Friday June 1, 2007 is International Children's Day.
I wasn't aware that this existed until I came to China. Apparently, it's a reasonably big deal around the world though.
Click on the title of this post to see more information.
2007-05-31
2007-05-29
Beijing Aquarium
I went to the Beijing Aquarium today.
It was a school field trip, I was told that I just had to go - not work. Of course, we know how that worked out.
--
The link for this post goes to the Frommers travel guide review of the aquarium. I linked to it, not because of its review of the aquarium, but because of its brief mention of the nearby zoo.
What Frommers says about the zoo is true.
--
So, you ask... How was it?
Not bad actually.
Riding herd over 24 kids aged 3.5 to 6 isn't easy, but I've done the field trip thing before, so I know what to expect as far as that is concerned.
There were some cool looking fish, and some nice displays.
We went through the place fairly quick, so I didn't have time to actually look at the fish AND the descriptions. Of course, the descriptions were in Chinese, so that didn't really matter.
The seal and dolphin show was okay. Of course, I'm spoiled. Having lived in San Diego, I've done the Sea World thing a number of times.
My review: If Sea World is a 9, and the actual ocean/lakes/rivers are an 11, then the Beijing Aquarium would be a 5. Review might have been a little lower, but there were no crowds. When you spend time in Beijing, you really come to appreciate the time without people.
But... the Zoo. Avoid at all costs. I mentioned this a year ago when I went there. It's depressing. Do NOT visit the Beijing Zoo. Aquarium is okay though.
---
Here are some pictures of the Beijing Aquarium. Taken today. Hot off the press, so to speak...
It was a school field trip, I was told that I just had to go - not work. Of course, we know how that worked out.
--
The link for this post goes to the Frommers travel guide review of the aquarium. I linked to it, not because of its review of the aquarium, but because of its brief mention of the nearby zoo.
What Frommers says about the zoo is true.
--
So, you ask... How was it?
Not bad actually.
Riding herd over 24 kids aged 3.5 to 6 isn't easy, but I've done the field trip thing before, so I know what to expect as far as that is concerned.
There were some cool looking fish, and some nice displays.
We went through the place fairly quick, so I didn't have time to actually look at the fish AND the descriptions. Of course, the descriptions were in Chinese, so that didn't really matter.
The seal and dolphin show was okay. Of course, I'm spoiled. Having lived in San Diego, I've done the Sea World thing a number of times.
My review: If Sea World is a 9, and the actual ocean/lakes/rivers are an 11, then the Beijing Aquarium would be a 5. Review might have been a little lower, but there were no crowds. When you spend time in Beijing, you really come to appreciate the time without people.
But... the Zoo. Avoid at all costs. I mentioned this a year ago when I went there. It's depressing. Do NOT visit the Beijing Zoo. Aquarium is okay though.
---
Here are some pictures of the Beijing Aquarium. Taken today. Hot off the press, so to speak...
2007-05-25
#5 - What I did in China with no internet for 6 months
I studied Chinese.
-Flashcards while walking to work.
-Practice tests
-One day a week at work with no English.
-Grammar books
-Vocabulary lists
And then I took a Chinese language proficiency test.
I haven't got my results back yet, but I know I did pretty bad.
Basically, here's how it works...
-The HSK is the major Chinese language test.
-There are 3 primary levels: Basic, Elementary/Intermediate, Advanced
-Within each level, there are 3 breakdowns -A, B, or C
Passing the Advanced test means you have studied Chinese, in a classroom setting, for YEARS. Working knowledge of 8,000+ Chinese words (written, spoken, and listening). Nit-picky grammar rules are tested. To put this in perspective, you really only need 2000-3000 words to read a newspaper, and even less than than to have a spoken conversation with a native about almost anything.
(Also, keep in mind that you need to know WORDS, not CHARACTERS. You can know all of the characters in a sentence, but only know 1 or 2 words.)
The Middle level assumes you know somewhere around 3-4,000 words. Plus the associated grammar.
Basic level is around 1-2000 words, plus grammar. General rule is 300+ hours of in-class instruction.
Recently, they announced the "Threshold" test. Less than 200 hours of instruction, 600 words. All instructions in English. This is the test for dumbshits like me.
