New these days

Sheldon Shrimp just climbed the Eiffel Tower. He’s really thirsty, so he’s glad to find a water fountain. After he quenches his thirst, he also finds a snack: A banana is swimming in the water. He never ate a banana before, so he tries a mix of different methods: Putting on a fake beak to pick on the banana, holding it with a finger and peeling it with a crowbar.

Mnemonic symbol: a water fountain.

Willy Walrus (w) set up his microscope (微) on a small table (几) in front of the Eiffel Tower (ei1). He is investigating a very interesting miniature (微) crystal: the crystal looks like a tiny flute (一), and when he chips off pieces with a sledgehammer (攵) they also look like little flutes. He stores the chips in a black sneaker (彳) and to put them under the microscope he uses a fork (山).

Mnemonic symbol: a microscope.

Helga Horse (hu) is sewing a microscopic (微) badge (徽) onto her silken scarf (糸) in front of the Eiffel Tower (ei1). To see the badge while sewing it she uses a microscope (徽).

Yu the Great (yu) uses is special gladiator sandals (辶) to do a long (远) jump in the anthill’s living room (an3). He’s collecting coins (元) like Super Mario.

In front of the anthill (an1) Brunhilde (bi) pushes the power button (力) of her sewing machine to sew the margin (边) of her gladiator sandals (辶).

Mnemonic symbol: a delivery girl.

Inside of the engine’s bathroom, the delivery girl gave a parcel to Susan Spider in passing since she can’t stop her new electrical gladiator sandals. Susan Spider recognizes her demise and uses her spider-superpowers to push the off button of her sandals so that she can rest for a while.

Hamlet (h) sees an early exhibit of king Leonidas’ gladiator sandals (辶) in the airplane’s kitchen (ai2). However, the exhibition is still (还) not set up but in the progress of being set up, so there’s a big sign showing that it’s forbidden (不) to touch the sandals.

Joan of Arc (ji) fell into a well (井) after entering (进) the encampment’s bathroom ((e)n4), but luckily one of her gladiator sandals (辶) got stuck on one toilet, so now she can use the string to climb out of the well.

Joan of Arc (ji) wants to get water from the well (井) in the engine’s living room ((e)ng3), but the well is clogged with bananas (丿) and dinosaur bones (丨). Joan uses a charged capacitor (二) to cause the bananas and dinosaur bones to explode and free the well.

Gitta Giraffe (gu) is trying out her brand new gladiator sandals (辶) in the observatory’s bathroom (o4). She’s even able to cross a puddle of water with them by just walking on the water, so thumbs up (寸) for her!

James II of England (zh) is reading a book (文) while using the elevator’s bathroom (e4). This (这) specific book is so large that he has to place it in a gladiator sandal (辶) to keep it in an open position because he can’t hold it with his hands for long.

Mnemonic symbol: a thick book.

Willy Walrus (w) wants to cook in the encampment’s kitchen ((e)n2). The recipe book (文) is extremely greasy and Willy doesn’t want it to touch anything, nor touch it. That’s why he puts it into a beret (亠) so that it doesn’t touch the floor, and uses pliers (乂) to turn the pages.

The chief and Don Quixote decided to follow the path of the Dao in the aorta’s bathroom. They wear gladiator sandals and meditate sitting on the floor of the bathroom, envisioning the path to enlightment.

Chantal Chicken (chu) tries out her new gladiator sandals (mnemonics symbol for 辶) in the observatory’s bathroom (o4).

In the outhouse’s living room (ou3), the chief (首) lends his piece pipe to Sherlock Holmes (sh). Sherlock smokes the weed (䒑) in the pipe and looks at himself in a hand mirror (自), thinking that he’s uber cool and that he’d pass as a quite formidable chief himself.

Mnemonic symbol: gladiator sandals.

Mnemonic symbol: from the up/down logic, and a little bit the shape of the character, a ladder.

Xi Shi (xi) is on a retreat in the ashram. Using a voodoo staff (卜), she divined that next (下) week she’ll have to play the flute (一) sixteen hours per day. Because she hates playing the flute, she climbs over the ashram’s bathroom (a4) wall using a ladder (mnemonic symbol for 下) to escape.

It is raining (雨) in the space station’s living room (Ø3), and because of zero gravity, it is raining in every direction. Yu the Great (yu) can’t just hide under a ladder (下) covered with petals (丶), he also has to tug himself in a few maps (冂).

