My friend Lulu called me last Friday and I chatted with her dad for a minute. It went something like this.

Me: “曹先生, it’s been a long time. 最近過得好嗎?”
曹先生: “好, Ben, 你的中文進步了.”
Me: “No, not too much. 新年快樂! 恭喜發財!”
曹先生: “哦, 洋詞兒 (now with a strong northern accent I’m not used to).”
Me: “你說什麽?”
曹先生: “洋詞兒.”

After a good laugh Lulu translated for me. She said in China they don’t say Gōng Xĭ Fā Cái (恭喜發財). In Hong Kong and Taiwan they do. I wonder about in Southern China. So, coming from Northern China, it’s foreigner’s words. She taught me a few sayings I could say. Wàn Shì Rú Yì (萬事如意), Xiào Kŏu Cháng Kāi (笑口常開), Shēn Tĭ Jiàn Kāng (身體健康).

Finding serenity in the noisiest conditions…
From Tsai Chih Chung’s (蔡志忠) Be A Cat. This is how I feel every day when I wake up at 8am and there are jackhammers going off just across the lane. And on Saturday and Sunday when they are at it again. It’s non-stop. But I’m keeping my sanity. I’m a good cat.

一個多月以前我跟吳馬去逛迪化街. 哪裏有一間廟叫霞海城隍廟. 很多女生去那裏拜拜. One day I went with Wu Ma to stroll Dihua Street Market. It’s the best preserved of Taipei’s old streets. Lots of Chinese Medicines and dry goods are sold there. It’s really busy around Chinese New Year. This tea is interesting. It was outside the City God Temple for anyone to drink. But you can’t fill your bottle with it. Many women go to this temple to pray in hopes of finding a husband. Chinese culture has lots of beliefs like this. I think it’s cool. (Wu Ma tells me a lot of them. I don’t believe everything I hear [e.g. I rode my bike around Taiwan during ghost month for 19 days. Many people don’t go swimming or do anything risky during this time of the year.], but some I do.) The tea was good. I didn’t fill my bottle. That day, I did buy some peppermint leaves (薄荷葉) and dried fruit to 泡茶 (make tea).