Boss lady called for me. Threshold test costs 4x the other tests. The person at HSK actually recommended that I NOT take it. Okay. I'll do the Basic test in December. Boss said she would pay for it, if I took it in April. Uhhh.. Okay.
This gave me one month, to increase my reading skill from 200 or so words to 2000 words. I needed to increase my grammar knowledge from that of a 2 year old to that of a high school kid.
On top of that, the Basic test is graded on a curve. So, even if I got 87% correct, if everyone else got 97%, I would still fail.
I won't bore you with details right now, but suffice it to say, I'm not feeling real good about my chances.
I DID increase my reading skill by triple what I could do before I started cramming. (But, 600 words out of the necessary 2000 isn't too good.)
And, I CAN actually speak in reasonably not bad grammar if I have a chance to think before I talk. (But, this test doesn't have a spoken section.) My pronunciation is still absolutely atrocious though.
And, if people talk slower than usual, and if I have a chance to translate it in my head, I can usually understand the general idea, even if I don't understand each individual word. (Unfortunately for me, the test is timed. No real chance to think about what you just heard.)
So.... We'll see.
-Flashcards while walking to work.
-Practice tests
-One day a week at work with no English.
-Grammar books
-Vocabulary lists
And then I took a Chinese language proficiency test.
I haven't got my results back yet, but I know I did pretty bad.
Basically, here's how it works...
-The HSK is the major Chinese language test.
-There are 3 primary levels: Basic, Elementary/Intermediate, Advanced
-Within each level, there are 3 breakdowns -A, B, or C
Passing the Advanced test means you have studied Chinese, in a classroom setting, for YEARS. Working knowledge of 8,000+ Chinese words (written, spoken, and listening). Nit-picky grammar rules are tested. To put this in perspective, you really only need 2000-3000 words to read a newspaper, and even less than than to have a spoken conversation with a native about almost anything.
(Also, keep in mind that you need to know WORDS, not CHARACTERS. You can know all of the characters in a sentence, but only know 1 or 2 words.)
The Middle level assumes you know somewhere around 3-4,000 words. Plus the associated grammar.
Basic level is around 1-2000 words, plus grammar. General rule is 300+ hours of in-class instruction.
Recently, they announced the "Threshold" test. Less than 200 hours of instruction, 600 words. All instructions in English. This is the test for dumbshits like me.
Boss lady called for me. Threshold test costs 4x the other tests. The person at HSK actually recommended that I NOT take it. Okay. I'll do the Basic test in December. Boss said she would pay for it, if I took it in April. Uhhh.. Okay.
This gave me one month, to increase my reading skill from 200 or so words to 2000 words. I needed to increase my grammar knowledge from that of a 2 year old to that of a high school kid.
On top of that, the Basic test is graded on a curve. So, even if I got 87% correct, if everyone else got 97%, I would still fail.
I won't bore you with details right now, but suffice it to say, I'm not feeling real good about my chances.
I DID increase my reading skill by triple what I could do before I started cramming. (But, 600 words out of the necessary 2000 isn't too good.)
And, I CAN actually speak in reasonably not bad grammar if I have a chance to think before I talk. (But, this test doesn't have a spoken section.) My pronunciation is still absolutely atrocious though.
And, if people talk slower than usual, and if I have a chance to translate it in my head, I can usually understand the general idea, even if I don't understand each individual word. (Unfortunately for me, the test is timed. No real chance to think about what you just heard.)
So.... We'll see.
2007-05-24
#4 - What I did in China with no internet for 6 months
Studied Linguistics, as well as Methods and Approaches to Teaching Foreign Languages,and English Grammar.
Pretty geeky, huh?
There is a WIDE variety of material on these topics available at any of the larger bookstores in Beijing. And the books are cheap, even by Chinese standards.
For example, an English Language version of any Harry Potter, in paperback, will cost you 160RMB or more. But, I picked up "Techniques and Resources in Teaching Reading" for 9RMB. "Techniques and Resources in Teaching Writing" was 10RMB. "English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course" was 25RMB.
