User Comments - johnsjz
johnsjz
Posted on: “90”后女孩炫富
September 23, 2009, 04:20 AM@Christine: Yes. You’re politically correct! 世界上任何民族的Tradition都是根深地固, 是不可能马上改变的. On the other hand, Chinese have lots of excellent traditions. Briefly, we have “愚公移山”精神的优良传统, that is why Chinese ancestor (炎黄子孙) could build Great Wall in China. We also built 大寨梯田 (similar to the small vineyards in mountainous Switzerland - your country; however, 大寨梯田is much bigger and more productive). In the United States, Chinese (so-called Chinaman – a derogatory term used by other fellow Americans in the past) cut high Sierra Nevada Rocky Mountains and built the first transcontinental railroad (in the most difficult west region). Well, we also have中国古代女英雄,花木兰. 还有孟姜女哭倒万里长城 …. Hope that is something other than money-making side of story to generate passion/enthusiasm to learn Chinese…
Posted on: “90”后女孩炫富
September 22, 2009, 08:27 PM@Christine: for a young woman, the dogma (either western or Chinese) is that woman should find and marry to a man who is more capable and successful than her, no matter how successful she is. It is not a mentality that is particularly an attribute of 80 or 90’s generations in China. It has been there for several centuries. There is nothing wrong with it and sorry for guys that we have to work harder! Read this novel, "Martin Eden" by Jack London(http://www.scribd.com/doc/1454/Martin-Eden-By-Jack-London) Imagine how society could evolve and advance without such mentality? My concern though is that the Shanghai girl is too blunt and too direct in her expression. Maybe, she indeed has crystal clear philosophical outlines, and wants guys to truly understand what her interests are.......
Away from criticizing Chinese 80/90’s, let’s look at American young women, they have been practicing the same thing for last couple of hundred years. A socially acceptable and normal American woman will have this philosophy, when she is young, she can have as many short quick dirty relationships with guys as she wants. However, when she plans to marry to a guy, she indeed wants to marry to a guy with lots of money. No matter how much money she has, but wants to find a guy with lots of more money than her. So, it is the same, and we have nothing to be so picky about the Shanghai girl, although the bluntness is generally not acceptable in a civilized society. The bottom of it is how people truly understand “respect others and others’ right”. Finally, see how these guys do their “炫富视频”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUYoyT2s8Io
Enjoy!
谢谢Connie和David! 真的做的很棒！
Posted on: “90”后女孩炫富
September 22, 2009, 05:36 AM这不就是一些典行的上海小市民的真实写照吗? 中国其它地方也有,但是,没有象那个上海女孩勇敢地讲出来. 上海女人比较不涵蓄,比较大胆. 不管白猫黑猫, 抓住老鼠(money)就是好猫, which is the same kind of philosophy as those shortcuts listed by a Harvard professor for a young American woman to get rich quickly. Remember the success story of Rupert Murdoch’s wife 邓文迪? I think that her philosophy is 80% from Americans.
Ask around girls around you, and see what they think about the video. I bet that many girls have that same gut feeling in their heart, but never speak out. I think that certain things are better not speak out. If you really want to speak up, the way to speak should be more humorous and less direct. It is art. I guess that the Shanghai girl is not that smart, maybe, she is un-educated? Some people in China indeed got very rich in last 20 years, but their education and social manner are extremely low. Actually, in the United States or other countries, you can meet same kind of people as you meet in China.
Posted on: Jewish Holiday
September 21, 2009, 07:41 AMThanks yingshilangbu!
I have not spent much time to dig into this piece of history yet. I just finished up learning about Mongolian history (or Genghis), which, by the way, is fascinating. Unfortunately, Mongolian did not use much writings for their history from 14 to 16th century.
Posted on: 北京人上海人眼中的中国地图
September 21, 2009, 12:22 AM在北京和上海人的地图里, 都将东北说成"各种暴力犯罪"和"妓女的老家". 这里是否有点太片面化了？ 不知各位的经历是什么, 可以share吗？你们对云南一带有什么偏见？
Posted on: Jewish Holiday
September 20, 2009, 09:20 AMRich and brandon:
I like the discussions between two of you. I have never paid much attention to the differences between Jewish trait and Christian trait. When I was a graduate student, my adviser (his father is a non-Jewish American/white, mother is a Jew) told me that it is complicated, but for your personality, Judaism would convince you more. However, my German classmate told me that it is really a belief. It is not rocket science. But, anyway, King David is a very respectful figure, although he was a peasant before became a King. How did he learn the complicated Hebrew writings though?
Posted on: Introduction to Pinyin
September 20, 2009, 07:37 AMI never liked the Pinyin, but it is really useful for pronuciation.
Posted on: Getting Off the Metro
September 20, 2009, 07:30 AMYes. Thanks! I like it, "借过一下" is indeed better.
Posted on: Getting Off the Metro
September 20, 2009, 07:01 AMShould use this as what light487 does:
让一下
ràng yīxià
Posted on: “90”后女孩炫富
September 23, 2009, 04:11 PM@bendidelaowai: 对不起, 其实我并没有生气. 我只是觉得那个女孩比较傻而以, 不应该毫无幽默地,直接了当地公开炫富. 但是, 她毕竟是我们的晚辈. 我们应该引导她,不应该给她带帽子(no labeling, no name calling). 她可能也正坐在电脑前看我们的评论. 再说, 美国这里从小学就开始”天天讲, 月月讲,年年讲”(毛主席语录) “respect others and others’ rights” as I cited in the above.
Happy learning Chinese!