I have the pictures up from our trip to the Dazu Rock Carvings. I think Facebook lets non-Facebook users comment on pictures, if anyone is interested. I appreciate all the comments my recent post got. Here's the link to the photo album I made:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2486536&l=8da53&id=2061111
Today we were supposed to have class, but our teacher had some stuff she had to do, so we didn't have class. I met with my language partner instead, and after a brief session where I complained (in Chinese) that I couldn't speak any Chinese and she tried to reassure me that I wasn't too bad, I wrote a long assignment about a time I got sick. In Chinese you can say "my four limbs" to mean your whole body, so my story was about how I repeatedly was injured and one by one had to have my arms and legs amputated, so that when I got a cold after I had had four surgeries, I told the doctor "My four limbs aren't feeling well" and I said that he didn't understand... because I didn't have four limbs, of course. It was like a Chinese joke, I think. My language partner thought it was so cute that she made a Facebook note out of it so all her Chinese friends could see what it's like having a crazy American as a language partner.
Then tonight I went to see National Treasure 2 with my Chinese family. It turned out to be the perfect movie, because I already understood the plot, and with the exception of complicated dialogue about why they needed to go to London or whatever, the phrases were pretty simple. I understood a huge amount, partly because I knew what it was they would be talking about if it were in English.
For example, when there's a flood coming out of nowhere and Ben and the bad guy have to work together to push a conveniently-placed mill so that a stone lever will raise and everyone can get to safety, I knew that the bad guy would work it so that Ben would have to hold the lever while he escaped. And then, when a rock came crashing down and Ben was almost out and the bad guy was the one left, I understood that he was talking about how Ben should just go, because the bad guy had discovered the treasure and that's all he was after. It's not like I understood everything. I thought Ben and the girl had gotten married, so I never really understood their dynamic. And I didn't know why the bad guy was chasing him, and it was a good thing I had seen the previews. Overall, though, I was pretty happy with how well I fared.
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2 comments:
Aaaah, a day off. Now that seems great- and a movie to boot. Perhaps when dad and I are visiting, we can meet your chinese language partner and thank her for putting up with your complaining. ha, ha.
I enjoyed looking at the pictures. It is easier to picture where you are! I read your blogs every day. I didn't know if you read the comments, so I kind of quit commenting. (I hope you had a good birthday!) Fun to see what the people look like that you hang out with. You look great by the way!
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