38th edition: Heh
Someone must have proven that the standard Taiwanese stomach is 864 cubic centimeters. Because that is the size of every portable lunch that is sold in Taiwan. You buy lunch (or many dinners) in these little cardboard boxes that are ALL the same size.
Many places of business have a restaurant that always makes their office lunchboxes, and everyone gets lunch delivered from the same place, which means that everyone gets the same lunch. And no one gets to pick their lunch. This is what happened all summer. And why I started exploring vegetarianism.
But, the great thing is that sometimes you can get your own box at a buffet, and fill it with anything you want. This is how I had the most delicious lunchbox ever. It was filled with: vegetarian fried rice, asparagus, broccoli, green beans, and tofu nuggets. I was seriously in lunch box heaven: it was all green, and I didn't have to wonder what anything in it was made out of! And, it was SO tasty.
So this week's word is "heh", or "box."
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
...and why my family is just getting more awesome.
Because my future brother-in-law blogs about us. Ok, but just because his blog is better written and more entertaining, don't stop reading mine!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Why My Name Is Awesome!
Ok, so of course my name is awesome because it has gold, and it's got my grandma's character in it. But really, it's most awesome because it's the name that Ginny Weasley has in Chinese translations of Harry Potter! Ginny marries Harry Potter-- could I possibly have a cooler Chinese name!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Weekly Mandarin: 37
37th edition: Chuan
This word was actually in my textbook this week! I had a legitimate application for a vocabulary word, unlike the Chinese characters for "Germany."
Though, honestly, the word "boat" isn't usually a critical vocabulary word.
But this weekend, I went rafting with my "haircut family" and some of the other Fulbrighters. We went down to the area near Taroko Gorge, and paddled on a river that was mostly flatwater, but had some exciting rapids too!
Unfortunately, we didn't bring cameras because they would've gotten soaked. But the attire was pretty entertaining: The helmets weren't really going to save us because they were basically seizure helmets (think Natalie Portman in Garden State). But the life jackets were pretty serious.... They even had those awkward straps between your legs to help lift you out of the water if you fall in. I affectionately call them the "safety wedgie" and was therefore able to teach a 5th grader the term "wedgie."
In Taiwan, you don't sit all the way in the raft most of the time. Maybe because it gives you a better center, or maybe because really the aim of the trip seemed to be to get soaked, you straddle the side of the boat and dangle one foot in the water. And paddle from there. It was pretty funny.
And one final note: Our boat kicked BUTT. We totally raced past all the other boats with our mix of brute strength, communication, and cunning wit. We almost even made it to the Pacific.
This word was actually in my textbook this week! I had a legitimate application for a vocabulary word, unlike the Chinese characters for "Germany."
Though, honestly, the word "boat" isn't usually a critical vocabulary word.
But this weekend, I went rafting with my "haircut family" and some of the other Fulbrighters. We went down to the area near Taroko Gorge, and paddled on a river that was mostly flatwater, but had some exciting rapids too!
Unfortunately, we didn't bring cameras because they would've gotten soaked. But the attire was pretty entertaining: The helmets weren't really going to save us because they were basically seizure helmets (think Natalie Portman in Garden State). But the life jackets were pretty serious.... They even had those awkward straps between your legs to help lift you out of the water if you fall in. I affectionately call them the "safety wedgie" and was therefore able to teach a 5th grader the term "wedgie."
In Taiwan, you don't sit all the way in the raft most of the time. Maybe because it gives you a better center, or maybe because really the aim of the trip seemed to be to get soaked, you straddle the side of the boat and dangle one foot in the water. And paddle from there. It was pretty funny.
And one final note: Our boat kicked BUTT. We totally raced past all the other boats with our mix of brute strength, communication, and cunning wit. We almost even made it to the Pacific.
Ri ben! (Japan!)
There's a weird network going on between people who teach English in Asia. If you know everyone in the world through six degrees of separation, I know all of the English teachers in Asia through two or three degrees. Luckily, that makes it much easier to travel!
I spent four days of last weekend in middle-to-Western Japan, mostly in the area near Nara/Kyoto/Kobe. Jeannie and I stayed with one of her good friends who is teaching English in Japan as part of the JET program.
I was really amazed by Japan. It seemed like many of the everyday things like language, clothes, trains, and buildings reflected the deeply rooted traditions and cultural values of the country. I loved their ability to (albeit selectively) absorb Western and modern aspects of life and preserve their own histories. Here are some of my highlights in the trip:
I spent four days of last weekend in middle-to-Western Japan, mostly in the area near Nara/Kyoto/Kobe. Jeannie and I stayed with one of her good friends who is teaching English in Japan as part of the JET program.
