Tag Archives: mandarin

The Open-Door Policy

Posted on December 4, 2007 by Meg

Long before I came to China, I saw pictures of the old-fashioned Chinese homes. I loved the semi-enclosed porches, roofed patios, open-air stairs… like the kind you kind in Beihai Park. I loved that the distinction between inside and outside … Continue reading →

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Non-Standard

Posted on September 29, 2007 by Meg

I asked my TA a Chinese-language question this morning, and she managed to suppress her laughter long enough to answer me. My Chinese is pretty bad, the tones trip me up, and also I learned to speak in Yantai, and … Continue reading →

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Teaching Little Ones

Posted on September 12, 2007 by Meg

My first two days of classes were great, but also overwhelming. I have 6 classes of 25ish kindergartners per day. Fortunately I only work 3 days a week, oddly enough it’s Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, which were the days I … Continue reading →

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Mandarin Again

Posted on September 9, 2007 by Meg

So far, Beijing still feels like Wonkaland, but I kind of love being in Wonkaland. I’m having huge issues with the language, though. Since this summer, I’ve been doing ChinesePod lessons, which I would totally recommend to anyone trying to … Continue reading →

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Meg vs. Mandarin, again.

Posted on February 8, 2007 by Meg

Yesterday I started taking a beginning Chinese class. I’d forgotten how much better I liked my life without anyone saying “no, no, is zh not zh“. At least the prof doesn’t giggle when she says it. She has the same … Continue reading →

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Ara Pacis Day

Posted on December 17, 2006 by Meg

We went to the Ara Pacis today. I love the Ara Pacis. (Zorro, if you turn on my computer, that’s my background) My Roman history is the Julio-Claudians with some Livy stuff before and some Constantine stuff after. If Robert … Continue reading →

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Big Mountain

Posted on November 27, 2006 by Meg

It seems that all expats in China all have something in common. It’s not just our supply of Purell, or our shared lust of bread and cheese, there’s also the group hatred of Da Shan. Da Shan / Mark Roswell … Continue reading →

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It’s All True

Posted on November 18, 2006 by Meg

I wrote this a few days ago but I made it sticky to faciliate the flame war make it easier for folks coming over from Sinosplice. One thing that about learning Chinese that makes me crazy is that there seems … Continue reading →

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Lost In Translation

Posted on November 15, 2006 by Meg

The other day, I picked up the first season of Lost at my local DVD shop. I watched it in Mandarin with English subtitles. Sometimes I do that to improve my comprehension, it’s very passive learning but it does help … Continue reading →

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Six Weeks Left In China

Posted on November 6, 2006 by Meg

I love Yantai with the part of my heart that’s not full of the love-hate expats have for China. It’s hard to fully love a places in which all travel involves dealing with an Mandarin-speaking Whitmore. Here, I’m a G-rated … Continue reading →

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