work with don't come, and that only the ones with kids do. I could see why...the kids get free bags of goodies! After Athena recovered from non-goodie bag depression, we departed ways and came home to have cinnamon apple hot tea and a ridiculous movie night. Athena's one of those really sweet people who just likes to be nice--what's with that, right? ;) She realized that I was freezing and decided to use up her expensive little pocket/hand warmers she'd bought. They are these neat little things called 'tic toc stove' that are shaped like characters. You click this thing inside them, and the rest is kind of like a glow stick in how it works...minus the glowing part, of course. Chemical reactions and such end in a warm snowman (I don't know how he doesn't melt! ;)). So here are our fine fellowed friends Joseph (the bear) and Andy (the snowman). And someone has bought Joseph a flower with a bad hair day! (that would be my creation during tonight's movie).
That's pretty much our lazy day. Church in the a.m. As Tiny Tim, Bob Dylan, or someone maybe said once, "merry weekend to all, and to all a good night." And for you, maybe you're thinking 'end of blog; good riddance.' ...now don't think like that, it couldn't have been as bad as a burnt set of cookies...now, that's a tragedy.
Friday, December 9, 2011
wired
Today I worked from home most of the morning. I like the change of scenery when I have enough to work on away from needing to be at the office. Fridays are generally a good day for this.
Angie and I did dinner tonight at a noodle place and then went back to her apartment to watch her roommates decorate a gingerbread cookie kit for a bit. After that, I picked up some apples on the way home that were pretty much rotten (they were really cheap). I am reminded by what Sweet Home Alabama says about rotten fruit in regards to people...sometimes the ones that look the worst are the sweetest [for making jam]. I did not make jam. Instead I cooked the apples and then mixed in pancake mix, a bit of brown sugar and milk. The end result was a delightful semi healthy treat.
I'm working on getting my suitcase in order for 1 week!! It's crazy to think how soon my trip is coming and how long I have been in Macau. Please be in prayer for safety, timeliness, and good weather as I travel next weekend.
Tonight I made some wire art with wire made for easy molding. Here are 2 of my creations:
Angie and I did dinner tonight at a noodle place and then went back to her apartment to watch her roommates decorate a gingerbread cookie kit for a bit. After that, I picked up some apples on the way home that were pretty much rotten (they were really cheap). I am reminded by what Sweet Home Alabama says about rotten fruit in regards to people...sometimes the ones that look the worst are the sweetest [for making jam]. I did not make jam. Instead I cooked the apples and then mixed in pancake mix, a bit of brown sugar and milk. The end result was a delightful semi healthy treat.
I'm working on getting my suitcase in order for 1 week!! It's crazy to think how soon my trip is coming and how long I have been in Macau. Please be in prayer for safety, timeliness, and good weather as I travel next weekend.
Tonight I made some wire art with wire made for easy molding. Here are 2 of my creations:
Last, finding these was basically the highlight of my day today. It's only like 60 degrees here, but the humidity and wind coming off the water makes it feel so much colder. I get pretty excited about mittens and gloves with cheesy designs, and since I left my firetruck mittens back in the states--voila! :)
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Why hi, Zhuhai
Today one of the university students I help one on one, Cora, took me on an exploration through Zhuhai. This was my first trip to the mainland in over a year--that visa work earlier this week paid off. She took me to a shopping mall that is underground. The mall is seriously 50 feet from immigration. You get through customs and walk down stairs. Tourism is a big part of Zhuhai's economy, and things are supposed to be far cheaper there than Macau, so of course they are going to bank in on it as soon as you arrive.
Bargaining was necessary in the mall at many of the stores, and although I consider myself a pretty decent bargainer (with training in both the Pearl Market [Beijing, China] and in Vietnam), some believe that bargaining in Mandarin Chinese gets you better deals...who knows. So Cora was my guide and expert, and we had a delightful time. She bought me lunch, which made me feel bad since she was already helping me out so much, but it's considered an honor and paying for it would have been considered rude in this culture after she insisted. This is another one of those cultural differences where you wonder---do I push back or accept? What does it say depending on what I do?
A similar cultural idea is about opening gifts in front of people. Although it varies in American culture because we are a pretty informal culture, you are technically supposed to open a gift in front of someone when they give it to you. In Asian culture, opening the gift in front of someone would be considered rude.
