Speaking Chinese?

Rick and I are language idiots.  We each need a senior companion who is already fluent in the native tongue.  I’ve become quite adept at sign language but the Chinese words are just not coming easily.  Where is Alyssa Staheli?

I purchase all fruits and vegetables from the open market where no one speaks English.  I carry a list of the words I want to use but flail my arms and point at my requests with a little grunt.  Pathetic!  The phrases spewing from my mouth are Chintalian.  Shouldn’t they be able to understand any foreign language?  After all, they are foreigners!  Oops,  I’m the stranger here and  giving them plenty of reasons to laugh.

The college printing office provided a service we needed so we braved the language fear and marched forward with our dictionary, phone apps, and stack of needed copies.  Using our best Tarzan Chinese and taxing a very patient printer, we succeeded!  The experience left Rick exhausted and me encouraged.  I couldn’t appear more foolish than I have so let’s press forward to the next language challenge!

We are very good at bowing and saying xiexie (thank you).   My best “go to” statement is,  “I’m sorry, my Chinese is very bad.” (spoken in Chinese, of course)   I usually follow that by asking, “Do you speak English?”  (spoken in Chinese, of course)  Many people just speak Mandarin slower and louder.  That must be an international trait used to help the foreigner understand the local language.

 

Thousand Buddha Mountain

Thousand Buddha Mountain:  We enjoyed a beautiful September day at this local site.  We hiked up countless stairs and viewed the many different carved Buddhas, hundreds of years in the making.  Most were made of granite.  The large, horizontal statue is the sleeping Buddha.

At one side of the mountain was the Thousand Buddha Cave.  Truthfully, there are at least a thousand in all different shapes and sizes.  Cristal Gordan and I are standing in front on the female Buddha.  Ahh, memories of Rome.  Notice the hand placement of the next Buddha.  Some were plain and others ornate.  Eva, our co-teacher, said each has his own history and remarkable contribution to mankind. 

The stone stairway narrows and becomes steeper.  Some of us did go to the top, a journey reminiscent of “Angel’s Landing”.  It had rained the day before so we enjoyed a spectacular view of Jinan.  We could see the bridge over the Yellow River and the smaller stadium facilities used during the 2008 Olympics.  What a delight to view the overall scope of our home for the next ten months.

China - Day One

We left St. George with an obscene amount of luggage.  Thank you, Hans for transporting us and all the cargo.  33+ hours later we arrived in rainy Jinan.  John, another English teacher at the university, greeted us warmly and delivered the tired bodies and “stuff” to our new home.  Lunch, with Eva and Tony and the Gordons, followed. 

Chinese students studying English always choose an English name.  That has been a huge help in becoming acquainted and actually calling them by a name we can pronounce.  Most of the names are current and popular in the US.  Others are very interesting:  Kangaroo, Luke Skywalker, Doom, and more.  

 This restaurant was fabulous.  All the dishes were placed on the Lazy Susan (I hate that name) and we sampled everything.  They drink only hot water with meals.

My first “restroom” in the airport. There is no “resting” here. I’ll develop superb leg muscles. This adds a whole new meaning to

“squats”.

We Have Arrived

China is beautiful!   We are enjoying the culture, people and food.  The internet, however, has us frazzled.  I have several wonderful pictures to post but the technology will not cooperate.  Another couple took 24 hours to upload pictures to a blog.  Really!  Who thinks I have that kind of patience?


I'll share more as my skills advance and my hair is restored (pulled it out in frustration over computers).


Jinan is not as "international" as Beijing and other more westernized cities so we really stand out.  We've witnessed the discreet cell phone taking our picture and adults and children who stare endlessly.  I have engaged in a few bus conversations that leave us all laughing and wondering what was really said in English and Chinese.


The students assigned to help us survive our first week are MARVELOUS!!!  If this is a sampling of our future classrooms we are truly blessed.  I suspect they may be the cream of the crop so we'll enjoy them while we can. 


We miss our dear family and friends but continue to embrace all that is offered on the other side of the world.