02-14-2010, 08:20 AM
Back in now. We did eat some dumplings for lunch (although not the best dumplings I've ever had, one of the few restaurants that was still open today because of the holiday), and walked around by the river for awhile. My friend said that when she was little and the ice was thick enough, she used to walk to school on the river, but the ice wasn't that thick today. Meanwhile, my nose is running and my throat is sore, so I hope I am not getting a cold!
Standard Mandarin I can converse in a bit, depending on the subject. But at the moment I'm in an area that has a dialect that I am not used to, and not understanding very well. If I was here a few weeks, maybe I'd be okay, but I won't be here long enough to get the hang of it, even though it is not a very strong dialect by Chinese standards. At least my friend is a good interpreter, but I feel so linguistically incompetent here.
Israel may be risky, but it does have some places that would be interesting to see. Depending on which visas you may need/not need in advance, you may also be able to play some things by ear as you go along.
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