We had a delicious lunch of pear juice with chrysanthemum flowers. There were actually whole flower blooms in my drink, and yes I drank them after Cora assured me that I should. Lunch was Old Beijing Style Noodles--minced pork, cucumber, and noodles.
Zhuhai was great, with the only downside being that we had to stand in 4 long lines to get in and out of mainland China. The casinos provide buses to and from the border gate for free though, so thank you Sands! It's based on this theory that if they drop you off at their casino then you'll stay...there is a free rider problem with this kid though!
It was an overall great day that ended with the movie Flipped back at the apartment. The ETAs from last year left a few movies, and I am glad I finally watched one of them. This movie is a coming of age love story, but to me it was much more. There were a lot of values it spoke toward beyond the middle school romance like the value of standing up for what's right, understanding there is a lot more to a person/situation than what you see, and that a person is more than the sum of its parts. I liked all of this. I also liked that the girl's father in the movie wore an outfit and had mannerisms similar to my very wonderful father back home. Thinking of my daddy generally brings a smile to my face.
Words discussed with Cora today: "thinking cap" (which she learned from the show The Big Bang Theory, popular in China), "nitey night" (which she learned from Gossip Girl, popular in China), and "tight knit" (which came up when I was describing my family). ...there were other words as well, but hopefully these examples make you go 'huh, never really thought about not knowing what that means...' Welcome to learning more about yourself.
Picture of the day:
This is what you see upon entering Macau--casino recruitment at it's finest. There are attractive women in tight dresses labeled Sands, Venetian, etc. and large playful monkeys that look like they might take you out on a gondola. They also have people recruiting you to come to the casinos at the ferry terminal.
Bargaining was necessary in the mall at many of the stores, and although I consider myself a pretty decent bargainer (with training in both the Pearl Market [Beijing, China] and in Vietnam), some believe that bargaining in Mandarin Chinese gets you better deals...who knows. So Cora was my guide and expert, and we had a delightful time. She bought me lunch, which made me feel bad since she was already helping me out so much, but it's considered an honor and paying for it would have been considered rude in this culture after she insisted. This is another one of those cultural differences where you wonder---do I push back or accept? What does it say depending on what I do?
A similar cultural idea is about opening gifts in front of people. Although it varies in American culture because we are a pretty informal culture, you are technically supposed to open a gift in front of someone when they give it to you. In Asian culture, opening the gift in front of someone would be considered rude.
We had a delicious lunch of pear juice with chrysanthemum flowers. There were actually whole flower blooms in my drink, and yes I drank them after Cora assured me that I should. Lunch was Old Beijing Style Noodles--minced pork, cucumber, and noodles.
Zhuhai was great, with the only downside being that we had to stand in 4 long lines to get in and out of mainland China. The casinos provide buses to and from the border gate for free though, so thank you Sands! It's based on this theory that if they drop you off at their casino then you'll stay...there is a free rider problem with this kid though!
It was an overall great day that ended with the movie Flipped back at the apartment. The ETAs from last year left a few movies, and I am glad I finally watched one of them. This movie is a coming of age love story, but to me it was much more. There were a lot of values it spoke toward beyond the middle school romance like the value of standing up for what's right, understanding there is a lot more to a person/situation than what you see, and that a person is more than the sum of its parts. I liked all of this. I also liked that the girl's father in the movie wore an outfit and had mannerisms similar to my very wonderful father back home. Thinking of my daddy generally brings a smile to my face.
Words discussed with Cora today: "thinking cap" (which she learned from the show The Big Bang Theory, popular in China), "nitey night" (which she learned from Gossip Girl, popular in China), and "tight knit" (which came up when I was describing my family). ...there were other words as well, but hopefully these examples make you go 'huh, never really thought about not knowing what that means...' Welcome to learning more about yourself.
Picture of the day:
This is what you see upon entering Macau--casino recruitment at it's finest. There are attractive women in tight dresses labeled Sands, Venetian, etc. and large playful monkeys that look like they might take you out on a gondola. They also have people recruiting you to come to the casinos at the ferry terminal.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Brah-ah-ah-coli
The day began with a Christmas themed class at Dom Bosco. My proud moment of the day came from the fact that I taught over 100 5th grade students how to do "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" in American Sign Language. Believe it or not, I learned this when I was in elementary school and still remember it to this day. This should remind you that you have a great ability to impact this world, so be cautious that what you say and do today will produce positive fruit down the road.
