China #6

Nihao,

That is how you spell it but you really need the tones marked above the appropriate letters to have the exact word.....I can only get them if I cut and paste the word and I am too lazy.

Yesterday I went and played at the Elementary School library for the morning.  He, John, the head of the ES library put me on computer right away doing something for him.....I didn't dare tell him of my virtual incompetence with all things electronic.....I survived and got the job done, yahoo for me....and John's teaching skills.

I was picked up from there by my friend Keary, we went out to lunch and one of the markets not too far from here.  Actually very near where we go to church.  We went to a noodle restaurant, my first one here.  You get this huge bowl of noodles served in a broth of some sort, mine was supposed to be peanut butter but it was so mild as to not really taste like peanuts.  You are given chopsticks to consume this meal........This is why you slurp, they are all drippy and you barely have a grip on them.  Or, I barely have a grip on them,  still not skilled in the use of chopsticks.  I did manage to eat my lunch without major mishap.  We asked for water and were given a liquid that looked like water but was sweetened and tasted like roses or flowers, neither one of us could actually drink more than a sip.  She speaks Chinese, she has lived here 11 years, but we could never get another server to come so she could get plain water.  After lunch we went into a market where you have to bargain.....not either one of ours favorite thing to do.  We did better than some but probably not as good if we had been more aggressive.  Practice, practice.  I could even give him my offer in Chinese as I have learned most numbers...you count to 10 and then add a word to make it above that.......11 would be Shi yi......shi (10) and yi (1), 12 would be shi er,   20 would be er shi.....er (2) shi (10). You get the idea I hope.

We are getting this barbecue thing outback fixed up and the guys putting the bricks around it came while I was outside doing something.....they tried to talk to me......I could only say a little but I did understand him asking what I spoke so I told him Meiguo ren, again need tones, then he goes on again in Chinese like I might now understand.....so funny.  I am getting to under stand more.  Lessons are going well.

Love, fondly, sincerely,
Zaijian,
Ramona