Dominic D and Jenny H's discussion
jhan
October 07, 2008, 12:16 PM posted in General Discussion
Okay.. let our discussion begin now!
jhan
October 09, 2008, 04:43 AMWell, how does Zhang Liang defend himself? He says LiLi is wrongfully accusing him:"故意冤枉我" But then again, a chain of 误会 flows from here. Zhang Liang thinks LiLi is accusing him just to make a good excuse to breakup! LiLi goes further to say: Liu Xiang is far better off than Zhang Liang - "比你有本事，有钱" Well, that's true (partly)
Really, really heart-broken, Zhang Liang tells the "real" good bye: "你却一直在玩弄我的感情" LiLi "confimrs" the end by saying their relationship was over way before the time.
Well, they are very hot-tempered, aren't they? Good "good-byes" are always the must, but why couldn't they tidy up their messed up relationship after all that ups and downs they went through together? They could've been left as good friends but their impulses did not choose to.
Keeping this in mind, I think we need to act our parts following the emotional dynamics of Zhang Liang and LiLi. This dialogue is very intense, so we should concentrate on showing the irreversible turn of the hearts after all those time. Zhang Liang seems to be more upset than LiLi, so good on you Dom! :)
Well, there goes our whole play. Our part is crucial in a sense it marks the full stop mark to the grang love story of ZL and LL. Well, let's do this:)!
jhan
October 08, 2008, 01:56 AMoookay you are straight on the point! But I would like to add some interesting points on top of your interpretations:
Firstly, The Other Woman:
The degree of misunderstaning here is very severe indeed but what brought about this situation was not that serious. I think it was LiLi's already-deep-seated suspicions towards Zhang Liang that worsended this whole affair. But I think I can sort of understand LiLi's reaction. When women catches something fishy about their man, oh boy you know with their killing instict, they sure can be a better detective than Sherlock Holmes! (So this lesson also teaches you not to mess around with women! haha) I don't know what you might think about LiLi's over-reaction though.
Ooops i should be going to the class now! Talk to you later :)!
jhan
October 08, 2008, 06:13 AMAlso, I thought we might want to check out the useful set phrases in The Other Woman, such as: 加班到（什么时候）to work overtime until.. （手机）关机 to switch off (the phone) 挂电话 to hang up 拨打电话 to dial Now isnt that handy! haha:) PS) I found a mistake in my previous comment. Ooops! What I meant to say was "instinct" not instict! hahaa
jhan
October 08, 2008, 06:50 AMOkay, for Confiding in a Conniving friend, I was lost as well. Why is Chen Jing conniving? But aha! remember what 老师 told us? We need to see each of these dialogues in the context of the whole grand love-story play.
Remember "Scheming Girls" from the 1st group assignment? Let us recap what happened there..:
There, Lily's friend Fei Fei happens to work at the same job as Zhang Liang and to everyone's surprise, she finds him quite charming! She sighs as she hears that Lily and Zhang Liang are in fact a couple. She complains how "这年头好男人都被人挑光了" (all good men are already taken by other girls this days). After all, she is just another person who fell for Zhang Liang's 才华(talent) and 帅(handsome-ness).
Chen Jing volunteers to be a 'love doctor' or some sort to give hope to Fei Fei's unrequited love by suggesting "要不要约他吃顿饭，喝杯东西啊？" (Asking him out for a meal or drink?) A very conscious and loyal girl Fei Fei hesitates - but Chen Jing does not give up pursuading her by saying that in the end, Zhang Liang and Lily may not work out to be together!
------------------
Okay, do you get it now? Chen Jing is a back stabber! She said she doen't want to see LiLi and Zhang Liang together, and she even coaxed Fei Fei to ask Zhang Liang out! How can she be so conniving:b! And in the present dialogue, she is giving advice to LiLi as if she is actually worried about her! Chen Li says "现在的男人不可靠" (Men these days are unreliable) but the most 不可靠 of all should be her! Probably she is interested in Zhang Liang herself(she throws a comment at the end: "其实长亮真的不错" How can she?!?!?!?）
jhan
October 08, 2008, 07:02 AMOkay.. and The Breakup now:
In this dialogue, I could see LiLi was very angry but at the same time, she probably didn't want to 分手 with Zhang Liang! Poor things!
LiLi is being sarcastic from the begging of the quarrel by saying "你有空着急？" in response to the sweetheart Zhang Liang's anxious phone call. Both of these fellas never get tired of 误会 eachother: LiLi blames ZL “脚踏两条船“ and ZL blames LiLi for being “疑神疑鬼“. And the end? Yes, the end. The breakup finally takes place. They are too vain to openly talk about their problems...... tsk tsk..
