User Comments - johnnyi

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johnnyi

Posted on: Tea Time with Dim Sum
October 12, 2013 at 5:05 PM

Thanks, I'll have to check those out.

Posted on: Tea Time with Dim Sum
October 12, 2013 at 2:09 AM

All I can say is: WHERE IS CANTONESE POD!? We need to learn Cantonese! It's such a cool language and such a cool culture. Beijing and Shanghai are cool, but Guangzhou and Hong Kong are the coolest.

Posted on: Foreign Father Loses His Cool
September 10, 2013 at 9:40 PM

My wife used to believe a lot of this nonsense, until we moved to the US, where despite its many problems, has much cleaner air than that of Guangzhou (at least where we live). Suddenly, she never had a problem with "sore throats".

While in China, we were always talking about "sore throats". No spicy food: sore throat. No bare midriff, because air will enter through the belly button: sore throat. Excessive cleaning of belly button: sore throat. Drinking cold/ice water: sore throat.

She is smart enough to not take that stuff TOO seriously, and when she came to the US she really started questioning the value of these superstitions. We're much happier now without them.

Posted on: Thanksgiving Turkey
November 28, 2011 at 7:42 AM

I'm not sure about that, lujiaojie . . . maybe it's just my experience, but when I mention "black Friday", most of my students think I'm talking about Friday the 13th. I think this is one of those things that you'd just have to explain to people.

Posted on: Thanksgiving Turkey
November 27, 2011 at 4:06 PM

That's pretty interesting. I wondered that myself. I read a few years ago that back then lobsters were plentiful and very easy to get, but were considered food for the poorest of the poor, so they weren't popular.

Posted on: 5000 Years of History
November 27, 2011 at 4:01 PM

This podcast makes it sound like the People's Republic of China has a history of 5,000 years.

This WAS a cheap shot at the US. Good vocabulary, and good to know what to expect Chinese people to say robotically about China, but factually inaccurate.

Posted on: Happy Birthday China
October 3, 2009 at 4:18 AM

@tvan:

Yes, I live in China. China's got a lot of good things going for it, but . . .

I'll just say that after living here for a few years, and carefully watching what I say about many different topics, I'm ready to go back to the USA. Not being able to express opinions freely is psychically exhausting.

Honestly, if I were going to move here, I'd AVOID learning how to speak about politics in Chinese. You may say the wrong thing and get deported.

Posted on: Happy Birthday China
October 2, 2009 at 6:41 PM

I wish Chinese pod would stick with the basics and not get political. I'd like to forget where I'm living and just focus on the good stuff.