Last night I spoke at the Meetup in Viña del Mar. The event was excellent! Here is the blurb we used to advertise it: Leslie Forman, a California native who spent four years working in China, will speak about the new frontier of connections between California, China, and Chile (EN ESPAÑOL.) She is the daughter […]
September 2, 2011
Several well-intentioned people have suggested names for my hypothetical future China-Chile translation and consultancy business.
The convenience store I frequent inconveniently did not have what I was looking for, but it did have something even more inspiring: pañuelos desechables (disposable handkerchiefs). Why did these inspire me? Let me count the ways… 夏 (xia), the character in the center of this side of the tissue box, means “summer.” And 音 (yin), the character […]
Lately I have been talking a lot about heat, and thinking about the language we use to describe heat. In a meeting with several senior professors of mechanical engineering, I learned that “heat exchanger” translates to intercambiador de calor, and stretched my brain to explain concentrated solar power technology in semi-intelligent Spanish. Slightly more sophisticated […]
Yesterday, Brent and I strolled through Bellavista (Santiago’s quasi-bohemian bar district) and stopped to play on these: These practical and well-maintained pieces of exercise equipment are in just about every park and every apartment complex in China. I think the lottery funds them. Fun for kids aged 1-81 101! Edited 8/1/11 following an astute comment […]
We met online. I was just getting over the end of my relationship with the University of California – Berkeley, and looking for something new. You had always been there, across the Pacific Ocean, and in the veins of so many of my fellow Golden Bears, but I had never really considered you. My heart […]
“If you want some paid work doing some voice over reading for an English textbook, call Dan [number redacted]. He needs a female today.” The day after I saw that text, I took the subway out to a residential area in western Beijing, then a car took me to a brand-new, concrete apartment complex, with […]
My adorable roommate just came back from Japan, and look what she brought me!
In my last post, I referred to this piece by kindergarten teacher Christina Shunnarah, who works with students from all over the world. She describes culture as an iceberg, with a small part visible, and the vast majority hidden under the surface. Image Source This is one of my favorite excerpts from her excellent essay: […]
On Thanksgiving Thursday, we ordered a full turkey dinner for our whole team. In Chinese, the word for turkey is 火鸡 (huo ji) which literally translates to “fire chicken.” All day my colleagues asked “Fire chicken 来了吗?” in anticipatory glee. With mashed potatoes, gravy, salad, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie and more, it looked and tasted […]