Li Qingzhao (li) is on a treasure hunt in the anglepod’s living room (ang3), following a secret map (冂) she found. Finally she found a treasure chest guarded by two (两) rubber chicken (从) which she has to overcome. Luckily, the map mentions a tune that Li Qingzhao plays on her flute (一), and thus bewitching the rubber chicken. The rubber chicken releases the treasure chest, which is full of taels (两) of gold.

Mnemonic symbol: 从 looks like the legs of a rubber chicken.

Mnemonic symbol: a tael boat gold bullion.

Xu Xian (xu) thinks he is very cool how he jumps through fire (火) and over lava (玄) in the anthill’s bathroom (an4) but everyone else just tells him to stop showing off (炫).

Mnemonic symbol from 玄武岩 (xuán wǔ yán), basalt / lava: lava.

Willy Walrus (w) followed a secret treasure map (冂) and arrived in the anglepod’s living room (ang3) where he finds a net (网) of vines. He brought two pairs of pliers (乂) with which he forces the net open to obtain the treasure.

Napoleon and the mean crocodile met in the anthill’s kitchen to discuss a secret plan. The mean crocodile found a map which leads to a treasure of dried fruits. Napoleon and the mean crocodile agree to follow the map and claim the dried fruits, but each of them has his own secret agenda: Napoleon wants to claim the land and put up his big cross, and the crocodile just wants to relax under a palm tree.

Mnemonic symbol: a palm tree (palms are only found in the south)

Tommy Turtle (tu) hits a tall stack of paper (页) with his bald (秃) head (页) in the Eiffel tower’s kitchen (ei2) until the stack of paper collapses (颓).

Lately Zeus (ju) has been acting strange when looking for food in the elevator’s kitchen (e2), so there have been a lot of surveillance cameras (见) put up to monitor him. Zeus thinks (觉) that they are ugly and decorates them with catnip (⺍). He also feels (觉) that the cameras are emitting radiation to read his mind, so he wears a saucepan lid (冖) as a hat to protect his brain from the radiation.

There have been reports of illegal sleepovers in the aorta’s bathroom (ao4), so Joan of Arc (ji) wants to get to the bottom of it. She plans to film the intruders with a surveillance camera (见), but at the same time she may not be discovered, so she hides under a saucepan lid (冖) which is in turn covered up with catnip (⺍) as camouflage. However her attempt at filming the sleepovers fail: as the night comes, she falls asleep (觉) herself in her hideout, cuddling with the many cats attracted by the catnip.

Helga Horse (hu) made dinner for the emperor (皇) in the anglepod’s kitchen (ang2). They’re sitting at a small table (几) and having phoenix (凰) for dinner.

Martin Luther King (王) has a project in which he wants to document the current (现) state of the nation. He has a surveillance camera (见) put up in the anthill’s bathroom (an4) and interviews Xi Shi (xi) about her views about the present (现) time.

Xi shi (xi) and a sea star (⺍) have a strong desire (兴) to smoke catnip (⺍) through a flute (一), so they hide in the engine’s bathroom ((e)ng4) to crush the catnip with an eight-ball (八) and smoke it. Shortly afterwards they relax and loose all their excitement (兴) and interest in anything (兴).

Mnemonic symbol from the shape of the character: a sea star.

In the aorta’s bathroom (ao4) the Queen of Hearts (qi) has an eureka moment: from chocolate (巧) cave paintings (穴) she learns the know-how (窍) how to make chocolate.

Mnemonic symbol: chocolate from 巧克力 (qiao3 ke4 li4).

Xu Xian (xu) wants to study (学) cooking in the elevator’s kitchen (e2). For his dish he uses eggs (子) and (by mistake) catnip (⺍). Lots of cats are circling him, even though he covers his dish with a saucepan lid (冖).

Zorro wants to eat an egg in the space station, and he already put it in a prize cup, as he has no egg cup. He also lacks a spoon, so he uses a big flute to crush the egg open.

Yu the Great (yu) prepares to cook Guangdong’s (粤) most popular drug, meth, in the elevator’s bathroom (e4). First he puts on a breathing mask (丂) to protect himself. Then he starts the process: he puts a petal (丶) into a large plastic enclosure (囗) and adds a sack of rice (米) as the next ingredient.

The air inside of the aorta is so bad that Karl Marx needs a breathing mask to breathe freely.

Mnemonic symbol: a breathing mask.

Karl Marx (k) wants to use the anthill’s bathroom (an4), but when the Eye of Providence (目) is watching (看) so he’s not able to. He uses a big baseball glove (手) to get some privacy.