Katie's student is on the far right. She was wonderful.

The Play as translated was “Mouse Falls in Love with Cat”. The synopsis, a famous writer gets caught up in a fraud investigation headed by the local police. He is a well known figure being biographed by a leading journalist, who finds his escapades unworthy of print. The whole while a confusing love triangle takes place between the journalist’s girlfriend who is a police woman, the writer and the writer’s sister. The theme is about following one’s ambitions to the end and not giving up on one’s dream.  (Or at least that is what I got of the play.)

Katie, Thomas and I sat in the front row. Two of Katie’s students sat in the row behind and quietly translated the play. Leaning forward all evening couldn’t have been comfortable. I was very impressed with their translation skills and am greatly looking forward to working with students of their caliber next year.

No imagination necessary, if the script says smoke, he will smoke.

The play was scheduled to start at 6:30pm but as the Officials were running late due to a meeting the play was postponed until their arrival. So the play got underway about 7pm. As we were unsure the total length of the play I decided I’d sneak out at intermission to make another appointment. By the time 9pm rolled around I gave up on an intermission and sneaked out during a scene change. Katie and Thomas stuck it out to the bitter end which ended up being after 10pm, and that was with no intermission.

The entire production from start to finish was produced by students which I found to be quite impressive. The simple sets were quite effective and truly Chinese. The students were cast in roles that resembled their personalities according to Katie. At the end of the play each and every participate was allowed to make a Thank you Speech.

I had a very enjoyable evening. I forget how much I enjoy live theater even if it is not in English. It is amazing how much body language can convey.

I realized I’ve forgotten to post my Chinese name. Wendy came by today and I had her write it down for me again. I’m still having a hard time with my family name but I can write the other two characters decently.

Here is the breakdown-

赵 – Zhào – Family Name

心 – Xïn – Heartfelt

仪 – Yí – Person from a dream

I took Wendy’s family name, so she is officially my 姐姐 (big sister). I know the name is on the sweet side not exactly revealing my true nature. I asked for something along the lines of ornery or obstinate but Wendy refused.

As I’ve began the job search I asked James to write a letter of reference for me in Chinese that I could pass along with my resume when asked. As it was in Chinese I was curious as to what it said. I put it through a translator, then another translator finally deciding I would just have to wait until my Chinese is better. If you think you can do a better translation job please be my guest.

Chinese Version:

证 明

相关部门负责人：

您好！

Ms. Kayte Reagan(凯特·里根女士），是我院2009——2010学年聘请的美籍教师，主要教授英语口语工作，她在我院工作期间，认真备课，教学认真，除了完成学院规定的教学任务，还利用自己的个人时间帮学生辅导，深受学院师生的喜欢。

特此证明。

山东经贸职业学院外事办公室

孙嵬 科长

二〇一〇年四月二十一日

Google Translate:

Proof
Relevant department heads:
Hello!
          Ms. Kayte Reagan (President Reagan Kate) is a hospital 2009 – 2010 school year to hire an American teacher, mainly teaching English spoken work, she is in my hospital work, careful lesson preparation, teaching seriously, in addition to teaching required to complete college tasks, but also use their personal time to help students to counseling, college students and teachers well liked.
       I hereby certify that.

 Foreign Affairs Office of Shandong Economic and Trade Vocational College
                                    Sun Wei Chief
                                                April 21, 2010

World Lingo.com:

Card Bright
Related department people in charge:
You are good! 
         Ms. Kayte Reagan (Kate · Reagan Ms.), is my courtyard 2009–2010 school year invitation American nationality teacher, main professor English spoken language work, she in my courtyard work period, prepares a lesson earnestly, the teaching is earnest, except completes the teaching task which the institute stipulated, but also uses own individual time to help the student to counsel, deeply institute teacher’s and student’s like.
            Proved specially.

Shandong economics and trade professional institute foreign affairs office
                                    Section Chief Sun Wei                                     
                              A two 〇 〇 year on April 21

So after that all was typed and translated, humm which version do I prefer? Being a hospital or a courtyard?

I guess I’ll just have to learn Chinese faster.

I have to admit it is slightly strange being the experienced one, I can no longer use the “I’ve only been here a few months!” line. I took Adam around Wal*Mart, cell phone shopping then over to the guitar store. I was pretty impressed with myself and my ability to communicate. I soon realized if I capitalize on showing newbies around and help them communicate my Chinese is going to take off.

