Even though we’re having a bit of a warm front in Shenyang as the temps are supposed to *almost* reach freezing most days this week (just avoid looking at the lows, makes us feel a little better)…
That’s still a 50-60 degree difference to what we’re going to experience in Thailand this next week.
I can’t even imagine what that’s going to feel like…
But I’m pretty excited about it!
Last night we had made plans with some friends to meet for dinner at a new French restaurant in town that opened a few months ago. (Yay for more foreign food!) We were planning for an early dinner around 6 since it was a work night. I’ve been there once for a luncheon with International Club of Shenyang so I knew where it was, had pinned it in my iPhone (one of the greatest technologies ever I might add…) and then shared the pin with our friends (also one of the greatest technologies ever). We all planned to meet at the restaurant.
LB and I were the first ones to arrive. Our taxi dropped us on the main road and we walked down the little side street where the restaurant is. And here’s where the weirdness starts.
As we walked up, we realized everything was dark. Apparently they were closed. Now, first of all you have to understand that this is a little weird because in China, even the banks and post office are open seven days a week. Except for Chinese New Year, most places are open every day. Especially a restaurant at dinnertime. But as I mentioned, it was our first time and it is run by a foreigner so maybe this place is different. We didn’t think too much of it, just quickly tried to phone our friends to orchestrate a new game plan for dinner.
And here comes weirdness number two.
A Chinese guy walks up to us and says, in these exact words “Were you guys going to the french restaurant?” Yep, in perfect English.
I’m pretty sure we both just stared at him with dumbfounded looks on our face for about 10 seconds before we could answer with a nod.
So he says, “Yeah, I’m not sure where they are. I’m going to try to call them. I don’t know. Maybe everybody’s tired.”
Weird #3: Maybe everybody’s tired? They’re just not open… Because everybody’s tired. O. K. then.
So we’re still on the phone with friends trying to coordinate a new place to eat. He’s standing nearby, also on the phone.
A minute later he walks back up.
“Yeah, I just talked to them. They are tired tonight so they decided not to open. But if you guys want a drink I can let you in. I have the key.”
I still just don’t know what to say.
Finally, we just thanked him and told him we’d go eat somewhere else.
Only in China can you just decide to close because you’re tired, and then not tell the staff (as I’m assuming he was considering he had a key).
The funniest thing about this whole story is that the part I thought was weird was the guy coming up to us speaking perfect English and offering to call the owners. LB had to remind me that it was also not *normal* where we come from for a store to just close because they are “tired”. I think I’ve been in China too long…
Living overseas as an American has it’s great points but sometimes it has a lot of challenges that you don’t think about. For instance, most of the rest of the world uses the Metric system. Which makes a lot of sense as the Metric system is much simpler and easier to remember.
That said, if you grew up in America, you likely don’t have the foggiest idea how hot or cold it is when someone gives you a temperature in Celsius. Stay with me here and we’re going to have a quick math lesson so that you can do a basic conversion in your head. Then you won’t look silly having to ask if it is hot or cold the next time someone gives you a forecast.
Double the temperature in Celsius and add 30.
That’s all.
If someone says it was 30 degrees Celsius then you simply double it (to 60) and add another 30 to get 90. 30 degrees Celsius is pretty hot.
If it’s only 10 degrees Celsius then double it (to 20) and add another 30 to get 50. A bit chilly.
If you’re like us and live in the frigid North and someone tells you it’s going to be -30 degrees this weekend, double it (-60) and add 30 to find out it’s…really stinkin’ cold outside.
Incidentally the further you get from freezing the less accurate this is so don’t use this rule for cooking unless you want some unpleasant surprises.
Of course, the reverse is also true. To go from Fahrenheit to Celsius, simply subtract 30 and then double the remaining value.
For those wondering, the real formula is:
Degrees in Fahrenheit = 32 + Degrees in Celsius * ( 9 / 5 )
Realization #1: Our friends have a weather channel television in the elevator.
Realization #2: The weather channel changes between English and Chinese so we can actually read it!
Realization #3: It’s really cold here.
Realization #4: Whoever translated the weather descriptions into English may take my title as the Human Thesaurus.
In case you can’t make it out, our weather choices for the next four days are:
1) Sunny, but very cold
2) Frigid with bright sunshine
3) Sunny and bitterly cold
4) Partly sunny and frigid
And the total difference is a maximum of 4 degrees. Winter in Shenyang…
I had a hard time when I first started Chinese like most people in speaking and understanding tones. It’s such a different way than how we speak.
Or so I thought.
But then I realized… in English, we do speak in “tones”. We just use them in a different way.
Think about saying these two phrases. (Saying them out loud would probably make it clearer.)
I am going to the store.
I am going to the store?
Likely, when you asked the question, your voice raised a little at the end of the sentence. Anyone (native English speaker, that is) who heard you speak it knew you were asking a question, even though you said the exact same words as before. I’m sure you’ve never thought about it because it’s just built in to the way we speak. We do it without thinking. Just like a native Chinese can hear the nuances in tone without even thinking. But when they speak English, they sound very flat. With no “feeling” in their speech. That’s because Chinese doesn’t use intonation for “feeling”.
In Chinese, the tones are used to differentiate between words instead of punctuation. They have words that speak pronunciation. {ma} for example added to the end of the sentence says I just asked a question. Just like speaking the question mark. {ba} added to the end makes a suggestion. And the tones are used to make different words
Take shì (是) & shí（十）.
