Hi All,

Since returning to my hometown in Massachusetts, I have encountered some situations that would be very unlikely to occur in China.  The other day I went to get the H1N1 疫苗 (vaccine) in order to 预防 (prevent) the spread of the virus.  The vaccine was being distributed for free as part of a large public trial of the vaccine.  Everyone present had to 排队 (get on line) outside my old 学校 (school).  The line snaked around the building, and various interest groups took advantage of the line’s length to spread their message; some of these groups included people promoting a candidate and who wanted people on line to 投票 (vote) for him in the upcoming 参议会 (senate) elections.  Another group present at the event was a public interest group distributing 传单 (fliers) made to look like the information sheets being passed out by the doctors.  One of the vaccine administration volunteers took the sheet away, prompting one person to ask what gave them the  权利 (right) to be able to do that, given that the sheets were not their own and that they were volunteers without authority to do such things.  The volunteer promptly took the sheet and 扔掉 (threw [it ]away), which only led the person in line to inquire why she didn’t use it for 回收 (recycling).  I missed my hometown.

疫苗 yi2miao4 – vaccine
预防 yu4fang3 – prevent
排队 pai2dui4 – line up, form a queue
学校 xue2xiao4 – school
投票 tou2piao4 – vote
参议会 can1yi4hui4 – senate
传单 chuan2dan1 – flier
权利 quan2li4 – right
扔掉 reng1diao4 – to throw out
回收 hui2shou1 – recycle