i know i am supposed to take test #2 and send my score to zack, but right now i am in china and i don't have an access to a printer, i am doing my best tryingto find one, but b4 that, i can't do the test or send my score. i am sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for your understanding.
You don't have to worry about it. The tests should be up at least all summer so that you can download them later, even if it is several weeks ahead of the scheduled release. It they aren't (which I don't know why they wouldn't), email me and I will get you the tests!
I was in Beijing for 2 yrs. It was during this time I actually developed this website because I had LOTS of free time on my hands. My wife and I were there as English instructors.
Beijing is awesome, although I can do without their winters. But there are so many things I miss.It is so much different from anything here in America. And me, Mr. Efficient, went crazy there from all of the inefficiency and illogical things they do. But it was nice haveing to work only 16 - 20 hrs a week and getting to spend all that time with my wife. It SURE beats what I am doing now!
This is fascinating to hear! And I feel a LOT closer to this website now. When was it? And where did you stay? In Peking or Qinghua University? Because that's where I lived.
What inefficiency and what illogical things?
How good was your Chinese? And how good is it now?
I have only been back in the state now for 9 months. I taught at Beijing University of Chemical Technology. I am bad at Pinyin, but in Chinese it is Hua Gong Da Xue. It is located in Choayang district on Beisan huan.
I did go to Qinghua though, just to visit of course. I offended my friend who went there when I told him I thought it was called Frog University since the word for frog is so close to Qinghua. Needless to say, he wasn't very happy about that. I told him that the mascot for the school should be a frog as a joke.
As far as being inefficient and illogical, it seemed like everything was that way. I was taking a walk one day and I saw about 20 guys painting one fence in front of a bank, and instead of spray paint or regular brushes, they were using brushes the size of fingernail brushes to do the whole thing. I saw people sweeping the streets with tiny brooms. I once asked why they didn't use taller brooms so they wouldn't have to stoop down, and they said it didn't work as well.
There were tons of things. But I did enjoy it very much. Wo da Hanyu bu hao. My wife's is much better though. I found it easy to get around with English so it was hard to force myself to speak Chinese. This is something I regret now though. I do plan on going back to live there for a longer period of time though in the future.
lmao! that's funny about the frog...qinghua and qingwa...you have a point there mr.jones...but calling the best university in China "frog"...that's kind of cruel. by the way, i've never ask you...did you ever buy any pirated dvds in china or those cheap "tommy"(fake) clothes? if you did...were you good at bargaining with the seller? we just bought a new house near Huo Mao Da Sha (international trade center) in Beijing...it's awesome, i am enjoying my summer...
That's hilarious! Our uniform one year did look like a frog, especially the color...
And your Pinyin is wonderful, Mr. Jones!
I've never seen anyone painting with amazingly small brushes, but the big broom really don't work as well as the small ones, and I doubt you even get tired more easily using the big ones.
Quincy, you bought a house near WHERE? Huo Mao DaSha or GuoMao DaSha? You must have spent like a million RMB on it!
Oh those tommy clothes. They are crap. But sometimes they're really good crap. And those pirate DVDs. Have you ever bought one and it's all blurred or worse, it's porn.
I can neither confirm or deny the bit about buying pirated DVD's!!! Nor can I confirm or deny bringing any back with me!!!
Assuming I did buy the DVD's, I would have only spent 7 yuan and sometimes 5 or 6. Never anything more... Is that good enough for bargaining. I was ruthless!!! I couldn't buy clothes there though, because rarely could I find some that would fit. I am a fairly big guy here but in China I am a monster.
And I STILL think it should be Frog University. They even have the lily pads. See Pic:
Heh, nice frog joke Mr. Jones, I guess they got pissed off because of it was kinda insulting to a prestigious university and it was probably lame (to the local student body) but it is funny. Hehe. I've never been to China before but I plan on visiting there in the future.
When you say lily pads, my first thought of Bei Da(Peking Univ.) They got a small lake and some lily pads too, but the those in QingHua are way more beautiful. I got a lot of chance ambling in both campus and I like QingHua better because Bei Da is more like a town while QingHua is more like a park.
Sorry on my biased rambling. I just prefer QingHua because I was its consolidate High school student and I biked across the beautiful campus every day.
Well, those DVDs were around 10 bucks, their quality seemed to have got better while their prices got cheaper. And you did bargain for DVDs? You were really deep into our lives, Mr. Jones!
A 6'4" guy is a monster in China. However, Chinese youths are getting taller fast.
Since in Beijing people tend to pronounce "w" like "v" in most cases, "qingwa" becomes "qingva" and the distinction becomes clear.
Quincy, I thought Guomao area is already saturated for real estates. You could you possibly find a place there, is it in one of those high-rise apartments?
LOL MR.JONES!!! UR BARGAINING SKILLS ARE BRUTAL!!! i don't think i can get it down that bad...!! speaking of my new house...it's about 5 min away from Guomao, it's called FuLiCheng (rich and beautiful city?) we paid the money like 2 yrs ago while it was still in the processing of building everything...and this yr everything has been built...so...we're in.