I am having so much fun with it.
As everybody knows the difficulty with Mandarin and other Asian languages (I don't know if all or most are like this, or just some) is that tonality changes the meaning of words. This is weird for us because we use tonality to indicate something else all together. Think of the difference between:
"you like tea." statement
"you like tea.!" surprise
and "you like tea?" question.
This is what tonality does for us.
Here is an example of what it does for Mandarin:
"Cha" (voice going up) means "tea" - "Cha" (voice going down) means "bad"
In Mandarin there are 4 tonalities, in Cantonese there are 8, another reason why I am pleased I chose Mandarin!
Here is another example but this time with the 4 tonalities:
"Ma"(flat, high - 1st tonality) means "mother"
"Ma" (voice up - 2nd tonality) means "hemp"
"Ma" (voice down then up - 3rd tonality) means "horse"
"Ma" (voice down - 4th tonality) means "curse"
Monday, January 31, 2011
China
I am planing a trip to China in the next while, probably in spring on the northern hemisphere since I am hoping to take the train to Tibet and I prefer not to be in the cold. Though I should say that I would put up with the cold to see Tibet. My friend Andy works in China on rotation so it seems like the perfect opportunity to go and he is keen to take the train to Tibet (this site makes me think that it is feasible). I think it might be nice to travel with somebody for once, I am so used to traveling on my own. Andy has a flat in Chengdu and he is OK with me using it as a home base while I am in China.
I am really exited about it and today I bought myself a Mandarin language CD (I should be honest they call it "Chinese".... a bit scary really, I hope it is Mandarin and not Cantonese. Added later: I just went to their website and they have the Cantonese course too so presumably what they call Chinese is Mandarin). I've just tried it and t seems pretty fun. It puts Mandarin ("Chinese"?) on a musical background both to relax the brain and to access the memory. You know how even if you cannot remember names of phone numbers you can remember lyrics of a song, they apply this idea. And they have a lot of repetition to make it a bit like a song. I may just be able to learn a few sentences!
The CD I bought is done by Earworms - musical brain trainer, which appears to be a branch of Berlitz. I might have been better to get a more formal language course like Rosetta Stone but I can't really afford it and even if I could it would be hard to get in South Africa where even Amazon does not send parcels.
ADDED LATER: China was great and the little bit of Mandarin I learnt made an incredible difference in my experience. I certainly hope I get to go back to China in the coming year.
You can go and see some of the photos in more recent posts like THIS one or THIS one, but you can just click on the "China" label on the right and see my photos of the Great Wall, the Terra Cotta Warriors etc.
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| map from this site |
I am really exited about it and today I bought myself a Mandarin language CD (I should be honest they call it "Chinese".... a bit scary really, I hope it is Mandarin and not Cantonese. Added later: I just went to their website and they have the Cantonese course too so presumably what they call Chinese is Mandarin). I've just tried it and t seems pretty fun. It puts Mandarin ("Chinese"?) on a musical background both to relax the brain and to access the memory. You know how even if you cannot remember names of phone numbers you can remember lyrics of a song, they apply this idea. And they have a lot of repetition to make it a bit like a song. I may just be able to learn a few sentences!
The CD I bought is done by Earworms - musical brain trainer, which appears to be a branch of Berlitz. I might have been better to get a more formal language course like Rosetta Stone but I can't really afford it and even if I could it would be hard to get in South Africa where even Amazon does not send parcels.
ADDED LATER: China was great and the little bit of Mandarin I learnt made an incredible difference in my experience. I certainly hope I get to go back to China in the coming year.
You can go and see some of the photos in more recent posts like THIS one or THIS one, but you can just click on the "China" label on the right and see my photos of the Great Wall, the Terra Cotta Warriors etc.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Dassie or Rock Hyrax
They are very cute. As the name suggest they live on rocks. They are about the size of rabbits, communal creatures and mostly what I want to show you is: they have weird toes.
(I am sure that people who visit this blog know that I have a weird toe/finger thing. I have already shown you the toes of kangaroos for example).
See what I mean? Their toes look like little rubber balls at the end.
Here is an even closer look of the same photo. (it just depends how I crop the photo I have which has way more resolution that I can show you)
Weird, right?!
Wikipedia has a good picture of the underneath of their feet.
(I am sure that people who visit this blog know that I have a weird toe/finger thing. I have already shown you the toes of kangaroos for example).
See what I mean? Their toes look like little rubber balls at the end.
Here is an even closer look of the same photo. (it just depends how I crop the photo I have which has way more resolution that I can show you)
Weird, right?!
Wikipedia has a good picture of the underneath of their feet.
The Kalahari Desert
As you can see from the map below (taken from THIS website) I crossed the southern end of the Kalahari desert on this trip since this is where I was.
I'd crossed this part before but I don't think I showed you any pictures. So here are a few:
First just some typical views of the southern part which can be quite flat in parts (though you can see a mountain chain in the distance).
