LET'S GO FLY A KITE

For my Chinese class a few weeks ago we got to attend a kite making class and also a hutong tour.  This post will be about kites and the next will be about hutongs. Kites were invented in China almost 3000 years ago.  The best kite makers in the country have truly perfected this art and process.  the instructor of our class has one of the best kite shops in the city and it is his business that makes and sends kites to royals of various countries, high profile politicians, and celebrities.  He constructs most of the kites out of bamboo and silk which are the same materials they were originally made from thousands of years ago.  The silk kites here in China are very, very beautiful and colorful.  Most of them are representative of animals from the chinese zodiac or insects.  For our class we made kites out of rice paper and the bamboo.  We got to color them with chalks and crayons and since I am not an artist, my kite wasn't very creative or beautiful.  After we made the kites we all went to Houhai to fly them if we wanted and to go on a hutong tour.  There wasn't much wind but my kite did fly!

TAXI CAB FLIRTING

So yesterday a lady that is a friend of a friend, shared a taxi with me.  She took the taxi to pick up her son from school and then the driver was to take me to a subway station.  Well after she was dropped off, the driver looked at me and smiled and said something to me in Chinese that I did not understand.  So I told him in Chinese I didn't understand him (that is one of the few things I can say in Chinese).  He laughed and then got on his cell phone and I'm pretty sure he called the lady that he had just dropped off.  I could hear their phone conversation and she was saying the word pretty in english and he was repeating it.  So he hung up and then he said to me in broken English "you are pretty".  Then he got his cell phone out to take a picture of me -and yes he is driving in traffic while all this is going on.  It made me laugh a little and I put up my hand in front of my face so he couldn't take my picture, but he tried a couple of times.  Then he kept pointing at his phone and my phone and speaking in Chinese.  I guessed he wanted my number but I said "no".  Because even if I was interested, I wouldn't be able to talk to him anyway.  Then he asked me to give him English lessons or something and I laughed and said no too.  So this situation was a bit weird and my defense mechanism of laughter was the only thing that seemed to get me through it.  Then he reached into his glove compartment and pulled out a cd and put it in the player.  Well it happened to be a cd of English love songs from the 90's.  The first song was that annoying "I Swear" song and then Celine Dion came on and a couple more.  I was dying.  He kept saying I was pretty over and over but when I arrived at my destination, he held out his hand I politely shook it while I laughed and he said "See you later pretty."  Why is it that the men I don't want to give me attention are the ones that do and the men I would like to give me attention don't?  Sigh.

MY CLASSROOM

Here are a few pictures of my classroom.  It isn't very big but I wish it was slightly larger or that I had a couple less students in each of my classes.  I can have a max of 15 in each class and it seems a bit crowded at times.  The Disney English Center is designed with numerous classrooms with each one representing a Disney movie or theme.  I am in the Reef Room which is based off of the movie Finding Nemo.  I actually really love my room -it's my favorite in the center so I'm glad it's mine.  It's much better than stupid Tinkerbell Pixie Hallow or something like that.  Each room is equipped with an interactive Smartboard and it is used for games, videos, etc... .  The technology we have is pretty cool so no complaints about that at all.  

I'M A LOCAL CELEBRITY

I have had my picture in a local paper twice in the last week!  Apparantly I am quite popular here in Beijing and the press just can't get enough of my hot American self and all the intelligence I have to offer!!!  
The link here is to The Global Times which hosted the Imperial Dessert event I attended and blogged about last week.
 
http://beijing.globaltimes.cn/in-focus/2011-04/649688.html
 
The attached picture is of the picture of me and my new friend Maria Elena from Argentina who is in my Chinese class.  There was a photographer from a small local paper at our paper cutting class on Tuesday and my picture got picked to be the one that was printed!

THE ROYAL WEDDING

Last week I watched the royal wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton and although I don't care too much about the royal family, I do have a small fascination with them and it was exciting to see this event take place.  I couldn't wait to see her dress and when I did I absolutely loved it.  I thought it was sooooo perfect and I loved her sister Pippa's maid of honor gown as well.  Miss Kate looked beautiful and I thought how I would love to look so elegant and refined myself on my own wedding day. No one can pull off the elegance and pageantry like the British - they win hands down.  I am totally rooting for William and Kate - I hope they make it all work!  
 
Last weekend in China it was the labor day holiday. Apparently this is a busy time for weddings.  My co-worker's sister got married and at one of the universities, there were over 400 weddings scheduled for last Saturday and Sunday.  The craziest thing about it was that Monday in the China Daily newspaper, there was a photo of one of the weddings, and what did the bride have on??  A Kate Middleton replica gown!  Seriously, within 48 hours, someone here in China had the same gown copied and wore it to her wedding!  Click on the link below to see a comparison.  http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://tianjin.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/attachement/jpg/site1/20110503/00221917e13e0f298f7337.jpg&imgrefurl=http://tianjin.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2011-05/03/content_12432290.htm&usg=__1ny_puGXdCghgWxuVq1KkpZwYuw=&h=550&w=391&sz=101&hl=en&start=14&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=oqAWgS5OS4DQ7M:&tbnh=133&tbnw=95&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dkate%2Bmiddleton%2Breplica%2Bwedding%2Bdress%2Bchina%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1004%26bih%3D608%26tbm%3Disch&ei=sVbCTZ_gDoaSuwOSh73XAQ


I remember when Charles and Diana got married years ago.  I was only 5 years old but I remember being home with my mom who was cleaning or whatever and she had the tv on.  I think I wanted to watch cartoons and I asked if I could and she said no because a princess was getting married on the tv.  I remember thinking, "A princess?  Really?"  Because I knew princesses were not real and so the idea that a prince and princess actually existed and were getting married, was pretty fascinating to my little five year old self.   

CHINESE PAPER CUTTING

Yesterday at my Chinese Language Class, we had a culture class on the art of Chinese Paper Cutting.  This artform began during the Han dynasty (about 200 BC - 200 AD).  The papers are typically red and placed mostly on windows and doors.  DuringChinese New Year, many use Chinese paper cuttings with patterns and images that symbolize luck and posterity, to decorate the house.  I bought a couple of cuttings for my own windows during the New Year. Chinese paper cutting can be simple or extremely detailed.  Most paper cutting I believe involves the folding of paper like you would to make a snowflake.  We used scissors in my class but more detailed cuttings usually knives.  I'm not very good at paper cutting.  My panda turned out fat and I messed up on my double happiness symbol and during my second attempt, I needed help to make sure I didn't mess up again.  

BYU CHAMBER ORCHESTRA CONCERT

The Brigham Young University Chamber Orchestra is here in China on a tour. They performed in Beijing today along with the Peking Universtiy Chamber Orchestra. It was a wonderful program and I enjoyed it very much. They played Berenstein's "On The Town" and it totally put me in the mood to watch the movie.  I will have to make dvd store run next week and see if I can find it.  The second piece was a famous Chinese Violin Concerto called "Butterfly Lover's Violin Concerto".  When I heard it, I realized I actually was familiar with the melody already.  The music is also performed as a folk song and is sung and shown on cctv all the time.  It is beautiful song and I actually think I would like to learn to sing it.  The music is based on a famous Chinese fairytale (I will share the story in another post).  The concert concluded with Dvorak's New World Symphony.  The performance was excellent.  I have attached a link to the Butterfly Lover's Violin Concerto.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Egmjy8BbME&feature=related