But China is one of about 15 countries that SkypeToGo is not allowed to call (due to common fraud, abuse, or whatever). I can’t use my cellphone to call WeiLing when I’m on campus, or away from home, etc. But not that big of a deal. In general, I’m pleased with the Skype service and still use it as I did before I learned of SkypeToGo. Blah.

In short: Skype works for me. SkypeToGo does not. Sorry if I wasn’t clear.

One of my favorite things in language are tongue twisters. I’m horrible at them, but they’re still fun to learn, to learn about, and to attempt! One of my QQ friends (Jennifer) recently asked me for some English tongue twisters, and then offered one in Chinese. The ones I gave her were “Woodchuck” (both question and answer), and then I told her about Dr. Seuss, and gave her the full text of “Fox in Socks”. The tongue twister she gave to me is actually a song, sung by “SHE” (a band of three girls) and entitled 中国话 (zhongguohua, or “Spoken Chinese” / “Chinese language”). I haven’t spent much time on the lyrics yet, but maybe I will come back and add pinyin (and translation if I’m really ambitious). Without further ado, the tongue-twister song lyrics:

扁担宽 板凳长

扁担想绑在板凳上

板凳不让扁担绑在板凳上

扁担偏要绑在板凳上

板凳偏偏不让扁担绑在那板凳上

到底扁担宽还是板凳长

哥哥弟弟坡前坐

坡上卧著一只鹅

坡下流著一条河

哥哥说 宽宽的河

弟弟说 白白的鹅

鹅要过河 河要渡鹅

不知是那鹅过河

还是河渡鹅

孔夫子的话 越来越国际化

全世界都在讲中国话

我们说的话 让世界都认真听话

纽约苏珊娜 开了间禅风Lounge Bar

柏林来的沃夫冈 拿胡琴配著电吉他

各种颜色的皮肤 各种颜色的头发

嘴里念的说的开始流行中国话

多少年我们苦练英文发音和文法

这几年换他们卷著舌头学平上去入的变化

平平仄仄平平仄 (仄仄平平仄仄平)

好聪明的中国人 好优美的中国话

有个小孩叫小杜

上街打醋又买布

买了布 打了醋

回头看见鹰抓兔

放下布 搁下醋

上前去追鹰和兔

飞了鹰 跑了兔

洒了醋 湿了布

嘴说腿 腿说嘴

嘴说腿 爱跑腿

腿说嘴 爱卖嘴

光动嘴 不动腿

光动腿 不动嘴

不如不长腿和嘴

到底是那嘴说腿 还是腿说嘴

全世界都在学中国话

孔夫子的话 越来越国际化

全世界都在讲中国话

我们说的话 让世界都认真听话

全世界都在学中国话

孔夫子的话 越来越国际化

全世界都在讲中国话

我们说的话 让世界都认真听话

January 16 – Sitting in a bar. Staring at the traffic outside. Busy intersection. Many pedestrians. Conversations of friends nearby, monorail or train curves along the track.

Soft-sung music played loudly: Ba-bap-bap ba bah ba… I noticed, ??? true.

Businessman’s colleagues leave. One stays behind to watch businessman. Head on hands: nods, slips, catches, nods, … Last friend disappears, Businessman finally rests head in folded arms on table. Friends return and pull businessman away

Pedestrian looks into bar as he walks briskly by. Time now is 10:32pm

Guitar player takes over for CD. It was only CD this place has, I’ve heard it through about 3 times…

Snucker (sp?) on TV… Master’s championship.

I think of a certain girl. I am happy.

At about 11, I meet eyes with Roy. I’m alone at the corner of my end of the table. He motions questioningly. A bobble of the head, with a slight raise of the hand. I mock back in fun jest. He comes over and asks what’s up. I tell him what I’m observing. And we chat briefly. I point out the traffic and he agrees. He talks briefly of a credit card battle. Amelie and Emily Bull join us and begin speaking French. Roy returns to Anne Xu, his fiancee. I return to a nice beer and my thoughts. I am happy.

