Today, I Stupefied a Small Child

While waiting for my roomie to add some money to her meal card, I noticed a (10 year old?) kid ahead of us in line gaping at me with wide-eyed amazement. I figured that I might as well remind him of my humanity, so I met his gaze, smiled, and offered him a "ni hao." Without taking his eyes off of me, the child took two steps backward while blindly reaching over his shoulder for his father. When he managed to make contact with said father, the kid whirled toward him pointed in my general direction and proclaimed a disbelieving "她会说中国话 !!" (That's, "She can speak CHINESE!!" for you uninformed members of the world community.) He was about the cutest thing I've seen since tripping over a two foot tall bright green miniature straight out of "A Christmas Story" last week. I laughed.

Oh and hey, if/when you find yourself in China, don't bother to include bowling on your to-do list of sightseeing. We went this weekend, and it was EXACTLY LIKE AMERICAN BOWLING. I mean, exactly. The goofy red and blue shoes, the half-with-weight-labels half-without selection of bowling balls, the computer program displaying scores (down to the OLE! morphing into OPEN scene switcher), the Avril Lavigne background music- all the same. It was loads of fun. I impressed some well, er, first time bowlers. Sigh.

Sorry I haven't posted any good Chinglesh pictures in awhile...I've seen some good ones but when there are overly helpful completely adorable 5 foot nothing salespersons literally within awkward bumping distance of both elbows, it's hard to get a good shot without feeling like THAT tourist. Three examples come to mind:
1) In the mall today I saw some sort of...make-up removing pad maybe? applicator? Anyway, it was labeled quite clearly "Makeup Thing." Oh NOW I get it. Wait...what?
2) One of the HIT cafeterias is called the "Food Restaurant," which distinguishes it from the others...how exactly? 不太清楚...
3) Finally, the area on campus where cars are not permitted is plainly labeled "Pedestrianized Zone," which I actually think gets the point across rather nicely. This English innovation I'll allow.

Bought the first present to bring back to y'all today but it's not likely destined for you,
China-Cat