Today was my second day at the Chinese Social Service Center, and it was quite different than the first, but equally fun. Neither of the women from yesterday showed up, but three boys did, ages 10, 12 and 14, respectively, and so while the 14 year old more or less looked after himself, Emily and I worked with the 10 year old and 12 year old. In typical little boy fashion, they spent 1/4 of the time working on their English and 3/4 of the time chasing each other around the room.
Some time near the end of the day, the 10 year old, Tommy, was running up and down the stairs, completely ignoring our requests to stop, lest he disturb the acupuncturist who rents the top floor of the building. Eventually, Emily took him by the shoulders and told him that he was being a bad boy, and good boys don't run up and down the stairs. Then she asked him, "Are you going to be a good boy now?"
His response, comically timed to perfection, was to fart noisily.
*Sigh*
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Like a mini-Joy Luck Club
Today was my first day volunteering as an English tutor at the Chinese Social Service Center in Richfield, and it didn't disappoint. There were two other volunteers there, one, an older woman who has worked there for quite awhile and is from Chengdu, the other a Chinese-American woman who's a rising sophomore at the U of M and who was working for the first time like me. Our students were two women who have been in the States for awhile, but have been working and haven't had the time to study English until now. One, a middle-aged woman named Jessica, is from Fujian, and works in food service at Eastview High in Apple Valley. The other, Lan, is quite young and is from Guangxi. Because we all speak Mandarin, the session ebbed and flowed quite easily between English and Chinese, and we talked about everything, from Minnesota winters to the political system in China. I think, because there are so few Chinese here, it's a relief for all of these women, whose mother language is Chinese, to be able to sit down and not have to think about every word that comes out of their mouths.
The funny thing was, because I'm Asian and I was speaking Mandarin with them from the very beginning, none of them realized I wasn't Chinese until quite late in the session. We were talking about personal backgrounds, and Jessica asked me where I was from, and in the context of the conversation, the question was, "Where in China are you from?" So I had to respond, "Er, I'm not Chinese at all." Cue outbursts of surprise and cries of "很厲害!" They assured me that my Chinese was really authentic and very standard, and because I'd been conversing with them for over two hours in strictly Mandarin, I couldn't help but take their word for it. It was actually really invigorating and uplifting to be able to sit there and chat in Chinese, even without the added praise once I was "outed" as a non-native speaker. I'm so glad I have this opportunity to practice my Chinese, because Chinese is hardly what you would call a widely spoken language here, and I know how fast second language ability can deteriorate if you don't keep it up.
I'll be back at the center tomorrow. Only Jessica will be there for sure, since Lan said she has to work. I'm really glad my first day went so well; I know not every day will be as great, but it's always nice to get off on the right foot.
The funny thing was, because I'm Asian and I was speaking Mandarin with them from the very beginning, none of them realized I wasn't Chinese until quite late in the session. We were talking about personal backgrounds, and Jessica asked me where I was from, and in the context of the conversation, the question was, "Where in China are you from?" So I had to respond, "Er, I'm not Chinese at all." Cue outbursts of surprise and cries of "很厲害!" They assured me that my Chinese was really authentic and very standard, and because I'd been conversing with them for over two hours in strictly Mandarin, I couldn't help but take their word for it. It was actually really invigorating and uplifting to be able to sit there and chat in Chinese, even without the added praise once I was "outed" as a non-native speaker. I'm so glad I have this opportunity to practice my Chinese, because Chinese is hardly what you would call a widely spoken language here, and I know how fast second language ability can deteriorate if you don't keep it up.
I'll be back at the center tomorrow. Only Jessica will be there for sure, since Lan said she has to work. I'm really glad my first day went so well; I know not every day will be as great, but it's always nice to get off on the right foot.
3-match weekend
...and two goals, so I feel pretty good about the weekend, on the whole. Especially since my first goal was a half-volley that went like an arrow right into the lower left hand corner, and I had missed a shot like that earlier in the match.
I'm starting my first of two volunteer positions today. Mondays and Tuesdays I'll be working with Chinese immigrant kids, tutoring English through the Chinese Social Service Center in Richfield. Wednesdays and Thursdays I'll be working as a food shelf translator at the Catholic Charities Branch I food shelf in south Minneapolis. The best part of both of these positions is that I get to use both my Chinese and my Spanish.
