Two Tigers (See How They Run)

Today my students taught me a song before class, and to my complete surprise, I understood every word of it (except one). Ahem (sung to the tune of "Frere Jacka"):

两只老虎 / Liang zhi laohu / Two tigers
两只老虎 / Liang zhi laohu / Two tigers
跑的快 / Pao de kuai / Quickly run
跑的快 / Pao de kuai / Quickly run
一只没有眼睛 / Yi zhi mei you yanjing / One has no eye
一只没有尾巴 / Yi zhi mei you weiba / One has no tail
真奇怪 / Zhen qiguai / Very strange
真奇怪 / Zhen qiguai / Very strange

The one word I didn't get was ... tail. Weiba. But otherwise, it all clicked. Pretty amazing for me. I often see in my students, and see in my own use of my vocabulary, a reiteration of various core words that can be grouped with other simple yet powerful words to express complex ideas; basically, talking around what you want, but defining it more or less within comprehension. I've used that word qiguai, strange, so often to comment on a million things that are weird, rude, unsettling, vulgar, and unusual. And he it comes back at me in this simple kid's song.

Then I was humbled when my students sang it back to me in English and in French.

Great day of class today. And then a great tutor session where I was able to derive the meaning of a lot of new words based solely on the character. The weather is gorgeous, sunny and warm, and I think I'll go run to the gym, rather than running at the gym.

I told Jenny a while ago, some days I love China, and some days I hate it. Today, I love China.