My Chinese name is Libeisha, which is three words combined: li (丽pretty) bei (蓓 flower bud) sha (莎 no real meaning, just used for the sound). But the word 'sha' with the character 杀 means 'murder.' I sent an email to a student and was typing too fast and when I hit the keys for 'libeisha' the character string that came up first was the murder-sha 杀, not the sound-name-sha 莎. I chose the murder character, didn't notice, and sent off the email.
Hoo boy, did my student find that amusing! He wrote back immediately, "Are you okay? You have been murdered? Oh no!" And told me he had gathered up his classmates to his dorm room so they could see and laugh at my mistake, too. They love that I study Mandarin, but they got quite a kick out of their teacher calling herself "murdered." Oops. Sometimes, your language skills are only as good as your typing skills.
I use Google Mandarin for my keyboard conversion program, btw. Google owns so many pieces of my life.
My other favorite Mandarin mistake was my students saying, "I am [name]" when they texted or called me. I told them so many times, "Not 'I am [name].' In English we say 'This is [name].'" But this was hard for them to remember and they made this mistake often. Flash forward to my Mandarin class this past fall, when a student stood up to do a dialogue and said (in Mandarin) "This is [name]." My teacher immediately interrupted: "Not 'This is [name]', in Mandarin we say 'I am [name].'"
It made me smile.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
This Video Is Amaze-Balls
I found this link through Twitter; it's a short animated visual graphing of the rise of the wealth and health of nations over the last two hundred years. The Chinese breakout especially interested me; GuiZhou and the rural parts of China he mentions are where Peace Corps volunteers are mostly assigned; GuiZhou is the province just to the east of Chongqing. And yes, going to Shanghai was like going to Europe as far as wealth, cleanliness and public behavior were concerned.
If you like social science, you will probably love this. If you don't like social science, you will probably love it after watching this.
If you like social science, you will probably love this. If you don't like social science, you will probably love it after watching this.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Clothes-es, and Other Chinese-isms
Chinese students almost uniformly make the mistake of pluralizing 'clothes' into 'clothes-es' and we are the kind of teachers that mimicked our students most common mistakes when talking to each other, so now I say 'clothes-es' all the time in my head. Other things we said:
Deeleeciours (delicious)
Advices
I wish you happy every day!
I miss speaking Chinglish on a daily basis. Luckily I still talk to folks in China so when they say things like this, I write them down. You think you won't forget, but you do!
Did you know in Chinese culture it is normal to wear the same clothes for several days in a row? (Not underwear, that I know of!) You wear them until they are dirty, then change into new clothes and wash the ones you've been wearing. It was really hard to get used to at first, but then I loved it. It's much easier than having to choose new outfits every day. My students thought it was really strange Americans change our clothes every day. I don't know if they thought we were showing off how many clothes-es we own, or being impractical, or just weird. But they definitely noticed the foreign teachers changed their clothes all the time. I started wearing the same thing several days in a row to fit in, and because: lazy. I miss it.
However, when I was in college, this was my favorite sweatshirt of all time; I got it for $10 at the GAP and wore it constantly. I was Chinese and didn't know it!
My students often told me that Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) was very special when they were growing up because it was the only time they got new clothes; now that people have more money, people own more clothes, and Spring Festival is not as special.
Deeleeciours (delicious)
Advices
I wish you happy every day!
I miss speaking Chinglish on a daily basis. Luckily I still talk to folks in China so when they say things like this, I write them down. You think you won't forget, but you do!
Did you know in Chinese culture it is normal to wear the same clothes for several days in a row? (Not underwear, that I know of!) You wear them until they are dirty, then change into new clothes and wash the ones you've been wearing. It was really hard to get used to at first, but then I loved it. It's much easier than having to choose new outfits every day. My students thought it was really strange Americans change our clothes every day. I don't know if they thought we were showing off how many clothes-es we own, or being impractical, or just weird. But they definitely noticed the foreign teachers changed their clothes all the time. I started wearing the same thing several days in a row to fit in, and because: lazy. I miss it.
However, when I was in college, this was my favorite sweatshirt of all time; I got it for $10 at the GAP and wore it constantly. I was Chinese and didn't know it!
