I’m slowly starting to learn Chinese characters. I wonder if this is actually worth it. Well, I’m enjoying it, so I’m forging ahead. Check out the receipt for my “Yi ping mian” (my noodle dish that I frequently eat for lunch):

See the lower left corner? You see the numeral “1″ (not sure why Roman numerals are favored over the Chinese versions) followed by two characters. I’ve learned the first; it’s quite common. I describe it as a “J” with two little slashes on either side. This is the word “xiao” which means “small”. The other character is therefore “wan” which means “bowl”. ‘Cause I always order “Yi ping mian xiao wan”. I haven’t memorized “wan” yet ’cause it’s more complicated. “Xiao” is quite common…as you’ll soon see.

Oh yes, also look at the character in the upper left followed by the “3″. It looks like a wishbone, sorta. This is the character for “ren” or “person”. We had 3 people at our table this day. I think “ren” is the very first character that everyone learns; it was for me too.

OK, check this out:

These two characters together mean “center”, as in a “shopping center”. The first character, “zhong”, looks like a rectangle with a vertical line through it. It means “middle”. The second, “xin”, looks like a backwards “J” with three slashes. It means “heart”. So, the word for “center” is a combination of “middle heart”. Go figure. I remember learning “xin” and asking, “How does that look like a heart?” “Doesn’t it look like a heart? See the valves and the major veins?” Well, after looking for a long time, I guess I see it. Reminds me of the computer-generated 3D artwork where it takes a long time to “see” the image. Anyway, this is a very common combination that you see everywhere.

Now, finally, look at this one:

I showed this in a previous post. Note the first two characters: “xiao” followed by “xin” (granted, “xin” looks much different in this picture). Those two together mean “be careful”. So, “small heart” means “be careful”. I have no idea if Chinese folks think about small hearts when someone tells them to be careful, I’ll have to followup with that one. Anyway, it’s interesting how a combination of these very simple words mean new things. Another word that uses “xin” is “happy”. Put the word for “open”, or “kai”, in front of “heart” and you have “happy”, or “open heart”. That’s Chinese for you.