lagging

Presumably because I so consistently interact with people in the states, it actually took me a moment this morning to remember that the people in the apartment directly above mine are in fact in the same time zone that I am. They turned on the shower and I thought "why are they showering at this hour? I'm about to shower" and then, naturally, I realized that everyone in my time zone is currently getting ready for work. Yet another example of my brain on China. Any questions? Yeah, me too.

deep

This week, I justified the educational value in finger painting, and made my own post-its.

Quote of the Sunday

From our pastor at lunch:
"Gabi, you can't pray ironically."

There was also something about threesomes in the sermon on the Holy Trinity. All around, great day for sacrilege. Though the metaphor of the Holy Trinity as a special kind of love triangle was actually quite solid.

email chinglish blooper of the day

From the HR department:
"You can only choose one city as your destiny."

Seriously, HR, what right do you have to limit my fate to a single geographic location?

sounds like fun, though

I have no idea what is actually done to celebrate this holiday in this part of the country, despite a trip to the school library* to read up on the origin and its somewhat interesting story. It sounds like it should be really fun and involve some sort of fire-breathing watercraft that may or may not have scales and also fly. Intrigued as I am by this, I am celebrating Dragon Boat Festival by NOT WORKING.

Yay, China, for this random holiday.

*To be fair, this was in fact a kindergarten school library, and the fact that there were actually resources that described the holiday in even this much detail is distinctly impressive. This is the school where I will be teaching preschool next year. Several points have been awarded in this post. Go team.

bu hao.

Most of my time here, I have struggled to discern enough words in Chinese to have a conversation with a taxi driver beyond "yes, turn right" and "stop here." It figures that my first actual conversation with a Chinese cab driver revolved around whether or not I work in an, ahem, less than legitimate profession.

I admit that I do not entirely adhere to all of China's social norms - for example, I often ask questions at meetings, which is rarely done by the Chinese employees in my company, who are, I'm told, afraid to be considered trouble makers if they do so. I am conspicuous as a foreigner regardless of what I do, and I admit that I sometimes take advantage of the expectation that I will behave ridiculously as an excuse to do so (ie. we might have joined several other ex-pat bar patrons in singing Bohemian Rhapsody at an unfortunate volume on my birthday weekend). However. Of all of the verging-on-questionable public behaviors I have exhibited, my taxi driver reprimanded me for kissing my date goodbye before getting into the cab. I am personally not a fan of PDA, and tend to draw the line at holding hands or (something I've been told is old-fashioned) linking arms, but nevertheless, I don't consider a quite chaste goodbye kiss to be publicly inappropriate. My taxi driver disagreed.

The entire ride, he questioned my line of work, and when I told him I was a teacher (Essentially - what I actually do is a little complicated for me to explain in Chinese yet, but that's about it), he was particularly astonished that I would display such behavior in plain view of the world.

I'm fairly certain he asked if I was going to give him a kiss before getting out of his cab.

He did repeatedly kiss his hand and touch the ceiling (like I do in the states when passing under a yellow light) and then shake a finger at me saying "bu hao. bu hao." (Not good, not good)

I might have been offended by his line of questioning and scolding if a) I hadn't been in China where this sort of bluntness is commonplace and b) I hadn't found the whole thing so entertaining.

Ah, China.