Amazon Kindle - how to link to two Amazon accounts (Simplified Chinese Children's Stories)

Yesterday I was searching for one thing:

Children's eBooks written in Simplified Chinese that I can look up words for pronunciation and meaning.

Spoiler Alert (solution): My solution was to deregister my Macbook Kindle from my amazon.com account and register it to my amazon.cn account (note, at first I used the same email for both accounts, and when I deregistered and tried to register the other account, the amazon.com account took priority - the Fix - was to change my amazon.cn accounts email address...then it worked great). Also, in the kindle app I downloaded the "A Modern Chinese-English Dictionary".

Sadness Alert (problem): In the end the device I decided to use to read my Chinese books couldn't also have my Amazon.com English books...ideally I could have had all my books together. Maybe you reader knows of a solution?

So ya, I was kind of specific. I wanted these books because I want to teach myself to read Chinese (I can speak some already). Naturally it will be easier to read and understand a children's book.

Well I'm not going to tell you everything I did - but I will say for my project it was a waste of time to try to find websites that sold eBooks or gave them away. I never found a good children's book selection, or if it was good then the site was in Chinese and awkward to work with, or the site tried to push it's own software for reading their books. Plus, .pdf, or any image file is useless as it can't be translated.

It sounds simple enough...but it took me many hours to finally get to a solution that was acceptable. I hope this saves someone a bit of that time.

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Key Words: Chinese Children's books, Chinese eBooks, Learning to read Chinese, Simplified Chinese stories.

Sabbath - Word Pictures

The Complex

There are so many buildings around here that each day as I commute I seem to see new ones. They are globs found off of the main arteries that the buses filled with bodies are found. The building I am in now I have walked within a 1/8 mile of many times but I never saw it despite it being 16 stories tall. It was masked by other buildings of equal or greater height. I'm in just residing in one cell of nearly 2,000 in this dense cluster. On average those 2,000 other cells have between around 4 life forms inside. That's nearly 8,000 people. Well that's if the numbers are right anyway. Even if they're only half right, it's still a large number. And this is just one complex located away from the heart of the city. And I'm just one of the ones living here.

Opportunity Strikes - again

I just finished talking with my brother on skype. Well I wasn't actually finished, but he had to be in order to go to work. We were talking about words and how they can take average people to above average places. Words are powerful - they can change how you feel and certainly help one decide what actions they will take. I remember back in high school reading Shad Helmstetter's book about self-talk and I got into a conviction that the power of words was where it was all at. Then I backed down as I tried to be realistic - after all saying "I have a million dollars in the bank" doesn't create that money instantly. Well, I probably should have been more inquisitive at that time, because as it turns out saying something like "I will work hard to get an 'A' on my test - I can already tell my hard work is paying off" can really help get you motivated to figure out what ACTIONS need to be taken to fulfill the dream. People have told me "it's hard to be a vegetarian in China", I don't know how they fared, but I told myself "this is a great place to be a vegetarian" and I've found quite a bit of delicious cuisine. You know I think it is a principle that God put into the world - that if we use positive words we can discover positive emotions, positive solutions, positive energy, positive perspectives. This is something that the I believe the whole world needs more of. Wouldn't it just be fabulous to see people giving out affirmations freely and smiling at the sunrise. You can.

English

Why is English such a valuable language. I know it's valuable because people will give a lot for their children to have the opportunity to soak up this beautiful language. Off the top of my head I can think of several reasons why English is important. The common language of business is English, the language of the Aircraft industry is English, computer code and the internet is based around English, from what I understand the medical industry especially for doctors and other highly educated positions need to know English and Latin, and of course English makes it easy to travel and live in some of the wealthiest and freest nations on the earth.

September 2012

Tomorrow marks the beginning of a new routine for me. I will be taking Chinese classes in the morning from 8-12. I'm excited to start soaking in more of this lovely language...it will do wonders in helping me really communicate with everyone around me. In the afternoons I will be on several missions: I will be teaching English at Huamei school again, except this year only for 9 periods and no administrative duties. Also in the afternoons I will be spending time with my buddy Ryan as we plan the launch of our kindergarten and Summer program. I am extremely fortunate to have an "adopted" family who I also get to hang out with and go swimming with and eat with throughout the week. I'll be staying at their home part time and part time in my new apartment.

