To be fair, most English names are very normal: Linda, William, Michael, Benny, Laura, etc. But some are, well, ...not. To put it nicely.
"Number one". He's in one of my kindergarten classes. What a great name, eh? (Its like a self-affirmation every time someone asks you what your name is!)
"Cockroach". One of Iwona's students. She tried convincing him to change it.
"Snowman". A girl that Michael met at an English Corner in Shanghai. He tried convincing her to change it.
"Monsieur". I like that, for some odd reason. Its fun to call a six-year-old kid "Monsieur." Try it sometime.
"Rabbit". I thought she was kidding me. She wasn't.
Fruit Names. In one single class I have an "Apple," "Pear," "Cherry," and "Peach"! Most of these are unusual, but I do have atleast 1-2 "Apples" in each of my classes.
Fairy Tale Names. "Cinderalla," (her spelling, not mine) and "Snow White". Coming soon to a kindergarten near you..."Sleeping Beauty"?
Unusual forays into Chinese gastronomy: Too many to count
Pig parts. Including coagulated blood (my friend's favorite).
Eel. Yummy. I have to admit, I starting to get hooked to this spicy goodness they put on some of these dishes.
Bullfrog in brown sauce. I now order this reguarly.
Duck head. It looks just how it sounds. You pick around the exterior (yes, of the head) for some morsels of meat as the Lord of the Flies stares back at you. (But it must not be a delicacy, because I got it from my favorite - meaning cheap - dumpling restaurant.)
Turtle. its served as the whole deal, with the shell and all. you lift up the shell and have at the innards. it tasted pretty good. luckily i never had a pet turtle back in the day - they almost looked cute all done up in their dish with all the dressings, ready to be devoured. (but the tastiness still won out over the cuteness.)
Cow stomach. good, but the prickly exterior was a little unsettling at first.
Snail. again, i've had snail before, but it still felt gross...digging out the little guys from a punched out hole in the shell.
Dog. very tasty. (my chinese buddy joe thinks its odd we eat turkey but not dog.) actually, since it was slow cooked with potatoes, it was the most "american tasting" chinese dish i've had here.
Cctopus (or squid?) jerky. i'd had calamari in as many ways as i thought existed... i really liked the jerky form. convenient and very tasty.
Number of times a random stranger has wanted to photograph me: 8
I'm never sure what to think when a couple comes up to me, and poses me with the girlfriend while the boyfriend takes a picture of me with my arm around his girl.
In one day in Shanghai, my high score doubled. The fourth was on the Bund waiting for Iwona; I was approached by a rather excited girl who had her reluctant, shy friend do a quick pose with me. The fifth was a Chinese Muslim family who wanted a picture of me with the two brothers. The sixth was a college age girl that was accompanied with a guy (I'm guessing he was her brother, because she wanted a picture of just me and her). But hey, I really was flattered this time, especially considering I wasn't a total oddity with all the other foreigners around.
The third time there was a group of us in Xikou, seeing the sights (hometown of infamous Chiang Kaishek). An older man wanted to take numerous pictures with our group...ironically, at that spot, was a Chiang Kaishek look-alike who charged money to take a picture with him. Sorry to upstage you, Kaishek.
The first I was sitting by myself at West Lake, contemplating the universe, and some teenager walks up, obviously excited to use the two phrases of English he remembers. (To be fair, I get the weirdest looks at West Lake - the tourists from the countryside probably see a lot less foreigners, especially one as cool and dashing as me.) Anyway, this kid wanted to take a photo of just me sitting on the park bench. It was...odd. The second was also at West Lake, a group of girls wanted our group in a picture with them. Less weird.
Near-death experiences: 2
1. It was my second day in the city, and Michael and I were walking to a stationary store to pick up some lesson supplies. Suddenly a good sized board hit the ground about two feet in front of where I was walking...It appeared to have been caught by the wind from somewhere in the seven story building we were walking next to. ...I walked away shaken but unscathed... Guns and violent crime are non-existant in China... -sigh- just like the mission, i won't get shot at and likely will not get any cooler near-death experiences.
2. I "likely will not get any cooler near-death experiences." Ha. Picture this: in a van, cruising through an intersection, watching a large truck come at, realize its not stopping fast enough, feeling the jolt and sensation as your vehicle spins and flips through the intersection. Luckily no one was hurt, but the van definitely was demolished and the scene definitely drew a large crowd. Still, I'm amazed at how few accidents there are here, all things considered. But that is the craziest car accident I've been in, and I have no doubt that Heavenly Father was looking out for us that day.