The desert of course always has some animal life. I saw baboon in some valleys and here are some dassies also known as rock-rabbits or hyrax (cute creatures). (I have close up photo of them on this post )
You also have some very colourful lizards.
Of course there is also some vegetation like these quiver trees.
I'd crossed this part before but I don't think I showed you any pictures. So here are a few:
First just some typical views of the southern part which can be quite flat in parts (though you can see a mountain chain in the distance).
The Orange river traverses this part of the Kalahari but it has little impact on the vegetation unless it is used for irrigation. This photo is taken just below the Augrabies Falls.
The desert of course always has some animal life. I saw baboon in some valleys and here are some dassies also known as rock-rabbits or hyrax (cute creatures). (I have close up photo of them on this post )
You also have some very colourful lizards.
Of course there is also some vegetation like these quiver trees.
and this Namaqua Porkbush.... and many other plants but I liked these two.
Sudan
No, I haven't been to Sudan and no I am not planning to go there. (I am not planning to never go there, it is just not in the plans right now).
Look at this interesting series of maps of Sudan from BBC World News with the new boundary between north and South Sudan. This is obviously critical now since South Sudan just voted today to secede from Sudan by 99%.
Look at this interesting series of maps of Sudan from BBC World News with the new boundary between north and South Sudan. This is obviously critical now since South Sudan just voted today to secede from Sudan by 99%.
Where I Was
This is the trip. I first went west to Port Nolloth and area where I stayed until after Christmas. Then I drove across the country to Kenton to spend New Years with friends but after they left to go back to work I stayed for a couple of weeks. Then I came back To Johannesburg because there was things I had to do. All this took just under two months because I really took my time and stopped a lot.
I had a nice relaxing time and really cannot say that I achieved anything at all. I did a lot of walking (mostly, but not only, on beaches) and that's about it. This is exactly what I am into these days: doing nothing special at all. I do not want to do the most of anything at all. I do not want to make sure I see or do everything where I am. I spend every day as if I lived in the place where I am and have totally normal days of enjoying life.
It seems to work for me.
Driving back to Jo'burg I thought how I spent a good part of my life trying to be free but how all I had really achieved was being independent (don't get me wrong I do feel lucky that I was able to do that) and how now I feel "free" ....well, as free as one can get. I actually do not believe that being free is possible. Anyway I feel free-hearted and worry-free which is all I really want.
I had a nice relaxing time and really cannot say that I achieved anything at all. I did a lot of walking (mostly, but not only, on beaches) and that's about it. This is exactly what I am into these days: doing nothing special at all. I do not want to do the most of anything at all. I do not want to make sure I see or do everything where I am. I spend every day as if I lived in the place where I am and have totally normal days of enjoying life.
It seems to work for me.
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| I am sure you recognize the background map as being from google maps |
Bueno Aires
After over 4 thousand kilometres of driving and just under two months I am back in Johannesburg, but before I show you some pictures I want to should you something of Buenos Aires.
After Santiago Bueno Aires originally felt a lot less friendly and a lot more "urban". I know it seems silly to even use the word "urban" about a city because honestly what else could it be? But after slow-paced Santiago with parks full of people sitting on benches, children playing in the fountains and with multiple small neighborhood street markets Bueno Aires felt very different. However I should say right away that it was great, just great in a very different way.
As I saw it Bueno Aires is the city of multi-lanes avenues, fabulous architecture, culture, political protests (very civilized ones), dog walkers, museums, shows and restaurants. I though it was a pleasant juxtaposition of business like very elegant neighborhoods, bohemian streets with varied types of shows to be caught in very diverse venues: from noisy drumming procession along a narrow cobbled street to fantastic production of Falstaff in small old theater (both of which I saw).
You always hear how Bueno Aires is the Paris of South America and I have to say it is actually a good way to describe it, the Paris or the Barcelona of South America I would say.
But anyway here are some photos:
After Santiago Bueno Aires originally felt a lot less friendly and a lot more "urban". I know it seems silly to even use the word "urban" about a city because honestly what else could it be? But after slow-paced Santiago with parks full of people sitting on benches, children playing in the fountains and with multiple small neighborhood street markets Bueno Aires felt very different. However I should say right away that it was great, just great in a very different way.
As I saw it Bueno Aires is the city of multi-lanes avenues, fabulous architecture, culture, political protests (very civilized ones), dog walkers, museums, shows and restaurants. I though it was a pleasant juxtaposition of business like very elegant neighborhoods, bohemian streets with varied types of shows to be caught in very diverse venues: from noisy drumming procession along a narrow cobbled street to fantastic production of Falstaff in small old theater (both of which I saw).
You always hear how Bueno Aires is the Paris of South America and I have to say it is actually a good way to describe it, the Paris or the Barcelona of South America I would say.
But anyway here are some photos:
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