It has been a great summer. I've gone places I never thought I would go and went to others I thought I wouldn't see for a few more years. Isn't life great - it's full of surprises and is always exciting.

Today a new teacher at our school commented that I'm "bubbling with optimism" - I was struck by that and thought about why I come across that way. It's true that over the last two years I have made it a point to be moving forward and purposefully trying to make myself a meaningful person and resource to organisations, and I guess that shows. However I definitely did not feel real optimistic many days and weeks this last year...I wondered what's next. All I knew is it was something new and different. Then the pieces started falling in place. Other people with the entrepreneurial spirit. Mentors and nay-sayers. Then some big goals starting forming, then bite size steps started forming. The key was when I said "yes this is where I'm going to have a blast, work my tail off, and enjoy life" my optimism started to rise again.

Thoughts:
-It takes the same energy to set a small goal as it does a large goal
-People saying it's tough, are really saying there is opportunity - if you can navigate your way
-Honesty and transparency really pay off - that doesn't mean sharing every thought, but keeping 100% integrity when you do
-Words are your greatest tool - when thought and spoken they set the course for your actions - being conscious about what you hear and see and choosing the best will add even more leverage
-Never stop reading and learning - decide what you want to learn and take action...be it a language, how to interact with people, how to manage money, or how to raise a child (even if you don't have any)

"I'm from France"

"You'll find Swiss Cheese here"

"Italy's floating city"

Europe Trip - synopsis

Well the summer is running its course. I am back in Guangzhou after an intensive Europe visit. Four countries and many cities in about sixteen days. We didn't stay in any city for more than two nights except for Paris where we stayed four nights. We went from Italy, to Switzerland, to Austria, and then to France.

There were several cities where I could have easily spent weeks: Paris and Rome being two of them. I was overwhelmed with all of the beautiful architecture across Europe. It was so refreshing - each building seemed to have so much thought and care put into it...this is in contrast to China where everything looks rather cheap and not well planned out (well okay, not everything, but that's the general feel).

Because of the group I was with I got to visit a lot of high end stores with Swiss watches and fancy handbags and almost priceless dresses. I personally didn't buy anything. Okay, I did buy some ice cream - and boy do they make awesome Gelato ice cream...delicious!

I'm glad to be "home" though...where I can get my cheap massages and hand pulled noodles.

Saturday Pics

Hi Reader,

Last Saturday I took several photos. They don't really have a great amount of rhyme or reason, but maybe you'll still find them interesting.

 My bedroom. It is a nice quite room. There is a computer desk in the corner, my bed and of course the closet. I am starting to learn guitar again!

 My fix to a broken backpack...the fix will last longer than the original pieces.

 Recently we acquired two little kittens at our home. They will have to grow a bit before they'll be able to take on the rat problem (since the rats are twice or thrice their size).

 The main road is always covered with trucks hauling stuff from factories to the ports I assume.

 A city of 15 million needs many lanes. They plan for growth, so even though these six lanes look a little barren now, look back in 5 years and you'll see plenty of traffic (or just look later in the day :).

 Unsuspecting shoppers. I shot this through a bus window. I want to take more photos of people's faces, but it always feels quite awkward.

 Colored light falling on the church floor.

 The source of the colored light is the sun + these panes of colored glass.

Random shot of the road near my home on the way to school.

2011-2012 Students and Staff

Here are a couple pictures showing our students this last year. Also you can see the American staff that I got to work with. Ryan, Lance, and I are going to miss these kids...they were great.

GIA 1st Grade

GIA 2nd Grade

GIA 3rd and 4th Grades

American Staff

Grandpas Birthday

Last night grandpa (referring to my Chinese family) turned 78. Pictured are: dad, grandpa, mom, mayor from Yangjiang, teacher Chen, and myself.