Chapter 19: Gordon
Gordon groaned and rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand.
Or he tried, at least. It took a second to realize that his arm had just sort of flopped weakly and not actually moved. Another few seconds brought the realization that he was bouncing up and down.
It was maybe a full half a minute before he realized the reason everything was so dark was that his eyes were closed. Cautiously he began to open them before realizing that opening one’s eyes usually wasn’t something that needed to be undertaken cautiously.
He was being carried on the back…
The Trials and Tribulations of Bai Jianming
So, our Chinese course has some pretty random stuff in it. Last year we had a translation problem along the lines of “Little Bai has no friends. So, he wished himself a happy new year.” During one of our recent listening exercises about renting a video, the customer asks the cashier out for coffee at the end.
This week’s chapter is actually called “Dating” and the second dialogue is about an unfortunate Bái Jiànmíng, who tries to ask the textbook’s heroine, Lǐ Yǒu, out on a date three times (to watch an opera, of all things, although “gējù” could also…
"Food and Water"
So, there have been people (well, at least one person) living in the trees of Berkeley for the past two weeks or so, protesting…um…something or other. I don’t know much about the issue and I’m trying to stay away from it. But I do pass these particular trees every day on my way to class. They’re surrounded by fences and police officers, and usually by supporting protestors as well.
Just today I was relaxing on Upper Sproul Plaza when I hear chants of “Food and Water! Food and Water!” I had noticed a large crowd of protestors in Dwinelle Plaza…