Improving my Chinese

Summer of 2014!  The summer started with Onions and my trip to Seattle. The second part of summer has me here in Beijing for five weeks.  Part of the attraction is living in domestic bliss with Onions.  Part of it is due to the fact that it takes three weeks for me to get my work visa for the 2014-15 academic year stamped into my passport.  So what have I been doing during this time?  1) I've been working out a lot and met up with a trainer and have a basic and weightlifting program to go with my swimming. 2) Power watching Orange is the New Black, Mad Men and Game of Thornes (Onions and I are watching it together....it's fun to watch it together!) and 3) I'm taking Chinese with the summer SYA students.  I speak pretty well, but my ability to read and write is somewhat lacking.

The issue with Chinese is that you have to learn 3 things when you learn vocabulary.  A) You have to know the meaning of the word 2) you have to learn to recognize and write the character and 3) you have to know its pinyin spelling and the associated tones marks.  It's like you need a three-sided flash card. 

One of the things that I've realized that except for writing my name, I never actually hand write anything.  Any communication I make in Chinese (now that I can do it) is on a phone or on my laptop.  So all I need to do is to be able to read (and when I can't, hello translator program/app) and use the pinyin to keyboard in the word I want and then select it from the choices that pop up.  It's the same as an English speaking kid giving up not only cursive....but ever using a pencil or pen altogether.  So far so good.  I can now have basic texting conversations with Onions and friends IN CHINESE.  Go me!

Nearly every night I have to read and essay and learn the new vocabulary.  The SYA faculty have put together this book about "hot topics" in China.  We've had essays about the one-child policy, women's rights and the hardships of the pre-reform and opening period.  But the most recent one about drugs in China took an unexpected twist.  So, I'm going to copy and paste in the Chinese essay itself, because I'm proud that I can actually copy and essay like this pretty quickly and then the English translation.

READ THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION....the story is....unexpected....and because then be amazed that the students in class can then discuss this in Chinese.

王建国是一位经验的缉毒警察，也已经工作了二十多年了，抓了不少毒贩。可是也没有想到，在退休前她自己竟然成了被告。

法官：

有人告你，说你为了自己的工作，故意让警犬染上毒瘾。这五年以来，一共有十几只警犬受到了伤害，难道你不知道是犯罪吗？

王：

我当然知道这是犯罪，可是我也么有办法。这些年，虽然我们打击贩卖毒品很严厉，但是贩毒，吸毒的人并没有减少；而且缉毒非常不容易，我们要依靠警犬。可是，训练以只狗去识别毒品要两年的时间，而且还要花五万美元。最近，因为经济危机，警察局已经付不起警犬的训练费了。在这样情况下，为了让狗帮助我们缉毒，我们只号让它们染上毒瘾。

法官：

难道久没有别的解决办法吗？

王：

其实我们也想了很多办法，可是都不行，最后只好找了养狗专家。他告诉我们以个既省时又省钱的办法，就时每天把很少的毒品放在狗食种，不到三个月，警犬就会染上毒瘾。有了毒瘾以后，警犬就可以帮我们缉毒了。通常，第二天早上得去缉毒得警犬在前一天晚上我们不喂它们毒品，到时候它们得毒瘾发作，就会对毒品得味道特别敏感。

法官：

可是你是警察，你怎么能知发犯法呢？

王：

这以前没有先例。我知道一定有人批评我虐待动物或者说这养做不人道什么的。可是，每天不也有很多人用白老鼠做实验吗？还有很多的牛，羊，猪不是都被我们吃不吃？还就不是虐待动物吗？法庭要是判我有罪，这不很公平。

法官：我理解你。不过，狗是人最好的朋友，人对狗得感情跟对别的动物是不一样的。你还样做，很难让人接受。

王：

可是您应该去看看那些吸毒和贩毒的人，他们为了毒品会做很多坏事，他们偷东西，抢劫，甚至杀人，毒品毁了他们的生活。我不是不咬狗，知是我更在乎人。

Wang Jianguo is an experienced narcotics police officer.  He worked for 20+ years and caught many drug dealers.  However, not that he is retired, he is surprised to himself be a defendant.

Judge:

You are being sued; people say that besides your work, you intentionally allowed police dogs to become addicted to drugs. In a five-year period, about ten police dogs have been injured, do you not think you have committed a crime?

Wang:

Of course I know I have committed a crime, however there were no other solutions. These past years, we have really attacked this problems of drug dealing, however, drug trafficking and drug using has not decreased; however, policing the drug trade is not easy, we need police dogs. However, training a dog to recognize drugs takes up to two years and can cost 50,000 RMB. Most recently, because of the economic crisis, police offices haven’t been able to afford the training costs. In this situation, to get police dogs to help us in the pursuit of drugs, we have had to get them addicted to drugs.

Judge:

And there was no other possible solution?

Wang:

In fact, we came up with many possible solutions, however they all didn’t work, so we eventually found a dog specialist. He gave us a solution that to saved time and money, everyday we would put a little big of drugs into the dogs’ food, and within three months, the dogs would develop an addiction to drugs. When they have this addiction, we could use them to search for drugs. So if on a second day we were to go our and search for drugs, the night before we would not feed them drugs, so on the second day their addiction would be severe and there sensitivity to drugs were be quite high.

Judge:

But they are addicted to drugs, how can you commit this crime?

Wang:

There is no precedent. I know that I will be criticized for abuse of animals and that I will receive no sympathy. However, but everyday people are using white rats for experiments right? And we eat cows, lambs and pigs right? This isn’t a crime against animals? If the court finds that I’ve committed a crime, that isn’t fair.

Judge:

I understand you. However, dogs are a human’s best friend. A person’s sentimental feelings towards a dog aren’t the same as those towards other animals. You can do this, but it is hard to accept.

Wang:

However, you should look at the drug users and drug dealers, besides the drugs, they will do destructive things.  They will steal, attack and kill people; drugs ruin their lives. I don’t not love dogs, but I have more doubt in people.