I pretty much don't have any exciting news, so I'm just going to talk about this random semi-boring incident that caught my attention when it happened. It is an exchange between my Chinese teacher, 申老师, and the kid who sits next to me, James. Here is the very basic English translation.
申老师: "What do you get a small child for their birthday?"
Student A: "Toys"
James: "But big kids like toys too"
申老师: "Toys are for small children"
James: "But I like toys"
申老师: (smiling) "You are a small child"
... When put into English, and then presented to English speaking people, it doesn't sound in the least bit funny, but it got the whole Chinese class to crack up. 申老师 wasn't being mean, he is never mean, he was just straightforward, and it ended up being funny. Maybe we all laughed just because we were desperately in need of some humor (we had been speaking only Chinese for an hour and a half, which gets tiring).
Anyway, we went to the Lama Temple and some ancient Chinese history museum on saturday and they were pretty cool. At the Lama Temple, people burn incense and kneel on little wooden stools to pray. The Architecture was very intricate, and in every room, there were three Buddhas. One for the past, one for the present, and one for the future. We weren't allowed to take photos of the buddhas, but I got some pictures of the architecture outside the Temple's rooms, and of us at the museum. There were real Terra Cotta Soldiers at the museum, taken from the army in Xi'an. The picture of the three people are my friends (L-R) Sam, Marianne, and Ian. There was a huge garden of bushes that was fun to walk around in.
3 comments:
Good stories, Doll-- keep 'em coming. Enjoy the break! The story about Chinese class rang a bit true, and I don't remember much from 35 years ago. (wo bujrdau, in the old pinyin). Get Sam, Marianne, and Ian to take a photo with YOU in it, OK? love, Dad
I remember that Renata went to the museum with the terra cotta soldiers and horses and was awestruck. I know pawpaw has read about them quite a bit and was fascinated by them. They do sound pretty dang amazing. I'd like to see them when I come to visit, if it works out. Good shot of the temple and your friends! I definitely don't think your news is boring! How can it be boring when it is so incredibly different than your day-to-day experiences in Iowa? I guess boring isn't one of my favorite words : ) I'll get over it though! I was happy to see an update!
Tomorrow the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, John Roberts Jr., is coming to Drake for the day. I'll go to a luncheon where he'll be, then he comes over to the Clinic to meet with some Federal Appeals Court judges, and then he's giving a public presentation at 3:00 in the Knapp Center. I'm going to go to that too because how many times in my life have I seen a U.S. Supreme Court Justice - never until now!
I'm going to email Dai to see how I can help myself learn a few basic phrases and helpful sentences in Chinese. I just read in my Lonely Planet book that Beijingers, or whatever you call the people from Beijing, really appreciate you trying to say things in Chinese - even if you are really bad at it, they are kind about it and grateful you try. So I want to try : )
What, you call that boring news? I call it darn interesting. I don't get on the computer as much as I use to when I had my own, but it's great fun to catch up on what you're up to.
here's boring news.....I've been cleaning my basement out and trying to keep up with household chores. Yeesh! Gonna' get some creative juices flowing soon hopefully.
Love you,
Aunt Michelle
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