User Comments - kaixin_in_tampa

kaixin_in_tampa

Posted on: U-Turn

October 22, 2009 at 12:24 PM

On the usage of 快, this lesson uses 快点儿（kuài diǎnr，or hurry up) in a much more imperative way.

http://chinesepod.com/lessons/catch-the-train

Posted on: Too Picky

October 21, 2009 at 11:43 PM

Hey shiwuqingren, thanks for that website, very useful.

红烧肉 (hóng shāo ròu), a.k.a. Mao-style 红烧肉, as it was a Mao Zedong favorite.

hongshaorou

麻婆豆腐 (má pó dòu fu) - Capturing tofu with a pair of chopsticks will challenge some of us for all eternity.

mapodofu

炒青菜 (chǎo qīng cài) stir-fried vegetables, also known as veggie-of-the-day

veggies

Posted on: Buying a Bike

October 21, 2009 at 2:27 PM

bodawei, yes it is for the time being ^_^ (til December if we cannot get the visa extended). I would like to get a work visa, eventually, let's see.

wenjong and shanpan, 谢谢你们 (thank you both).

I asked one of the guys at the office and he told me he's had his bike since his freshman year. The bike is now 7+ years old (I'm guessing a lot more since he probably bought it second hand, too) and definitely looks the part. Most bikes out here look like his. He told me is not very practical to buy a new, shiny bike that stands out from the rest.

Posted on: Buying a Bike

October 20, 2009 at 11:32 PM

How do we say

bicycle brakes?

Someone mentioned to me to make sure and buy a bike with *good* brakes.

Posted on: Buying a Bike

October 20, 2009 at 11:29 PM

Since Jenny brought up the fact that more and more foreigners buy bikes, can someone please comment on whether it's more practical to buy a new one or a second hand one here in China? If a person buys a new one, does the probability of it getting stolen increases by 2x or 20x?? I read this article at a coffeeshop about an "expat" woman who is on her sixth Giant bicycle. No, she did not wear out the previous five. Where might one find a reliable 2nd-hand bike out here (上海）？

A few good reasons to buy 自行车, 老外 or not:

- one has to wait for the bus

- buses are insanely full, even at night

- bus might take 30-40 minutes to take you 2 miles down the road (convoluted routes)

- taxis might be hard to come by where you live

- bikes are pretty cheap

When I got here, I considered buying a bike, then looked at the dynamics of the might-is-right traffic and said to myself: 不行，老外不应该骑自行车。Now, I am reconsidering.

Posted on: Equestrian

October 20, 2009 at 12:34 AM

I got curious:

http://au.sports.yahoo.com/olympics/sports/results/-/equestrian

China's first time alright.

I love it that they inform us of the name of the horse each participant rode. If the Chinese competitors had given Chinese names to their horses, instead of "Pablo II" and "Piroschka", they would have fared a lot better, I think.