If you feel the translated expression colloquial/earthy, then congratulations, you get the exact feeling of ordering and eating in an average restaurant in Dongbei or a Dongbei restaurant in regions other than Dongbei. The reason for 东北人to greet you in this way is to show their sincerity and honesty, or in other words, to appear closer to customers. In some Dongbei restaurants in non-Dongbei regions, you have a very good chance to experience not only the typical Dongbei greetings but also sections of 二人转, a traditional Dongbei opera with one man and one woman singing and dancing. The words, usually are a bit sleazy. I have to say these restaurants are not cheap at all, in the sense of price.
I understand that you don't usually see such thing happen in restaurants in your countries. But I'm sure since you have learned Chinese for quite a while, you may have also picked up some Chinese culture, which is very different from western culture. In terms of restaurants, China has much more earthy restaurants than in your countries, after all this is a country with barely 100 million wealthy people out of its 1.3 billion population. Thus, most restaurants will choose to milk money from the majority/average people. In the case of this lesson, it gives you an example of restaurant culture of one part of China, specifically Dongbei. There are a lot more different Chinese restaurant expressions in different regions of China, which you haven't seen/learned yet.
I believe you started learning Chinese partly because of your interests in not only the language but also the fascinating culture. But how can the culture be conveyed through translation is a difficult task. In a lot of dialogues, culture is not a big concern, for example, asking for directions, buying movie tickets and getting a drink on an airplane. I agree under such circumstance, flat English works well. However, most of the time we cannot avoid cultural and social subjects and we need to convey the feeling of the culture to non-native speakers. This is a bit similar to using people's stereotypes of the Swedish in the muppet show "the Swedish Chef". The Dongbei lesson is an example of conveying Dongbei culture.
On top of all these, I believe you are here learning Chinese, but not translation skills.
I made comments like this based on the fact that I'm a native Chinese speaker.
Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Dongbei
June 20, 2009 at 2:41 AMDear all,
If you feel the translated expression colloquial/earthy, then congratulations, you get the exact feeling of ordering and eating in an average restaurant in Dongbei or a Dongbei restaurant in regions other than Dongbei. The reason for 东北人to greet you in this way is to show their sincerity and honesty, or in other words, to appear closer to customers. In some Dongbei restaurants in non-Dongbei regions, you have a very good chance to experience not only the typical Dongbei greetings but also sections of 二人转, a traditional Dongbei opera with one man and one woman singing and dancing. The words, usually are a bit sleazy. I have to say these restaurants are not cheap at all, in the sense of price.
I understand that you don't usually see such thing happen in restaurants in your countries. But I'm sure since you have learned Chinese for quite a while, you may have also picked up some Chinese culture, which is very different from western culture. In terms of restaurants, China has much more earthy restaurants than in your countries, after all this is a country with barely 100 million wealthy people out of its 1.3 billion population. Thus, most restaurants will choose to milk money from the majority/average people. In the case of this lesson, it gives you an example of restaurant culture of one part of China, specifically Dongbei. There are a lot more different Chinese restaurant expressions in different regions of China, which you haven't seen/learned yet.
I believe you started learning Chinese partly because of your interests in not only the language but also the fascinating culture. But how can the culture be conveyed through translation is a difficult task. In a lot of dialogues, culture is not a big concern, for example, asking for directions, buying movie tickets and getting a drink on an airplane. I agree under such circumstance, flat English works well. However, most of the time we cannot avoid cultural and social subjects and we need to convey the feeling of the culture to non-native speakers. This is a bit similar to using people's stereotypes of the Swedish in the muppet show "the Swedish Chef". The Dongbei lesson is an example of conveying Dongbei culture.
On top of all these, I believe you are here learning Chinese, but not translation skills.
I made comments like this based on the fact that I'm a native Chinese speaker.