Different customs ...

In china, there are some things one mustn't do such as:
- offer a clock to someone (clock=钟表 zhōng biǎo) because it symbolizes death, the end (end=终结 zhōng jié)
- sharing a pear with somebody, is also considered as an insult (pear=梨子 lí zi), it symbolizes separation, departure for a long time (to leave=离 lí)
I have checked: all the other fruits are Ok!! In fact, this is because of an ancient tale, the story of a mother and a son, separating for ever. Before they said their goodbyes, they both shared a pear. Since then, it is symbolically inappropriate to do so out of this specific context!
In addition to that, you can notice the pronunciation of "pear" and "leave" is the same.
- to thank a friend, excessively is taken in the wrong way quite often. When someone offers me something, I was advised not to say "thank you" (谢谢) but rather "OK" (好的)! Because saying "thank you" here implies there is a gap between the two people (social status, age, or they are strangers to each an other) This is a tricky habit for me to take I admit!
- at the dinner table: (I was very very mad at my sister... I discovered this after two MONTHS here!!! She said "hhhumm justine, there is something I should tell you.... I didn't want to make you uncomfortable so I didn't tell you earlier" - I couldn't believe it!! )
As you all know, we eat the food with chopsticks (筷子 kuài zi), except for the soup, we sometimes have a spoon. Each person has a small bowl, for the rice and there are public dishes on the table. Everybody helps themselves. My dear sister explained yesterday, that for some specific dishes such as meat (肉 ròu) or some vegetable dishes (素菜 sù cài), there is a pair of "PUBLIC CHOPSTICK". And she said it was very impolite to use personal chopsticks to serve myself, but that nobody said anything because I didn't know.
To be honest, I had thought about this before, and personally found it wasn't very hygienic!
~So I got a little upset and we had a small argument after this discussion~
- a common greeting in china is to ask someone where he is going, and sometimes "why". At the beginning, this felt as an intrusion to me! I wanted to answer "mind your own business"... And I know how to say it! (少管闲事!! shǎo guǎn xián shì!)
But this has become a habit. In the street, most of the time when I bump into someone I know, this is the small talk we have:
Me: 你好 (nǐ hǎo) or 早上好 ("zǎo shang hǎo" if it is morning)
He/she: 你好! 你去哪儿？("nǐ qù nǎ r"= where are you going?) 为什么 ("wèi shén me"= why??)
Me: 我去买东西 (买东西"mǎi dōng xi" = buy something) or 我去程课 ("chéng kè"= lesson) 你呢? (nǐ ne? = what about you?)
He/she: 我去。。。。。。
（most of the time, I don't understand the answer, it is too fast and in Nanjing dialect!, but we both smile, maybe talk about the weather, ask about each others health (你身体好吗？＂shēn tǐ"= health) )
And we end with an unusually (for me) exaggerated smile, and
"好好好好。！再见! (" zài jiàn"= goodbye, 好= well/good, people often repeat this more than 20times, very fast!)

- Here, it isn't impolite to ask questions about touchy topics in Europe : somebody's salary, age, weight...
In fact, I get asked very personal questions (to my mind), I know how to answer them... But most people answer the truth.

J+57 great walk with my Chinese teacher

Today, my private Chinese teacher had arranged for me to go out of school at 2pm, to show me one of the parks in Nanjing. A very big and beautiful one!
It is called 雨花台 (yuhuatai).
Since 1949, Yuhuatai has served as a memorial to the more than 100,000 victims executed in Nanjing during ZZ years (1927-49) of Nationalist rule under Chiang Kaishek. For this reason, the site is also called Martyr's Park.
The flower works are beautiful!
It is a great place to go walking, exercising, I will definitely go back soon!
This park is totally free, so are the museums inside it.
It takes about an hour to walk around it!
On one of the pictures, you can see my Chinese teacher. She is an amazing woman, completely devoted to her passion for teaching, and sharing. She is one of the most patient ladies I know, and so sunny!
She brought me lots of fruits I had never seen, we sat down in the park, ate and learned more about each other. This was really a great day

J+56

Today, the teacher gave a a special permission to go out of school, because everybody had an exam.
I took a long walk in Nanjing, found some gorgeous places, green, and...calm!!
I say down for a long while, drank a coffee with two Chinese university students, who study German, they wanted to practice (me too!)

J+53 sports meeting

Yesterday, on Saturday, we had the school sports meeting.
This is a major event for Chinese middle schools, it took place in the Nanjing Olympic stadium!
When my sister told me "the entire school is going there" with an expression of amazement on her face, I was thinking "oh well, nothing exceptional!" -no no no no...
I hadn't quite realized this implied more than 5000 students, taking the underground, to be in the same place, at the same time. (6am... To rehearse one last time of course!)
French rush hour felt really calm to me compared with this nightmare!!!
It lasted all day, until about 4pm.
Students were not allowed to move from their seats without teachers permission and a special paper and they were also not allowed to move to an other class's area, what a pity.
It got slightly boring after 3 hours, our main occupation was to eat!
When I got home, I spent some wonderful time with my little brother. We spoke a lot (only Chinese!!!), played some games and dressed up with my sisters ceremonial outfit (she was one of the 4 people holding the Chinese flag, you may spot her on one of the photos)