Tag Archives: chinese
Only In China
I applied today for a quick tutoring gig, the ad said the school wanted someone to tutor some high-schoolers in a prep class for the AP English test. The interviewer told me about some problem students, and asked me how … Continue reading
Illiterate At Best
I’ve hit a frustrating plateau with my Chinese-speaking. When I speak, I give the tones a good shot, and hope for the best. If I can’t get the tone of “glass” right, hopefully the rest of the sentence, usually “I’d … Continue reading
On My Soapbox, With Cliches About China
If we are to see the Olympics as (good heavens, it hurts to type this) China’s big coming-out party, then China cannot hide behind the “developing country” defense much longer. When the international community pressures China on the environment or … Continue reading
No, Alanis, It’s Unfortunate.
I had to run some errands the other day, and I stopped into UBC Coffee afterwards for a cup of almost-coffee. Eating alone in restaurants is a weird guilty pleasure of mine. I really like it, but I also think … Continue reading
Snacking With Trimalchio
When I lived in Yantai, I believed I had been offered every bit of sealife imaginable. Like most theories I had about China, this turned out to be inaccurate. I think the seahorses might have been a novelty item even … Continue reading
Russian Mirage
Stick and I went exploring down the Russian street between the Ritan Park Jenny Lou’s and The Place. It’s at the eastern end of Ritan Bei Lu, where it meets Dongdaqiao Lu. The last time I was at The Place, … Continue reading
What My Dad Would Call “Logistics”
So I’ve narrowed it down to two possible jobs. One job is Singapore Academy, with small classes, teenage students, all the things I want, but they weren’t able to meet my salary expectation, and between losing our double housing bonus … Continue reading
???
Today we stopped playing Civ long enough for lunch at Mexican Wave and a visit to the Guiyou silk market. (Stick’s discovered that if you don’t develop alphabet, but everyone else does, you really don’t need it to trade techs.) … Continue reading
Modern Beauty Salon
Yesterday, I stopped by the Modern Beauty Salon in the Ginza Mall, mainly to use their shower. I needed the shower because on Monday our hot water heater died in spectacular fashion. (Obviously, calls to a certain Fairly Useless Boss … Continue reading
Tormenting Teenagers For Fun And Profit
I was asked to teach one lesson of an ongoing class for Singapore Academy, the head teacher’s class actually, and she would be observing me. Does this mean a teacher is making the academic decisions in the school? Too good … Continue reading
