Well, my attempts to learn and speak Chinese have been humorous at least. In order to show respect to the local people as an outsider in their community I try to use the limited Chinese I've learned whenever possible.Recently the staffers and I visited a nearby Muslim restaurant that serves absolutely fantastic lamb kebabs. I wanted to ask the owner's name and checked with Cara, who studies Chinese in school, if I was asking the question correctly. The conversation went something like this:
Me: "Hey, is 'What's your name?' in Chinese 'Ni shuggamamensa?'"
Cara: (Silence)
Cara: (Slowly shakes head "no")
Cara: Um, not at all. What was that?
Needless to say I'm glad I asked her before him, plus it provided a solid few minutes of laughing at how far off-base I was (the correct way to say it is "Ni jiao shen me ming zi?"). It also gave us a new word, which has been dubbed "universally applicable". It can be used however you want it to be to mean everything and nothing all at once. We've used it as a verb, noun, and adjective, eliciting some odd, questioning glances from those around us not in on the joke. Grace's favorite use right now is, "That's just shuggamamensa!" while I prefer using it as a question when I don't know the answer to something or aren't sure what to do or say. I'm sure it'll make it into Webster's eventually :)
In other news, today we had a ceremony celebrating the partnership between the Care Foundation and NDFH!! It is really amazing how much Care will be giving (both monetarily and otherwise) and the support is going to a very deserving place! The best part of the morning was when they brought out about 7 or 8 kids to do dances. I didn't recognize the first one, but it had fun hand gestures to go with the words and the whole crowd participated. Then they did a medley of "The Chicken Dance," "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," and "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes". It was so adorable seeing the kids' faces light up as they performed for an audience of about 40-50. One girl got so excited that she would jump up in the air but then not remember to land on her feet. Instead, she would jump, kick her legs out in front of her and fall down on her behind. After looking dazed for a little bit, she would stand up and a few seconds later—only do the same thing again! The staffers also got to perform, and we performed an Irish dance which actually didn't turn out too horribly! There were a few hiccups, but I don't think anybody in the audience minded. The staff who organized the even told us previously the main purpose of our dance was to showcase the staff in a fun way and bring attention to the service/volunteer oriented attitude at NDC that is so unique for a Chinese organization. Afterward the children came out and played on the playground with the various attendees of the ceremony, and I got to see My Girl!!! I was so glad to see her since I couldn't do our one-on-one today with all the other festivities going on. I felt so bad for her at first because one of the other children took her ball and threw it (he really likes throwing everything in sight!) and My Girl started crying :(. But it ended up okay, as her nanny (who she calls "Mommy") took her and calmed her down. I found her a few minutes later so we could play together for a little bit. We played "toss" with one of the balls, which is really great because it means progress with her cognitive development goals for a girl her age! Another note about My Girl is that she LOVES tickling and clapping hands. She gets so excited when you tickle her, and one of the best ways to get her to interact with me is to clap. If I start clapping she will too, and then I'll stop but still hold my hands out in front of her. She'll grab my thumbs and clap my hands for me! It is honestly one of the cutest and most precious things I've ever experienced, and I already love this little, beautiful child so much!
The week is not over yet, though! This Saturday I am very excited to help NDC host the first English Corner with the help of a volunteer based in Beijing named Jim Corbin. He and I are working together to establish a weekly session for Qing Yun Dian community members to come and work on their conversational English skills. The hope is that it will be a beneficial endeavor for many reasons. First and foremost, it provides a free service to the community and helps individuals who are seeking to learn/improve their English. Secondly, it creates a better connection between NDC and the village, which will hopefully gain trust and forge meaningful relationships. Another goal is to eventually establish classes to formally teach adults English. I'm eager to see how this idea develops over the course of the summer, and really hope it will flourish and become a valuable project for all involved!
I'll post another update this weekend! If you would like any other information, please feel free to comment or contact me via the contact information provided on this site. I would be more than happy to answer any questions I can or address common queries in a post! I personally am not allowed to provide any information concerning any of the children here, but if you are interested in learning more on your own please visit the NDFH Website. There you can learn more about the kids here and decide if you would like to become involved in such an amazing place. NDFH is home for these children, and I am so lucky to get to be a guest in their family for a little while.