I went to pick up my Chinese visa and passport today and got into another fun time of having to run around. This time I wasn't so stressed about the change in plans. Eventually (the good news!) I got my passport and visa back. Cora and I will be entering China tomorrow morning on our public holiday!
Lunch today was at a Thai restaurant. I had a really simple Hainan chicken with rice. My meal was pretty simple, but Thai food is generally known for its spiciness.
Tonight for dinner, Ray, Athena and I cooked a feast. Athena bought 3 big things of broccoli last week when the Park N' Shop opened because it was really cheap, but she never cooked it. I made broccoli cheese soup and broccoli casserole. Ray made rice, pork, and broccoli with sauce. It was amazing! We were broccoli-ed out, but we made up for it later by taking a trip to Taipa and getting ice cream and killing all those nutrients. We played the singing game on our walk home where we would all sing different parts of Disney, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Christmas songs, etc. I'm blessed (again, I say) to live with such random, art loving, adventurous, funny people.
No pictures today. This kid needs sleep...
I went to pick up my Chinese visa and passport today and got into another fun time of having to run around. This time I wasn't so stressed about the change in plans. Eventually (the good news!) I got my passport and visa back. Cora and I will be entering China tomorrow morning on our public holiday!
Lunch today was at a Thai restaurant. I had a really simple Hainan chicken with rice. My meal was pretty simple, but Thai food is generally known for its spiciness.
Tonight for dinner, Ray, Athena and I cooked a feast. Athena bought 3 big things of broccoli last week when the Park N' Shop opened because it was really cheap, but she never cooked it. I made broccoli cheese soup and broccoli casserole. Ray made rice, pork, and broccoli with sauce. It was amazing! We were broccoli-ed out, but we made up for it later by taking a trip to Taipa and getting ice cream and killing all those nutrients. We played the singing game on our walk home where we would all sing different parts of Disney, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Christmas songs, etc. I'm blessed (again, I say) to live with such random, art loving, adventurous, funny people.
No pictures today. This kid needs sleep...
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Visa: everywhere you want to be
This morning began a little hectic with Athena and I going to the visa office. Turns out that I didn't have a form to declare I worked for MPI. The standard process for getting a form for MPI takes a week. I was hoping to go to Zhuhai with one of my students on Thursday since it's a public holiday, and if I didn't turn my paperwork in today it meant 1)that wasn't going to happen, and 2) I would be without my passport the week of flying to the U.S....which would make me a little uneasy. Athena had even more issues. It turns out that since she is Chinese-American (born in America), her race requires her to have a copy of her birth certificate and a letter stating her parents' situation/relationship with China. Igg. It's amazing how race plays such a huge part in so much (costs and benefits alike) in the world.
The middle of the day, I had one of those God moments where I had to confront myself (and answer to Him) about why I was stressing....and there really wasn't much reason. Obviously things weren't going ideally, but it's important to put things in perspective. I shared this with Athena, who was more distressed than me. The letter ended up being done by 1 (a nice guy in admin put special effort to get it done for us), and I should be able to pick up my visa in the morning. Things just worked when I stopped worrying about them. Imagine that.
This afternoon, we had a video recording session at work. There was a professional team of video experts here apparently working on making our school of 2,000 students look top notch. They were very particular to the point it was comical about where the teachers sat and whether there were tables, etc. I was recording with the Bell Center video camera so that we could use it for use specifically for our department. It's those great slow motion clips of trainers walking down the hall that really inspire you...or make it awkward.
Tonight after work, we briefly mingled with an attractive group of well-to-do suits from an image company in the area. It was an art opening for a photography display of Macau. The display was quite impressive, and appropriately named "Macau: Work in Progress." Macau is very much so a work in progress as it continues to grow, grow, grow.
Cantonese class almost put me to sleep tonight, so afterward Athena and I had roomie bonding time getting ice cream sundaes from McDonalds and cookies from the grocery so that we could break positive eating habits, come home and watch 500 Days of Summer--a delightfully truthful break-up love story. How's that for a twist? It was great sharing stories, laughs, music thoughts, masala chai tea from India and the fancy cookies that we purchased. Good times to wrap up a bumpy start to the day. I'm very blessed to live with the people I do.
