Snippets.

Verbal snippets from an average Thursday...

1. Scene: buying a sprite from the newpaper vender near my bus stop. Vender lady: "You bought a sprite 2 days ago. Now you buy another one. You will get fatter. You have to buy a water." (hands me a water.) Me: "ok."

2. Scene: riding the bus to work. A little boy (maybe 10 years old) I have seen before while riding this bus gets on board and notices me sitting in the back, then runs over to me, "Hey! It's you! The yellow haired foreigner! Why are you on this bus? Can you understand me?" Me, "Yes, I understand you. I am going to work." Little boy: "Hey everyone, this foreigner speaks Chinese!" Then he scampers off to the front of the bus.

3. Scene: At work having a chat in English with some of my doctor students. Li An, "Jessica do you want to hear a funny story?" Me: "of course." Li An: "In some places in China people use children urine to boil eggs. Then they eat the eggs. People who do this think it is great. I will email you the story." Me: "ok, I'll be waiting."

4. Scene: Michael waited for me to get off of work and then announced that he would be driving me to the gym so we could talk. While in his car, Him: "You look much better than before. I know why you love your hairdresser. He made you more beautiful." Me: "better is not a compliment." ... Him: "There are some foreigners coming to the hospital from America in 2 weeks. I am so nervous about meeting with foreigners." Me: "But I'm a foreigner." Him: "you are not a real foreigner! You are a Chi.nese foreigner! You know me." Me: laughing hysterically.

5. Scene: In listening class, teacher is explaining that holidays must be mandated by the government or else future generations will forget the culture and not practice the old ways. Thought a lot to myself - do you think it would be like this in America? Do we have any holidays that have to be mandated or else they will be forgotten by the next generation? I can't think of any, can you?

Just some pieces of my day that I found amusing. Otherwise it was a normal Thursday - class, work, gym, home - with a million random encounters in between.

walk slow. xoxo.