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| Singapore: lush trees with skyscrapers. |
Monday, January 27, 2014
A Singapore Jaunt, With Flesh-Eating Fish
A few weeks ago, I went to Singapore for some work assignments and stayed an extra day to celebrate my 32nd birthday. From the moment I landed, I instantly liked the city-state; people are extremely friendly and speak English, which was a welcome break from all the Mandarin I've been trying to speak. The roads are immaculate -- no people spitting onto the sidewalk, no trash on the streets, no smells of rotten garbage -- and the 70 to 80 degree weather in the middle of January was a refreshing heat wave for me. (I had to unpack some of my summer work clothes for the trip!)
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
The Chinese Learn to Ski
On a recent Saturday, we took a day trip with our friend Maggie to Nanshan Ski Village, a ski area about an hour outside of Beijing.
Like many Chinese things, Nanshan snow was jia de -- or fake -- and as we drove up to the village, a large white mountain seemed to appear out of nowhere in a landscape of brown-colored hills. We lucked out with the weather, though, and it was a sunny day with only light pollution.
Like many Chinese things, Nanshan snow was jia de -- or fake -- and as we drove up to the village, a large white mountain seemed to appear out of nowhere in a landscape of brown-colored hills. We lucked out with the weather, though, and it was a sunny day with only light pollution.
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| Brown, brown hills ... and then a snowy peak! |
Sunday, January 12, 2014
"Oh That's Different" No. 4
For the beginning of 2014, here are some other fun observations of mine.
1. Could you carry my handbag? It's quite common to see a young man carrying a hot-pink tote or a yellow satchel on the street. These aren't man purses, but the purses of the man's girlfriend or wife. I've heard Chinese men do this as a way to show affection. How chivalrous.
One day at the end of Mandarin class I put my notebook and Scott's books into my bag and our teacher frowned. She asked why Scott wasn't carrying my bag for me! I loved it, though Scott wasn't keen on the idea and only carried it once, just to make our teacher happy.
1. Could you carry my handbag? It's quite common to see a young man carrying a hot-pink tote or a yellow satchel on the street. These aren't man purses, but the purses of the man's girlfriend or wife. I've heard Chinese men do this as a way to show affection. How chivalrous.
One day at the end of Mandarin class I put my notebook and Scott's books into my bag and our teacher frowned. She asked why Scott wasn't carrying my bag for me! I loved it, though Scott wasn't keen on the idea and only carried it once, just to make our teacher happy.
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| Honey, my handbag is really heavy ... |
Sunday, January 5, 2014
A Much-Needed Girls Day and Happy New Year!
Happy 2014 everyone!
Ours started off with a bang. We spent New Year's Eve with our friends Brittany, Brian, Maggie and Tom. We ordered pizza, played Catch Phrase (I lost it for the girls when I failed to give good clues for Joss Stone) and danced in our apartment. Chinese president Xi Jinping even graced us with a televised address shortly after midnight. Maggie got an awesome photo of it and has a great caption:
Ours started off with a bang. We spent New Year's Eve with our friends Brittany, Brian, Maggie and Tom. We ordered pizza, played Catch Phrase (I lost it for the girls when I failed to give good clues for Joss Stone) and danced in our apartment. Chinese president Xi Jinping even graced us with a televised address shortly after midnight. Maggie got an awesome photo of it and has a great caption:
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| Maggie: "Xi clearly in need of some holiday champagne." |
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