I am constantly surprised by the Chinese language. What is most fascinating and amusing to me is when I come across words, which when broken down into their component parts, just make sense.
This probably needs an example to illustrate my point. My favorite word for today is the word for “restless”. It is composed of two characters, each character using the “heart” radical, the first character combines it with the radical for “up” and the second character combines this with the radical for “down”. So together it all means that the heart is going up and down. So simple, but so full of meaning!
Once you’ve tackled the some 250 radicals (the core symbols whose combinations form much of the 10,000+ words), the characters start to make a lot more sense and become significantly easier to remember. Still, with all the complexity and nuance of each character I think I’ll be studying this all my life. At least my brain won’t go turn to mush.
This New Year’s Eve was decidedly a bit more low key than last. While I did spend it again in Shanghai, I did not do so while moshing in an old German slaughterhouse turned artist lofts turned makeshift nightclub with 12 DJs and an immovable crowd until 5am.
No, this year I decided to go the more relaxed route. Rather I spent it at home with friends, gorging on delicious hot pot, and taking pictures of various poses with the largish squid we decided to try cooking at home.
So my new year’s resolution? Well, I’m not so good with those, but I’d like to start up my blog again, updating it with greater frequency, this time about my observations living in the heart of the gigantic megalopolis known as Shanghai.
Happy new year everyone!
My mom has arrived in China and we are busy touring around. Beijing then Xi’an and now finally in Yangshuo!
It is strange and cool to see China again through the eyes of a newcomer. I’m surprised now how many things here I take for granted. Some good, some bad. I love it here though and I am excited to return.
The weather has been pretty great so far, and I’ve been able to take some nice shots of the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, the Great Wall, and more. Hopefully when I get home I’ll have time to assemble some of these things into a photo book documenting my first year in China. It’s been nice having my mom here these past few days, it is cool to show her around … and showing off my bargaining skills as she shops and shops.
In other news, I will be returning in a month! I’ve decided I have to stay the course and keep working towards my goal of Chinese fluency. But this time I’m going to live in Shanghai. It’s good to know where I’ll be for the next few years, but also a little bit scary to think I won’t be home to see my friends and family. I won’t be making much money here, so visiting once a year will have to do, but I am ready to make this change. Now it is just up to finding a new job, and teaching English is basically the only option if I want to make any decent salary. I’ll try to do website development on the side though, and hopefully build that up where I can make more money doing that than teaching.
Sometimes life presents choices that you know will have profound effect on your future. I am at one of those now, and I came across this article to remind me of what I should do. Enjoy.
Whatever scares you or excites you, go do it.
Something I try to live by, though not always succeeding. The gist of it being that personal growth cannot be achieved when you remain in the comfort zone.
Geek alert: or to quote a favorite line from Dune (movie or book? I can’t remember):
“Without change something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens.”
Well, I don’t know really how much teaching will be done. I’ve got games planned for most of my lessons, and several classes are finishing up their end of the year movie I promised.
How is it that I can watch Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom six times and still like it, and still pay attention even when I’ve watched the same scene only an hour earlier? Hmm… It is funny watching the kids reaction when they eat monkey brains. Or even funnier to me is the lack of reaction to it.
|
|