On that note, pictures:
Have a great day...just do it. :)
Monday, December 5, 2011
More-like-it Mondays
I am now officially a non-resident worker of Macau! Woohoo...I'm not sure what that gets me except for a little card, but I have the card! Be impressed. Athena and I had our quickest trip to immigration today. Yay for not waiting in queue for hours!
Paperwork, lesson planning, and teaching all passed rather quickly today with no problems. All our university classes are cancelled, so we have more time away from the office to do research this week.
My 1st grade class was pretty well behaved today. I'm finally getting to the point where they understand yelling 'let me try' is not Ms. Hawwwws way of doing things. I'm not sure why the other teachers have trained them this way because it's unnecessary noise, but they have. I suppose you could argue that they're learning by repetition by yelling that same phrase. I prefer to teach them in other, quieter ways. Today, that meant naming my fists Bob and Dot to help them remember which way the lower case 'b' and 'd' faced. Not going to lie, I did not come up with the idea on my own.
Tomorrow, Athena and I will try to get our Chinese visas...I hope we are successful and things go smoothly. I would have liked to gone to Zhuhai on Thursday, but who knows if that will happen. Oh the suspense.
Pictures!:
Papaya trees on Lantau Island in Hong Kong. Lauren is very good with spotting plants and was explaining to me how these start similar to weeds. Mmm papaya is good.
Paperwork, lesson planning, and teaching all passed rather quickly today with no problems. All our university classes are cancelled, so we have more time away from the office to do research this week.
My 1st grade class was pretty well behaved today. I'm finally getting to the point where they understand yelling 'let me try' is not Ms. Hawwwws way of doing things. I'm not sure why the other teachers have trained them this way because it's unnecessary noise, but they have. I suppose you could argue that they're learning by repetition by yelling that same phrase. I prefer to teach them in other, quieter ways. Today, that meant naming my fists Bob and Dot to help them remember which way the lower case 'b' and 'd' faced. Not going to lie, I did not come up with the idea on my own.
Tomorrow, Athena and I will try to get our Chinese visas...I hope we are successful and things go smoothly. I would have liked to gone to Zhuhai on Thursday, but who knows if that will happen. Oh the suspense.
Pictures!:
These are essentially cardboard cut outs part of the Fringe Art Festival in Macau. These modern dressed people in random positions are being led by the traditional Liberty.
One of the many little bays we walked along from one Mei Wo, Lantau to Discovery Bay, Lantau. Oh, the beauty of nature.
...and the very best of all: mail time. Here's the crazy awesome spread I got today. Can you resist? The answer is no. These are from the lovely 'Beccer' and kids group from Wednesday night church (put together by the lovely Tiffany and Tammy. Thanks everyone :)
Onward.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Lantau Island
Lauren and Athena departed to Hong Kong on Friday evening, so Saturday morning I was on my way to Hong Kong by myself for the first time. No worries, I even managed to make a friend. I was sketching a picture of the trash can when a Chinese lady walked up and took a picture of me and said something I didn't quite understand. I continued, then she sat down next to me and said, 'I can make a picture faster than you can (referring to her camera).' She started talking to me about her and her husband going to the MIT equivalent in Beijing, her daughter living in NY working for a bank, and another daughter going to school in Illinois. She was a nice lady who I quickly got to know a lot about. She even exchanged emails with me and told me if I was ever in Shanghai maybe I could stay at her home. There are genuinely nice people in every part of the world.
I arrived in the ferry terminal Athena and I agreed to meet in only for her to change her mind about where we would meet. In the process of trying to make these new plans, we drained the phone card. I got to the subway stop she'd told me to meet her at and bought a new sim card. After all that, we finally met up. We got lunch at a noodle place. They sat us at a booth with a young high school aged couple probably on a date. Haha...weird. It was good they were there though because we didn't know there was a hidden draw in the side of the table we were supposed to get our chopsticks out of. They showed us. Here's the food I got: fish dumplings in noodle soup with bok choy Athena and I split.
Athena and I then proceeded to the Ladies Market. Contrary to what it may sound, it's not just for ladies. They had a lot of touristy Chinese cultural stuff along with clothes in little stalls along the streets. If you were smart you bargained...though they didn't go as low as the Pearl Market in Beijing.