But then, I guess that's what happens with most of us as well..!
jhan
October 08, 2008, 07:26 AMI want to talk about Dad Gives Advice to a Broken Hearted Son a bit later when I'm done with reviewing the rest of the play.
This leads to our next dialogue, Seeking Comfort:
Remember our old friend Xiu Liang from "The Old Flame", who became the internet millionaire? He was so humble, referring his multi-million business as “自己的小生意而已“！
When LiLi coincidently met Xiu Liang, she was cool and calm, not as excited as Zhang Liang(whom she was going out with at that time-> aka ex-boyfriend :b). She said Xiu Liang is just "老朋友“ and the "flame" between them is just “都是过出的事了.“ Hmm.. but is it really? Now that she is single and needs someone to comfort her - who can be the better contender than Xiu Liang who claims that he was so stupid for “失去了“丽丽 and strives to “游泳都在” next to her?
He thinks it's the God-given "密布的机会" and of course LiLi is both flattered and comforted by him. He promises to be with her until the end because "这么多年了，我心里一直只有你一个"。
aww! how sweet!:)
ddie
October 07, 2008, 12:47 PMTag, your turn...
ddie
October 08, 2008, 10:28 PMwell that was gorgeous... From this synopsis I think I learnt more about you than the text... basically I feel sorry for the guy who fucks up a fone call with you, you'll eat him! (:P)
Neway I'm gonna give a fuller synopsis of the convo with the dad now
ddie
October 08, 2008, 10:54 PMOk well, my extended synopsis for the convo with dad is pretty similar to the one I gave before. Essentially the dad asks about why ZL is not going and urges him to not be constantly worrying about LiLi. ('The past is the past') The son does the standard phrase: you don't understand. In response the dad talks about his time at university where he had a love but it ended. The son in his love drunk naivete can't understand how the dad ever moved on. Neway, the text ends as it began with the son not accepting that the dad can help at all.
I think that this text highlights ZL heartbroken state. He is unresponsive to those around him who want to help and he gives off the image that his situation is somehow unique. I think it's understandable, especially when mean women unjustly hurt his feelings... (:P:P:P) However, given his evident love for her, it begs the question: Why did he not push harder to keep in the relationship? The breakup was kind of odd. I don't think they really want to be together....
Sorry I would add the characters for some of the phrases but the computer is confusing me muchly. Will try later...
jhan
October 09, 2008, 02:00 AMHaha.. yes.. good to hear you learn more of me as well as Chinese (whether for better or for worse) from this discussion.. haha ;b
And yes, I need to finish off this whole play with It's Over!
Zhang Liang and LiLi meet up (having a cuppa mocha!) again after they confront each other in the bar. Zhang Liang somewhat bitterly reminisce over their good ol' memories, starting from the first time they met. They also talk about how their life has changed since the split.
Zhang Liang, being a gentleman here, apologizes first for being impulsive. LiLi apologizes for being irrational. Apparently, LiLi is finding it hard to accpt the sudden changes (well, after all she is engaged to Liu Xiang) and Zhang Liang is now a "pessimistic" workaholic.
After hearing LiLi is planning to immigrate to Australia (why is it always Australia in every Asian soap drama?Hmm..) with Liu Xiang, hopeless Zhang Liang is desperate.LiLi says they can always meet up again, but Zhang Liang is doubtful about it...
Well.. there is the real end.
jhan
October 09, 2008, 02:12 AMYes and I agree with your point about Dad Gives Advice to a Heart-Broken Son. It seems a bit odd that ZL did not push hard enough to keep the relationship. But then, from Zhang Liang's point of view, he might have thought letting LiLi go to the talented, wealthier man (as she said it in their heated argument) would be better off for her. You know how when you watch those Asian soap dramas, it is the greatest virtue for the guys to let their girls go to the other relatively "well off" man? It is not "manly" to show that you are desperate to keep the realationship. It is only when their femal counterparts shed tears and beg them to come back they actually do turn around. I think this is part of the typical Asian (particularly China, Korea..etc) culture where the male should be the one who is subject to the sacrifice.
