We had our second Chinese language class today. I am finding the grammar structure of Chinese to make much more sense than the grammar structure of Japanese. We also learned how to sing two songs, one of which is very catchy, and I still have it stuck in my head even though I can’t really understand all of it! The more I learn about pinyin and its pronunciation, the easier the tonal parts of speaking Chinese become! (The number system is also a lot more logical than Japanese, and I am grateful for that!)
Later in the day we learned how to do traditional Chinese paper cutting, which is a type of traditional folk art that is still quite popular. I am very bad at it. In fact, I am bad at anything involving scissors… We did learn about the different paper cuttings and their meanings though. My favorite was definitely the “twin fish”, which is a cutting of two fish together, each with one eye, so that they must stay together to see. I believe this particular design is popular at wedding ceremonies. My attempt, however, turned out looking like “twin pineapples”!
We also got to try our hands at “dough sculpture”, another Chinese mode of folk art. It is exactly what it says on the tin! Sculpture using dough! (The dough we used was very reminiscent of playdough.) We all made beautiful, neon roosters, and I really love mine! If anyone has any ideas for a name for a three inch tall technicolor playdough roosters, please let me know! He is currently nameless!
And just now some friends brought in some “candy” for my roommate and I to try. I am not sure if it was even candy, but upon translating the packaging with a phone application we all learned the “candies” are meant to be boiled for three minutes before eating…