Make the statement “Shi.” And be very clear you are making a statement… You just said the word “is”.
Now ask “Shi?” Be sure it sounds like a question. You just said the word “ten”.
Same syllables. Different intonation. You just learned how to say the 2nd and 4th tones of Mandarin.
The first and third don’t translate quite as easily but most people find them the easiest to hear. They both sound a little like singing to me. The first tone sounds like you are singing a high flat note at the top of your range. Hard to explain but pretty to easy to hear.
Third tone is a low dip with your voice. Very low and deep.
And now you’ve learned my little trick for speaking tones in Chinese. Anytime, I need to say a word with 4th tone, I just make it a question. Second tone is a statement. The other tones you just have to hear someone say and learn to be a mockingbird.
Here is another site with more detail and some audio clips on Mandarin tones if you want to get more technical about it.
You might also like my post on the Top 12 words you should learn in Mandarin.
What is your best trick for learning and speaking Chinese?
1. Apparently a year is still not long enough to make me like fireworks again.
2. It is still amazing to me how EMPTY the city can get in 2 days. On a normal day I can see 20-30 people from my window at any point in the day. During Chun Jie, maybe 1-2. Sometimes none. It’s just weird. Continue reading
Recently had a reader email about our trip to Harbin last year. I thought I’d share our correspondence in case it may help someone else as well.
Hi Guys – Question for you….we’re expats here in Nanjing (from Michigan). We’ve been here for about 6 months and follow your blog quite often. We really enjoy it. Thanks for taking the time to keep it updated!
We were wondering if you guys could shed any more light on the Harbin Ice Festival. We know you’ve blogged on the festival. It sounds like a blast. We’re always looking for an adventure and were wondering if you guys had any good thoughts/recommendations for the event. From what we understand the festival goes on from Jan 5 – Feb 5, but that is just from a quick google search. In your mind is there a best time to visit?
We’re thinking about a weekend trip with an extra couple of days off on either side. If you have any insight you can pass along, we’d greatly appreciate it. Hotels, bars, places to not miss, etc…. We have a 1.5 year old son, but we’ll be leaving him at home for this trip! Continue reading
Just a quick reminder for those of you who are about to experience your first Chinese New Year in China… Make sure you stock up on all the food and TP you’ll need for the next week because most of the stores and restaurants will be closed! (Ask me how I know this.) Think “Christmas Day” in America. Get ready to settle in and make sure you have some dumplings!
Good luck, brace yourself, get out your ear plugs, and have a great Chun Jie!
The Mandarin purist police are going to get on to me for not giving the tones with the pinyin here. Technically this is not the way you would write out these phrases. (Although if you want to get really technical, to be written in Chinese they would actually be in characters. But then, that would be completely pointless for teaching pronunciation.) Every syllable has a tone with a special intonation that makes it understandable in Chinese. The truth is, if you’ve studied enough Chinese to know the tones… you already know these phrases so you could just skip this post anyway. AND if not, having me type them here won’t teach them anyway. (Ok, I admit it. The truth is, they’re just hard to type.)
Think of this as merely a crash course. For those phrases you’ll use all the time. To aid your charades when you really need the help of a word. The most basic of communication. And really, to let the Chinese know you aren’t just some stuck up foreigner who thinks the whole world should speak your language. That you really want to TRY. And no matter how bad you butcher it, you’ll get a smile. And usually an over-the-top appreciation for your efforts. Because even the Chinese know its hard. And they are, thankfully, so much more gracious than we (especially in America) are to those who don’t speak our language.
1. Ni Hao: {nee how} Hello. The most basic greeting. Chances are, you already know this one. But if not, at least now you’ll know what’s being said when you hear this a hundred times a day.
2. Zai jian:{zI (rhymes with eye) jee-uhn} Good-bye. Another basic. Use it often.
3. Xie Xie: {“she she” or “shay shay”} Thank you. Now this one is really just for us, the foreigners. Actually, the Chinese don’t say thank you very often. And you might even get a few odd looks, but I think it still makes you sound polite, or at least friendly. I say it all the time, no matter if they don’t understand why you thanked the taxi driver for taking you home even though it’s his job.
First, let me say, there is no direct translation for the word “yes” in Chinese. Normally, if you want to agree you just repeat the verb. But there are a couple of phrases that get that point across. Learning when to use which can be a little tricky, but even if you guess wrong your point is made.
Continue reading
So we made it back to China just about a week ago and are now re-settling in. As you probably noticed we didn’t get much time to blog during the holidays when Country Fried was back in the US. That said, things should start to pick up around here again.
In fact, we hadn’t even made it out of Detroit when our trip home got interesting. We had both just finished boarding and were sitting on the exit row on the Detroit-Tokyo flight (Delta seat requests rock!) and getting ready to get some serious reading done. All of a sudden I hear a kid (about 5 years old) screaming at the top of his lungs, “Mom!!! Mom!!! Come quick!”. I look over and completely go into panic mode as he is walking down the aisle and pointing directly at me. He continues yelling without giving any indication of what is going on. Things like “You have to come here!” and “Mom, this is important”…
Now, I was pretty sure that a lot of people could have seen that I was sitting in the seat minding my own business. However, I still wasn’t looking forward to explaining whatever the cause of this situation was to an air marshal as quite a lot of heads were starting to turn our way to see what the fuss was about.
Continue reading