So another Monday Morning email from Bosch
China’s HR department took me off guard…again.
Chris and I were wondering what paperwork we
needed for us to get work visas.
Sally (Xu Chen), our Bosch HR contact, responded with the following
list.
 |
| Why do these emails always arrive on Monday Morning? |
I was taken back by item #6, your favorite
Chinese name. I had to research this
phenomenon to see if it was legit. After reading this article on echinacities.com, I decided needed to take control of the situation and select my Chinese alias. If I let my Chinese co-workers
select my name, it would more than likely end up being “Crazy Woman with Dogs” or “American Wi-Fi
Seeker”.
So in an attempt to keep the naming process
real, I asked my Media Specialist for her input. She responded,
“What
about morning? You always sign your
emails A-M.”
I thought about this…it made sense. I dashed to my computer, opened Google
Translate and typed morning.
I got “早” as result.
(Pronounced Zǎo) Chris liked it. His exact words were “That’s very pretty.” I
could actually pronounce and write it.
It seemed like a winner. To make sure all would be great with 早,
I decided to ask my authority on all
things Chinese, Jie (my Chinese tutor),
about a name during our Tuesday lesson.
 |
| Jie teaches me how to negotiate by showing me the hand signal for seven. |
“If you would like
a Chinese name, I can give you Chinese name. That would be very good! Let me
think about it tonight and I will give you some names tomorrow!” she exclaimed.
At the end of my
Wednesday lesson, Jie pulled out her list of names she thought were
pretty.
Jie’s Names for Anne-Marie
Ānmì
(安谧)- Ānmì means peaceful or tranquil. Anyone who knows me that I am not either one
of these. Hence, 安谧 is a
no go.
Yè
zǐ (叶紫)- Yè zǐ means Leaf. Yeah…I don’t think so.
Bìyù
(碧玉)- Bìyù
is Chinese for Jasper. Insert your own
joke here. NO NO NO!
Diāochán
(貂蝉) – Apparently Diāochán has a history. I
need to make my own story in China. I
also don’t want to be named after someone who is ancient.
Bái
xuě (白雪) - Bái xuě means snow. Snow White was by far the most irritating
Disney Princess, so her name is out.
When
I asked her about the name Morning, she looked at me like I had 10 heads and
asked,
“You want to be called Zǎo?
That’s not a pretty name.”
She proceeded to burst into laughter for about 5 minutes.
She then told me that people
would remember the name Zǎo. I immediately knew I
had to trust Jie and go for one of the names on her list.
She
had one more name for me.
Mòlì
(茉莉)
– Mòlì
the Chinese name for Jasmine. The characters are a little
difficult to write, but I liked it. I
think we have a winner!!
Ní
háo! Wò jiāo Mòlì!
