A rainbow to brighten up your day
Sounds like you had a fantastic holiday in 2006 Yanko even though some parts of it were very tiring. Do you go on a holiday every year? Is it more common for Brazilians to travel around their own country or go abroad? With so much to see and do in your own country, I suppose there is no necessity to travel overseas unless you want to experience another culture or different climate. The hot springs sounded particularly appealing to me. I’ve been told of many similar springs in Japan and am waiting for the time and money to go! By the way, can you tell us about your family so we can put names and information to the faces we saw on the photos?
I must say thanks to all those readers who sent me ‘get well soon’ wishes, Merce, Kuldeep, Wisarut and many others. I’m partially recovered I have to say and now it seems it’s not food poisoning but some intestinal infection. Marianna, you are right that at this time of year with the weather and temperature changes, lots of viruses and infections are being passed around (and I hope the atmosphere at your workplace improves soon).
I’m taking Chinese herbal medicine as I’m a great believer in it. I have used different types of Chinese traditional medicine before and it has always worked. I sprained my ankle whilst doing aerobics a few years ago and I couldn’t put any body weight on it as it was so painful. I couldn’t walk so I hobbled to the pharmacist who gave me a huge band-aid and a small bottle of black, tar-like, evil-smelling liquid to put on the sprain. It took 1 day for the pain to go and 2 days for all the swelling to disappear.
I started taking the medicine for my current complaint yesterday so let’s see how long it takes to work…Hyoshil; I understand what you are saying about having to soldier on even when you feel ill or tired when you have kids. Even when Mum is ill, the children want to eat, play, and run riot all day and never give Mum a break.
Laetitia, thanks for you comments.
Tanya most of my students are international students (from Hong Kong, Korea, Japan) and I also teach some Japanese ladies. When I do work as an IELTS or AEAS examiner the students are all Chinese.
Eugeny sorry to disappoint you but I definitely am not amongst the people at the Temple of Heaven early in the morning. One reason is that I live far away from the temple and the other is that I have Teah to look after in the mornings and I’m comatose until the second she wakes up (about 7am) and I’m always dying for more sleep!
Eszter now I am used to life in China after 10 years but it was not easy to get over the culture shock. When I arrived in Beijing, it was not at all westernized and you had to speak Chinese in order to buy anything, go anywhere or get any service. No one spoke any English which made life difficult from the onsetbecause then I spoke no Chinese and everything was alien to me culturally and environmentally. The first year was interesting, the second year was frustrating, the third year I had had enough and wanted to leave. However, because my husband wanted to remain in China, I had to persevere. By the end of the fourth year, I felt that I had got used to the ups and downs of life here and could cope with it. Foreigners in China often say that their relationship with China is a ‘love-hate’ one; I’m no exception.
A few language points to note for you Yanko
1) Water slides (not ‘slides water’), this error is about word order and it should be adjective before noun.
2) ‘One week after, I go…’ this is a tense error. As your holiday is in the past and is finished now, you should write ‘One week after I went…’For the same reason (holiday finished action in the past), your sentence ‘I’ve stopped in more two cities in Minas Gerais’ should be in past simple tense like this ‘I stopped in two more cities’
3) In the last part of the same sentence ‘to buy a typical region food and souvenirs ‘,food’ is an uncountable noun so cannot be preceded by ‘a’ and the word ‘region’ is a noun so here you should use the adjective which is ‘regional’.The sentence should be 'to buy typical, regional food'.
I'll leave you now with a picture of a rainbow that was over my parent's house last summer when I visited. I love rainbows and although the end of the rainbow seemed to be in their back garden, I found no gold when I dug the whole garden up :-) Do you have any idioms or sayings about rainbows in your own language?
See you!
Trudi
Vocabulary
partially (adv) part, not totally
intestinal (adj) relating to the intestines(the long tubes that are part of the digestive tract)
sprained (v) A painful wrenching or twisting of the ligaments of a joint
hobbled (v) to limp
pharmasist (n) chemist, someone who prepares and sells medicine
complaint (n) illness
soldier on to continue to do something in a determined way even though its difficult
comatose (adj) in a very deep sleep and can't be woken easily
westernized (adj) become like the culture or things inwestern countries
onset (n) the beginning
persevere (v) to keep going/persist even though you face difficulties or obstacles
Comments
Dear Trudi, You have written what you experienced in China. Have you ever stayed in other countries except you home country and China more that three months? If you did so, can you write a comparative cultural and language problems you faced in those countries? I faced such situation 15 years ago, when I visited western part of Nepal in a research project to find out how much peoples are aware of medical facility in their locality. Their local dialect was somewhat similar to Nepali language but for visitor it is difficult to understand. In your case, situation was completely different and unknown to you. It is really great courage you have shown to stay in strange situation.
