Week 7: 第七周
What is this? 这是什么？
I love walking around a city I'm not familiar with because then I get to look at stuff like this with fresh eyes. If anyone wants to explain what these are, please feel free.
All I can hear in my head over and over is the song, "What are this, what are this, what are this, what are this... What are this?"
这什么，我真的不明白。
Oh guano
I saw someone almost step on this baby bat (which is called a pup apparently) on the road and my heart almost jumped out of my chest. My French friend used a tissue to move the pup to the grass near the bushes and my Filipino friend poured water nearby. It adorably started drinking with its tiny pink tongue while I Googled (or rather Bing-ed because Google is blocked) what pups eat. Pups survive off the milk of their mother, so I said the pup would probably die soon. My French friend was upset, and I said, "It's okay. Things just die. People die, animals die, plants die, dreams die. Everything dies." I realized those were probably not the right words to comfort my friend, but she started laughing so it's okay. I should be a therapist, for sure. That was a few days ago, so it's probably dead by now. But it was some of friends' first time seeing a bat, so that's a plus, I guess.
Shopkeepers' kids
Being the shopkeepers' kid means your childhood is spent in and near your parents' store. My aunt and uncle sell air conditioning units, so I got to hang out and fawn over the kiddos. This little girl's parents sell cigarette and alcohol in a nearby shop, and she likes to hang out in my aunt's store to color, do math problems, and dance.
This boy's parents sell bedding. He took a rag, dipped it in a bucket of water (which was mysteriously brown?), and started using the rag to paint on the wall in the ally. From left to right he drew himself, his dad, and his mom (notice the voluptuous hair). He went on to draw his brother, grandparents, uncle, a little white rabbit, and lots of veggies for the little rabbit to eat. He also showed me how toy cars get in car accidents then have to go to the repair shop. I got to see the joy in his eyes when he played with his first water gun, and he pput me in charge of refilling the water since I always have a water bottle on me.
Ads you can hit people with
When I was shopping with my aunt, cousin, and grandma last Saturday, they were giving out these inflatable batons for kids to play with. I still feel like a kid and apparently so does my cousin so we both got one. I started hitting my cousin and my cousin started hitting my aunt. All good fun. I like to hit my cousin. 我喜欢打我的哥哥。
My aunt and my cousin weren't permanently at war though. Here they are using the baton to carry their shopping bag. (Aww... so cute.) And yes, they are walking down the middle of the street and no, I'm not used to walking in the middle of the street.
Speaking of my dad's side of the family, I'm not sure why I was so scatterbrained that I never included this picture from Chinese New Years. Obviously not everyone from my dad's side of the family is in this picture, but I'm here and I'm the most important part so it's okay.
Thanks for reading!
“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to things.”
I have felt a tad aimless in my Chinese studies, but I feel more focused now that I've set a goal. So the HSK is a standardized Chinese test you can take in pretty much any country. There are 6 levels. HSK 1 is for little kids, and if you pass HSK 6 you can basically become a Chinese teacher. My goal is to pass the HSK 4 by June. I feel I just recently passed the HSK 3 for which I had to study a ridiculous amount. I now realize that "just recently" was May of 2017. I can't believe that was 10 months ago. That was so stressful. I have no concept of time. Maybe before I graduate from OU I'll pass the HSK 5. Most likely, I'll only pass the HSK 6 in my dreams though.
Thanks for reading! See you next Thursday!