I'm at the point where I could, if required, talk reasonably sensibly about:
-the Audio-Lingual Method
-the Silent Way
-TPR (I've know about this one for quite awhile actually.)
-The Direct Method
-Neuro-Linguistic Programming
-and others
I just did a Google search for something on this topic. Here's a link that appears, at first glance, to give and overview of some of these topics. I haven't looked at it closely, but for an overview, it seems okay.
Damn. I scare myself sometimes.
Pretty geeky, huh?
There is a WIDE variety of material on these topics available at any of the larger bookstores in Beijing. And the books are cheap, even by Chinese standards.
For example, an English Language version of any Harry Potter, in paperback, will cost you 160RMB or more. But, I picked up "Techniques and Resources in Teaching Reading" for 9RMB. "Techniques and Resources in Teaching Writing" was 10RMB. "English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course" was 25RMB.
I'm at the point where I could, if required, talk reasonably sensibly about:
-the Audio-Lingual Method
-the Silent Way
-TPR (I've know about this one for quite awhile actually.)
-The Direct Method
-Neuro-Linguistic Programming
-and others
I just did a Google search for something on this topic. Here's a link that appears, at first glance, to give and overview of some of these topics. I haven't looked at it closely, but for an overview, it seems okay.
Damn. I scare myself sometimes.
#3 - What I did with no internet for 6 months
Watched tons of movies, and listened to music.
-Watched some Kurosawa films.
-Some Clint westerns, and Dirty Harry
-Lots of old Kung Fu movies (harder to find than you might expect).
-Lots of Hitchcock
-Lots of music DVDs - Live concert DVDs of Deep Purple, Elvis, Pink Floyd, GWAR, W.A.S.P., the GooGoo Dolls
-I'm in the middle of Season 2 of 24 right now.
If you don't know how China works, you might be surprised at what is available. In the West, everyone hears about censorship, etc. But, it's not really like that. All the new stuff from the US, Russia, Japan, Korea, France is easily available. And, TONS of older films are sitting on the shelf as well.
Good music is hard to find though.
Not because of censorship, but because China likes crap music. Stores stock crap CDs, because thats what the people want.
People in China like bubble-gum pop. No actual bands with musical instruments in front of them. Just people lip-syncing songs they didn't write, while a drum machine blurts out pablum in the background.
Best music store I have seen was a shop in Inner Mongolia when I was there last September. GREAT selection! Too bad I haven't found the same in Beijing.
I have found a really great Chinese band though. English name is "Cold Blooded Animal". Main dude is XTX. Really good stuff, if you like loud guitars, drums, etc. Only problem is they have only released one album, and one solo album by XTX. I have them both. Good stuff.
Here is the website for XTX if anyone is interested: http://www.xietianxiao.com/index_en.swf
-Watched some Kurosawa films.
-Some Clint westerns, and Dirty Harry
-Lots of old Kung Fu movies (harder to find than you might expect).
-Lots of Hitchcock
-Lots of music DVDs - Live concert DVDs of Deep Purple, Elvis, Pink Floyd, GWAR, W.A.S.P., the GooGoo Dolls
-I'm in the middle of Season 2 of 24 right now.
If you don't know how China works, you might be surprised at what is available. In the West, everyone hears about censorship, etc. But, it's not really like that. All the new stuff from the US, Russia, Japan, Korea, France is easily available. And, TONS of older films are sitting on the shelf as well.
Good music is hard to find though.
Not because of censorship, but because China likes crap music. Stores stock crap CDs, because thats what the people want.
People in China like bubble-gum pop. No actual bands with musical instruments in front of them. Just people lip-syncing songs they didn't write, while a drum machine blurts out pablum in the background.
Best music store I have seen was a shop in Inner Mongolia when I was there last September. GREAT selection! Too bad I haven't found the same in Beijing.
I have found a really great Chinese band though. English name is "Cold Blooded Animal". Main dude is XTX. Really good stuff, if you like loud guitars, drums, etc. Only problem is they have only released one album, and one solo album by XTX. I have them both. Good stuff.
Here is the website for XTX if anyone is interested: http://www.xietianxiao.com/index_en.swf
2007-05-23
#2 - So... What else have I been doing without internet access?
