User Comments - martyzcp
martyzcp
Posted on: Swearing at a Driver
July 2, 2011 at 9:48 PMI've driven in California - not so hard. I would make an exception for driving a manual transmission car in San Francisco, but other than that California is an easy place to drive.
Downtown Chicago and Manhatten approach Chinese cities in terms of mind-numbing traffic jams, but the drivers are much more polite in these US cities. Only Boston IMO has the combination of aggressive driving and cramped roads that you see in China. I haven't driven in China (just ridden bikes) but my main worry would be the lack of rule following. Many of my Chinese coworkers will come to a nearly complete stop even at green lights due to the number of drivers that blow through red lights if they think they can get away with it!
Posted on: Baijiu or Beer
June 19, 2011 at 6:58 PMI'm also a fan of Xinjiang hei pi jiu. But what's with the near non-existence of alcohol in Chinese beer? In Suzhou a popular local brand is Snow (xue3 hua1 雪花）。The O。G。 ranges from wu du (OG=1.05) to ba du (OG=1.08). This corresponds to ABV of 1.9 - 3.2%, compared to about 5% for a typical US beer (brewpubs typically offer 6-10% ABV).
That said, as a former hobby brewer I am well aware that beer neither ages well nor travels well. When in China I only drink Chinese beer, not imports.
Posted on: Asking Height and Weight
May 15, 2011 at 2:01 PMThe Imperial volume thing is most important when ordering beer :-)! In the UK a pint is more than a half liter. In the US a pint is less than a half liter. British people are often disappointed when ordering a pint at a bar or pub in the US. From my experience (US citizen, worked in Canada for several years, travel on business in UK frequently) Canada is by far the most "metrified", then the UK, then US. Before I began visiting the UK heavily I had assumed that the British were quite metric, but its not the case - even the road signs show distances in miles. The US is also the only one of the 3 that still uses Fahrenheit for temperatures - a source of confusion when discussing weather in China.
Posted on: Checking out at a Hotel
May 3, 2011 at 2:06 AMRJ,
I find that the free water is standard bottled water while the minibar water is "mineral" water. I never have an issue when I ask for extra free water, so I've never had to use the minibar water. I do try to hide the minibar water when friends visit - the minibar water is placed right next to the electric kettle so that you are likely to accidentally pour it into the kettle when making 热水（re shui - hot water).
Posted on: Tea Refill
February 12, 2011 at 5:22 PMI had a similar experience, well 3 or 4 of them, during a visit to Beijing. I was staying near Wanfujing St where the scamming is worst. I did end up buying a small piece of art sold by "students" so pretzellogic isn't the only one.
In another incident a young woman invited me to practice English in a coffeehouse with her later in the evening. I knew that was a total scam, but was bored enough to go along with it (sometimes I find the pitch can be quite entertaining). Before meeting her I left my wallet and most of my cash in the hotel. Sure enough she instead directed me to an empty bar where after a few drinks and interesting conversation I was presented with a bill for over 900 RMB (should have been about 60 RMB). I dug out the 150 RMB that I had on me, shrugged my shoulders and said "sorry, that's all I have". I guessed correctly that the bar employees wouldn't have the guts to beat up a foreigner on Wanfujing Street (besides I was bigger than their "tough guy"). In the end the woman paid the rest of the bill which avoided a scene. I did still get overcharged, but I looked at it as a live theater experience where I had the best seat in the house.
Posted on: Tea Refill
February 12, 2011 at 5:04 PMIn Suzhou you usually get one cup of free low-grade tea at the beginning. Its not bad tasting, but it's typically "tea" made from grain rather then actual tea leaves. People sometimes wash the dishes with it, sometimes not, depending on their opinion of the cleanliness of the dishes. I've never seen someone clean the shrink-wrapped dishes, but it wouldn't surprise me - everyone has their own habits.
On my last trip I spent two evenings in a teahouse with friends. We ordered a fruit and herbal tea, for which you can get infinite free hot water refills. My friends instructed me to say, 服务员，帮我们加水点 （fuwuyuan, bang women jia shui dian), but I kept stumbling half-way through, with the result that the waitress kept finishing my sentence for me :-). We were there for hours though, so I got lots of practice.
Posted on: End of the Year Bonus Surprise
February 8, 2010 at 1:31 AMMy international company pays a 13th month bonus at the end of the year but only at Chinese facilities. They also have a big pre-Spring Festival event (this year a dinner, last year a big performance consisting mainly of employee-done skits, dances, singing, etc). Globally employees are eligable for a bonus based on company performance, but that's really a different matter. This year the global bonus was cancelled, but there has never been a suggestion of cancelling the 13th month payout in China - it seems to be considered to be a guaranteed part of salary.
Posted on: Hang Up and Ride!
December 5, 2009 at 9:53 PMIn the podcast dialogue the first line ends with the woman asking "你在那儿“ (ni3 zai4 nar3) but to my ears it sounded more like (d'na3). This sounded completely different from how Jenny pronounced it in the lesson or how it was pronounced in the on-line dialogue. Is the podcast dialogue pronounciation dialect, slang, or just an informal putonghua contraction? Or do the native Chinese speakers hear this as exactly the same thing?
Posted on: Jet Lag
November 16, 2009 at 9:33 PMellen_counselor asks about actual techniques for jet lag.
Combatting jet-lag (from someone who travels from the US to UK and China 4 times a year).
1) Wean off of alcohol and caffeine a few days before the trip.
2) Move to a eating regimen focussed more on eating heavily one day and fasting the next. The day of the trip is a fast day.
3) Sleep as much as possible on the plane. Skip movies, avoid doing work, etc.
4) Upon reaching the new location, try to eat meals at the normal local time and stay up to a reasonable hour.
Personally I find the 15-hour trip to China to be easier than the 7-hour trip to the UK. It helps that it's typically 6pm by the time I reach my hotel in Suzhou. I just eat dinner and go to bed. Going to the UK I arrive early morning and have to struggle through an entire day of work.
Posted on: Ice Cream Run
July 18, 2011 at 2:12 AMOK, so the lesson has cone and popsicle, but mostly in China I see ice cream in a bowl. Is there a Chinese word for "ice cream sundae"?