CSL and Coffee

Today I headed to the coffee shop at the end of a quiet weekend to escape final lesson planning in my bedroom.  I bought something baked that tasted amazing (no, I don't know what it was called - I'm illiterate now, remember?), ordered a latte and headed upstairs.  It's interesting; even hot drinks are served with straws.

Anyways.  I worked on my computer, sipped my latte, and watched as the baker piped icing onto cake after cake, smoothing it down, edging it with shredded coconut, and swirling designs on the top.  Then I watched an animated conversation between a man at the counter (the boss maybe?) and one of the bakers.  My ears still struggle to decipher Chinese, but it was pretty obvious this woman was deaf.  I watched as they talked, laughed, and signed back and forth.  I find this process interesting any time I see it, but it was particularly interesting to watch it associated with another language.  It made me wonder: if ASL is American Sign Language, then are they using....CSL, or Chinese Sign Language?  Does China and America use similar hand signs for the deaf?

I have no idea, but when I went over to take a picture of the cake, I did my best to sign to her that it looked beautiful.  Chinese people are usually pleased whenever I attempt to speak some hackneyed Chinese, but she about jumped out of her skin when I tried to sign!  (Thank you, Switched at Birth and Adam Molatore for giving me the most basic handful of signs!  Oh gosh....that pun REALLY wasn't intended, but so appropriate...)  It was such a cool moment.  We swapped pictures and smiles and went back to our duties.

In other news, many of the people who drive mopeds wear full-faced flat visors.  Sometimes the visors have an iridescent sheen that reminds me of a fly.  I've decided they look like Boba Fett. 

Just like Riding a bike

Hello all,

So I FINALLY began posting - hooray!  Sorry it took me so long to get up and running.  Sometimes life here feels like one endless meeting.  As you can see by my sudden blast of posts, I've been writing, but my computer doesn't want to upload pictures.  My perfectionist complex set in, but as a friend reminded me, there is this little 'edit' button that I can use later to add pictures. =)

There is so much to see and do here.  I rented bikes with the guy down the hall the other day, and we rode all over our little city, exploring back alleys, climbing on abandoned trains, and taking pictures of the light falling just so through the branches of unfamiliar trees.

Ironically, the phrase "just like riding a bike" usually refers to picking up an old skill as easily as you pick up riding a bike again. I was awkwardly made aware that it has been years since I've ridden a bike.  On one hand, I forgot how much I enjoy bike riding.  On the other hand I yelled a couple of impolite things as I ducked and swerved unsteadily through traffic on a two-wheeled contraption that was no longer familiar.  In my defense, the kickstand kept falling down and half of the brake lines were cut.  I will be much more particular about the bike I select next time.  There was something so liberating and wonderful about spending 15 cents and two hours wandering around a strange city.  It felt exotic and ridiculously normal at the same time.  It was fabulous.