Interesting things heard in Chinese class....

Well, it's become something of a hobby of mine to record "Engrish" phrases that I hear during the days and nights in NC. I jotted a few things down during grammar class today I thought were worth sharing.

Chinese people in the south have a tendency to replace their "r" sounds with "l". An interesting proof of this problem came today when our teacher was describing the "r" sound to our class. So she said, "when the class will end the bell will ling."

So other interesting things heard today: "Do you like the flavor of acid?" This was used to describe the word "suan" which I always thought referred to something that is sour. Apparently, it refers to something that is acid.

Also, during a meeting last week we were reminded that studying dilligently was very important to our "daily knife."

School is going well, albeit a little slow in my mind since I studied all summer. We spent three hours of grammar class reviewing syllables and I thought I was going to pass out! Somehow I managed to survive. It's fun to be with other students though. Our class has about 5 Africans, 6 or 7 Koreans, 2 Japanese guys, and the Canadian kid I mentioned earlier. It's a good mix. The Africans have had a lot of trouble with the sounds. It's been really interesting listening to people from different backgrounds speak Chinese. Honestly, we all sound pretty terrible at this point. But, hey- it's only the first week.

I never did post anything about our wonderful trip to Guilin. We just did a picture exchange with some of the other folks on the trip recently, so I should get those posted on our main site sooner or later. Maybe Jenny and I can collaborate on a little travelogue of our visit. I'm not making any promises though. Right now, between going to my classes, playing with Gracie, and visiting with folks we don't have a ton of time right now. Life is in full swing again.