User Comments - guolan

Posted on: Applying for a Work Visa

The process is maddening, yes, but, my Chinese friend just successfully married an American in America, and the process to do that (fiance visa) was immeasurably more maddening!

I'll be doing the whole work visa thing again in a few months - I'm heading back to China from the States. Fun, fun, fun. And my favorite part will be the health check-up!  :)

But it's worth it. My students are awesome, everyone is so welcoming, and the food is delicious!

Posted on: Saved by the Gong: Preparing for an Exam

Thank you for sharing that floalvarez; reading your post was very interesting.

Posted on: No Worries, No Problem

I think you're onto something byronmeinerth. I do hear people say it these days, but I don't think we used to say it. So, maybe it's a relatively new thing.

Posted on: No Worries, No Problem

Can 没事儿 also be pronounced with an "ir" (as in "shirt") sound? Or is it more correct to say "ar" (as in "shark")?

Posted on: Saved by the Gong: Preparing for an Exam

That's an interesting question...from the conversations I have had, it seems some workplaces provide some kind of retirement, but maybe not the government in general, unless you have a government job. I'm not sure. My general feel is, no, there is no government social security. But, I'm afraid to state that with any certainty, since maybe I have misunderstood conversations. It also sounds as if jobs today sometimes offer a matching type of account, where you can save for retirement and they will match your funds. But I hope someone else will come on and comment with more certainty!

Posted on: Controversial Wartime Martyrs

I enjoy how the teachers often speak and banter in Chinese - it's fun to try to follow along.

Posted on: Saved by the Gong: Preparing for an Exam

I agree, academic excellence doesn't predict happiness or fulfillment.

But, I can kind of see my students' viewpoint (or, rather, the viewpoints of their parents and teachers, who are the ones placing the pressure on them) - even while I detest the circumstances I see them struggling through - they aren't necessarily chasing happiness, but rather chasing the kind of economic success that will allow them to comfortably raise their future children and also be able to care for their parents and their future spouse's parents as they enter old age. That's five people dependent on their future salaries!

But it is sadly true that some of my students equate money with fulfillment, believing that "crying in the backseat of a Lamborghini would be preferable to laughing on the back of a bike". (I forget the exact wording of that phrase.)

Posted on: Saved by the Gong: Preparing for an Exam

I teach English to Chinese students in China...it is so true that many study to death in high school. All the high schoolers I know (they attend the best high school in the city) are up until the wee hours of the morning every night. They have dark circles under their eyes, yet always feel they have studied insufficiently. I feel, observing them, as if I were observing a type of slow torture. I so hope they can rest when they finally achieve their dreams of testing into good universities! I, though a teacher at heart, can even sympathize with the book burnings they tell me they will do.

A fact of irony though, is that many of these students dream of attending college in the USA. In the USA, one can coast through high school, but must work hard in college. So, the few successful who make it to the USA will not get to rest...

Posted on: 拦飞机，谁之责？

Excellent lesson!

I have to say that my own experiences at Pudong have been excellent. My husband and I once showed up at this airport when we should have shown up at Shanghai's other airport, a domestic airport. But, at Pudong, they reissued us tickets for a flight from Pudong to our destination, didn't charge a thing for the ticket change (though it was clearly our own mistake), and had us in the air only a few hours after our original flight had been scheduled to fly. We were grateful and impressed.

Posted on: 林书豪是如何炼成的

媒体课程一直提供我能和中国朋友讨论的有用的题目！昨天和今天我已经参加了两个提到林书豪的讨论，他现在在中国真算特别流行！谢谢，老师们！