I was really amazed by Japan. It seemed like many of the everyday things like language, clothes, trains, and buildings reflected the deeply rooted traditions and cultural values of the country. I loved their ability to (albeit selectively) absorb Western and modern aspects of life and preserve their own histories. Here are some of my highlights in the trip:
We saw geisha. Real geisha going to engagements for the evening! We didn't take pictures, but we did pick our dinner restaurant specifically so that we could watch them walking down the street in full-dress.
Kobe beef. In Kobe, Japan. I thought it would be tasteless to take a picture of the guy cooking my steak or me eating my steak in the restaurant. It was not, however, tasteless to pose like a cow outside the restaurant;)
Hanamei (Cherry blossom viewing) This wasn't even the peak of the blossom season yet! But it was positively gorgeous. And we had a lovely picnic in the mountains.
I was in love with the roofs. Most of the homes and buildings in the Kyoto-area had these gorgeous clay roof tiles. This one is on a temple in Kyoto.
(Picture to come)
Nara has famous, sacred deer. There were too many tourists so our deer weren't especially interested in our deer-crackers. But it was fun to feed them!
(Picture to come)
I think this must have been developed by a monk with an MBA because I guarantee this hole contributes greatly to the revenue of the temple: One of the hot-spots in Nara is a temple with a huge buddah. But there are plenty of temples with Buddahs in Asia. This one was special partially because there was a column in the temple, with a hole carved in it exactly the size of the Buddah's nostril. And anyone who could squeeze through it would gain enlightenment. So we stood in line, behind lots of kids who were going to go through it, and we didn't actually get REALLY stuck. Just stuck for a second or so;)
Now that I've been to Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, I feel like I should figure out how to squeeze in a visit to Mainland China, but it looks pretty impossible at the moment...
Hanamei (Cherry blossom viewing) This wasn't even the peak of the blossom season yet! But it was positively gorgeous. And we had a lovely picnic in the mountains.
I was in love with the roofs. Most of the homes and buildings in the Kyoto-area had these gorgeous clay roof tiles. This one is on a temple in Kyoto.
(Picture to come)
Nara has famous, sacred deer. There were too many tourists so our deer weren't especially interested in our deer-crackers. But it was fun to feed them!
(Picture to come)
I think this must have been developed by a monk with an MBA because I guarantee this hole contributes greatly to the revenue of the temple: One of the hot-spots in Nara is a temple with a huge buddah. But there are plenty of temples with Buddahs in Asia. This one was special partially because there was a column in the temple, with a hole carved in it exactly the size of the Buddah's nostril. And anyone who could squeeze through it would gain enlightenment. So we stood in line, behind lots of kids who were going to go through it, and we didn't actually get REALLY stuck. Just stuck for a second or so;)
Weekly Mandarin: 36
36th edition: Hua
Week 36 overlapped with my visit to Japan! So I'm writing bout a Mandarin word that kind of is also included in Japanese (though it is pronounced "Han").
So "hua" is flower. And springtime's hitting Taiwan and our archipelago friend Japan. Yilan City is a pretty legitimate city, so there aren't too many flowers blooming, but the outlying areas of Taiwan and Japan were full of flowers. Most notably, Japan's Nara Prefecture is home to some of the most famous cherry blossoms in the world.
In fact, the cherry blossoms in DC were originally from Nara! So I saw the REAL cherry blossoms while I was in Japan.
Fun, extraordinarily useful fact: Hua is also part of the name of peanuts/peanut butter. I've just made it more possible for my readers to visit a Chinese speaking country.
Week 36 overlapped with my visit to Japan! So I'm writing bout a Mandarin word that kind of is also included in Japanese (though it is pronounced "Han").
So "hua" is flower. And springtime's hitting Taiwan and our archipelago friend Japan. Yilan City is a pretty legitimate city, so there aren't too many flowers blooming, but the outlying areas of Taiwan and Japan were full of flowers. Most notably, Japan's Nara Prefecture is home to some of the most famous cherry blossoms in the world.
In fact, the cherry blossoms in DC were originally from Nara! So I saw the REAL cherry blossoms while I was in Japan.
Fun, extraordinarily useful fact: Hua is also part of the name of peanuts/peanut butter. I've just made it more possible for my readers to visit a Chinese speaking country.
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