I say "usual" because there is nothing particularly exotic or adventureous about going to the supermarket or train station in a country whose language you have mastered double entendres in. Although there was general merry-making, Opera House-seeing and dancing like crazed 'tweens on unquenchable sugar highs, none of these actions were lost in translation, like we seem to dig doing.
Our backpacker spirits are at ease again; we feel giddy when completing even the most mundane task. ("Here's what we should do: I'll pour the tea, and YOU go figure out how to ask for soysauce, ok!" "OK!")
Great Wall:
So, in 221 B.C. a Qin Dynasty emperor made an homage to himself, and BURIED it near his masoleum. A farmer uncovered it in the 70's...and now we all go there, Bill, Hill AND Chelsea included:
Did you know that Beijing is so polluted that walking around the city for one day has the same effect on your lungs as smoking 70 cigarettes A DAY?
We saw dead Mao Zedong. Which Gina thought was creepy. And I thought it was the coolest. How often do you come across an embalmed father of communism? And hoards of SILENT chinese? They still were a little pushy, though...However, Beijing is really working on that in lieu of the Olympics, offering CLASSES for it's citizens to learn to stand in lines (for a country seemingly so about discipline and order it really is funny that they have little concept for waiting a turn).
Beijing is also attempting to politically correct street signs that could have faulty or silly english translations. For instance, "Racist Park" has been changed to "Ethnic Minority Park". If you should find yourself in town for the games and are in need of a Protologist, never fear. The doctor's office will now just say so. A couple months ago, you would have been looking to visit the "Dongda Hospital for Anus and Intestinal Disease". And don't forget to "show mercy to the slender grass" when walking across manicured public lawns...
read the whole article here.
I'm home in just a short week, and there are many things I'm looking forward to: my family, for certain. A different v-neck t-shirt. Back issues of the New Yorker. A hairdryer! But it must be said that a certain travel buddy and I are having real issues about parting...everyone said we'd be sick of each other, and now...it's hard when you share so much (from toothpaste to soap to experiences no one else would understand) and are faced with separating. G is in self-proclaimed denial and makes "earmuffs" everytime I get a little (typically) weepy. It will be a good week, a bittersweet week...and all the while, we'll be happily speaking Chinglish.
No comments:
Post a Comment