Chinese with my hands.

Sunday 4-21-13

So today started out just like any other Sunday, got up, got ready and went to church. Today Susan actually gave a talk! That was pretty cool, never seen a sacrament meeting talk given with the speaker sitting on the couch and talking on the phone! That's a first! After church I chilled in my room... literally chilled, nearly froze. It was warmer outside than it is in our rooms its freezing. But I had some journal writing to do. I wrote in my journal and hung out with the girls. We watched a super cute movie and really did a whole lot of nothing. I got some pictures sent to my mom and was trying to get the internet connection to be consistent so that they would upload when I got a QQ message from the Deaf girl I met on the bus yesterday! I told her hello and asked her if she was deaf. She told me that she was congenitally deaf and asked where I was from. I told her I was from Utah and that’s when she asked if the hand gestures I was using yesterday were American Sign Language. I told her that they were and I wished I could learn Chinese sign language so that I could communicate with her. Now with QQ I get a message, copy paste it into Google translate, read that, write my response in English and then translate that to Chinese and then copy paste it into the text bar and then send it. The Google translate was being weird so I gave up on trying to chat for a little while and just talked with my friends. I noticed that I got another message from my new deaf friend. I figured I might as well try to translate it and it worked! I panicked a little when I read “I video chat you and you learn?” “okay?” yikes! But I have learned in the past year and especially these past two months, if I am about to do something that makes me nervous or takes me out of my comfort zone, like try a rip-stick, ask Candice if I can try painting, watch the Chinese martial art teacher practice and offer to teach him English in trade for some training, pee in a squatter, eat a chicken foot or go to a foreign country and teach English solo and hope I make friends, it means I am about to learn something or push myself to grow. I've spent too much of my life worried about making mistakes. I have let the fear of striking out keep me from playing the game and I am tired of sitting on the bench. I not only accepted the video call but I signed with my new friend for an hour.  

 I got the system down. She sent me the word in Chinese, I Google translated it and then watched her sign it. I repeated the signs and tried to mix up the words and use them in different sentences so I made sure I got the context and meaning correct. I learned how to sign my Chinese name as well as. I am a teacher I come from America and I am 20 years old. I learned “I’m sorry” and “it’s alright” she told me I was very beautiful and smart and taught me “thank you” “i am happy that we became friends” and many more phrases that keep coming to me. It took me an hour and I feel like I can communicate more in CSL than I can in Chinese and I have been hearing it as well as trying to pick up on it for the past two months! Why people wouldn't want to teach their kids sign language is beyond me. Not only can I hear and speak, but I also have people who can help me translate and pronounce things. Why would parents not allow their children to learn a Sign Language to help them in life? Ignorance. I honestly believe than it has to be pure ignorance. I love the language. In fact, I find that when I teach my students or even Lee and they have a hard time pronouncing the word or understanding it, I will say the word slower and sign it. Hello Dell, not going to help ha but I guess ASL is just in my blood and you know what? I’m totally fine with that! I will defend the language and culture until the day I die; I found a passion and love for something that has provided me a very awesome experience while over here in China that I can only thank Ms. Bolton for.