A View from Above...

Here is the view from my 14th floor apartment.  This is the city of Huzhou.  The Chinese call it a small city, but I beg to differ.  It's pretty freakin' huge as far as I'm concerned.  I am getting more and more comfortable here.  I started taking yoga classes at a studio close to me, and have made many more friends.  I even had a Chinese guy as for my number.  I may have a date :)

 

 There's a big Ferris wheel in the background.  It's like the London Eye, but in Huzhou.  I have yet to ride it, because I have no interest, and it goes soooo slow.

There's the Long Island River and a little putting green.  I do live in a nice area.

 

The other evening I was teaching a middle school class and I was asking the students if they have pets.  A few of them had turtles, which I find an interesting pet, since I can find them in the grocery store.  One had the turtle for over 15 years, and I asked how he survived the winters.  She told me he family would keep it in the garbage.  I couldn't understand what she meant.  Is the garbage warm?  Come to find out she meant the garage. 

 

This got me thinking to other words that the Chinese confuse all the time.  First, in the Chinese language there is no difference between he or she.  There is only one person.  Because of that, they say the wrong person all the time.  It's funny when we're talking about a woman, and they say he, or the other way around.  This may be a "have to be there" thing.

 

They tell me that they like to eat "snakes"...ewww, they mean snacks.

 

They also like to eat "kitchen".  They confuse "kitchen" and "chicken" all the time.

 

I tried to teach them all the shapes, but when they tried to say "square", they couldn't help but say "squirrel". 

 

Mandarin has many of the same words and they use tones to differentiate.  God only knows what I'm saying half the time.  The word "ma", can mean, mother, hemp, horse, scold, or just a question marker depending on the tone.  Although it's funny when the students make a mistake, I realize they are much smarter than I am.

 

So, I'll be home in a little over 2 months.  I'll miss it here, but can't wait to be home.

 

Love and Miss you all.