Leap Year 闰年 run(4) nian(2)

Today is February 29th, which makes it a leap year this 2008.

When I watched Channel 5, KTLA morning news, their anchor challenge question today is:
What's the official name for leap year? The answer is -- Intercalary year.

"Intercalary" is an adjective, which means being inserted, put in between.

The funny thing is when all the anchors had no clue at all about the answer, they tried to guess through all the answers. When they read the answer D. "intercalary", they said, "Mm... I don't know what this word means, must be a "Canadian" term...". Haha. That's a good excuse to get away with it...

This incident this morning also reminded me that there're so many "terms" between "Mainland" Mandarin Chinese and "Taiwanese" Mandarin Chinese. Languages are constantly evolving into different forms and meanings. And we also have to consider the regional variations. One dictionary (Liang'an Xiandai Hanyu Changyong cidian) I purchased about 2 years ago comes very handy when I have to look up words for its different written forms (traditional & simplified) and usages.

Workshop for IC @ Pasadena

One of my tutoring students forwarded me the following info today:

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CLTA-SC Workshop on Chinese Instructional Materials

Attend the CLTA-SC Workshop on Chinese Instructional Materials and meet authors of the best-selling Chinese language series, Integrated Chinese (中文聽說讀寫).

When: March 8th, 2008 1:00 ~ 5:00 pm
Where: Room C333, Pasadena City College, Pasadena, CA Registration at 1:00pm
R.S.V.P by March 3rd to Zoe Wu xzwu@pasadena.edu or Cathy Wei cjwei@pasadena.edu

And be sure to attend:
Maximizing Integrated Chinese (中文聽說讀寫) in Your Classroom 2:50-4:30pm Presented by authors, Professor Nyan-Ping Bi (毕念平教授) and Professor Yuehua Liu (刘月华教授)

Join the authors for a special introduction to the 3rd Edition, Level 1/Part 1 available August 2008, and tips on how to use Integrated Chinese effectively in any classroom environment.
And stop by Cheng & Tsui’s book exhibit from 2:30–2:50pm to receive special event discounts, peruse some of our newest products, join our mailing list, and talk to our knowledgeable staff about your Chinese language program.
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I got the expanded 2nd edition few weeks ago, now they're gonna have 3rd edition this August... sigh... Hopefully they can provide pretty good discount for books there.

Chicken Soup 鸡汤

Speaking of chicken soup, I totally admire how ancient Chinese developed a whole theory of delicious soup that is not only good for you soul, but your body as well.

M, my fellow teachers, was suffering from cold last week, which reminds me my earlier teaching years in the kindergarten and elementary schools. Being sick is like "piece of cake" in those extremely, dangerously infectious environments. For 2 years, I usually caught any viruses or flu once or twice a month until I found an effective way to prevent it. If you've been to a kindergarten during the flu season, one thing interesting (but definitely not fun) is to see the teacher send the powder cold medicine or cough syrup down to each kid's mouth lining up in front of the lockers... The picture look like the mother bird feeds the baby birds food, but, instead, medicine...

The Year of RAT!! 鼠年到

Sure. I'm Chinese. And I know I've mentioned fortune teller too much here. But, I do feel the difference for this new year even though it's just started for 20 days! (Yep! It's only January 20th in Chinese lunar calendar today!)

Last year was a bit disaster-after-another for me (It was my own year-- The Year of Boar-- aka the conflicting year for me, since I was born in The Year of Boar as well). I moved from Nor Cal to So cal, travelled a lot, felt not settling at all, been sick a lot, experienced a lot of dramas (mostly from family and a nasty new neighbor...). Anyway, they were ALL in the past.... With the new year's coming, it does bring some new positive aspects into my life. And I finally feel a bit more like home here in this Lala Land.

I officially quit my "chicken wishbone" job as an over-the-phone interpreter at home. When I said "wishbone" here, it doesn't mean a good or lucky job in Chinese. In Chinese, we say a job that is more a torture than fun -- a "ji(1) le(4)" 鸡肋-- which means, it's tasteless, but kinda a pity to throw it away also... 食之无味，弃之可惜

Anyway, after pondering for a few days, I decided right after my mom's visit that I'm willing to give up those pathetic-yet-bit-help-for-grocery-shopping $500~ 600 monthly income in exchange of more focus on getting a Chinese teaching position I'd prefer in any independent schools in L.A. area.

"Neng(2) she(3) cai(2) neng(2) de(2)" 能捨才能得--No pain, no gain.

I reposted some old blog entries on the same day, so I got a examine myself, and rediscovered my belief and passion in education. When I read the old entry dated March 9th, 2005, I guess that's how I get here today-- tyr to becoming a fantastic Chinese Teacher.

Hence my new blog -- CT in Lala Land.

Lunch time. Chinese hot pot w/Japanese potato noodles again. BTW, those Tokyo green onions from Nijiya supermarket on Sawtell St. was AWESOME this season!!

Mandarin/English Interpreting

December 21, 2007 (old blog entry)

I’ve been doing this over-the-phone Mandarin/English interpreting job for about 6 weeks now. The satisfatory points for me is only about 70%.

Sure all the clients I’ve been helped complimented on my customer service and linguistic skills, and always very much appreciated what I have done for them. Whether it’s to help them activating new credit cards, starting new electricity service, seeing doctors, reporting to the insurance company for car accidents, getting the police officer over to deal with an emergency… All and all, I did contribute a bit of myself to make their lives easier.
But, I just don’t feel like I can keep doing this job for any longer…

The super low hour pay is the majoy thing. $7.50 an hour is the most dreadful hour pay I’ve ever had in the U.S. (FYI, the lowest legal wage in San Franciso is $8.25 per hour). Oftentimes, I made fun of myself that I should find a cashier job at “Trader Joe’s” or “Whole Food”, at least I can get the 20% off employee discount buying groceries.

The 2nd thing is, I can’t really “interact” with people. One fun thing about teaching is you get to get direct feedback from students every day.That’s a big reward from teaching jobs, considering the low-paid, time-consuming and mind-exhuasting nature of teaching. The students acoomplishment is the biggest reward for teachers.

Anyway… I’m still searching for a better job. Meanwhile, I’ll keep serving limited-English-speaking Mandarin speakers, and keep learning from them.

On-Line Interpreting Test

October 16, 2007 (old blog entry)

After nearly 5 hours of practice within 1 week, I passed the test on the phone this afternoon. It was a great relief considering I was not with my best physical condition, and my mind went blank a few times during the test.

My testing supervisor was very nice to me. She said she saw my potential being a great on-line interpreter even though I didn’t do a good job today. And she gave me some great feedback and professional advice. Truly appreciate it.

New Tutoring Student

October 9, 2007 (old blog entry)

I’ll start teaching D Mandarin on a weekly basis starting this afternoon.

D is originally from San Francisco, eldest daughter in the family, whose younger sister is currently going to school in Taiwan. Hm... Somthing in common. D is going to a traditional Chinese medical school in downtown L.A. and working on becoming a licensed acupuncturist in the future.

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