Me: "Hey, is 'What's your name?' in Chinese 'Ni shuggamamensa?'"
Cara: (Silence)
Cara: (Slowly shakes head "no")
Cara: Um, not at all. What was that?
Needless to say I'm glad I asked her before him, plus it provided a solid few minutes of laughing at how far off-base I was (the correct way to say it is "Ni jiao shen me ming zi?"). It also gave us a new word, which has been dubbed "universally applicable". It can be used however you want it to be to mean everything and nothing all at once. We've used it as a verb, noun, and adjective, eliciting some odd, questioning glances from those around us not in on the joke. Grace's favorite use right now is, "That's just shuggamamensa!" while I prefer using it as a question when I don't know the answer to something or aren't sure what to do or say. I'm sure it'll make it into Webster's eventually :)
In other news, today we had a ceremony celebrating the partnership between the Care Foundation and NDFH!! It is really amazing how much Care will be giving (both monetarily and otherwise) and the support is going to a very deserving place! The best part of the morning was when they brought out about 7 or 8 kids to do dances. I didn't recognize the first one, but it had fun hand gestures to go with the words and the whole crowd participated. Then they did a medley of "The Chicken Dance," "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," and "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes". It was so adorable seeing the kids' faces light up as they performed for an audience of about 40-50. One girl got so excited that she would jump up in the air but then not remember to land on her feet. Instead, she would jump, kick her legs out in front of her and fall down on her behind. After looking dazed for a little bit, she would stand up and a few seconds later—only do the same thing again! The staffers also got to perform, and we performed an Irish dance which actually didn't turn out too horribly! There were a few hiccups, but I don't think anybody in the audience minded. The staff who organized the even told us previously the main purpose of our dance was to showcase the staff in a fun way and bring attention to the service/volunteer oriented attitude at NDC that is so unique for a Chinese organization. Afterward the children came out and played on the playground with the various attendees of the ceremony, and I got to see My Girl!!! I was so glad to see her since I couldn't do our one-on-one today with all the other festivities going on. I felt so bad for her at first because one of the other children took her ball and threw it (he really likes throwing everything in sight!) and My Girl started crying :(. But it ended up okay, as her nanny (who she calls "Mommy") took her and calmed her down. I found her a few minutes later so we could play together for a little bit. We played "toss" with one of the balls, which is really great because it means progress with her cognitive development goals for a girl her age! Another note about My Girl is that she LOVES tickling and clapping hands. She gets so excited when you tickle her, and one of the best ways to get her to interact with me is to clap. If I start clapping she will too, and then I'll stop but still hold my hands out in front of her. She'll grab my thumbs and clap my hands for me! It is honestly one of the cutest and most precious things I've ever experienced, and I already love this little, beautiful child so much!
The week is not over yet, though! This Saturday I am very excited to help NDC host the first English Corner with the help of a volunteer based in Beijing named Jim Corbin. He and I are working together to establish a weekly session for Qing Yun Dian community members to come and work on their conversational English skills. The hope is that it will be a beneficial endeavor for many reasons. First and foremost, it provides a free service to the community and helps individuals who are seeking to learn/improve their English. Secondly, it creates a better connection between NDC and the village, which will hopefully gain trust and forge meaningful relationships. Another goal is to eventually establish classes to formally teach adults English. I'm eager to see how this idea develops over the course of the summer, and really hope it will flourish and become a valuable project for all involved!
I'll post another update this weekend! If you would like any other information, please feel free to comment or contact me via the contact information provided on this site. I would be more than happy to answer any questions I can or address common queries in a post! I personally am not allowed to provide any information concerning any of the children here, but if you are interested in learning more on your own please visit the NDFH Website. There you can learn more about the kids here and decide if you would like to become involved in such an amazing place. NDFH is home for these children, and I am so lucky to get to be a guest in their family for a little while.