Hello, Trudi. Once you came into the garden and started digging, was the rainbow still ending there? I am quite sure there is some gold at the end of the rainbow, but of course you should be able to see, at the very moment when you start digging, that the rainbow still ends where you thought it ends.
Hi, Trudi! Thank you for your answer about your students. There, in Ireland last year I had a Japanese student in my English class. She was a very nice girl and was married on a Dutchmen. We became fiends. She moved to Holland last summer and I have not touch with her very often now. Trudi, I hope Chinese herbal medicine can help you to fight with your intestinal infection. I believe in Chinese medicine too: for example, a Chinese tee has helped me to get slim. However, I don’t know very much about these medicines. I would be very grateful if anybody has told me where I can find more information about it. I am going on to go in for a gym so I sometimes have a problem with my limbs too. And with my back. What was a name of medicine which was helped you with your ankle, Trudi? The problem with Chinese medicines is that very often Chinese not include a translation of their prescription to any foreign language. So it is impossible to understand which medicine can help. I think you get over your disease in the end, Trudi. It is very difficult to work when you are not feeling well. Bye!
G'day, The explanations were simple and simply fantastic!.Even a Novice will understand. Cheers Praveen Raj
hi .. i feel like im a stranger interrepting you all.. i tried to enter the blog competion, but its not working lately and i've been waiting anxiously to start :(.. i dont know but its not allowed for me to comment right? but i despertly want to communicate with you.
Hi Trudi,this is the good opportunity to know that you reside in China. In my view, I am somewhat curious about the difference culture. Despite in Thailand, I still love to travel and see the spectular places beside my home country. Thus, I am eager to read further about China. Keep me pose. Better luck next time.
Hi again, I forget something ,that is, I rather love the English poem like Thai poam " every cloud has a silver lining. It reminds me of thinking good things when I am feeble mind in work or everything. Nothing to gain if we doesn't pay the price for my intention. So, I think the sky after the hard rain is sitll bright and have rainbow crossing the sky. It is such a beautiful. Better luck next time.
Hi Trudi. It's nice to hear that you feel better. You asked about idioms or sayings about a rainbow. We have got two popular sayings in Poland. To look at somebody like in a rainbow. It means to look up to somebody or to gaze at somebody in adoration. I can see, show or paint something in rainbow colours. The meaning of this sentence is that I can see, show or paint something positively. To sum up, a rainbow has positive connotations in Polish. Have a nice weekend. Bye.
Hi,Trudi I am so glad you are getting better and I hope that the chiness medicine is working for you and I wish that you can go back to normal soon.I really like the lessons at the end of your letters. Have a fantastic weekend!XX
Hi Trudi, I suppose you are a strong believer of herbal medicine. It worked out some of your problems.It's good. Each country has its own herbal or traditional medicines. My question is will it be effective for the major diseases like heart attack, diabetes, cancer etc. An ordinary poor people find difficult to get the treatment from multi storied hi-tech hospitals. Advanced technologies not even reach these kinds of people. So they have to depend upon these kinds of alternative medicines. Another major drawback here is patients has to wait long time to cure their illness if you undergo these kinds of alternative medicines is it true.
Hi Trudi. Nice to see you!!!! It's a pleasure to reading your entries. Whith them I learn more and more English every day, and also I learn very much about life and culture. I would like you tell all of readers how is life in China: what about prizes, job, education, salaries, ...? I wish you and all the readers a happy and relaxed weekend!!!!! Mercè
Hi Trudi , I hope until now you have completel recovered . Like you i prefer taking herbal medicine . I know that it 's very common in china . As i have a five years son , i know what you mean about dying for sleep .The story of your geting used to living in China was interesting . Kiss your angle for me solong
Hi Trudi. I´m glad you´re feeling better :-). I could remember of just one saying about rainbows in Portuguese. It´s related to the weather and being more specific it´s about fishing in high sea( I don´t know if I can say that). :-) Best wishes, Ana Paula.
Hi, It seems that everything is ok. I'm glad to hear your are better. Any way, I have read your blog and I admire your honesty telling your feelings about livin in China. I think I had felt the same if I would have had to live there. I've never been to China, so I can say a little bit. On the other hand I am learning a lot because I always read your blogs. By the way¡ Get well soon¡ The rainbow is very, very pretty.
Dear Trudi! Thanks for your warm words. I am medical microbiologist and worked over 20 years in hospital labs, but now sitting in the health care insurance company. I studied at Prague 25 years ago. That time, we lived isolated from the western world and only active members of the main political party could be send working abroad. The stay could last 6 years maximum. At university, we were told on our short psychology term that this was the period when you would got used to the new place and wouldn´t be willing to come back. In a couple of days I´ll be 50 and it has been my biggest pleasure for over one year now following this site, learning the language and making my precious frends in such warious countries over the world. Cheers!
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