I met Lauren at the ferry to Lantau around 4 and had some delicious Mango juice. It was FREEZING! It's amazing how quickly the cold has gotten to us here. I don't think it's that it's that cold, but just that the transition happened so quickly and that there is no central heating here, so you never really warm up.
We arrived at Lantau Island and met our couchsurfing host for the evening. Her name was Karen and she was a nice Malaysian woman. We walked about 20 minutes back through a very nature-y scene to her flat in this nice little neighborhood area among the mountains. We played with her fluffy pet rabbit and talked for a bit before cycling back to the pier area for a lovely Italian dinner of pizza, bruschetta, fresh squeezed OJ, and Greek salad--with legit feta! It was very delicious :) We then road along the beach in the dark and she showed us the trailhead of the mountain we would hike today.
Back at her flat we watched Dancing with the Stars and Terra Nova before crashing at an early hour for us. It felt interesting watching American TV shows in Hong Kong. Like I've said before, we're not even 100% sure our TV works.
This morning Karen made us coffee, Chinese buns with custard, fresh kiwi, a coconut tart, BBQ pork buns, and she warmed up my leftover pizza for me. It's not standard to cook for the people you host, after all you gave them a free place to stay, but I have found that a lot of hosts are just genuinely nice, giving people. It's nice when you are surfing to buy dinner for the host or bring a small gift. Lauren and I split the Italian so Karen could eat free.
I arrived in the ferry terminal Athena and I agreed to meet in only for her to change her mind about where we would meet. In the process of trying to make these new plans, we drained the phone card. I got to the subway stop she'd told me to meet her at and bought a new sim card. After all that, we finally met up. We got lunch at a noodle place. They sat us at a booth with a young high school aged couple probably on a date. Haha...weird. It was good they were there though because we didn't know there was a hidden draw in the side of the table we were supposed to get our chopsticks out of. They showed us. Here's the food I got: fish dumplings in noodle soup with bok choy Athena and I split.
I met Lauren at the ferry to Lantau around 4 and had some delicious Mango juice. It was FREEZING! It's amazing how quickly the cold has gotten to us here. I don't think it's that it's that cold, but just that the transition happened so quickly and that there is no central heating here, so you never really warm up.
We arrived at Lantau Island and met our couchsurfing host for the evening. Her name was Karen and she was a nice Malaysian woman. We walked about 20 minutes back through a very nature-y scene to her flat in this nice little neighborhood area among the mountains. We played with her fluffy pet rabbit and talked for a bit before cycling back to the pier area for a lovely Italian dinner of pizza, bruschetta, fresh squeezed OJ, and Greek salad--with legit feta! It was very delicious :) We then road along the beach in the dark and she showed us the trailhead of the mountain we would hike today.
Back at her flat we watched Dancing with the Stars and Terra Nova before crashing at an early hour for us. It felt interesting watching American TV shows in Hong Kong. Like I've said before, we're not even 100% sure our TV works.
This morning Karen made us coffee, Chinese buns with custard, fresh kiwi, a coconut tart, BBQ pork buns, and she warmed up my leftover pizza for me. It's not standard to cook for the people you host, after all you gave them a free place to stay, but I have found that a lot of hosts are just genuinely nice, giving people. It's nice when you are surfing to buy dinner for the host or bring a small gift. Lauren and I split the Italian so Karen could eat free.
This morning Lauren and I tackled the over 2 hour long trail up the mountain side and to Discovery Bay. It was nice to get the exercise, and boy did it make it seem like those 21 flights of stairs have been conditioning. The hike we took was paved with a bajillion stairs.Here's a glimpse of what it looked like--The view was incredible. This picture was probably taken about 1/4 of the way up.
Lauren and I also crossed paths with a local festival. Traditionally it seems the Chinese people will use dragon dances to commemorate an important event. The one I posted pictures of the other day was apparently for the opening of a new Columbia store in Senado.
On the other side of the mountain before we reached Discovery Bay, we came across a Trappist Monastery. Interestingly enough it was built in 1955. Those of you that know why that year is significant will agree that it's rather nifty that when I think monastery, I think Gethsemane. And all that ties in with a certain side of my family to which 1955 is an important date...aye? Here's a view of the chapel:
Lauren and I arrived in the commercial area of Discovery Bay in time for a late lunch. It seems to be a very affluent, very European influenced area. There were a lot of really nice shops like an outdoor shopping strip with nice German, Irish, Organic food, etc. We stopped at this Italian deli and split a panini on ciabatta with some fantastic type of cheese I couldn't pronounce and a Greek salad with lots of bell peppers and feta cheese. Delish!