Hmm.. an I being to critical? Am I too over the top? Well, after all, I've watched too many Asian soap dramas I guess..;b
I will be back with the analysis of It's Over(Again)!
jhan
October 09, 2008, 04:43 AMI'm back! Okay.. I'm gonna give you my analysis of It's Over(Again). Just tell me if you want to add anything:)
I need to correct my mistake in the previous thread about "It's Over". Apparently, "It's Over" comes before "Uncomfortable Encounter in a Bar." Well, how did I figure that out? Well, If I look at the present dialogue, Zhang Liang says "上次在酒吧实在抱歉.“
So the order of the dialogues goes like this:
The Other Woman ->Confiding in the Conniving Friend-> The Breakup -> Dad Gives Advice to a Broken Hearted Son -> Uncomfortable Encounter in a Bar -> It's Over(Again)
Okay, as to "It's Over" I think it can come either before Dad Gives Advice to a Broken Hearted Son or after it. What do you think?
Back to the dialogue:
There are a lot of 误会, again as in The Breakup. Zhang Liang attempts to apoligize for what happened back at the bar but LiLi simply dismisses his sincere apology by saying "算了，一点小事" But was it really just a "小事"? No, I don't think so. For LiLi, that mishap was the final blow to 早点死心. Instead of clearing the 误会, LiLi cuts Zhang Liang: "我们还是做朋友好"
We can hear Zhang Liang's heart is breaking at this point. He bursts out to prove that the choice LiLi made was wrong and it is him that she should choose: "(刘祥）不可能真心爱的你" But does LiLi care? No! She accuses Zhang Liang does not have such "权力" to say such 厉害地说 about Liu Xiang, especially when she found out about him and Fei Fei.
Remember Fei Fei from "Scheming Girls"?
Here, LiLi's friend Fei Fei happens to work at the same job as Zhang Liang and to everyone's surprise, she finds him quite charming! She sighs as she hears that LiLi and Zhang Liang are in fact a couple. (well, an ex-couple now) She ocomplains how "这年头好男人都被人挑光了" (all good men are already taken by other girls this days). After all, she is just another person who fell for Zhang Liang's 才华(talent) and 帅(handsome-ness). (It is here where Chen Jing - our conniving friend - volunteers to be a 'love doctor' or some sort to give hope to Fei Fei's unrequited love by suggesting "要不要约他吃顿饭，喝杯东西啊？" (Asking him out for a meal or drink?) A very conscious and loyal girl Fei Fei hesitates)
Okay, clearly they were just good workmates but Chen Jing must have coaxed LiLi to fire up LiLi's suspicion. (darn girl!)
jhan
October 08, 2008, 07:42 AMThe next dialogue is "Uncomfortable Encounter in a Bar". Zhang Liang and the mysterious woman called Zhenhua who popped out of nowhere(Well, Zhang Liang calls her铁公鸡！） VS LiLi and Xiu Liang!
So Zhenhua seems to a friend with Zhang Liang at least since he was still going out with LiLi. It's because she knows Xiu Liang and LiLi already! She also tells Zhang Liang off for not catching “不一般的关系” between those two early enough, when she sees LiLi and Xiu Liang in the same bar.
Xiu Liang tries to be gentle, asking Zhenhua how he should call her. However Zhenhua snap at him, ridiculing him as a “小人“ Well, that was random, wasn't it?But as a friend who seems to worry about heart-broken Zhang Liang so much, no wonder she was so over-protective. She presses Zhang Liang for an answer:"你除了自己生闷气，还会什么？“ But don't think she is just being a random meanie- she is actally worried about Zhang Liang and tells him to “早点死心“. But Zhang Liang seems to be indifferent. Poor thing- probably he is still not over LiLi!
ddie
October 07, 2008, 12:45 PMHey J Han, ok so I've been reviewing the first four lessons and have got a bit of a summary. Now I haven't learnt all the characters as I was trying to see if I understood the text without relying on the chinesepod translation. As a result, some information might be missing but by and large the synopsus is correct (i'll even wager a bet with you madame, 20, 30 dollars... :P) Here's the summary for the first four lessons with questions that may need to be answered for greater clarity.
Awkward phone interplay all hinting at Zhang Liang being in the process of having an affair with another lady.
(What degree was it misinterpretation?)
Confiding in a Conniving Friend
LiLi talks with her friend about how she believes that Zhang Liang is loving another lady.
(How is the friend conniving)
The Breakup
You guessed it… they both attack each other for their past infidelities and in the end they decide to end the relationship… hmmm, tai ma fan!
A Dad Gives Advice to a Broken Hearted Son
The dad wants to know what’s going on with his son but the son says he simply won’t understand. The dad even goes so far as to explain his own past with women but the son remains adamant that the dad’s generation and the son’s are different and therefore advice from one is redundant to the other.