User Comments - johnrash
johnrash
Posted on: 一边...一边 ... (yībiān...yībiān...)
January 29, 2008 at 6:11 AMClay 也可以说"我每天都一边工作，一边跟中国朋友聊ＭＳＮ，一边用Chinesepod词典，一边练习中文“ 吗？
Posted on: 一边...一边 ... (yībiān...yībiān...)
January 28, 2008 at 9:53 PM我再试一次： 因为我总是去咖啡馆用笔记本电脑工作 我可以说： 我一边喝茶一边上网一边工作一边听Chinesepod. 可能在咖啡馆喝茶好像奇怪，可是我越来越不喜欢喝咖啡。 绿茶比咖啡很好喝。
Posted on: 一边...一边 ... (yībiān...yībiān...)
January 28, 2008 at 3:42 PMoops！ 应该打 每天 。 我打了太快！
Posted on: 一边...一边 ... (yībiān...yībiān...)
January 28, 2008 at 3:41 PM霉天都我一边工作一边跟中国朋友聊ＭＳＮ一边用Chinesepod词典一边练习中文。别告诉我的老板。谢谢。
Posted on: Scams and Bus Culture
January 28, 2008 at 3:34 PMI would like to share my own story of tea scamming, but also assert that not all people who approach you on the street want to scam you or sell you something. I have visited China twice now, both times traveling alone with limited mandarin skills and carrying a huge Digital SLR looking the tourist. The first time in PRC I was on guard and thought anyone that spoke to me unsolicited probably had the idea to put on over on me. However, I found that Chinese people are very friendly and sometimes just want a chance to speak with foreigners because they have never had this experience or you are interesting to them. So, the word to the wise here is to be friendly and open while keeping your wits about you, as most people probably just want to learn something about your culture and background. Now for the tea story. This was my second trip to China, and my third visit to Beijing. I have come to find Beijing people are the most sociable and friendly as compared to any other city I have visited in China, so my idea that anyone in this city might be approaching me with ill intent had long past. While taking photos of migrant workers on a very tourist focused shopping street two girls approached me seemingly interested to have a conversation. Conversation led to tea invitation, and being a little pressed for time I declined. They pushed me and asked if maybe we could just sit for 10-15 minutes and talk. Here is where I was duped and allowed myself to follow them up several flights of stairs into a somewhat sketchy seeming building to find a well adorned room with a girl waiting to perform a tea ceremony. I already felt uncomfortable by this time, but I decided to ride it out. After sampling 5 or 6 varieties of tea and small candy snacks the bill came, totaling around 600 RMB. Two guys walked into the room with the bill, physically and psychologically placing themselves between myself and the doorway. I looked at the bill and laughed and suggested that the girls and INVITED me to tea. Being no stranger to Chinese culture I asserted that I should not have to pay "因为(你们)请我“ (because they invited me) they seemed surprised and suggested we "go dutch". I offered up 100RMB (still way more than what I should have paid) and said this is all I could afford. I felt stupid, but at least somewhat graceful in my recovery. To summarize.. after two trips and visits to 5 cities in China this only happened once. However, I was approached for conversation on a daily basis. I actually made some really great friends in Beijing this way, and found that you can't always take your reservations about how big cities function in the west with you to China. Keep your wit and your tongue sharp and even when you find a sticky situation you should be able to come out relatively unscathed.
Posted on: #34
January 23, 2008 at 5:01 PMＩknew it! I had started to doubt myself after Jenny's "hint" about "animated impersonator". Haven't heard this week yet, but I can't wait...
Posted on: Beauty Ideals and Ayi
December 16, 2007 at 6:21 AMuser5624---> Check out this lesson on dealing with death from a while back: http://chinesepod.com/lessons/consoling-the-bereaved/discussion Amber, How about some links to photos of the "alien beauty" you described. I'd love to see visuals on the chinese ideas of beauty you were mentioning. Also, are there cultural differences in men's appearance and what might be considered attractive to a Chinese woman vs. a lady from the west like yourself?
Posted on: Discussing Photography
December 13, 2007 at 9:42 PMHere's a list of words I'd be interested in learning on this topic: Focus / out of focus Sharp (sharpness) / soft Saturation Crop (cropping and image) Histogram grey tones CF Card file format
Posted on: Lili and Zhang Liang 16: It's Over
December 11, 2007 at 4:30 PMZhang Liang 说“以前觉得这种事情只发生在小说里“， 也可以说“我以为这种事情只发生在小说里“。 对把？ “以前觉得“ 比“以为“有什么区别？
Posted on: The Second Tone
January 29, 2008 at 6:20 AMBy far the most difficult tone for me to pronounce correctly. Maybe I should try talking in slow-motion!