To be perfectly honest though, when it comes to shopping all you need to know is ‘that’ (这个) and your numbers (一，二，三，四，五，六，七，八，十).With the occasional ‘that’s too expensive’ (太贵了).

These cards got it all! Simplified and Traditional Characters, stroke order, radical, common combinations and a useful sentence!

Well I’ve done it, I’ve  practiced Mandarin everyday for over a week! Those Tuttle flashcards are my best purchase it. I keep a ring of them in my bag at all times and pull them out on the bus. The passengers sure get a kick out of it and I’m never lacking in pronunciation teachers!

I love the fact that the cards build on each other and my character recognition is getting much better.

45 down 931 cards to go!

Holidays abroad are always tricky. The Gang decided to get together Tuesday night for Thanksgiving dinner as Thursday was going to be a busy day for all of us. Katie and Thomas were kind enough to host and we all were eager to pitch in for a real feast. Dantzelle and I headed over early to help with the food and the guys did a last min Wal*Mart run for essentials.  

The table, the most important part of Thanksgiving!

Katie had done a beautiful job preparing . My heart melted when I walked into the apartment. She had Nat King Cole playing in the background, one of my Mom’s favorites, the table had been set and she had splurged on a center piece. It felt like home.

We all ate with forks excepting the Chinese guest, June who got chopsticks.

I promise to add more pictures when I get them from Katie. The meal was delicious. We had Idaho mashed potatoes, canned creamed corn from the States, Stoffers Stuffing, street sweet potatoes, green beans, delicious rolls, spicy roasted chicken (turkey is EXPENSIVE here) and Ocean-Spray Cranberry Sauce.

June was running late which allowed us to have a prayer which we were all grateful for. As we sat around the table we shared what we were thankful for. Current situations always play a strong role in what one is thankful for and being in China only makes this so much more true.

What I’m thankful for:

• I am thankful for my family, both at home who support me and love me unconditionally and the one acquired here in China.
• I am thankful for the opportunity I have to travel and experience first hand the many wonderful cultures and peoples on the earth.
• I am thankful I’m an American and that I will always have a country to come home to when I am tired of being abroad.
• I am thankful for the many freedoms I enjoy and the knowledge that all men are created equal.
• I am thankful for education and the freedom of information we enjoy in America.
• I am thankful for the Church and the comfort and security it brings when I am thousands of miles away from home. I am thankful for the instant family and protection it gives.
• I am thankful for a job that has given me the opportunity to come to China and learn to appreciate America and it’s freedoms in a way that NO other country could.
• And last but not lest, I am thankful for the opportunity to learn Mandarin. (whether or not I will actually be able to speak Mandarin is still to be determined but I’m grateful for the opportunity none the less)

Left-overs! Katie and June

No complaints here.

 

We all stuffed ourselves in true Thanksgiving fashion. It was wonderful.  I got a lot of leftovers, which is not a complaint! Dinner covered for the next few nights, yippee!So the after dinner we road home and yes mother the following is true, Dantzelle and I listened to Christmas music. I even sang along. All in all Tuesday was a wonderful Thanksgiving!

 

To be honest I woke up this morning and forgot that it was Thanksgiving. In class this morning a student asked when Thanksgiving was as she thought it was coming up. It took me a second to realize today was Thanksgiving. She kindly replied with a Happy Thanksgiving and then inquired about my plans for the day. I had already arranged to meet Bonnie for lunch but I no plans for the evening.

I had an enjoyable day between Bonnie and about a half a dozen students who stopped by in the evening for a chat. I ended with a Thanksgiving dinner for one. I decided to go out in true Thanksgiving, make a pig of oneself style. I ate through the rest of my left-overs in one go. I have to admit chopsticks are starting to become second nature.

Solo Thanksgiving Dinner!

Just like any other night excepting the food was so much better.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

 Will someone please enjoy a few Deviled Eggs for me, that was the only thing missing from our feast.

To all my family and friends, thank you for always being there for me. Your support and kindness is irreplaceable.

I’m hoping by posting this goal I will have more accountability with achieving it.

Drum roll please . . . Study Mandarin for 60min each weekday.

