These spicy chicken skewers are sold about every 20 feet or so. Not really quite that frequent but also not all that far off. You cannot walk a full block without hitting at least one vendor. As my lips went numb at the first bite I had I was hooked. Being a Texan tried and true I am fond of spicy foods. I am found of grilled meats and enjoy quite an expertise at this point in being able to grill meat to perfection. But what we have here is both a simple street food and an amazing chemical process that leaves my lips burning for about 45 min and my tongue practically numb. :)
I will admit fully to having whimped out a bit on experimentation because of the language barrier. I like to know what I am ordering not just pointing at a menu and hoping. So a good deal of my food up to this point has not been traditional fair or my favorite streetfoods. Though there is NO way to begin to make a dent in the number of local food and restaurants available to me on my block alone. Being a foodie, and once I can be sure that I can handle a financial transaction with a bit more security I will have a hard time getting back into the habit of cooking some of my own meals. :)
I have always enjoyed teaching kids. It is always a pleasure to pass on what I have learned to another generation. I was asked about coming here by one friend how I felt about coming here and teaching Chinese people English. Couched I am sure in what was meant to be a concern for a possible ethical question on my part.
No such question existed for me at all. I am and always will be a teacher. As much an aspect of my nature as my warrior spirit. There is no more powerful tool we humans have on this planet than communication. We have used it to build and destroy great civilizations. But it is only through cooperation and language that we have managed it, or we would still be swinging in the trees. There is no more powerful message I can bring to the world than to open a child's mind to more possibilities through the power of language. I teach these wonderful kids the basics of another entire world that they will be opened to from the start.
In the evenings I teach people. who are wanting to better themselves and to better their financial future by getting better jobs. Right now the better jobs go to those that can talk to boss in America and Europe. Globalization is not just a term it is happening faster than can be recorded. But those of us willing to grasp how to view the world from another map are on the front of a new era. Language is the barrier that separates many cultures from being able to even understand the basics about each other. Through communication the things that separate us are torn apart and we find for all of our trappings we are still humbly and simply Human.
再见 zài jiàn (Zai4jian4) - good bye
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