And that’s that. The game is actually “Snooker”; I misspelled it. I still don’t know what song that is. The Cranberries – Dreams reminds me of it, but I don’t think it was sung by The Cranberries. It’s much more relaxed sounding.

Update: I found the song, but not the exact version. Spandau Ballet – True, but it was sung by a woman. (And I misheard the lyrics: “I know this love is true”). The only version I can find with a female singer is sung by Fergie, and that’s definitely not it…

And I’m really excited. Acknowledging every little thing (eg, last sight of CA’s mountains for at least a year) is allowing me to feel more like I’m saying my goodbyes. The relationship I have with “goodbye” is really bitter sweet. I don’t like the idea that I won’t return for a long time, but saying goodbye makes it easier. Also, I’m looking forward to the new experiences while abroad. I’m looking forward to building a new familiarity with a culture that I’ve read about and experienced only tidbits.

But at the same time, I have Skype, this journal, Central college, and other threads through which I can keep touch with my friends in the West and use English..

Lately, I’ve traveled a lot. From school to home, Nebraska to California, and in a week I’ll be heading back to Nebraska. While the acts of packing, driving, and flying aren’t my favorite (but I do like riding trains!), I enjoy seeing my friends and family. I also got a chance to tell both of my parents about 尉伶. Dad is a pretty excited, but Mom is worried and asked me if I’m serious. Both admitted that they knew beforehand, or at least thought it a possibility. I had hinted before, and even asked questions. We’ll see how their opinions develop.

Thanks for your understanding.

When I stepped back, cooled off, reread, and understood the other side, I felt better. But it also served as a good lesson to myself. I realized that even as often as I practice Mandarin, I’m still not very good. I’m not nearly as good as I want to be, and I’m not confident that I’m as good as I’d like others to think that I am. The lesson learned is to try and understand alternative interpretations when I run into a problem. I think it’s a good lesson, and applies to English as well (even though English is my native language). Being an ex-English-major now-English-minor, I should know that language is always subject to (mis)interpretation.

More recently, 我昨天晚上通电话尉伶 (I called WeiLing last evening). I used Skype which allowed us to talk for roughly an hour for only US$2. (Considering that is US to China, that’s a damn good rate!). I surprised myself when I noticed that I had spoken with her for at least 20 minutes without a single use of the dictionary. By the end of the hour, I think I had only referenced a dictionary about six times. Six individual look-ups into either a CC-CEDICT-based dictionary, or www.nciku.com. I impressed both myself and 尉伶.

Later in that discussion, I wanted to say something. Again, I’m going to leave the details out. Basically, it was a present-tense decision that should/shouldn’t be influenced by a mildly-involved condition from the future. Fairly simple, except it’s theorizing on the decision from a post-mildly-involved-condition point of view. And wow. I’m making it sound even more complicated than it was. Fine. I’ll give details. I plan to meet 尉伶的父母亲 (尉伶’s parents) during the 2-month break I’ll have in China.  I was trying to tell her that we shouldn’t worry about whether her parents will approve of me, because if–after I meet them–they do approve, the worry will have been for nothing. (And if they don’t approve, that will be a problem to deal with when it happens.) I did the best I could to convey that meaning into Mandarin, and I succeeded. 尉伶 did, however, laugh a lot at me. I laughed too. I’m sure I put it in a very child-like way, but it was the best I could do. I asked her, “明白吗？” (ming bai ma?, or “Do you understand?”) and she said that she did. Then we laughed some more at my (lack of) speaking skills.

I depart Omaha, NE on August 21st, connect in Chicago, and then fly to Beijing. After going through customs, I will be taking a flight from Beijing to Hangzhou, and arriving (finally) in Hangzhou at about 11:00pm. I’m thinking that since 尉伶 (Wei Ling)–and maybe her sister, 蓉芳 (Rong Fang)–will be meeting me at the airport, that I will want to stay in a nearby hotel and spend a day or two with her/them before moving into my dorm. We’ll see what happens.

Oh, and I’ll have to remember to change my return flight before Nov. 25th. Due to the way it’s setup, it is too early to book a return flight in the Spring.