names

so, I wrote a post about two days ago, and the internet crashed and the post was lost, so I've been kind of bitter towards the computer, but here is the second-go. We just finished taking the IELTS test, an English proficiency test aimed for students going to Britain, Australia or Canada. It was kind of like an easy SAT reading comprehension, with an actually surprisingly muffled speaking part. I kind of zoned out a little on the speaking, I hope I didn't do too poorly. The rationale is because we may have to teach it, we have to know what it's like. This afternoon we are going to a 4th of July beach barbeque, hopefully it will be fun. I don't really do much for the 4th of July in the states, so it's a little funny to be having a big celebration now half-way across the globe in China, especially because many of the teachers are from England, Canada and Australia (there's also a teacher from Denmark).
My original post was about names though, which I have to admit, are very odd. I don't know what it is about choosing English names, but it seems like a completely different set of names sound good to the Chinese ear. About half the girls are named either Linda or Wendy, and there are lots of boys with names like Wilson, Bill, Dick, etc. My TA's name is Jelly, and I also have a student named Mirror. Other TAs are named Lavender and Cici (a somewhat popular name here) There's also girls named Coco, Yumi, and Drew, and boys named Set and Sketch. Most extreme is a boy named PS2, or Play Station 2, and one named Shaq (after the basketball player Shaquille O'Neil for those who don't know). I hope my Chinese name, Yan Li ning, doesn't sound quite as ridiculous or outdated to Chinese ears, I quite like the sound.