Lì

My grandma search continues.  There are lots around.  Generally pretty small, and a little hunched over, they almost always walk in groups of two or three and are either carrying a bag of veggies or have their hands clasped behind their backs.  In the picture, there are two in the foreground, and a whole other group walking in the distance.      

Andrew says to be patient.  So in the meantime - I have found a vegetable friend.  It’s the lady in the basement.

In one example of the mixed use that you can have in China but not in the U.S., or perhaps just a successful example of a live/work unit, is the existence of a tiny vegetable market in the basement of our building. It’s right next to the extensive bike storage area, and what could be better than rolling into the vegetable market in your pajamas for a little morning ginger run?  

The lady who runs the market doesn’t know it yet, but we are becoming friends. She’s teaching me about money, for example. As in, I hand her my cabbage and celery, and she says “er dian si” and I stare at her blankly for a couple of seconds while I count on my fingers until I recognize the numbers she just said to me. And then generally I just hand her a few kuai (a few bucks if you will) because it’s taking me too long to figure out what she said, and then she gives me the change. It’s magic really.  Friendship blossoming.  

In news of my language blossoming though - well, this week I think I actually understood my first sentence.  Wait. Let me clarify. I think I understood my first sentence that was a) not spoken by my language teacher and b) not taught to me by Andrew or Peng (our good friend and date for Valentine’s Day). It was nothing dramatic. Yi ge mi fan. From the waitress (fuwuyuan) at the campus eatery. Do you want rice? Dui, I said. Yes. 

!!!!!

Now – that may not seem like much. And it’s not. And I’ve probably actually heard it approximately 1.3 trillion times since getting here. But this time I know what I heard!  And I responded as if I could actually speak Chinese.  Of course Andrew reminded me, as I was recounting my breakthrough to him later, that if I was really good, I would have ordered rice with my meal and she wouldn't have had to ask.    

Nonetheless - this week I had my first exam - so now I can read, write, and almost say exactly 50 characters (which doesn't, by the way, count my own name.  But I still don't really recognize that and I can't write it either).  My tones are rough at best and a whole sentence such as "I like to drink tea" is slo-o-o-w going.  But I have learned such important words as 力 and 立 which are, respectively, "lì" (lee, strength) and "lì" (lee, stand).  Same tone (4th - down). See how easy that is?  Two different characters, exact same word and sound, two completely different meanings.  Great.  I looked in my dictionary, and there are no less than 42 more.  As in same pronunciation, same tone, different characters.  My brain hurts just thinking about it.

But to end on a happy note - I am taken with the poetic logic of characters and their meaning.  My favorite today is 日(sun) and 月(moon), when combined 明 mean "bright".  Of course.