We took the ferry back to Central to check out where the GMAT testing center will be when I finally take it, and we met Athena at the fancy grocery store to grab dinner before heading out. I got an American cinnamon roll (as their bakery called it). It wasn't as good as home...but what is, right? ;)
Tonight we came back only to turn around and surprise Athena for her birthday at Nancy's apartment. I jumped out doing the sprinkler and singing part of 50 Cents' "It's Your Birthday" song, Kyle ninja style surprised her by scaling the ceiling and jumping down....as seen here (and yes, he is above the door frame):
Great weekend full of nature and exercise! We go to pick up our Macau resident cards in the morning. There's a public holiday on Thursday and classes are over for the university---it's looking like a good and laid back week. :)
Friday, December 2, 2011
Press Play
This morning began with the Xin Jiang graduation ceremony. These teachers have been training for the past 12 weeks, and it's time for them to go home. Here's the group and some of the trainers I work with:
We then proceeded to a fancy graduation lunch--score! It was in Cafe 360 at the top of Macau Tower. Macau Tower is similar to the space needle in Seattle, to give you a rough idea. The restaurant we ate at was a buffet with Indian, Italian, Chinese, Portuguese, Etc.! It was delicious, and even cooler was that it rotated so that you got a view of Macau. Face=stuffed. Here's a pic of Macau Tower from the ground:
Talking about 'gotta go,' I gotta go to Hong Kong again this weekend, so don't expect a blog. It's actually nice to get away from the internet for a bit--even if it is a luxury to have.
Tonight, the Ray, Lauren, Athena, and I ventured to an art opening near the apartment. This art opening was specifically video art. Some of them I could have made on Powerpoint, but some of the perspectives and messages sent were very interesting. My favorite was one put together by 3 Canadian guys called "Just Friends." Each guy took a turn reenacting what had happened to them when they either told a girl they loved her or wanted to date her and she only wanted to be friends. It was comical to watch because it is so very true and they acted exactly as the girls do. The responses were things like, "oh, that's so sweet. You know I think you're fantastic, but I'm just not attracted to you like that," and "I hope that doesn't make this awkward," etc. Oh deja vu and the balance of the human heart, huh? It reminds me of a topic that has frequently shown up in discussion and which Athena posted a video seminar about this week--the balance of human communication and the fragile grounds it walks on that keeps us often from saying what we really think/mean because of the fear of rejection. I have shut down my fair share of guys (which was never fun and I'm not proud of), but we all have to admit that if you don't try, you'll never succeed either...that seems to be a theme recently. So try, try again in whatever your goal is people--love, work, school, etc! (And please no guys read into this if I've shut you down before...haha. This is not one of those situations you should try again...ironically. Maybe the 'try again' here applies with a different woman. Yes, that fits.)
Here's a giant nativity that is one of three I have discovered so far in Macau. The Catholic roots run deep here. Yay for freedom of religion in Macau!
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Star Spangled in Macau
Today was really just a FANTASTIC DAY! I went in late, so this morning I went shopping at some of the little antique stores near Senado. It's interesting being here because there are some places you should bargain and some that you can't. You only really know the difference if you are from here or someone tells you because obviously their first answer to bargaining would be no...do you push forward? Today, I fortunately did not have hardly any money on me because I needed to go to the ATM. I find it really helps in bargaining when you have no option but to decline. haha. So today, I probably still got ripped off, but I bargained a bit for my first time in Macau. It reminds me of being in Vietnam and Beijing again, where we bargained a lot.
I lesson planned before meeting up with Cora for language exchange. I call it that, but we only talk in English, so I suppose it's more tutoring. She had been given an assignment to write a paragraph about a lavender plant in an aluminum can that she had purchased. I find her incredibly easy to talk to, and we went from describing the plant to her sharing about a province in China that is famous for lavender. In return, I told her Wisconsin was famous for cheese, Idaho for potatoes, etc. (you know, the important stuff ;)). Eventually we got to an assignment she is working on where she has translated part of Obama's inauguration speech. She wasn't sure what was meant by some of the phrases, and when I read it in the Macau context, I realized a lot of what Obama said was very metaphorical and perhaps confusing for a literal translator/ non-native speaker. It's interesting to think how many people listen to that speech or study that speech around the world. America is both that highly respected...and that highly watched (both extremes). Here's the excerpt we discussed:
I'll use this as a short example to show you what I often do with students one on one here, and sometimes even in classes. I've italicized the words and phrases she asked me about.
