练习 Lianxi

It is funny how quickly things can change. Yesterday I still felt horrible but this morning I woke up feeling great. I waited until around noon just to make sure that this was not a false alarm, and then Amanda and I ventured into the city to 练习lianxi (practice) our Chinese. Even when you believe you are used to it, one can still be taken aback by how many people there are here. With the up coming holiday, there seems to be even more people about than normal. I guess that is to be expected. Just as they do in the US, people here go home for the holiday or sometimes travel to a big city for holiday. So there probably are more people here right now. It is crazy here, you haven't seen crowded until you have seen China crowded.

I hear that the Chinese New Year, or Chun Jie as it is called, is going to be something to see. From what I hear, we have fireworks to look forward to for 10 days, 24 hours a day. It has been suggested that we get good ear plugs if we want to sleep at all during that time period. Some people have started early. They have already begun firing a few "warning shots" over the bow for the past few evenings, and we even heard the Chinese version of the "Rebel Yell" last night. For just the briefest moment Amanda and I thought we were back in South Carolina. (What is the Chinese version of the name Jim Bob?) I guess that even in celebrating, some people feel that they need to get in as much 练习as possible. The next few weeks should be very interesting. I am glad I have a good set of noise cancelling headphones so that I don't have to try to sleep with firecrackers exploding outside our window, instead I can sleep to whatever soundtrack I desire. I might even use this as an opportunity to see whether listening to Chinese language lessons while sleeping will actually help me with retention. I will try and keep you posted. - 付伟国

PS - For more information about Chinese New Year see g70 1/8 pg. 47

Money can't buy health, happiness, or what it did last year. Unknown, Source