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:

"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!