Shed- this one was a basic issue of not knowing what the word meant. Dogs shed hair. Shed is to lose. This means losing or getting rid of jobs.
Shuttered- Examples like this are a bit more difficult to explain because of their context. It seems that many Chinese homes do not have shutters, and even most people in America don't use shutters for their original purpose anymore. So when explaining what the word meant, it was necessary to explain what a shutter was, draw a picture, explain how a shutter is used, and then tell her what it meant in this context. See how interesting language can be across different cultural contexts?
I'll cover 2 more so that this isn't too long.
Sapping of confidence- This one can probably be explained multiple ways. There is sapping in relation to warfare, water, and trees. Which does it actually mean? I believe it is related to sapping of trees because sap is similar to the lifeblood of humans and when confidence is lost as sap is from a tree, it's similar to the loss of blood. I had to explain to her was sap was and how trees lose their sap, but also how the word really implied a loss or draining of confidence....isn't this interesting how we speak so colorfully and may not realize it?!
Met--this word shows up twice. Cora said that her professor told her this word meant to conquer. I was kind of like, okay, maybe. My fear with using the word conquer is that it can also have threatening or dominating implications. While that may not necessarily be bad, I tried to explain meeting obstacles like a time line. Obama is saying we won't face everything today and it won't be easy when we do face it, but we will face it and it will be taken care of. I compared it to taking an exam especially since she has finals next week. I told her Obama is saying we won't fail the exam, but it won't be easy to pass either.
It seemed a challenge for her to understand why this speech was necessary and what the context was.
I explained the social security system and why it is facing issues. She asked me about campaigning costs, how elections are run, and the party structure. I had an absolute blast explaining all of this, and she seemed to really enjoy learning the content. :)
The overall example I gave her to explain what the excerpt meant and why Americans had lost confidence, etc. was of a baby trying to walk. I told her many Americans have lost their jobs, their homes, etc. A very simple, not literal representation of the population could be a 6 month old baby learning to walk. If the baby could talk, it would say, "Every time I try to walk, I fall down, and my bottom hurts now." By saying what he did, Obama was like the mother that tried to encourage the baby--"this is hard, you will be challenged, your tail will hurt, but you must set your sights high (to walk), you must keep trying, and you must believe we can meet this challenge and succeed. If we give up, we will never walk, so we must not give up."
I think I almost brought her to tears because her eyes glistened as if she was inspired...heck, I was inspired. Then she asked me if I voted for Obama...haha. I explained the difference between (and importance of) electing a person to office and giving them respect once they're in offfice whether you voted for them or not.
I love America and I love explaining to the world one person at a time the vision that it holds. Is it perfect? No. Is any country perfect though? Nope. I just hope that through being around Americans, the Chinese here will come to respect the nation I know and love even more. Sometimes the government run media in China/Macau seems to try to point people in the other direction...but that's just my opinion.
I finished my proposal for the Business School today and I'm very excited to teach more in my vein of interest in the Spring. Details to come as it unfolds. I hope there is a good turn out and interest!
Dinner tonight was at my favorite little dive. You guessed it--I don't even know the name of it, but you're probably right:
I lesson planned before meeting up with Cora for language exchange. I call it that, but we only talk in English, so I suppose it's more tutoring. She had been given an assignment to write a paragraph about a lavender plant in an aluminum can that she had purchased. I find her incredibly easy to talk to, and we went from describing the plant to her sharing about a province in China that is famous for lavender. In return, I told her Wisconsin was famous for cheese, Idaho for potatoes, etc. (you know, the important stuff ;)). Eventually we got to an assignment she is working on where she has translated part of Obama's inauguration speech. She wasn't sure what was meant by some of the phrases, and when I read it in the Macau context, I realized a lot of what Obama said was very metaphorical and perhaps confusing for a literal translator/ non-native speaker. It's interesting to think how many people listen to that speech or study that speech around the world. America is both that highly respected...and that highly watched (both extremes). Here's the excerpt we discussed:
"Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land -- a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: They will be met."
