Page Not Found

Posted on April 1, 2008 by Meg

I’ve been searching YouTube for a filmclip of today’s torch ceremony for the Beijing Olympics FAN! blog, but something in my search terms keeps giving me a Page Not Found. When I get the 404, it blocks anything else on YouTube for about a minute, which is a pain in the backside. I was using things like “Beijing” “Torch” “Ceremony” and “Olympics”, not the T-word*, even though that’s where the ceremony is being held. I’m honestly not looking for anything sketchy or negative, I just want a pretty video of happy people and the torch ceremony to share on my Olympics blog with other fans. (Er, I mean Patrick’s blog, I’m starting to think it’s my blog now!) I actually want a cheery state-approved, BOCOG-approved video clip, and it’s being censored.

I really have such high hopes for China and the Olympics. It’s impossible to live in Beijing and not catch Olympic fever. But things like this make me worry.

*No, not the place with all the mountains, the other T-word. No, not the island formerly known as Formosa, the other, other T-word.

Crossposted with edits on Beijing Olympics FAN!

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Fengtai Scavenger Hunt

Posted on March 31, 2008 by Meg

Sunday afternoon, Stick and I went out to find a list of fruits and vegetables for his class on food words. He was planning to bring in examples of the kids’ vocabulary words, to give the kids a break from ESL flashcards.

We went to a newish fruit stand, since our usual produce market has disappeared, and looked for photogenic fruit. I was a bit apprehensive about going there… usually going to a new vendor means starting to bargain all over again, from 50 RMB per apple. And I think my tones are improving, because now when I say something like “one orange”, I’m more likely to get a full paragraph of regular-speed Beijing-hua than a blank stare in response. Sadly, I can’t understand any part of that paragraph, but it’s a step in the right direction.

We chose a photogenic pineapple, orange, peach, apple, and so forth. After we picked out a bunch of perfect grapes, I turned back to our pile of purchases, and saw that the fruit seller had peeled our pineapple and was starting to core it. I guess my surprise showed on my face.

“No problem!” the vendor said with a smile. “No extra charge!”

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Sven The Monkey

Posted on March 31, 2008 by Meg

The real reason for YouTube’s inaccessibility doesn’t have anything to do with that place with the mountains, it’s actually due to this video of my new co-teacher Sven impersonating a monkey.

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Happy Meal

Posted on March 31, 2008 by Meg

“When we first started dating, did you ever think we’d go on a romantic date to McDonalds?” Stick asked me. We were in line at the Kan Dan Qiao 24-hour McDonalds, getting milkshakes in what is likely to become a usual Saturday-morning activity for us. (I also got a Happy Meal so I could get the Hello Kitty doll in the posters but I got a Nini Olympics cup instead. So sad! Now we have to go back!) The way we say “I love you” has really changed since we’ve been in Beijing… I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated a milkshake properly. Or Stick, for that matter.

“Did you ever think you’d take me to McDonalds by bus for this special date?” I asked him.

“Did you ever think we’d need a fifty to pay for it?”

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Beijing Protests

Posted on March 28, 2008 by Meg

Some of my more brilliant comments didn’t end up on the show’s podcast, so here’s what I said the first time:

We already see China as an economic power, we don’t need the Olympics to show us that everything in the whole world is made in China. But we don’t have a good impression of Chinese police, Chinese media or personal freedom in China.

If there is some kind of non-violent dissent at the Olympics — I’m not going to suggest what groups might be involved, or what forms it might take — and we don’t see a harsh military response, protestors don’t get tossed into prisons, and we don’t see a media cover-up, it would be an awesome opportunity for China to show that they really are a modern nation.

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Olympic Regrets Podcast

Posted on March 28, 2008 by Meg

I’ve having trouble linking directly to the episode (seems like some parts of the BBC’s site are accessible but others are 404), but if you go to their podcasts page, you can get the March 27th episode, called “Is China regretting hosting the Olympics?”

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Olympic Regrets?

Posted on March 27, 2008 by Meg

World Have Your Say is discussing China and the Olympics tonight. The show asks the question, will China regret hosting the Olympics? I’ll be on talking about why China won’t regret it and how an Olympic protest could actually be a great thing for China’s image.

It’s a two-hour show this time, starting at 5 PM London time, which is 1 AM in China, so that’s 1 PM back home in New Jersey…

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My Sister The Pirate

Posted on March 27, 2008 by Meg

My sister Bethie just returned from three months of sailing the high seas, so naturally when I got to talk to her tonight, I asked her all about her pirate life.

“Did you call your friends, ‘me hearties’? Do you call other people ‘landlubber’?” I asked, “Did you at least get to say ‘Aye, aye, Captain’ when you got orders?”

“Actually,” she said, “you’re supposed to repeat the instructions back, and then say aye, so they know you heard and understood the order. You can’t just say yes.”

“Kind of like teaching English.”

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English Assignment

Posted on March 27, 2008 by Meg

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Universal Behavior

Posted on March 26, 2008 by Meg

I did some Mad Libs with my new teenage class. This is secretly a test to sort out English speakers from nodders. I can’t even fault them for faking it… I spent most of my high school chem class pretending I understood what we were doing. Basically, I call out the part of speech, they call out words, then I read the Mad Lib, and I see who laughs at the story, and who nods like it’s serious.

Wonder if that would work in a chemistry class. “Haha! Covalent bonds! That’s what she said!”

Nah. Chemistry just isn’t funny.

I grabbed the Mad Libs from this site, we did the Ghost Story on Monday and the Love Letter on Tuesday. The kids really liked putting each other’s names into the stories… even the nodders got that we were writing a story about their classmates. The kids knew what I was doing the second time, and got a lot more creative with their words.

A little too creative, though, since one of my boys used his pocket translator to look up and then shout “I know a noun! Erection!”

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