My students often told me that Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) was very special when they were growing up because it was the only time they got new clothes; now that people have more money, people own more clothes, and Spring Festival is not as special.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Other Languages' Words I Wish We Had In English
I know many of you are bilingual; so cool! I wish I spoke another language fluently/native-like. I don't. But I do like adopting the words I love in other languages into English, without translating them. I've talked here before about a few words I wish we had equivalents for in English. Here are a couple more:
1. Sancha
Origin: Spanish. Means: 'The girl on the side.' We don't have a great translation for it into English. Concubine? Mistress? Illicit Lover? None of those really capture how I heard sancha used in everyday conversation, which in San Antonio, was frequently. (What this says about San Antonians, I'm not sure.) Anyway, I always heard it used as a girl on the side you flirt with and have feelings for, but not necessarily doing anything about. Although you might be. It covers a wide range of doing-ness or not. But if you are in a monogamous relationship, you probably don't want your SO to have a sancha.
2. Ganbei
Origin: Mandarin. Means: Empty your glass in one shot. We do have some equivalent words in English, such as shooting, shot-gunning, chugging, etc. But ganbei is a more elegant word, I think. (Pronounced 'gawn bay.') It's used in the same manner as our word 'Cheers!' but it always means you have to empty your glass all at once. It doesn't have the frat-boy overtones of our words, it's just friendly and fun. The Chinese can drink, yo.
3. Hao bu hao?
Origin: Mandarin. Means: literally, 'good not good?' but is used to find out if someone finds your idea agreeable. It's shorthand for, "Is what I've proposed agreeable/ok with you?" Of course in English was can say, "Okay?" But there are so many ways to intonate this word it can be difficult to make sure your tone is coming across the way you mean it to, especially in writing. To me, 'hao bu hao' is more clear in it's meaning. When I text, I often start typing this and have to delete it if I am talking to non-Mandarin speaking friends. It's the first thing I want to teach my friends, so I can use it with them. I love it. (Pronounced 'how bu how.'
You guys, this alphabet thing is getting teeedddiiiooous. And judging from the number of comments, it is for you, too! Turns out I have far fewer interesting things to say when I am not talking about China. Which is great, because China is infinitely interesting to me! I SHOULD be far less interesting than China. Also, I don't like having to do things in order. So, I hereby resolve to finish my alphabet project at will, and in any order I choose, as long as I hit them all. That's much more my style.
Hope you all have a great week!
1. Sancha
Origin: Spanish. Means: 'The girl on the side.' We don't have a great translation for it into English. Concubine? Mistress? Illicit Lover? None of those really capture how I heard sancha used in everyday conversation, which in San Antonio, was frequently. (What this says about San Antonians, I'm not sure.) Anyway, I always heard it used as a girl on the side you flirt with and have feelings for, but not necessarily doing anything about. Although you might be. It covers a wide range of doing-ness or not. But if you are in a monogamous relationship, you probably don't want your SO to have a sancha.
2. Ganbei
Origin: Mandarin. Means: Empty your glass in one shot. We do have some equivalent words in English, such as shooting, shot-gunning, chugging, etc. But ganbei is a more elegant word, I think. (Pronounced 'gawn bay.') It's used in the same manner as our word 'Cheers!' but it always means you have to empty your glass all at once. It doesn't have the frat-boy overtones of our words, it's just friendly and fun. The Chinese can drink, yo.
3. Hao bu hao?
Origin: Mandarin. Means: literally, 'good not good?' but is used to find out if someone finds your idea agreeable. It's shorthand for, "Is what I've proposed agreeable/ok with you?" Of course in English was can say, "Okay?" But there are so many ways to intonate this word it can be difficult to make sure your tone is coming across the way you mean it to, especially in writing. To me, 'hao bu hao' is more clear in it's meaning. When I text, I often start typing this and have to delete it if I am talking to non-Mandarin speaking friends. It's the first thing I want to teach my friends, so I can use it with them. I love it. (Pronounced 'how bu how.'
You guys, this alphabet thing is getting teeedddiiiooous. And judging from the number of comments, it is for you, too! Turns out I have far fewer interesting things to say when I am not talking about China. Which is great, because China is infinitely interesting to me! I SHOULD be far less interesting than China. Also, I don't like having to do things in order. So, I hereby resolve to finish my alphabet project at will, and in any order I choose, as long as I hit them all. That's much more my style.
Hope you all have a great week!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Moving Forward
I was going to write today about China, but you know what? I realize my memories will never mean as much to other people as they do to me. And that's okay. I think if you've read my other posts, you have a good idea of what I loved, and what was difficult, about China.
Sometimes I miss China so much my heart aches. Sometimes I'm relieved to be back in America where I understand the culture (although this took several months-- reverse culture shock is a real thing). I'm feeling much more comfortable here.
