Characters

I am beginning to pay more attention to the Chinese character. I'm not talking the "people" rather the calligraphic characters that make up their written language.

It has always been a daunting task for me to try to understand. There are so many lines, so much movement...after a while they ALL begin to look the same to me. While out on a very early morning walk a couple of days ago I stood near the entrance to a small park that sits behind my hotel. Carved out of metal, there are panels in the iron fencing of a beautiful Chinese character.

I sat and looked at it for a long time. Wondering what it meant, what it stood for. It was fairly obvious to me it must have something to do with "park" as that is where it was located and the fence went around the perimeter of the park.

Upon further study I noticed something. The top character looked like a child dancing. Arms and legs outspread, skipping you might say. The character below resembles a tree. It hit me like a ton of bricks! People playing, trees....this has to be the character for park, it was all to obvious.
Upon discussing it with my class I learned I was correct. It has opened my eyes too many more characters, I find i don't just pass them by - i study them to see if I can decipher their meaning.

Being here has taught me a valuable lesson. I am learning to listen more, to see more and to think outside of the box. I am quieting myself and trying to see how these people see things. It is good for me, and I find I enjoy the silence I afford myself.