I'll use this as a short example to show you what I often do with students one on one here, and sometimes even in classes. I've italicized the words and phrases she asked me about.
Shed- this one was a basic issue of not knowing what the word meant. Dogs shed hair. Shed is to lose. This means losing or getting rid of jobs.
Shuttered- Examples like this are a bit more difficult to explain because of their context. It seems that many Chinese homes do not have shutters, and even most people in America don't use shutters for their original purpose anymore. So when explaining what the word meant, it was necessary to explain what a shutter was, draw a picture, explain how a shutter is used, and then tell her what it meant in this context. See how interesting language can be across different cultural contexts?
I'll cover 2 more so that this isn't too long.
Sapping of confidence- This one can probably be explained multiple ways. There is sapping in relation to warfare, water, and trees. Which does it actually mean? I believe it is related to sapping of trees because sap is similar to the lifeblood of humans and when confidence is lost as sap is from a tree, it's similar to the loss of blood. I had to explain to her was sap was and how trees lose their sap, but also how the word really implied a loss or draining of confidence....isn't this interesting how we speak so colorfully and may not realize it?!
Met--this word shows up twice. Cora said that her professor told her this word meant to conquer. I was kind of like, okay, maybe. My fear with using the word conquer is that it can also have threatening or dominating implications. While that may not necessarily be bad, I tried to explain meeting obstacles like a time line. Obama is saying we won't face everything today and it won't be easy when we do face it, but we will face it and it will be taken care of. I compared it to taking an exam especially since she has finals next week. I told her Obama is saying we won't fail the exam, but it won't be easy to pass either.
It seemed a challenge for her to understand why this speech was necessary and what the context was.
I explained the social security system and why it is facing issues. She asked me about campaigning costs, how elections are run, and the party structure. I had an absolute blast explaining all of this, and she seemed to really enjoy learning the content. :)
The overall example I gave her to explain what the excerpt meant and why Americans had lost confidence, etc. was of a baby trying to walk. I told her many Americans have lost their jobs, their homes, etc. A very simple, not literal representation of the population could be a 6 month old baby learning to walk. If the baby could talk, it would say, "Every time I try to walk, I fall down, and my bottom hurts now." By saying what he did, Obama was like the mother that tried to encourage the baby--"this is hard, you will be challenged, your tail will hurt, but you must set your sights high (to walk), you must keep trying, and you must believe we can meet this challenge and succeed. If we give up, we will never walk, so we must not give up."
I think I almost brought her to tears because her eyes glistened as if she was inspired...heck, I was inspired. Then she asked me if I voted for Obama...haha. I explained the difference between (and importance of) electing a person to office and giving them respect once they're in offfice whether you voted for them or not.
I love America and I love explaining to the world one person at a time the vision that it holds. Is it perfect? No. Is any country perfect though? Nope. I just hope that through being around Americans, the Chinese here will come to respect the nation I know and love even more. Sometimes the government run media in China/Macau seems to try to point people in the other direction...but that's just my opinion.
I finished my proposal for the Business School today and I'm very excited to teach more in my vein of interest in the Spring. Details to come as it unfolds. I hope there is a good turn out and interest!
Dinner tonight was at my favorite little dive. You guessed it--I don't even know the name of it, but you're probably right:
The big pieces are tofu of some sort and the stuff underneath is a mixture of some cabbage/celery-like veggies. My favorite part about it was that I was eating by myself....until they needed the seat across from me. Haha. Good ole' Chinese culture will sit a stranger at your table. It was fine because she got that we couldn't really communicate because of the language barrier, so there was less awkward "do I say something?" haha. The answer was no. Plus, Chinese people are somewhat used to this I think. It really makes sense for the restaurant to do it rather than make people wait for tables. Business is business!
Tonight Athena and I went to Cantonese. On the way back, somehow a clip from Pink Panther where he works on pronunciation came to mind, and I started saying both parts of it in the street (with accents) while having my jacket zipped all the way up with the hood on tight. Athena was rolling laughing because a Cantonese lady walked past us and gave me the strangest look. What's new? ;) Check out the original video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUCDhvbQFmU
Have a fabulous day!
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