first they told me to come back after an hour, then 2 hours, so finally i just gave them my phone number and they called me 6 hours later, just in time for class. at one point when i went over, my scooter was literally in at least 50 pieces. you could see right through the entire thing to the ground. but $40 later, we're back up and running.
so i didn't make it to chinese, but i've been hitting my new flash cards pretty hard. this week i'm learning flowers, clothing and one moreee topic.. oh, traditional chinese (taiwanese?) symbols. my name in chinese is mei gan. the mei part is the mei from plum blossom (mei hua) which is the flower on the taiwanese flag, and also has a symbolic meaning.
[editor's note: this is not the flag with the plum blossom. apparently there's a proposed flag symbolizing taiwanese independence.. but this it the 'republic of china's' flag. see the comment some very helpful anonymous person left.]my chinese book says.. 'Plum blossoms make their appearance in winter. They are representative of people who can withstand severe conditions.'
and the other half of my name, gan, means 'roots'. pretty solid.
i'm behind schedule because i was trying to install josh's copy of the rosetta stone for chinese. i'm half way there but i'm stumped, so i'm going to go try to figure that out. jimmie and keith in 2 days!
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my wife and i are looking to start chinese before we leave... now that you've taken lessons over there, would you say the rosetta stone would be a good place to start or should we wait until we get over to actually get going on it? thanks!
assuming i ever successfully install the stupid program, i'll be sure to let you know. from what i test drove very briefly, it seemed like a good start. their pronunciation is a lot better than some of the free websites i've looked at.
hi.
i know that politics is something apart from what you do here. but i have to say that the plum blossom is on the flag as proposed by the independence minded people of taiwan:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Taiwan_proposed_1996.svg
the flag in your picture is the republic of china flag. modeled after Old Glory in terms of color; the white sun represents democracy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Taiwan
ooh thanks, anonymous. i always wondered why people told me that was a flower when it does look like a sun. that makes a lot more sense. i've never seen the other flag anywhere.
hi, Megan, welcome to Taiwan.
In my opinion, it would be better the caption"Chinese" revised to "Taiwanese". It is a bit complicated. If you are interested, I am glad to let you know.
Have a nice weekend!! :)
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