So last night we were having dinner in the big on-campus restaurant. They have a menu in English, so it is usually reasonably smooth, although we once ended up with a dish featuring chicken feet and hot peppers which was completely inedible. The kids have been having too much pop lately so I wanted some water for them to drink. The fun began. Couldn't remember "mineral water" in Chinese, so I asked for shui (water) and motioned unscrewing a bottle. This has worked literally dozens of times. She brought hot water. So I said, "bu yao, yao shui bing" --I was pretty sure bing meant cold, plus I motioned shivering. So she brought a bowl of ice, to the great amusement of everyone at the table. I just kept saying shui and motioning that bottle top, and finally 2 bottles of water were produced !!! We noticed that often the other patrons are not drinking anything with their meals. Seems odd.
This whole meal was fraught with communication problems, even asking for the number of dumplings...she just did not recognize my pronunciation. Maybe she is a local speaker of Minnan for whom Mandarin is a far distant language? Or could my tones be so bad that she didn't recognize the number 15? I prefer to think it was her, not me!
Speaking of language learning..Helen's class is having a flag raising ceremony on Monday for the school (the classes take turns) As it turns out, Helen is one of 6 children chosen for a little speaking part, which she has been practicing. She says, in Chinese "Wo shi da san ban de Huan Huan xiao pengyou" (I am the Big Third class's Little Friend Huan Huan). It really pleases me that Helen's teacher is willig to put the extra time in with her and seeks out chances for Helen to develop her Chinese. Of course Helen loves to perform, so I'm hoping it will go well for her. Fear not, relatives, I will be video taping. Actually we have shot almost no video here, instead have focused on the still pictures... usually it is just too much for me to manage with both cameras and Sophia, but this occasion calls for as much technology as possible!
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Dear Forests,
We finally got the URL for your blog, thanks to Tim Wadkins who, himself, only recently obtained it. Needless to say, we were overwhelmed with the number of posts, photos, visitors, etc. Won't be catching up, but will try to keep reasonably current.
What we would like to know is your mailing address--the real one.
Our first impression of your adventures is that they are reminiscent of our time in Africa: comfortable, scintellating, socially satisfying, etc. We're a wee envious. The big difference is that Namibia is a little, sparsely populated country dependent on the West--China is, well, you know--banker to the West!
Enjoy to the full,
Mike and Susan Gent
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