Did You Learn Anything?

 Back in college days, when I occasionally got bored while studying philosophy.

Sometimes, when I think about how much time I spend reading and writing blogs, I think blogging should be a little more educational. I know that some blogs devote a lot of time to creating educational content in the form of crafting or technological tutorials, but my own blog is sadly lacking in that regard.


I have neither the patience, nor the inclination, nor, really,  the knowledge to invent recipes and tutorials. However, today, I hope you will leave here having learned something new. Here are the educational tidbits I have to share with you.

• If you're ever reading pinyin, currently the most commonly used romanization of Mandarin Chinese, Q is pronounced the way English-speakers would pronounce CH. Crazy, I know, but believe me. Now say: Qing Dao, Qin Dynasty, Qi Pao, and Qi. Previously, that would have been totally confusing, but isn't it easy to say Ching, Chin, and Chi? Yes, there are tones to be grappled with, but if you get the basic sounds right, you're nearly there. 
• And here's a whole post on how to properly pronounce Beijing.
• Orangutans are originally native to Malaysia and Indonesia, and their name sounds very much like orang hutan, which translates to something like forest person. I've found that fact very interesting every since seeing orangutans at the zoo in Malaysia and realizing that their name pretty much identifies them as the people of the forest....
• It is possible to make tacos without using packets of "taco seasoning" on your meat. In fact, I recommend that you don't use such packets.
• Anna Leonowens of The King and I fame was a real person.
• Michigan boasts two cities that repeatedly end up on most crime-ridden and most deadly cities in America: Flint and Detroit. I've traveled to both more times than I could count.
• Michigan is also home to Bronner's--probably the world's largest Christmas supply store which sells Christmas themed products all but 4 days out of the whole year. That makes you more inclined to visit, doesn't it?
• Kool-Aid hair dye can be really, really permanent on blondes especially. Some people still insist that it's not, but I say don't do it unless you know you can live with colored hair until you get it cut off or colored darker. I've seen a lot of Kool-aid regret cases.
• IVs, when they're in you, don't actually have a metal needle sticking inside your vein the whole time. I just learned this from Angel last week. I never knew! I always imagined you had to keep your arm perfect still and straight when you had an IV or the metal needle would poke through your vein and cause a big mess of things.

Now, what do you have to teach me today? We all have our areas of expertise, and they're all different! (I'm clearly no expert in nursing. For that matter, I'm also no expert on HTML, engineering of any type, quilting, the German language, and a variety of other subjects).

So, tell me something I don't know!