So, I didn't have internet for 6 months. What did I do with my time?
2) Became a vegetarian.
When I was back in the States last year, I (half-)jokingly mentioned that I was thinking of becoming a Muslim, just so I wouldn't have to eat pork anymore.
Well, I'm not a Muslim. But, I don't eat pork anymore. Or beef, or lamb, or anything else that walks on four legs.
Starting February 18, 2007 no more meat.
It was sorta hard to explain to the cook at work why I did this. I can't just tell her that its because I'm sick and tired of the way she cooks meat. I especially dislike the way she makes pork. Boiled pork is not good food.
If China had ham and pork chops then I might still be eating it. But, they don't, so I don't.
China has a serious tendency to chop meat into small pieces. Whereas, in the US, we tend to like our meat in big slabs. Give me fried slabs of meat, not boiled pieces, and I might go back to my flesh eating ways.
I decided to cut out the other four legged animals while I was at it. Might as well.
Of course, China doesn't do chicken quite the way I like either. Basically, in China, people take a whole chicken, and then swing a cleaver at it until its in small pieces. Tiny pieces of meat, tiny pieces of bone, it's all good. Ummm... No. It isn't. I don't mind chicken bones, as long as I can see them before I bite into them.
The cooking in Chinese restaurants in the US, and the cooking in Chinese restaurants in China, is NOT the same.
Maybe I'm just a little homesick for plain old Western food. Steaks on a BBQ, fried chicken, Sourdough Ranch burgers from Jack in the Box, nachos, chicken chimichangas, five rolled tacos with gauc and sour cream, tuna casserole, a donut, a Spicy Dog from 7-11...
Sigh... That's good food.
2) Became a vegetarian.
When I was back in the States last year, I (half-)jokingly mentioned that I was thinking of becoming a Muslim, just so I wouldn't have to eat pork anymore.
Well, I'm not a Muslim. But, I don't eat pork anymore. Or beef, or lamb, or anything else that walks on four legs.
Starting February 18, 2007 no more meat.
It was sorta hard to explain to the cook at work why I did this. I can't just tell her that its because I'm sick and tired of the way she cooks meat. I especially dislike the way she makes pork. Boiled pork is not good food.
If China had ham and pork chops then I might still be eating it. But, they don't, so I don't.
China has a serious tendency to chop meat into small pieces. Whereas, in the US, we tend to like our meat in big slabs. Give me fried slabs of meat, not boiled pieces, and I might go back to my flesh eating ways.
I decided to cut out the other four legged animals while I was at it. Might as well.
Of course, China doesn't do chicken quite the way I like either. Basically, in China, people take a whole chicken, and then swing a cleaver at it until its in small pieces. Tiny pieces of meat, tiny pieces of bone, it's all good. Ummm... No. It isn't. I don't mind chicken bones, as long as I can see them before I bite into them.
The cooking in Chinese restaurants in the US, and the cooking in Chinese restaurants in China, is NOT the same.
Maybe I'm just a little homesick for plain old Western food. Steaks on a BBQ, fried chicken, Sourdough Ranch burgers from Jack in the Box, nachos, chicken chimichangas, five rolled tacos with gauc and sour cream, tuna casserole, a donut, a Spicy Dog from 7-11...
Sigh... That's good food.
2007-05-22
#1 - So... What have I been doing without internet access?
So, I didn't have internet for 6 months. What did I do with my time?
1) Learned to cook real food.
Recently, I invented a recipe of my very own.
-Chicken breast
- in a bed of veggies (Green Peppers, Tomatoes, Mushrooms, etc)
- soak all in cheap Chinese red wine.
- spice as desired
Bake in toaster oven for 20 minutes or so.
Very tasty stuff.
---
I eat a lot of chicken these day. I'm a vegetarian now.
1) Learned to cook real food.
Recently, I invented a recipe of my very own.
-Chicken breast
- in a bed of veggies (Green Peppers, Tomatoes, Mushrooms, etc)
- soak all in cheap Chinese red wine.
- spice as desired
Bake in toaster oven for 20 minutes or so.
Very tasty stuff.
---
I eat a lot of chicken these day. I'm a vegetarian now.
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