Exchange

Words I've taught my office mates:
alien
giggle/giggling
zoning
FAR/ floor area ratio
lobby
corridor
plum
Mormon
dinosaur
taco
popsicle
pastry
workaholic
pineapple
at-grade / surface

I often write these words down, at their request, and I looked back over the various scraps of paper today. Its fun to try and remember the conversations that spurred these words (alien = looking at my sister's ultrasound. A boy!) and how I went about using smaller words to explain their meaning ("small men from space" [pointing to sky]). Though I will admit I can not remember why we were talking about Mormons!

I also like the two basic themes present: food and planning. The basics.

The list of words I have learned in return is decidedly less interesting (right, left, 1 through 10, etc.), but this is obviously due to my lack of any Mandarin knowledge before arriving, and not their ability to teach.