Some big changes for me coming up. China did a good job preparing me for the rest of my life. It was a graduate course in flexibility, creativity, strength, courage, acceptance and doing things you never thought possible.
I read an analogy recently that made a lot of sense to me, so I want to share it: if you think of life like a river, a lot of us are preoccupied with where we are in the river: what we have materially, or relationships, what we've achieved or acquired. But really, what matters is the direction you're heading. If you are constantly trying to hold onto things that are not moving you forward, you are expending a lot of energy fighting the natural ebb and flow of life. What you hold onto isn't what supports you in your journey forward. But when you know what supports you, and you can let go of what you hold onto that isn't supporting you or moving you forward, you are more able to progress toward your life's goals and purpose.
So, I'm making a conscious effort to let go of the things that aren't moving me forward, that I am expending energy holding onto instead of being supported by. I wrote a list and I think every day a little bit about letting those things go. Some are mental, some are physical, but I am now focusing my attention on moving forward. So I'm going to keep more of those memories of China to myself, in my past, where they belong as a happy part of my life.
Ultimately, this picture is what China was all about for me: my students. I taught a lot of girls, and I hope they know their education means something, that they have value in this world. If they believe that, I did my job. Based on the good hearts of my students, I have high hopes for the future of China.
Sometimes I miss China so much my heart aches. Sometimes I'm relieved to be back in America where I understand the culture (although this took several months-- reverse culture shock is a real thing). I'm feeling much more comfortable here.
Some big changes for me coming up. China did a good job preparing me for the rest of my life. It was a graduate course in flexibility, creativity, strength, courage, acceptance and doing things you never thought possible.
I read an analogy recently that made a lot of sense to me, so I want to share it: if you think of life like a river, a lot of us are preoccupied with where we are in the river: what we have materially, or relationships, what we've achieved or acquired. But really, what matters is the direction you're heading. If you are constantly trying to hold onto things that are not moving you forward, you are expending a lot of energy fighting the natural ebb and flow of life. What you hold onto isn't what supports you in your journey forward. But when you know what supports you, and you can let go of what you hold onto that isn't supporting you or moving you forward, you are more able to progress toward your life's goals and purpose.
So, I'm making a conscious effort to let go of the things that aren't moving me forward, that I am expending energy holding onto instead of being supported by. I wrote a list and I think every day a little bit about letting those things go. Some are mental, some are physical, but I am now focusing my attention on moving forward. So I'm going to keep more of those memories of China to myself, in my past, where they belong as a happy part of my life.
Ultimately, this picture is what China was all about for me: my students. I taught a lot of girls, and I hope they know their education means something, that they have value in this world. If they believe that, I did my job. Based on the good hearts of my students, I have high hopes for the future of China.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
10 Things I Love About Life in America
Three months in, a few things I love about being back in America:
1. Walking into a store that has clothes and shoes in my size, and no one telling me I am too big or fat for their store.
2. Buying produce without having to weigh it first at a chaotic produce counter where if you don't shove to the front, you never get your stuff weighed.
3. No one screaming "Hello!" in my face as I'm walking by.
4. Super clean public bathrooms!
5. Everything smells so good. (Americans are very particular about smells, aren't we?)
6. Indoor climate control everywhere you go.
7. People smile at you and hold the door*.
8. Target.
9. So much cheese!
10. No firewall, no need to censor what I'm Googling, and I can take pictures of whatever I want.**
*Stores in my part of China don't have doors, just an open wall, but no one smiles.
**In the video I posted recently of my neighborhood, you might not have noticed I was being very careful to keep the camera on my side of the street. That's because across the street was a large firehouse, which in China is a military installation. You're not allowed to photograph that kind of thing, and they had an armed military officer at all times outside the firehouse keeping guard. You always need to be careful in China where you're pointing your camera.
Tomorrow, 10 things I miss most about living in China.
1. Walking into a store that has clothes and shoes in my size, and no one telling me I am too big or fat for their store.
2. Buying produce without having to weigh it first at a chaotic produce counter where if you don't shove to the front, you never get your stuff weighed.
3. No one screaming "Hello!" in my face as I'm walking by.
4. Super clean public bathrooms!
5. Everything smells so good. (Americans are very particular about smells, aren't we?)
6. Indoor climate control everywhere you go.
7. People smile at you and hold the door*.
8. Target.
9. So much cheese!
10. No firewall, no need to censor what I'm Googling, and I can take pictures of whatever I want.**
*Stores in my part of China don't have doors, just an open wall, but no one smiles.
