In my Daily Life

In my experience, language learners tend to absorb the patterns and pronunciations they find themselves surrounded by - perhaps explaining why my Texas drawl grows noticeably thicker each time I talk to my Grandma on the phone or take a visit to the panhandle.  Living here has proved no different, in some regards.  We all had a good laugh when a student said "As the going says, ..." but now I have to deliberately consider the accurate way to say the phrase Each. And. Every. Time.

Another example lies in the nation just north of my  home country (no, I'm not talking about Oklahoma).  After a student's mispronunciation, Arianne got in the habit of playfully calling the country by the name "Canadia."  Now I can't even begin to count how many times I've been in the middle of a lecture and have had to stop myself mid sentence to ensure proper pronunciation of the word.  Shameful.

However, perhaps my favorite linguistic adjustment is one that belongs primarily to Arianne.  The phrase that most grated on her nerves after moving here was "in my daily life."  She vehemently declared that we do not use such a phrase and adamantly advocated for her students to eliminate it from their vocabulary.  She was able to successfully fight off the urge to utter those words aloud for quite some time, up until they became an inseparable part of, well, her daily life.

So, I thought I'd use this post as a celebration of things that have become a part of my daily life.

Character practice and repetition.  (For those that can read Chinese - please don't judge me!)

Far from our normal daily weather, our campus really is quite lovely in the sunshine.

It's entirely common (and I'd say even expected, judging by those that brought their own stools) to encounter a costumed and choreographed dance routine while on a stroll through town.

The groups even provide their own music and sound system.

Passersby come and go at will to look on whatever may be happening, while you can see that the older generation of men still commonly dress in the style of clothing that was characteristic of New China. 

Food cart outside the train - contains goodies like instant noodles and spicy tofu.

Precious little boy trying to figure out why this aunty looks so different.

On the back of a motorcycle taxi, just cruising up the sidewalk.

Typical train station - everyone going every which way, all at once.

View from my favorite tea stand....wait...those aren't usually there!

Expecting the unexpected -
a man and his bulls just going for a walk outside our university.

Part of the beauty of living in another culture, for me, means not only finding the differences compared to how I grew up, but finding the ones worth appreciating.