Small brooms

For those of you in the states who haven't heard, I didn't die. I am just fine, and settled in my apartment. I got my teaching schedule today: three classes that each meet twice a week- 2 sections of oral English and one section of international business culture. We will have to see how those turn out. I am not concerned and think that they will be fun.
I still am kind of out of the loop, because I don't really have internet in my room. I am currently stealing from someone who has a wireless router named Apple Network6e3a4.
I have lots of things to tell you about, but I will keep this one recent. Today, I went to the jong bai (sp?). It is a big indoor shopping area that has necessities and food. It is kind of like a two story Target/minimall. There are shops but also a store area. This was the first time for me to go by myself, and I am determined to learn some Chinese and interact with people. First stop: household items. In China, there are a lot of people, so there are a lot of jobs, which means that there are a lot of people do little jobs. In the US, you could go to target and maybe see 6 or 10 workers on the floor at any time. Here, there are at least 3 or 4 workers per isle. Household items. I get there, pull out my mini dictionary (thanks Whitney), and look up for the word for toliet. I find it just in time for my audience to arrive (4 eager and grinning Chinese woman ranging in age from 20-45). I utter what I thought was the word for toliet. Nothing. I try again. No response. Finally I show them the book, and they all laugh and the oldest one takes me to the toliet bowl cleaner. I am not finished though, and at this point, I have no shame. I look up plugged, no word. I look up stopped up, no word. Then I look up plumber. I say the word. It is no use, so I show it to her. With a big grin she takes me over another 10 feet and hands me a bottle of Chinese drano.
So, I know what all you Americans are thinking- Chinese are short. Well, mostly true, but there are quite a few exceptions, especially in this latest generation. But, still, I am tall here. However, when I went to go look for brooms, I could not find a broom that was longer than 3 feet long. Looks like I am going to get really good at sweeping like a hunchback for next year.
More to come...

Comments

  1. Staci30/8/06

    Oh my goodness!!! That broom totally cracks me up!!! I can't believe they didn't have REAL brooms!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Caleb30/8/06

    LOL.... Sounds like your having fun!! They probably had a good laugh!!

    ReplyDelete

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