**In the video I posted recently of my neighborhood, you might not have noticed I was being very careful to keep the camera on my side of the street. That's because across the street was a large firehouse, which in China is a military installation. You're not allowed to photograph that kind of thing, and they had an armed military officer at all times outside the firehouse keeping guard. You always need to be careful in China where you're pointing your camera.
Tomorrow, 10 things I miss most about living in China.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Giving Back In Your Honor
It is not an exaggeration to say I would not have made it through my Peace Corps experience without the support of folks back home. So many people did so much for me. I'm putting together this week care packages for Thanksgiving/Christmas for some folks over in China; it means a lot for me to be able to give back for all the kindness shown towards me. It's so fun picking stuff out, knowing it'll be a treat for them. Thanks again to everyone who supported me, with packages and warm thoughts and kind words. I'm paying it forward in your honor.
Monday, November 1, 2010
"The Girl" and Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap
In Chongqing there aren't many foreigners compared to other big, populated in cities in China. This led to 'Panda Syndrome': we were often treated like special pandas at the zoo. Sounds nice, but really? It's not. I learned I could never handle being famous.
One night a few of us Americans were having dinner with some Chinese students. They made a dish for us called 'hui guo rou' known in English as 'twice-cooked pork.' Someone asked what the dish was called and I answered with the correct name. The students started teasing him for not knowing the name and then one of the students said, "The girl knew what it was." The girl? The girl teacher? The girl version of an American? The girl what? It bothered me at the time because it was a bit dehumanizing and I was fighting for every bit of my humanity, but now it's kinda funny. Of course the guys who were there started calling me The Girl. It ended one night at dinner when J. was trying to pay for our meals: "Come on, at least let me look cool in front of The Girl." I put my foot down, no more calling me The Girl! I hated that nickname. POSTCRIPT: After reading your comments, I feel like kind of a jerk for thinking this way!
Then this past summer when I went to visit T. at the teaching project, I found out after I left the students asked, "Is the girl coming back?" Sigh. So now I choose to believe this was their way of saying I was special. After all, I never heard anyone say "The Boy." Yeah, special.
____________
A product I love: Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap. I love it so much I packed a bottle to China with me. A little bit goes a long way; I had to throw it out when I came home, I didn't even use it all. I have eczema, so I steer clear of soaps and detergents (whenever possible) that irritate my skin. I bought a small foaming handsoap pump, dumped out the soap that came with it and mixed up my own soapy mixture with Dr. Bronner's. They also sell it in bar form. The liquid version is very inexpensive because it lasts so long. $6 for two years worth of soap is quite a deal! It's a hippie soap with all kinds of kookie writing on the bottles, but it's a good product. I recommend it.
One night a few of us Americans were having dinner with some Chinese students. They made a dish for us called 'hui guo rou' known in English as 'twice-cooked pork.' Someone asked what the dish was called and I answered with the correct name. The students started teasing him for not knowing the name and then one of the students said, "The girl knew what it was." The girl? The girl teacher? The girl version of an American? The girl what? It bothered me at the time because it was a bit dehumanizing and I was fighting for every bit of my humanity, but now it's kinda funny. Of course the guys who were there started calling me The Girl. It ended one night at dinner when J. was trying to pay for our meals: "Come on, at least let me look cool in front of The Girl." I put my foot down, no more calling me The Girl! I hated that nickname. POSTCRIPT: After reading your comments, I feel like kind of a jerk for thinking this way!
Then this past summer when I went to visit T. at the teaching project, I found out after I left the students asked, "Is the girl coming back?" Sigh. So now I choose to believe this was their way of saying I was special. After all, I never heard anyone say "The Boy." Yeah, special.
____________
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Youngest and Oldest Kids: Adventures of the Chongqing Nanny
Because I'd already been in Chongqing a year when the new volunteers arrived, I was happy to take on the role of 411 if they needed it. I told them about getting around the city and food and shopping and whatever else they needed to know. But then I started getting calls from restaurants, asking me to talk to their server to order their dinner. One of the girls sometimes called me and she was always "Hey, can you help me out? I've tried and it's not working." But the boys were like, "Hi, order my food, 'k thanks bye." I started to get annoyed by the boys. I started to feel like I wasn't their friend, I was their nanny. On the one hand, it was flattering they thought I knew so much. On the other hand, I'm not your mom. It's funny now to me how easy it was for us to fall into this pattern, because both sides were willing to take on the role of youngest/oldest. (Yes, I am stereotyping-- not all youngest or oldest kids act like this. But we did.)
