Three things about China that make me smile, especially when I miss home...
1. The names of the students in my class.
I am having a hell of a time learning their Chinese names, but some of their English names make me shake my head every time I do the attendance. Could someone please suggest some cool, yet not ridiculous names, for these poor children?
* Winner (male) – he is turning out to be a good student, but his name has got to go. I mean, originally he wrote Awinne on my attendance sheet. What is that? Can we change his name to Whitney or William...?
* Willow (male) – Eh. Maybe. I dunno.
1. The names of the students in my class.
I am having a hell of a time learning their Chinese names, but some of their English names make me shake my head every time I do the attendance. Could someone please suggest some cool, yet not ridiculous names, for these poor children?
* Winner (male) – he is turning out to be a good student, but his name has got to go. I mean, originally he wrote Awinne on my attendance sheet. What is that? Can we change his name to Whitney or William...?
* Willow (male) – Eh. Maybe. I dunno.
* Hydra (male) – Oh man. No no no. If I understood correctly, he read some (Greek?) mythical story or something and got attached to the name. I can't bring myself to call him Hydra but I can't remember his Chinese name! He needs a new one. Stat.
* Sweet – her last name, Gan, means sweet. Well, you know, I did have a student named Dulce actually, so yeah, that could...mm...no. Well Gan is not a kid. She has a Ph.D in plant biology or something else agricultural, so she is absurdly smart, and one of my best writers. She already asked me to find another name for her. Her full name is Gan Li Jun. I suggested Lily...but I'm still looking.
* Tupac and Stallone – two of my favorite students, they're brothers who understand virtually everything I say in English (imagine that!), are very smart, but so shy as well. We had a conversation:
Me: Soo, listen guys, you have very unique names, and I like them. But I thought I'd let you know, these are names that no one else in the world has, except for these two individuals...and well, Tupac isn't alive, but you get the point. So I'm not sure these are great choices for names.
Tupac: So, does that mean we need to change our names?
Me: Well, how long have you had these names?
Stallone: Um...nearly two years...
I wonder, does changing one's name take away part of your identity? Does it feel weird to suddenly be called another name?
2. Tea, tea, tea!
And I don't mean bubble tea. Today in my Business English class we had a discussion about "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." Here, one of the first things we noticed was the ubiquitous tea bottle. Taxi drivers don't sip coffee or even water as they drive, they sip tea out of an airtight tea thermos. So naturally I had to get one:
As you can see, the glass ones are the best because you can stare at your tea leaves unravel and blossom and it's actually kind of cool. And really good for when you're really bored. Not to mention that with my new schedule, the jolt from a morning cup of coffee seems unnecessary and tea is better for you anyway.
3. Internet?
Can it be?? A surprise was waiting in my room when I got home from work today.
Yay an internet connection!! You never thought it would happen, did you? Well I'm soooo glad the wait is over. It's pretty good, quicker than the internet at my tea place, so it does the trick. And now life can continue normally =)
* Tupac and Stallone – two of my favorite students, they're brothers who understand virtually everything I say in English (imagine that!), are very smart, but so shy as well. We had a conversation:
Me: Soo, listen guys, you have very unique names, and I like them. But I thought I'd let you know, these are names that no one else in the world has, except for these two individuals...and well, Tupac isn't alive, but you get the point. So I'm not sure these are great choices for names.
Tupac: So, does that mean we need to change our names?
Me: Well, how long have you had these names?
Stallone: Um...nearly two years...
I wonder, does changing one's name take away part of your identity? Does it feel weird to suddenly be called another name?
2. Tea, tea, tea!
And I don't mean bubble tea. Today in my Business English class we had a discussion about "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." Here, one of the first things we noticed was the ubiquitous tea bottle. Taxi drivers don't sip coffee or even water as they drive, they sip tea out of an airtight tea thermos. So naturally I had to get one:
As you can see, the glass ones are the best because you can stare at your tea leaves unravel and blossom and it's actually kind of cool. And really good for when you're really bored. Not to mention that with my new schedule, the jolt from a morning cup of coffee seems unnecessary and tea is better for you anyway.3. Internet?
Can it be?? A surprise was waiting in my room when I got home from work today.
Yay an internet connection!! You never thought it would happen, did you? Well I'm soooo glad the wait is over. It's pretty good, quicker than the internet at my tea place, so it does the trick. And now life can continue normally =)
1 comment:
my last name is Gan too! same meaning. She can be called Candice or Candy. - Lin
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