Let's Go Fly a Kite!

A couple of weeks ago, three of my sophomore students came up to talk with me after class. One said, "Sarah, we might potentially be inviting you to maybe join us to fly kites, possibly in two weeks."

Most indirect invitation ever.

I replied, "Well, I might possibly be accepting said invitation once I receive more details."

Today, we went to fly kites on the South Lawn with many other students from the English Association. It was great fun, though I am not very skillful with a kite. Many of my students came, and I took several photos:

The indirect invitation givers (picking me up at my apt.)

My basketball buddies

In front of the South Gate

乔语欣 My New Chinese Name!

I have lived in China for almost eight months now! How crazy is that?!?

Yesterday, I asked one of my sophomore classes to find a Chinese name for me. This worked well as a lesson, as they had to explain all of the names to me in English, and debate with each other over which name would be best. I thought I would share which names were suggested, their meaning, and how many votes they received.

I will list them from lowest to highest number of votes:

1.  王沙沙 Wang Sha Sha

This name was chosen by my student Kyle. Wang is the family name, which means king. Many students chose this as my family name for the same reason: Sarah means princess, so I must be the daughter of a king. I suppose I am, two times over. :)

He chose sha sha because it sounds similar to Sarah (I suppose). Sha means young and beautiful. This name only received one vote, because students said that sha also sounds like the word for kill, and they did not want me to be named "king kill kill" Ha

2. 王慧兰 Wang Hui Lan

The family name is also king. Hui is a kind of flower, and when said with lan, it means good quality. The girl who suggested this name said that it would show that I would be a good wife (ha!). This name also received only one vote, because most students said that the name sounded too old-fashioned, like a name their grandmother would have.

3. 韩殊摇 Han Shu Yao

Han is just a good, standard family name. Shu means beautiful. Yao means jade, which stands for luck, purity, and good character. This name only received one vote, though I am not sure why.

4. 上官雪儿 Shang Guan Xue Er

This is a very beautiful name. In ancient China, many people often had two family names, which is why my students chose to combine the Shang and Guan. Xue means snow, and er is a word for white. So, basically they wanted my name to be Snow White. :) This name received only two votes. Most people in the class thought the name was too long an difficult.

5. 田可欣 Tian Ke Xin

Tian is a family name that is pronounced the same as the word for 'sweet'. Ke means 'cute', and xin means 'happy' or 'energetic'. This name only received two votes.

6. 梁笑笑 Liang Xiao Xiao

This name is super cute. It is fun to say. Liang is just a good family name. Xiao Xiao means smile smile. This name received three votes.

7. 王晶Wang Jing

If you remember, Wang means king. Jing means sunshine, clever, and pure. This name received three votes.

8. 余佳 Yu Jia

This name was suggested by one of guys who had seen me at the basketball court previously. Yu is a family name that is pronounced the same as the word for yoga, so he thought it was appropriate since I like sports. Jia means good and beautiful. This name received only three votes, since most of my students said it wasn't appropriate for a girl.

9. 叶子 Ye Zi

This name is so hard to pronounce correctly! My students chose it because they thought it would be easy for me to write. True, but impossible to pronounce. It comes from the word leaf, which implies words, books, and reading.

10. 孔含饴 Kong Han Yi

This name received six votes! They chose Kong as my family name, because it has the same starting sound as Ketchem. Han Yi is very interesting, and I don't quite understand. Somehow, they mean candy that you hold in your mouth for a long time, so the name means that you will have sweetness forever.

And the winner is...

乔语欣 Qiao Yu Xin

This name received 10 votes! There are several reasons it was chosen

1. Qiao is a family name that means beautiful. In ancient china, there were two sisters, 大乔 (da qiao= big qiao) and 小乔 (xiao qiao = little qiao). They were known for being very beautiful, and marrying good men. One married a general, and the other married the emperor. My students said that they think I am beautiful (blushing) and they want me to marry a good man (cute!).

2. Yu means words and literature and books and reading. My students said that they know I love all of those things, so it was appropriate.

3. Xin means happy and energetic.

4. This name, all put together, is very beautiful and sounds lovely when you say it. Anyone who I have told has said, "Oh, that is a very good name."

5. Random bonus! My tutor also has the same xin in her name... We are like sisters!

I am very excited for my new name!!

Duck Neck, Part II

My tutor came over tonight for my weekly Chinese lesson. (I have amassed a decent amount of vocabulary, and we are moving on to sentence structures and grammar patterns. Happy dance!)

I showed her my bag of duck necks, and she insisted that we open it and I try some. I balked at the idea, but she persisted.

This is what they look like out of the bag and into a bowl:

Not terribly appetizing...

I tried one, and it wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but I definitely wouldn't recommend it. Then, my tutor said, "These taste funny."

Well, that's good to know, because I thought they tasted pretty funny too.

So, if you are ever in China, I would say skip the duck neck and go for the century egg. :)

Wu Han Duck Neck

Every Tuesday, I spend a few hours in the afternoon in the Foreign Teacher's Library. This is a place where students can come check out books and talk with a foreign teacher. Normally, there are about 20 or so students there each week to chat.

Today, many of my freshman students came to talk with me. One girl had visited the city of Wu Han over the weekend. She told me all about her trip and then said that she had a special gift for me.

This is what she pulled out of her bag:

Special Spicy Duck Neck!!

The other students in library gasped and started exclaiming about how delicious these duck necks are. "Oh, Sarah... it is a delicacy."

...

So, I now have a bag of special spicy duck neck sitting on my table. I haven't yet worked up the courage to try them. If I ever do become that courageous, I will add another blog post to tell you how they taste. Until then...

So you like Johnny Depp, huh?

Some days, I get to my teaching building early so that I can spend some time in the "teacher rest room" chatting with the Chinese teachers. I have met some good friends there. Last week, I met a group of new teachers, and they were all talking about their favorite American movie stars. They asked me for my opinion, and I said several names before they were able to recognize one: Johnny Depp.

"Oh, Johnny Depp. I like him so much too! He is in the pirates movie!"

One of the teachers even proceeded to give an impersonation of Captain Jack Sparrow (aka- drunken stupor). Awesome sauce.

Fast forward to today. I am about to start teaching my freshman when one of those teachers comes into my classroom. She hands me a little box and says, "Last week, you said that you like Johnny Depp, and I saw this and thought of you. I thought you would appreciate it."

I had no idea what to expect inside the box... Something Johnny Depp related...

Turns out that it was a tin box, with Captain Jack Sparrow's face on it. Awesome. What treasures shall I store in here?

Happy Women's (And Girl's) Day

Yesterday was International Women's Day, which is celebrated here in China. The day before is known, on campus, as Girl's Day. There were pink balloons tied to all the trees around campus, music blaring throughout the day. As I was walking to class, I saw 20 boys with pink balloons tied to their bicycles, picking up girls from a dormitory to take them to class. How sweet.

My students told me that I am supposed to celebrate Girl's Day because I will not be a woman until I turn 30. Good to know.

On Women's Day, Erika and I decided to go to dinner at one of the little restaurants on campus. The hostess came up to our table and gave us each a bag of red date yogurt in honor of Women's Day. How about that?!? Too bad I'm allergic. :(