54 Characters and Around the World in Three Hours

In Chinese class this morning, Isabel and I counted 54 characters that we know. Well, we know that we have learned them even if we can’t always remember exactly what they mean when taken out of the original context. We know months of the year and days of the week. We know numbers, which help us know months of the year and days of the week. Chinese months are first month, second month, third month, etc. Days of the week go from first day on Monday to sixth day on Saturday, with Sunday labeled with a word (ri or tian) other than a counting word. Hào means number. Hăo means good.

Jacek, Isabel and I traveled around the world in three hours. We ventured from Egypt to Cambodia to Africa to Thailand to the Alps to Niagra Falls at Window of the World. I’m not much of one for theme parks, but I did my motherly duty and took them. They loved it. The indoor skiing and snowboarding building struck me as the most bizarre. They rent “keeping warm clothes” for $1.50. It costs $12 an hour to snowboard or ski down this little icy hill enclosed in concrete. Jacek begged to do it. How could I let him ski in subtropical China when he comes from a state that declares it has the Best Snow on Earth? He’s convinced Stirling will let him when he goes back. My glasses fogged up when we stepped back out into the real world.

I restrained myself from posting about the Safari Park adventure because I thought the kids would write “I fed chicken to an adult tiger! I held a tiger cub! I have the pictures to prove it!”