whining, because I'm such a whiner

I've been a horrible blog-mistress. I'm sorry. In my (lousy) defense, I've been both busy and sick. 

I took the SAT, got a nasty virus, took challenged the AP English exam with said nasty virus and then crashed for three days. Just when I was starting to feel better (read: yesterday), I started getting hay-fever from willow and cottonwood flowers. 

The allergies are ticking me off more than anything, because since things in Ningbo bloom about a month and a half before things here in the Pacific Northwest, I've already paid my allergy dues this year. 

A week ago, Brynne and I tie-dyed. I feel like an even worse person for not posting photos, but they're all on her camera. (Also, all the pictures of me are baaaad.) I may just have to get her to take more when she gets back from Districts (tennis). 

My goal today is to update the 'about' page since it sorely needs it. Please don't go look until I tell you it's done. 

(!)

I'm leaving. 

Today. 

And I might not be coming back. 

And it would be so sad if I weren't so excited about going. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go rush around madly. 

bet you didn't know...

It's been a while since I've done one of these, and I think they're fun. 

Name five things laying around your computer. 

A bottle of sugarless mint gum, a roll of tape, a bunch of books, an alarm clock, two pairs of scissors. 

10 places you've lived, in order. 

I'm assuming that whoever wrote this means chronological order. 

Santa Maria de Guia, the Canary Islands, Spain

Madison, Wisconsin, the US of A

Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, USA

Five different houses in Dalian, China

Two houses in Ningbo, China

...and that's it. 

A romantic night would be...

Um...romantic? I've never thought about it. But I suppose it would matter who it was with than anything else. And whoever it's with should have a say in what we do. 

Were you ever rushed to the hospital? What for? 

Yes, I was. For second-degree burns caused by oil splashing all over my neck and face. I was unconscious for most of it, and what I do remember is just...red. Thankfully the only scarring I have is some tiny bumps under my right eye. 

What's the worst that can happen? 

I could live forever. (I'm sure there are worse things out there, I just can't think of them right now.) 

:D

So. I suppose that the time has come for me to make an official announcement about this. 

I'm leaving for the States next Monday and may not be coming back to China in the fall. In fact, I probably won't be. I'll be living (!) with Brynne and her family instead. *much happiness ensues* 

Now I need to go pack. 

Xi'an, an ancient Chinese city, true!

I went to Xi'an with a bunch of people I know. It was fun. Here are pics, and I really need to stop reading I can haz cheezburger? because I starting to want to talk and type in LOLspeak. 

The sign was funny. Not as funny as some of the stuff on Engrish Funny (Guess what I've been doing! On second thought, don't.), but the random capitalization ought to more than make up for that. It says: 

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE DACIEN TEMPLE AND THE DA YAN PAGODA

The dacien temple was built in 648 AD to honour the empress wende by the tang crown prince li zhi.the temple with 13 yards and 1897 magnificent roomw was broad in scale. It occupied an area of more than 24 hectarew who lived in the temple. It was the most famous temple in Chang An city during the tang dynasty. 

A buddhist and pilgrim Xuan Zang who studied buddhism in india was waslcomed to preside over the temple affairs in 653 an Xuan Zang arranged for the building of the Da Yan Pagoda to preserve the hundreds of wolumes of buddhist so riptures which had been brought back from Inida. 

The original pagoda was constructed with five stories in India style.It was rebuilt to seve storeys in 701AD--704AD during the period of empress Wu Ze Tian. 

Today, the Da Yan Pagoda is 64.5m high with seven storeys. The body of the pagoda is a square brick pagoda in the range of chinese national character and the tang style. It is a model place of boddhist architer ture. In 4 march 1961 the state council declede that the Da Yan Pagoda must be protected as one of the most important historical monuments. 

Note: Chang An is the ancient name for Xi'an, and the spelling, punctuation and capitalization have been typed up exactly as they appear. 

There were pretty marble carvings. They looked imposing. I'm not sure they were supposed to. 

There were other pretty things, and a neat, gnarled-looking tree. 

And painted ceilings and eaves galore! 

Have I mentioned how awesome I thought those trees were? I have? And you think I've been talking too much about plants? Sorry, it's a bit of an obsession. 

This was the pagoda. 

These were chickens in the monastery gardens. Are my comments getting a little too obvious? 

The gate to the monastery. It was imposing too. I felt very much imposed upon. 

This was the view from the top of the city wall. I love the guardhouses next to the skyscrapers. 

This was in a mosque near the city center. The whole group spent ages trying to guess what the sign meant without looking at the Chinese. 

There were more pretties. 

And neat roofs. 

This was the bazaar near next to the mosque. I bought lots of stuff there, including two paintings, an antique (and awesome) Chinese lock, a hairstick, a little clay pot, a pair of old, adorable, embroidered, lion-shaped baby shoes, and some Men Zi (some species of pachyrhizus as far as I can tell, stir-fried and then smothered in balsamic vinegar, soy-sauce and spices). 

