Some more Asian nerdiness...

[It's official. I need to learn an Asian language. And then go study/teach in that country. Yet another person told me today that my Chinese pronunciation is very good, not including the couple ppl that tell me my Thai pronunciation is good as well. And Japanese, although that language is easy in comparison. If I were to ever learn a language to use in my life, it is going to have to be an Asian one. Apparently I can speak very well, as opposed to the other languages I've tried.]

So Jai-Ching has been telling us that an ethnomusicologist from China is going to be guest lecturing for several weeks. Dr. Wong arrived today, and was originally going to start teaching next week, since he just flew in from China last night. Well, he instited that he start today. It was such an awsome class. He doesn't speak much English so Jai-Ching was translating for us. He is so funny! Very happy person, and he got so excited over the little things he was teaching us. You could tell that he loves Chinese music and it's history.

So here I am, trying desparately to memorize the Chinese sentences we have been learning. I told him "Lao shu ni hao ma" ("How are you teacher"), "Wan dan ming zu sheu Hue Mei-Xue," (My name is Michelle Heuer. Oh, and my Chinese name Mei-Xue actually means "beautiful/pristine" and "snow", not "snail" according to my Chinese friend Lena), and "Wa dan dran yea sheu yin-yue" (My major is Music). The only thing I messed up on was my name. I can pronounce everything else fine! Just not my name. Go figure. The back of my neck/left shoulder knots up trying to pronounce it. I'm sure that's not supposed to happen.

He gave us an overview of what he is going to be talking about. There are lots of different categories and subcategories of music and the different functions it served, and each is sung/played differently. I guess not unlike any other culture, but in Asian cultures it just seemed more strict in separation, more functional and identifiable. It was truly fascinating...and exciting when I could actually identify certain words he was saying, like "yin-yue" which means "music." He was so good at explaining differences with his tone and hand gestures that sometimes we didn't need Jai-Ching to translate. This is the coolest class ever!!! The only hard part is all the reading we have to do.

AND a flautist in the class (who happens to be a poly-sci/econimics major with a chinese minor) brought in some Chinese flutes and Mr. Wang helped her play some (the Chinese notational process is different, as well as the fingerings on the flute as compared to a normal flute). Maybe she can teach me a little bit some time.
(AHHHH!!!!!!)

I also had to watch a Chinese movie for a paper I have to write later. I watched Red Cliff (and Red Cliff II), which is a 2-disk movie based in feudal China at the end of the Han Dynasty (203 BC I think). It's all about how an evil powerhungry war-mongering prime minister for the emperor starts a war with the other 2 kingdoms, who join forces to oppose him. There are a lot of traditional Chinese culture in it, a lot of staff fighting and those lightning-fast movements that made Jackie Chan popular. Not a lot of Kung-fu though. The plot was very intricate, showing both sides strategizing how to defeat the other. It got really suspenseful, and the actors portrayed all the characters really well...you felt like you were in the story. It is 6 1/2 hours total and I watched most of it last night, it was so good. Downside: Really gory, but a really fake kind of gory (bright red watery "blood" that doesn't look real at all). All the same, I could have done without it...but it is about war, so it did give it a more realistic view. If you like action/drama like Lord of the Rings or The Patriot or Gladiator-type films you would like it.