that my VPN is not working... I am missing Facebook and blogging and TMZ. I am missing quality computer time. Thankfully China sells cheap DVDs. They may not believe in the internet being used for social media but they do believe in selling dirt cheap DVDs. I bought Dexter Season 4 a few nights ago for 40 RMB. Which is basically $6. Brand new! You buy the DVDs for 8 RMB a piece. So, if you buy a season of something you pay for each DVD in the set. Dexter had five DVDs so I spent 40 qwai.
I am about to hit my three week anniversary in China. It is hard to believe it has been so long. I have never spent this long away from home. That is pretty sad... In these three weeks I have already grown very proud of myself. I walk everywhere. I eat (almost) anything. I can catch a taxi by myself. I can ride the subway by myself. I can order (some) food by myself. I have been living by myself for these three weeks. It is great how much I have to depend on myself to do things. I really don't feel like my life was that way at home. I knew there were many people I could lean on to get things done for me. That is just not the case here.
I have a few goals for when I go to Wuhan. Mainly I want to pick up on a lot more Chinese. I will be the only native English speaker at work and I will be in a city with a very small expat community. Hopefully this will help push me into learning and using more Mandarin. Right now I am a little embarrassed to try to speak it because I feel like I will not say anything right. I need to break out of my shell and just start speaking this darn language. I have been listening in on people's conversations. Be it at work, on the street, people on the phone, in a taxi... wherever. I try to figure out what they are talking about without really knowing any of the words they are saying. I am definitely becoming more aware of the way foreigners must feel in America. I used to be one of those people who said if you were going to move to another country then you have to learn the language. It is much harder than I thought.
I have been practicing how to order things in a restaurant...
Mandarin lesson:
Fúwùyuán 服务员 (waiter) Càidān 菜单 (menu) Màidān (check) yīngwén càidān 有英文菜单 (English menu) Kuàizi 筷子 (chopsticks) Sháozi 勺子 (spoon) Jiǎozi 饺子 (dumplings) Cāntīng 餐厅 (restaurant)
I am about to hit my three week anniversary in China. It is hard to believe it has been so long. I have never spent this long away from home. That is pretty sad... In these three weeks I have already grown very proud of myself. I walk everywhere. I eat (almost) anything. I can catch a taxi by myself. I can ride the subway by myself. I can order (some) food by myself. I have been living by myself for these three weeks. It is great how much I have to depend on myself to do things. I really don't feel like my life was that way at home. I knew there were many people I could lean on to get things done for me. That is just not the case here.
I have a few goals for when I go to Wuhan. Mainly I want to pick up on a lot more Chinese. I will be the only native English speaker at work and I will be in a city with a very small expat community. Hopefully this will help push me into learning and using more Mandarin. Right now I am a little embarrassed to try to speak it because I feel like I will not say anything right. I need to break out of my shell and just start speaking this darn language. I have been listening in on people's conversations. Be it at work, on the street, people on the phone, in a taxi... wherever. I try to figure out what they are talking about without really knowing any of the words they are saying. I am definitely becoming more aware of the way foreigners must feel in America. I used to be one of those people who said if you were going to move to another country then you have to learn the language. It is much harder than I thought.
I have been practicing how to order things in a restaurant...
Mandarin lesson:
Fúwùyuán 服务员 (waiter) Càidān 菜单 (menu) Màidān (check) yīngwén càidān 有英文菜单 (English menu) Kuàizi 筷子 (chopsticks) Sháozi 勺子 (spoon) Jiǎozi 饺子 (dumplings) Cāntīng 餐厅 (restaurant)
I am so proud of you. You are becoming the woman you talked about wanting to be when you were a little girl.
ReplyDeleteI love reading your updates. They make me smile.
Love,
Dad
Thanks dad!
ReplyDelete