China is not for squeamish people. Note the cart of garbage above, as well as what comes next. 

Okay, this stuff doesn't look gross, but it doesn't taste as good as the skewered stuff either. 

Dates, we haz them. 

Meat, we have it too. If you have a weak stomach, are vegetarian or might otherwise be disgusted by the sight of lots and lots of meat, please avert your eyes while proceed to the next picture. Thank you for your cooperation. 

And this is a picture that came out funnily, and is only included so that we end on a nicer note than dead animals hanging everywhere. 

P.S. The title of this post is a reference to the BNL song 'Crazy ABC's' from their album Snacktime. 

Hangzhou

I went to Hangzhou a couple of weekends ago, and in Hangzhou, this is what I saw: 

Cool twisty plants. I'm sure some guy has the job title 'Imperial Plant-Twister'. 

There were nice, spring-y trees. 

And flowers. 

All I can think of is that those buildings must have been cold in the winter. Good thing the emperor only used West Lake for his summer vacation spot, or else he would have died from pneumonia at the tender age of seventeen. 

And that sky? I don't have to go to Hangzhou to see it. 

This was our 'Pleasure Boat'. 

This was Gina and me being cold on our 'Pleasure Boat'. 

The Great (Fire)Wall

Youtube has been blocked in China for the past week or so. However, the articles on BBC about youtube being blocked (here and here) are easily accessible in China. Doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose? 

yeah, I can't count.

This post comes to you in four parts. 

Part one: hay-fever, or getting sick

This is what I have/am. I've been exhibiting hay-fever-like symptoms for the past two weeks. Blergh. They make me irritable. And now I think I may be getting sick. Not fun at all. 

Part two: pleasure boats

When we were in Hangzhou last weekend (did I mention that I went to hangzhou with my mom and one of her friends?), we took a 'pleasure boat' to the island in the middle of West Lake. The name made me giggle incessantly, especially after my mom brought up The Love Boat. So then we all started making bad puns about being on the 'Pleasure Luuuuuurve Boat' to some mysterious island. It was fun. 

Part three: durian roti

We went to the Banana Leaf restaurant one night, and I finally tried something with durian in it. Not going to again. Ever again. Everyone (including my mom) said that it didn't taste at all the way it smells. I'm sorry, but for me it tasted exactly the way it smelled. But at least I can now say that I don't like durian on good authority. Though I don't want to get close enough to stinky tofu to even find out. 

Part four: 'Roadsinger'

I think that for once, I'm going to go all fangirly on you. Cat Stevens has a new album coming out in May. *squee*

Part five (bonus): new template

What thinks you of it? The old one's code was a mess, and changing anything was a huge hassle. Hopefully this one will be better, even though it's quite different. This one's sort of temporary until I find one that I like better. 

Ze Tomato

EDIT: I just saw a mosquito buzzing around in my bedroom. I'm not sure I'm quite as excited about it getting warm as I was a half hour ago. 

We have a new oven! Behold! 

Yes, it is a "Tomato" brand oven. In this household, we now 'tomato' things, and pop some muffins into the 'tomato'. I made muffins in the tomato yesterday using THIS recipe, and they were amazing. Sorry, no pics of the muffins themselves. I have no self-control. 

Then I took a walk, because it stopped raining! (It had been raining almost continually for a month.) I'm glad the canals didn't flood, they were looking pretty high. 

This is a field of canola. As in 'canola oil'. The leaves are quite tasty stir-fried too. 

I'm in love with the building on the right. 

And the plants seem to think it's spring! 

The birds think it's spring too. 
I just hope the weather stays this nice. I'm tired of freezing, especially during the fast. 

las pretties

My hummingbird. His name is Corin. He adorns the side of my wardrobe. 

My flutterby/bats, yet unnamed. I talk about her a bit in this post too. 

And... the Indian tapestry I got in Malaysia. Her name is Roshni. 

not a cheeseburger, a project!

I can haz new project? 

I think I can. 

Here is Layli's site of all things Chinese (okay, not really, but it's a start). I'm thinking that I'll update it once a week or so. I'm also hoping to update Pelakîs once every week, but don't seem to be doing a great job so far. 

Is there such a thing as too many blogs? 

DUN DUN DUN!

My shower-head hates me. Seriously. The small one not so much, but the big one keeps dripping 70 degrees celsius water on my head. If I ever stop posting for a week again, you can just assume that the shower-heads revolted and are holding me for ransom. 

in which I'm still slightly insane

Hey, what think you of the new layout? I think I like it. It's quite a change, though. 

