Chinese Tongue Twisters
08.07.2010
31 °C
Hello everybody!
Hmmmm.... I guess I am pretty settled into the routine, because I can't think of as much to write about! We did more caligraphy yesterday, and wrote an old Chinese saying on nice paper. It actually turned out much better than I expected. After school, we went home like normal. The letter that I sent before I left to introduce myself came today... I had forgotten about it. So apparently, it takes 2 weeks for a letter to make it to China from the US.
The dinner last night was not exactly to my tastes. I feel bad that my host mom spent so much time making it, and knows that I don't like it. I guess I'm just not used to duck eggs and chicken claws 
She then asked me what kinds of food I like, like which kind of meat I prefer, etc. She also asked me about steak. I really strongly told her that my family ONLY eats it on my dad's birthday, which is true, because it is too expensive. I told her really I didn't want her to make it for me, so hopefully I don't come home to a steak dinner. It might be delicious, but I would feel awful for making them spend so much money to feed me 'American' food....
Also, last night, we exchanged tongue twisters in both languages. My host dad taught me one that is all about the numbers four and ten, which sound very similar in Chinese... if you are interested, you can ask me when I get back. Not only do you have to keep the 's' and 'sh' sounds separate, it is also difficult to say the right tone for the word. I also showed them Peter Piper, but I thought it was too difficult to actually teach. It was really fun to exchange that part of the language!
Today, again Chinese lessons. A funny moment: one of the boys in our group had Chinese writing that he was supposed to show people if he got lost. Apparently, along with his address and phone number, it also said "This boy is an American exchange student. If he is lost, please contact us". We all thought it was SOOO funny, and joked that if he got lost, his family would hang up 'lost' signs on the telephone poles with his picture!!!! Also, we played "Honey if you love me", which made for some funny and awkward moments.....
Well, that's about all for now. I don't know if I will write over the weekend, but you can expect more on Monday!
Mikaela
I am def interested in hearing this tongue twister when you get back! :P I might have to show you up with my amazing Chinese skills. PS I got to have steak for the second time at DJ's a few days ago :D Hope you are having a rockin' time in that one country that's really close to India (I think you know what I'm talking about)
11.07.2010 by prashanthp