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Published: October 30th 2011
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Halloween Parade
Foreign teachers on Sports day Photos:
…..why would anyone in their right mind want to translate the Proclaimer's song, “I'm gonna be”, commonly known as “500 miles”, into Chinese? Why should I be that person? Here's why. Teachers have been asked to express interest in a 60km walk around Yangzhou, in teams of four over Saturday & Sunday. It's not clear, (as usual), whether it's for charity or fun but two teams are assembled from among the foreign teachers. I am not allowed to take part as it's a “Youth walk” with a cutoff age of 45. No complications thus far....
…..of course that can't last. I suddenly find I'm involved as they, (I'm still not sure who “they” are), want us to perform a song at the opening of the event. Patrick suggests the Proclaimers' song, “I would walk 500 Miles, & I would walk 500 more, to be the man who'd walk a thousand miles to fall down at your door...”. I have the lyrics on file & it's a simple enough song to play. Why don't we do the chorus in Chinese? OK, it'll be a good exercise. In the end it just illustrates how difficult it is to transfer
I would walk 500 li
A loose translation precise meaning from English to Chinese. When I see Shen Yue she helps to trim a few unnecessary words to help the lyrics to scan.....
…..before adopting international standard measurements the Chinese had their own system which appears to have been just as chaotic as the old British Imperial system, some, but not all, based on a base of 16, a bit like the 16 ounces in a pound. The “li” being a unit of length they just added the prefix “gong” so a kilometre is “gong li”. A mile is a “ying li” or “English li”. Simple....
…..the school is behind this, with a view to getting some publicity out of their foreign experts taking part in local community events. Without having any idea how big this event is, whether there'll be sufficient microphones or DI boxes on stage, (will there even be a stage?), I'm off on the school bus at 7am on Saturday morning to the Taizhou road starting point. Soon there's a crowd of thousands crammed onto the closed off street aound a large stage set up near the canal. Naturally, despite large stacks of speakers & kilometres of cable there are only three
microphones & nowhere to plug the guitar in. Never mind, I play it into a mike &, despite the teachers all crowding round a mike that doesn't actually work to add their voices to the chorus, the crowd seems to really like the song. In view of the size of the crowd & lack of rehearsal I decide to chicken out of the Chinese chorus.....
…..after standing around for 2 hours waiting for the dignitaries to finish their speeches none of the teachers are interested in a 60km walk on a rainy day. Less than half a kilometre later we have taken a short detour to Ronnie's bar for a late breakfast, courtesy of the school, which has agreed to pay.....
…..I return to the picture framer at the Blue Market who is fitting a piece of glass to replace the one broken in a photo frame. It shouldn't cost much. “¥100”. “WHAT???!!!” He laughs, hands me the frame & waves me away. No charge. I try to give him at least ¥10 for his trouble but he won't take it. The lady in Dongguan Jie who sells lacquerware is helpful when I just want to buy a
couple of small boxes to pack some things in to send off for Christmas. She finds some nice presentation boxes, just the right size. She won't take anything for them either. If I drop in to the Giant bike shop they'll tweak my brakes or tighten the chain but won't charge. So this is what culture shock is all about.....
…..Mike is on Siwanting road, on his scooter with a Chinese friend on the back, heading for Walmart to pick up some props for a Halloween costume. A bus stops in the middle of the street. He passes the bus on the inside but unfortunately an old lady, getting off without looking, has her arm clipped by a rear view mirror. He ends up spending the afternoon at the hospital & is relieved to come away with a bill for x-rays & a full scan for around ¥200. However there is talk of compensation for a holiday trip that will have to be cancelled, despite the fact that she doesn't appear to be injured, an invitation to the police station, &, later on, further negotiations, with Rainy's help, which so far have amounted to a bill of around ¥3000.
Sports Day, School
Some of my students Mike's hoping it will end there.....
.....the negotiations bring out the interesting fact that it's strictly speaking illegal to carry someone on the back of your bike in China! What? It's OK to carry three, or hold a babe in arms while sitting sidesaddle or let small children stand on the footplate while.....Let's not even mention the other things that are carried on bikes.....
…..Halloween, that almost uniquely American festival as far as I can see, is celebrated with a haunted house & Sports Day parade in costume. While I can see why my costume can terrify kids in a darkened corridor at night it's amazing at the parade how many women run panic stricken as I roll up, in Quasimodo fashion, to say “ni hao”, (“hello”), in broad daylight. It amuses the foreign teachers no end.....
…..THEY have grown wise to the proxy software which bypasses the great Firewall of China. No one seems to be able to connect with it therefore my infrequent forays into Facebook have been terminated, just in case some people think I'm being anti-social.....
A couple of articles you might find interesting:
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