I know that I probably lost most of my readers due to my last bought of craziness. I hope I at least have a few valiant souls left. In my defense, I was operating on about three hours of sleep. I can't defend Brynne though. Her behavior was inexcusable. (Just kidding!)Anyhow, now that I've had a good night's sleep, I'm slightly more sane. 

I apologize in advance if I don't get to blog regularly as I usually do while I'm here, because my schedule is a bit crazy (note: three hours of sleep is definitely crazy). Plus, there's really just not that much to say about what I'm doing here. I'm studying, I'm taking care of the most adorable little baby, and I'm eating a bunch of really good food. 

if you give two girls skype...

This post's counterparts are over on Brynne's blog, here and here. You may not want to read this post unless you're crazy. 

L: The tower of Babel, except Chinese, with fish. 

B: I get it. 

 

*skip*

L: I just went to fake headdesk, except I missed and it became real. 

B: This is actually his most famous song, except no one knows that he wrote it, 'cause he never actually preformed it much, you know...

L: My chicken smells all cold and clammy. 

L: That sounds weird. 

*skip*

B: Are you getting headphones? 

L: Yes, because now you're louder. 

B: My nose is runny. 

L: Did you say funny or runny? 

*skip* 

B: I need to shave my legs, in case you care. 

L: I care tremendously. This knowledge is essential to my existence. 

B: It's one of the most important things I will ever tell you. 

*skip*

L: Go shove your mic in your mouth. 

B: Huh? Oh, my webcam mysteriously disconnected. That's why. 

icy

Hi! I'm at Amalia's house, and I have a rediscovered appreciation for both central heating and underfloor heating. It's so nice to be warm even when it's freezing outside. Forget it being ten degrees colder inside than outside like it is at home. Ugh! It snowed a couple of days before I got here, and now there's ice all over the place. I nearly slipped and fell on my butt twice in one afternoon, because snow always melts and then freezes again in Dalian. Always. 

I remember when I was in sixth grade, to get to school I had to go down a fairly steep road which was never, ever cleared after it snowed. Going down was fun, but up? Not so much. 

Pelakîs updated

HERE is a map that I drew last night and this morning (while I was waiting for my school's website to let me log on to my courses) for my geeky worldbuilding project. I'm not putting the map into this post because it's too wide, and if I used a smaller size it would mess up the scale etc. I'm also working on a font, a botanical encyclopedia, more maps and a ton of other stuff which may or may not be up soon depending on how much time I have while I'm in Dalian. (Did I mention that I'm going to Dalian, the city in which I used to live, to stay with some friends and study for ten days?) 

***

Actually, here is the beginning of the botanical encyclopedia. The zoological one will probably come quite a bit later. 

I feel kind of bad saying 'Hey, guys, look at this thing I did!', but since the Pekakîs site doesn't really tell you when it updates as blatantly as this site, I'm going to post updates every now and then. I hope you don't mind. 

in which I give unsolicited advice that you are free to ignore

Quick disclaimer: I don't have very much experience with learning Chinese as a second language, seeing as I picked the basics up when I went to kindergarten, as it is infinitely easier for a child that age to learn languages. However, here are my two cents on learning Chinese, which you should feel free to ignore, since I'm not a linguist, a Chinese expert, or anything of the kind, and the following information is merely based on my own experiences and observations. 

• If you want to learn Chinese in order to function in that language, i.e. be able to hold conversations of medium complexity, order food at a restaurant, read signs, maps and general announcements in Chinese etc., then I would suggest to begin with studying Chinese primary school curriculum (available here, but only if you read enough Chinese to navigate the website) with a Chinese speaker. Not only will studying a first-grade book humble you in the face of the great Chinese language, it will also give a certain unique appreciation for the Chinese culture. I don't know whether Xinhua Bookstore ships internationally or not, but if anyone comes across this and would like assistance in ordering books or would like me to forward them internationally, you can contact me at soggyspaghetti at gmail dot com. Just throwing that out there. 
• If you simply would like to become familiar with the language, i.e. have an intellectual understanding of the various linguistic elements of Chinese, I suggest you look for resources online or at a library. 
• If you are more interested in the Chinese culture, THIS PAGE is fantastically accurate in its representations. This also looks useful, but I can't say I've taken that long of a look at it. I'll probably also post some entries on Chinese culture (maybe in the not-so-near future), so you may want to look out for those. 

more housekeeping, and a QUESSY

Alex:

Thank you so much for sending me that link, it was infinitely fascinating. I've added it to the sidebar, which is pretty much a culmination of the things I find interesting on the internet. I wish I could read your blog. Unfortunately, Wordpress blogs have been blocked (again) in China. However, I've bookmarked it to read when I'm out of the country. 

Deborah: 

Thanks for stopping by, I'm glad you find what I'm rambling about interesting. I love your blog. :)

I've been thinking of writing a post about studying Chinese for a while now, and your comment was the straw that broke through the camel's reluctance, so keep an eye out for that post soon. 

