User Comments - Grambers

Posted on: The Seven Year Itch 3: Extramarital Involvement

When I get that feelin', I need 勾搭 heeeealin'...勾-搭 FEEEEELIN' is just so very good for me (but not the wife). 

Posted on: Snacks

I'm 99% sure that it's “一粒一粒的“ - 粒 (lì) being a measure word for granular things, so she's describing the kind of snack in which there are lots of individual 'bits' or pellets, or somesuch. There's plenty of these kind of dried meat snacks in China.

Posted on: Shopping for the Husband

Ach, you nearly had me ready to lay down arms, but I can't, in all good conscience, let "Best keep mouth shut and head down" go.

Isn't this kind of attitude the most obvious starting point when describing what is wrong with the Chinese education system and, more generally, with the culture behind its system of governance? Having failed to achieve perfection ourselves here in the UK, we are in no position to lecture - on this you have my agreement. But I see now reason why constructive criticism cannot be advanced without having to be chided for failing to understand China's peculiar cultural exemptions (and perhaps 'hurting the feelings of the Chinese people'?).

It seems to me (having spent [a little] time working within the education system in both the UK and China) that where we in the UK promote the middle line - thus dragging up the poorer students UP towards that middle line, and conversely dragging the more able students DOWN towards that middle line - China promotes the top line only. It means that, in China, if you are a gifted student you are far more likely to be driven on to great heights - far higher than you would do in the public (in the American sense of the term) education sector here. If, however, you are a middling student you are quite likely to emerge from that system knowing how to read and write (important skills, granted) and toe the teacher's line, but not a huge amount else.

Sorry Bodawei. I appear to be on my high horse again. However, I can't depart without pointing out that going for the old "Enough of all this politics, let's talk about shopping" line makes you sound like chief strategist for Deng Xiaoping (well, it would do if he wasn't dead!:)).

Posted on: Shopping for the Husband

But, yeah, now that we have most certainly broken the 5,000 threshold, we may be best off agreeing to differ!:)

Posted on: Shopping for the Husband

Some good points, well made. Looking to the Chinese way in your search of the good life (I understand exactly what you mean) seems to me to be a very valuable pastime.

However, I think - taking a broad sweep of history and looking to different parts of the world and different cultures - I think you'll find some very clear trends in governance and education and jurisprudence etc.. We're not all doing things in exactly the same way, no - granted. However, there are clear trends - and, yes, the most obvious point on which this sticks is politics. Democracy is an historical trend - I think even the Global Times admitted as such in a recent op-ed.

Posted on: Shopping for the Husband

Um...I don't think so (though I have never read Hofstede, so I can't be too sure). Daoism (particularly attitudes towards natural environment) would be the place that I'd, personally, start. So many magnificent ideas to ponder on (though I'm happy to make full disclosure: I have never read about Daoism in the Chinese language).

Posted on: Market Research 2: Management Report

啊，明白了。谢谢你！：）

Posted on: Shopping for the Husband

To make clear, the 'behaviour' I've described above does mainly take place at the level of national political discourse but is often parroted at the individual level too - generally by the one of the many millions of people who have done exceedingly well for themselves in the last 30 years.

Posted on: Shopping for the Husband

You may be right about the three-stage cycle, though your stage three would definitely be my stage two. In my experience, foreigners engaging with China 1) go through the culture shock where all that seems important are the differences 2) start to appreciate the intricacies of culture difference (and - assuming you got the 'tools' - twig that culture goes deep, deep deep) then 3) while continuing to appreciate all the marvels of Chinese culture and making sincere strides in language-learning and so on and so forth, begin to find China's reservation for itself the very peculiar right to resist universal trends in (to name a random few) i) governance ii) education iii) jurisprudence iv) minority rights on the basis of 'deep culture' a highly irksome and deeply political behaviour which has no basis in truth and every basis in issue-avoidance.

Posted on: Essential Math Terms

My God. I'm stunned, amazed... I genuinely had no idea there were people in the world who had this much spare time.

And now, if you'll excuse me, i'm off to spend my evening watching the most geometric of sports, snooker - Ding Junhui is taking on Ronnie O'Sullivan. At such times I cast aside petty nationalism - c'mon the Ding!