Cruising with Willa
I had my second lesson in the morning today. It went well….lots of me trying to say things and doing it incorrectly while Michael patiently guided me in the right direction. I want to say things correctly, but this tonal thing is TOUGH! Half the time I can’t tell what the difference is between two ways of saying something, and I can’t tell how what I am saying is different from what he is saying. I am tonally-challenged 
. The grammar on the other hand has been remarkably simple. I am amazed at how easy it is to say things without ever declining a verb
I came home and had lunch with Wu Jie – noodles, shredded cucumber, dumplings, sausage (that didn’t come taped to a broom), and roasted peanuts. Then I met Willa, the vice president of Konall, to go run some errands. I wanted to find an electronic dictionary that would go from English to Chinese pinyin (Chinese words not written as characters, but written using western letters and tone marks). This turned out to be a wild goose chase. We stopped at 4 stores and looked at what had to have been close to 3000 dictionaries, but couldn’t find a single one that would go from English to pinyin 
. At one point, there were 5 sales girls trying to operate different electronic dictionaries that they clearly had no idea how to use. It was a very amusing sight to see them all huddled together shouting back and forth while I just stood there smiling, unable to say a word to any of them. We also stopped at the market, bank, electronics shop (to get a regular phone), and medical center. I was told that all that was required medically for my visa would be an HIV test. I went through the trouble of getting one in the states and had to have my blood drawn (which I HATE). At the medical center, however, they showed us that you need far more than an AIDS test (you need chest x-rays, an EKG, full blood workup, etc.), and they informed me that my AIDS test would not be valid since it would not have the same signature as the rest of the medical exam…..grrrr. This is just what I wanted to avoid–having to get medical work done by a questionable facility while in China. Meh. Not much I can do about it now
I came home and had some cooked lettuce with garlic, chicken with green beans, rice, sausage, fresh dates, and cooked salted peanuts….mmmmmm
I hooked the phone up to my land line (email me if you want the number) and went to bed.
November 2nd, 2005 at 6:31 am
Haha, tonally challenged. No I totally understand that. I went home with Jasmin one weekend, and her mom was trying to teach me hindu, and its the same thing. she was like Duh, Duh, Duh duh…. and of course I hear nothing. So dont feel bad, even I cant do it
-love the comment about the sausage.
good luck with the doctors
(insert funny simpsons /family guy quote from doctors episodes.. i.e dr. nick)
love ya
November 2nd, 2005 at 7:55 am
one day at a time.
November 2nd, 2005 at 9:38 am
Andres – Me imagino que ya sabes el significado de la palabra ‘demas’ por el comentario de Sara. A proposito, hasta ahora me doy cuenta de porque tienes tanta facilidad de escribir en ese estilo tan humoristico y descriptivo que hace muy divertido leer tus aventuras – lo tienes en tu ‘herencia’ (genes). Seriamente, deberias considerar escribir un libro acerca de tus aventuras que me imagino apenas empezaste, y habran muchas mas.
Lo siento por las cosas medicas que tienes que pasar, desafortunadamente no tienes ninguna otra opcion, pero estoy seguro que habran muchas otras cosas agradables que balancearan los ratos molestos como esos.
Sigue escribiendo, da mucho gusto leer tus comentarios… John
November 2nd, 2005 at 2:41 pm
Rachel…..if you had problems…..then I am SCREWED!!!! hehehe
Jerome…..i know, i know….but I wish it were one day period
Viejo…..si..entiendo ahora. Lo considerare. Si….hay muchas otras que balancean lo que no me gusta
November 3rd, 2005 at 1:39 pm
Andrew,
This is such a fun way to communicate. I just really look forward to hearing about your adventures and everybody elses comments are so entertaining. What a way to keep connected. I have thought of taking chinese language classes. Maybe you will inspire me to finally try. Aloha Terry
November 3rd, 2005 at 3:08 pm
Hey Andrew, I clicked over here after we traded comments on Justin’s site. It might be because I haven’t had my coffee yet but for some reason I can’t seem to find your email address listed anywhere #$%@&#!!??? I wanted to ask you something, so will you drop me a mail? Thanks.
November 3rd, 2005 at 4:14 pm
Terry….hahah….good luck….it is TOUGH!
Alanna….just sent you an email…..I purposely don’t have my email listed anywhere on the site
November 4th, 2005 at 3:00 pm
a google search for pin yin to english shows a number of alternative options.
November 4th, 2005 at 10:19 pm
Jerome…..thanks….but nothing that I can bring with me on the road