A quick word on the Liverpool front: there's a press conference scheduled for later today, and it has my stomach in knots because I'm pretty sure the conference is going to address the ongoing speculation about Xabi Alonso's future. He traveled to Thailand with the squad, so I'm hopeful that means Rafa is still playing hardball with Real Madrid, but anything can happen. I just really don't want to see one of Liverpool's top midfielders go to Real Madrid. He's like the antithesis of their big-money, showman's mentality, and I think he's much more respected and loved at Liverpool than he would be there. I hope he stays, I really do. *Fingers crossed*
I'm starting my first of two volunteer positions today. Mondays and Tuesdays I'll be working with Chinese immigrant kids, tutoring English through the Chinese Social Service Center in Richfield. Wednesdays and Thursdays I'll be working as a food shelf translator at the Catholic Charities Branch I food shelf in south Minneapolis. The best part of both of these positions is that I get to use both my Chinese and my Spanish.
A quick word on the Liverpool front: there's a press conference scheduled for later today, and it has my stomach in knots because I'm pretty sure the conference is going to address the ongoing speculation about Xabi Alonso's future. He traveled to Thailand with the squad, so I'm hopeful that means Rafa is still playing hardball with Real Madrid, but anything can happen. I just really don't want to see one of Liverpool's top midfielders go to Real Madrid. He's like the antithesis of their big-money, showman's mentality, and I think he's much more respected and loved at Liverpool than he would be there. I hope he stays, I really do. *Fingers crossed*
Monday, July 13, 2009
Match report v. Independiente: 2-2
Futbol this weekend was like a study in contrasts. Saturday we played a team that's just starting out and they were short players, so we won by a lot. Then Sunday, we played Independiente. Our relations with them are strained at best, in large part because a number of their players used to play for us. Matches against them often end up in lots of cards and/or out and out fights. We were all braced for a tough--and ugly--match.
We actually started the match short two players, and from the first minute we were under pressure. Our sole goal was to keep the ball out of our net and hope against hope that we could hang on for a 0-0 tie. At Cecy's direction, I was running all over the place trying to cover the midfield and keep them from getting long shots on net, and by halftime we were all dead tired, but we had a 0-0 tie in hand and were feeling pretty good about it.
Second half, more of our players showed up, and we eventually got some chances on net, one of which Casa converted. Then Independiente evened it up on a defensive mistake. Late in the half, Sabina took a shot that ricocheted off one of their defenders and eluded the keeper into the back of the net. We held them off until the final minute. Then they got a corner kick, and as soon as it floated into the penalty box I instinctively knew they were going to score. End result: 2-2.
In all honesty, we played better in the first half when we were short players, I think in part because we figured there was nothing to lose, we were already at a disadvantage, might as well go down swinging. Unfortunately, by the time we reached full strength in the second half, most of us were already beat from the first half, and I think mentally we let up too. But we're hardly professionals. For me, it just felt good to play a hard-fought match and come out of it feeling pretty good about both my own personal play and the play of the team as a whole.
We actually started the match short two players, and from the first minute we were under pressure. Our sole goal was to keep the ball out of our net and hope against hope that we could hang on for a 0-0 tie. At Cecy's direction, I was running all over the place trying to cover the midfield and keep them from getting long shots on net, and by halftime we were all dead tired, but we had a 0-0 tie in hand and were feeling pretty good about it.
Second half, more of our players showed up, and we eventually got some chances on net, one of which Casa converted. Then Independiente evened it up on a defensive mistake. Late in the half, Sabina took a shot that ricocheted off one of their defenders and eluded the keeper into the back of the net. We held them off until the final minute. Then they got a corner kick, and as soon as it floated into the penalty box I instinctively knew they were going to score. End result: 2-2.
In all honesty, we played better in the first half when we were short players, I think in part because we figured there was nothing to lose, we were already at a disadvantage, might as well go down swinging. Unfortunately, by the time we reached full strength in the second half, most of us were already beat from the first half, and I think mentally we let up too. But we're hardly professionals. For me, it just felt good to play a hard-fought match and come out of it feeling pretty good about both my own personal play and the play of the team as a whole.
Friday, July 10, 2009
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