Greasy Old Man

I know now why greasy old guys unbutton their shirts halfway down. 

During taichi class today, I had my shirt unbuttoned halfway down because I had a sweat spot the shape of a bib on my shirt.  It's gross.  I'm a greasy old man. 

My roommate told me not to take anymore sudafed, just that I should start drinking more water.  I already told him people with diabetes drink a lot of water, which he witnessed when I ordered two bottles of water for dinner, or when I ordered a bottle of water for lunch even though we were having soup.  What a strange custom, to drink water with a meal.  Anyway, I told him to look at our 5 gallon jug, half empty after only a couple days.  I've been drinking water, baby. 

Here's a cute Chinese question:  he asked why Americans take showers in the morning.  He said Chinese people prefer to take showers in the evening, after a long day.  I told him to expect me to take a shower both in the morning and in the evening.  He laughed.  Not sure why, I was serious. 

Today he asked what Americans can and can't talk about.  Can: health, sex, family.  Can't:  politics, religion, salary.

Today in class, we learned the difference between "shui jiao" and "shui zhao," which to Americans sound exactly the same, egg-zactly.  Of course, to them, the difference is glaring, both in tone and in consonant.  They have no idea what's going through our heads. 

And finally, before I go to dinner and to study, today we had a chuckle in class that Bush in Chinese is pronounced Bu-Shi, just like the words 不是 "not true."  The teacher was puzzled, and finally when we explained it to her, she said, what? Bush is 4th tone, 2nd tone!  不是 is 2nd tone, 4th tone!  Nothing could be more different!