ἐπὶ τῶν τραπεζῶν
Last week, I saw this advertisement on the bottom of a website:
This makes me so curious as to what sorts of anesthesia they use on the pee, what is wrong with the pee, who would care to operate on the pee, etc.
I guess I should have clicked on the link to learn more.
Since Caitlin and I both got paid and were feeling pretty happy, we decided to go on a Saturday shopping adventure to more appropriately clothe ourselves for the winter and get started on Christmas shopping. As we were expecting (albeit not hoping), the latter was consumed by the former.
I ended up getting some really sweet wingtip shoes, on sale for 200 RMB. They’re cheap, leather soled (slippery!), and pretty funky:
It’s kind of hard to make out with the webcam (not very romantic, either), but the leather is a faded texture and the heel is rounded rubber.
One of the main things I was needing was a warmer winter coat. I had been wanting a pea coat, since I find them classy and attractive. It needed to be thick, fairly long, and something different. I already have my grey Banana Republic one that I love, so it needed to be something that I wouldn’t be duplicating if I brought it back to the states. Thus, when I found this lovely piece of clothing, I was very happy:
It’s a dark olive green with eight wooden buttons, and it’s furry on the inside! It’s labeled Gucci, and simultaneously made in Italy and China!
New clothes make me feel classy!
In order to be a more useful and fun teacher, I had all of my students write down the following items and hand them in:
The answers were pretty helpful, and considering I have 5 classes with about 40 students each, there’s a pretty general consensus on what they want. Their input was actually very valuable for me as a teacher, and things will be changing very much starting next week.
My favorite part about this exercise, however, was the manner in which they wrote down these items. In America, if you asked any class to take out a piece of paper to turn in, about 95% of students would pull out an 8.5 x 11″ white, college ruled sheet of paper, and the other 5% would use the exact same sheet, only measuring 8 x 10″. If the students were informed that they wouldn’t be using very much paper, it would be common for them to split the paper in half and share with a friend. But nevertheless, all paper would roughly be the same color, same size, and have the same width and color of lines.
In China, however, this is not the case. When I asked everyone to take out a piece of paper to turn in, everyone understood exactly what I wanted, but nearly everyone looked around in some sort of confusion as to where they might get a piece of paper they didn’t need anymore. Most people used some sort of scrap paper (some even had handwritten exercises on the back), and some likely pulled paper out of a planner or other sort of organizer. Very few people, if any, used paper from a notebook or binder they carry around solely for the use of taking notes in class or writing on paper to turn in. It makes me wonder how on earth these kids learn in classes other than mine.
For your viewing pleasure, I took the time to lay out every piece of paper I received, in order of class and class number, so that you might experience the fun of mismatched papers. Enjoy!
Actually, after doing this, I think it would look pretty nice on my wall. That might happen in the next few days. I have a lot of time on my hands, particularly in the mornings.
So, this is a little late, but I was going through my files and this photo reminded me of the annoyance that I wanted to post about.
I waited 4 months for my diploma, a silly piece of paper that holds a lot of importance. Imagine my shock when I had my mother open it and show me that it was missing an entire major. Granted, it’s not common to be printing three majors on a diploma, but still. COME ON! They could at least have noticed that something was different and make a special note or something.
Now, I got to go through the special process of dealing with this from China, sending a flurry of emails to the registrar, going through all the hassle, and then waiting again. It’s a good thing I still have my connections.
Here’s the diploma I received:
It should say, “With majors in English, Classical Civilization, and Linguistics.” Groan.
One of my favorite things about traveling around China was getting to see so many amazing pagodas. They’re pretty impressive pieces of architecture, but some of my favorite photos I have taken were of pagodas at night. There’s something so majestic and breathtaking about them, even if you acknowledge the fact that they were probably lit for the sake of tourists like myself taking pictures of them.
As is inevitable in the course of a journey through China, we saw many pagodas. Being me, I found it incredibly amusing to say “pagoda” multiple times in rapid succession every time we saw one. Not only is it fun to do, but it’s also a fun linguistic exercise.
I first noticed this idea when eating Dagoba chocolate. The three consonants in both “dagoba” and “pagoda” are the three common stops in the English language. The [p]/[b] sound comes at the lips, the [t]/[d] sound comes right behind the teeth, and the [k]/[g] sound comes at the back of the mouth. Thus, by saying either word, regardless of the vowels, your mouth gets a workout by having to produce very precise sounds in three very different areas.
Go ahead, try it. Pagodapagodapagoda. Keep on going as fast as you can. You’ll soon hit a point where you just can’t keep it up because your mouth is getting confused.
Having spent too much time on the internet today, I decided to start one of the books I had my parents send over. I grabbed Chuck Palahniuk’s Snuff, plopped down on my bed, and started reading in the mid afternoon. I read quite a bit, but I wouldn’t say it was addictive. Nevertheless, I finished the entire 197 page book in a matter of hours.
It’s been a long time since I’ve read an entire book in one day. I have that odd feeling where I know I’ve accomplished a lot, but I really need to go do something.