I finally told them I felt like their nanny, not their friend, and I didn't like that. They started making an effort to make sure they knew I was their friend first, nanny second (haha), balance restored. Even now I sometimes still get emails asking for help with something Chongqing-related. I'm happy to help out. And they taught me more about being very laid-back, carefree and fun-loving. Youngest and oldest: it's a dynamic that works.
Happy Halloween! Hope you have a great time. Be safe! Here's a picture from last year I don't think I've shared before. He didn't know what to be for Halloween, so like a good nanny I took him in at the last minute, gave him my Chinese silk dragon robe, cut off the sleeves of this t-shirt, blew dry his just-washed gym shorts with my hair-dryer and gave him a (make-up based) black eye. I also taped up his hands but it disappeared by the time this picture was taken. I had to rush him past the guards outside my apartment because at the time they were still housing swine flu quarantinees in my building. But look at him: would YOU mess with this boxer? I still love the memory of us trying to get a taxi in our Halloween getups. Crazy Americans.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Quiet Time and Meditation
What do you do for quiet time?
I like my quiet time very early in the morning. In China I had the habit of waking up verrry early because the birds that lived in the bamboo growing outside my window also got up early. Older people did daily tai chi in the courtyard outside my apartment at the break of dawn. I loved seeing their quiet, uniform movements. It inspired me to find quiet time of my own.
I began the habit of sitting quietly every morning on my mat, thinking about what was important to me that day and what I wanted myself to know. I hesitate to call it 'meditation' because I wasn't trying to clear my mind, have some kind of experience in enlightenment, etc. I just wanted to focus my energies and be aware of what I was bringing into myself in the best way possible.
Now that I am home, I've had more time to focus on this process. I downloaded some podcasts about meditation that focus on breathing and relaxation. I've been reading a book my good friend J. sent me about forgiveness of yourself and others, and being positive. It sounds new age-y, but it's an important message. I started paying attention to the messages I send myself, and so many of them were negative. I've made a conscious effort to change that. I guess I always felt if I weren't really hard on myself, I wouldn't be a better person? I'm realizing that when you send yourself positive messages, you feel inspired to change things in a positive way. Positive reinforcement works with yourself, too!
Focused quiet time to reflect isn't easy. It requires you to give up a lot of your own ego. That has been the hardest part for me. Often I cry after this kind of meditation, but I think it's a good thing; it's releasing all those hard feelings I've had for myself and others for so long. If you don't have quiet time for yourself now, I challenge you to start taking 1 minute, then 2 minutes, and so on, and think about what message you want yourself to know. You are really smart, incredible people. I hope you all believe that about yourself.
I like my quiet time very early in the morning. In China I had the habit of waking up verrry early because the birds that lived in the bamboo growing outside my window also got up early. Older people did daily tai chi in the courtyard outside my apartment at the break of dawn. I loved seeing their quiet, uniform movements. It inspired me to find quiet time of my own.
I began the habit of sitting quietly every morning on my mat, thinking about what was important to me that day and what I wanted myself to know. I hesitate to call it 'meditation' because I wasn't trying to clear my mind, have some kind of experience in enlightenment, etc. I just wanted to focus my energies and be aware of what I was bringing into myself in the best way possible.
Now that I am home, I've had more time to focus on this process. I downloaded some podcasts about meditation that focus on breathing and relaxation. I've been reading a book my good friend J. sent me about forgiveness of yourself and others, and being positive. It sounds new age-y, but it's an important message. I started paying attention to the messages I send myself, and so many of them were negative. I've made a conscious effort to change that. I guess I always felt if I weren't really hard on myself, I wouldn't be a better person? I'm realizing that when you send yourself positive messages, you feel inspired to change things in a positive way. Positive reinforcement works with yourself, too!
Focused quiet time to reflect isn't easy. It requires you to give up a lot of your own ego. That has been the hardest part for me. Often I cry after this kind of meditation, but I think it's a good thing; it's releasing all those hard feelings I've had for myself and others for so long. If you don't have quiet time for yourself now, I challenge you to start taking 1 minute, then 2 minutes, and so on, and think about what message you want yourself to know. You are really smart, incredible people. I hope you all believe that about yourself.
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