Brynne: 

I can't remember if I've told you this already, but I already use Inkscape and find it fascinating. Right now though, instead of using its calligraphy pen, I'm using FontForge, a most excellent font creation software, to work on making a (highly unprofessional but fairly functional) font for Malian, seeing as I already have a basic transliteration system in place. 

About your comment on my worldbuilding post, I agree with you that the Metaverse is awesome, and I use it for reference the most. However, all the other sites I linked to do give me ideas about different ways to do things, and I feel that looking at more than just one approach to worldbuilding is quite valuable. 

Now, a question (actually, several): I've been toying with the idea of posting some articles/stories/vignettes about China, Chinese, my childhood, my experiences in China etc. What do you think about that idea? Would you like to see it happen? Do you think it would fit in as part of this blog or should I start another blog dedicated to those topics? Please leave any suggestions, ideas, comments, opinions etc. in the comments. Thanks in advance! 

on pens

This afternoon, Mom and I went to Wal-Mart to replenish our dwindling supply of food. Today was the first time I've been in a Chinese grocery store in ages, because we all know I have a distinct aversion to shopping. (I count Wal-Mart in China to be a Chinese grocery store. It has a whole section of dried fish and no tortilla chips.) 

Anyhow, I was in the stationary section looking for 0.7 millimeter pencil leads, because I only have 0.5 millimeter ones, and I saw this: 

Okay, well technically I didn't see the bottle, I saw the little cardboard box encasing the bottle, but you get the idea. Ink reminds me of third grade. See, when you go to Chinese school, you use a pencil for every subject until you get to third grade. Then, when your Chinese (the subject) teacher deems your handwriting neat enough, you 'get' to use a fountain pen. A huge fuss is made of this, and the teacher usually encourages competition between students to see who can use a fountain pen first etc. When I was in third grade, I was thrilled to be in the first ten students ( out of the sixty in my class) who got to use a fountain pen. Writing with  fountain pen was the utmost symbol of coolness, and all the 'big kids' used them. Need I tell you how much of a pain remembering to fill mine up each night was? 

In fourth grade you get to use a fountain pen for math too, and this privilege is given out based on your math grade. Toting around a bottle of ink in the bottom of my backpack and trying to refill my pen without getting navy splatters on my school uniform was really fun. In fifth grade you start using a fountain pen for every subject. Then, when you get to sixth grade, you're suddenly required to use gel pens, because that's what people use in middle school. Not having to deal with the mess and hassle of a fountain pen would be great if it weren't for the catch: almost every teacher requires a different color of ink, and using the wrong pen was a big deal. I remember watching kids get yelled at over it. I was lucky in that because I was really quiet at school, the teachers would use me to separate boys who liked to talk in class, and they (the guy sitting next to me) were always more than happy to lend me one of their pens if I had left mine at home. 

I bought the bottle of ink, because I wanted to use my fountain pen (the one I've been using since fourth grade) to mess around with writing styles for a language that I'm working on, Malian, since I didn't move my last bottle for fear of it breaking. And even though they're somewhat of a pain, I have to confess that writing with a fountain pen just feels right. 

bye!

Tuesday, I helped a teacher at my mom's school rent an apartment, and it's in an incredibly posh apartment complex, with a gym and whatnot, so of course we had to play hooky and look at the gym. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me, so you don't get pictures of the three chandeliers, marble floors, opulent but tasteless fake flower arrangements, and the gigantic frieze of Napoleon leading a charge. Also, you don't get pictures of all the gold, duck-shaped sconces that when looked at from a certain angle appeared to have an arrow sticking out of each of their butts. It was quite something. I had to duck (ha, ha) into the bathroom once, I was laughing so hard. 

On Wednesday, I burnt my left hand and lost my phone. Thankfully, my mom had this (relatively) old phone that someone had given her, so I'm probably going to end up using it until it dies a natural death. It's a fairly nice phone, the only thing that I dislike about it is the fact that it's pink. 

On Friday I went out to dinner with some friends of my mom's, and the music that was played in the Hot Pot restaurant we went to could be described as 'bad traditional Chinese New Year's music sung by tone-deaf three-year-olds who've had too much caffeine'. 

Yesterday, we went out to the Lebanese restaurant for lunch with another teacher who works with my mom. The food was, as always, excellent, and on the bus back we played our little game of 'guess which province that person over there is from', which I almost always win. The interesting thing was that we were almost completely surrounded by people from Xinjiang, an autonomous region, a part of China that borders Tibet, Mongolia, Russia and five of the 'Stans, speaks an old form of Arabic, and is largely Muslim. I don't know if they seemed to be much more in evidence than usual simply because they were the only people out on Spring Festival Eve or what. 

I promise to take lots and lots of photos, and I'll be back on the twelfth of February. 

-Layli