Yes I get the weekends off because lets face it if I don’t set a realistic goal I’m never going to reach it. Besides then if I do study on the weekend I will have an added sense of accomplishment. Yes it is like giving a two year old a cookie for using his manners but still I need that sense of accomplishment if I’m ever going to get this language.

So far 2 for 2!

Just the beginning...

So I’ve made the goal to learn Mandarin, as daunting as the task is I know there will be light at the end of the tunnel even if I won’t see it for another 10 months.

 Above are my basics, “Beginners” Dictionary, “Rough Guide to Mandarin” Phrase book, Children’s Fairy tales in Pinyin (Wendy seemed to magically produce this in the Wal*Mart book section, a little beaten up but the only copy and only book in Pinyin) and of course my mini notebook that gets toted everywhere for the quick scribbles.

Wendy has been kind enough to offer an exchange of lessons although I think we all know who is getting ripped off.  She has the patience of an angel as I slaughter her language but still she doesn’t give up. Thank you Wendy. She offers sweet encouragement and never criticizes.

With this being my second language to try and squeeze under the belt I am beginning to know my personal weaknesses when it comes to conquering a foreign language. For me it is best to start at the very beginning. So everyone pull out your kindergarten worksheets and lets start with letter pronunciation.

Spanish not so hard, okay switch around some vowels, roll your r’s wait shh your double rr’s, double ll’s and y’s and why not any r that comes at the beginning of the word. Add an o here and a iendo here and you got it, just like normal speech in good old Cali. Chinese on the other hand not so flexible. At least in Spanish you can just repeat the word a few times using  different inflection here and there and eventually they get the gist. Chinese not so lucky change the inflection you get an entirely different word.

One day I will have my Mother's handwriting wait nope that would be in my dreams.

So back to the alphabet board it is! I have a pocket chart hanging on my living room wall with my basics, tacky yes but hey it is better than draping it over the TV which is about as good as that box is to me right now. Don’t get me started on my TV withdrawals and panic attacks for missing the season openers on well EVERYTHING.

 

Re-learning my alphabet, how do kids do it?

The hardest part so far, yes I know it is only going to get harder for a while, is trying to reproduce the Chinese sounds in my horrible English phonetics.  As the white out can attest it is not so easy to assign English equivalents. The funniest part of this whole exercise is Wendy kept insisting that I use what I would call the dictionary pronunciation. Yes that is probably the better way to go but if you are like me or shall I say the average American, who can actually read that?!? So she gave up trying to suggest anything and I went back to writing my own little language.

So for now lets just be honest I don’t speak a word and I mean not a word, I still can’t even get thank you to come out correctly. I need to start a routine and things will get better. I am really beginning to look forward to school starting.

Someday this will all make sense.

My first book in Pinyin - Northern European Fairtales

Ultimate Goal be able to read this book cover to cover! Hey I didn’t say without a dictionary.

Yesterday evening after a triumphant return from my first excursion out of my apartment, all my by self, I discovered I had no Internet. I was completely devastated that I was not going to be able to bask in the glory of my accomplishment, not only had I managed to make a purchase but more astounding I was able to open my front doorby myself  in under five min, which is no small feat! 

I had gone to the small store on campus to purchase hooks to hang the decorative scrolls. I ran into a little confusion when I decided to purchased some bananas. I selected a few and was walking them to the register to pay when a gentleman tapped me on the shoulder and proceeded to explain something to me. He could tell he was getting nothing across and elicited the help of a fellow worker. Again the explanation was lost. Finally I surrendered the bananas as that was the obvious source of contention. He beckoned for me to follow as he proceeded to the center of the store to a weighing station. I had assumed they would weigh and price at the register but no harm done, once priced the bananas where returned to me and the kind gentleman escorted me to the shortest line with a smile. So lesson learned produce – weigh station -  then the register!

Psychologically the trip helped conqure the fear of survival! It is truely amazing what you can get across with gestures and looks. So eventually I hope to learn Mandarin but until then the confused Westerner look will have to do. But hey as long as I can buy bananas and bread I will survive!

I was hoping the Internet problem would resolve itself but to no avail, I awoke to no Internet. I felt rather cut off and as Sunday tradition dictates in the Reagan household I was allowed to check in without pushing the boundaries of being homesick.  After two tech Officers the problem was resolved! Thank you James! So Mom or Dad would you please call again!