In fact, it's been a year and just over three months now since I stepped off the plane and began my new life. Lots of things have changed since- my professional situation, my diet, my views...
A reflective review of my 15 months here and how they have affected me and who I am is definitely in order. However, I'm feeling a bit lazy so that won't happen for now. Instead, how about something a little more lighthearted - funny names!
To make things easier for their international teachers, friends and business partners, many Chinese people choose an English name (and vice versa- my Chinese name is 娜娜 Nana ). They name themselves, and there are no regulations or limitations as to what kind of name they can choose. Many people base their name on the sound of their Chinese name (for instance, a girl I know called Jie named herself Jennifer), others chose a name that reflects their (desired) personality traits (thus this young man at our school named himself Earnest, as he likes to think he's very hardworking.) Others go for the name of a famous person, or a character from a TV series (all these American shows are insanely popular here), while others still come up with their very unique ideas of what constitutes a name. Hilarity ensues.
The following is a list of names that some of our students have given themselves. WARNING: Cringeworthy stuff ahead!
Tonic (A Schweppes drinker, perhaps...)
Summit
Beer (Got the right idea!)
Benz (How chav!)
Bin (He quickly changed it when he learned what this transcription of his Chinese name means in English. He now calls himself King. Hmmm...)
Candy, Cherry, Angel - all very popular choices, and the poor things have no clue that they're all hooker names!
Kitty (Yes, that's a reference to that white toy cat. A former colleague of mine insists that he once taught a girl who was actually called Hello Kitty)
Schofield, Serena, Phoebe - did I say they love these TV shows?!
Johnson (Just what isthat a reference to...?)
Nanny - another phonemic transcription as her career aspirations are definitely higher than her name might suggest.
Swift
Coffey - named after the character from that awfully sappy Green Mile movie. That said, I am grateful not to have met any Forrest Gumps so far.
Lemon
Snowy, Snow - a translation of their Chinese names, no doubt.
Warrior - ooooookaaaaaaaaaaaay...
Sword
Season (Which one, she didn't say.)
Hart (This guy has said to me, "Hi, my name is Hart, because I'm very hardworking." Ehm...)
Pharrell (Yes, that is inspired by that rapper.)
But my favourites have to be...
Cloris (Did she mean Doris?)
Seleven - This girl proudly explained to me just how much she loves 711... true story!
Titi - I did explain the meaning to her, and she said she didn't mind, she loved the sound of it. Some people just don't want to be helped.
Google (?!)
Zebra (?! ?!)
Amused? Shocked? Confused? Now you've got something of an idea of what it's like teaching English in China.
Have a nice day!
Bis dann
Nadine
Nadine
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2 comments:
What's so strange about Titi? Lots of French people are named that.
Hey Nadine, just wondering if everything's OK with you. Just that you haven't posted for quite a while and I was really enjoying your blog. Hope you're still loving Beijing. Take care!
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