User Comments - orangina
orangina
Posted on: Looking for an Apartment in China
August 15, 2011, 03:53 PMOh, I should add, the agent let me take a copy of the contract so I could have a Chinese friend read it for me before I signed it. So that was good.
Posted on: Looking for an Apartment in China
August 15, 2011, 01:22 PMFrom everything I've heard, you just have to expect it to be filthy. I have a great group of friends here and whenever anyone gets a new place the first question is "Do you need help cleaning?" I've never heard this offer refused. And we are all glad to help, if only in anticipation of our own future need or gratitude from the help we got. I've heard you can hire a cleaner for cheap, but that they don't do a very good job. But I think I will hire someone next time I have to, just to get the cleaning started... knowing full well I'll have to clean it myself anyway.
I painted my walls and thankfully my landlord likes the color I chose so I won't have to repaint it. But hear my cautionary tale: My apartment is at least 12 years old and after painting the first coat and having it peal the next morning I discovered the walls had never been painted before. Just plaster soaking in humid air all these years. (Yes, yes, I should have figured it out before hand. Weird dusty texture and unwashable.) So in a word. PRIMER. So very important. Not all walls are this way. I did a mural at a friends house with no problems.
As far as agents being scammers, I don't know. I know my agent wanted to tell the tax office my rent was lower than it was so I wouldn't pay as high a tax. (Usually the landlords responsibly anyway.) So his dishonesty seemed at least on this occasion bent in my favor. I mystified him by paying the whole amount. I've had friends with very nice comments about their agent. The biggest problem I had with mine was that he spoke "Mandarinese", so often he would have to type out what he was saying on his cell phone and hand it to me to read because I couldn't understand his accent. But he was a nice guy, and was brave enough to talk to me. Looked pretty scared when I walked in the door. hehe.
Posted on: Can I Have your Phone Number? Please?
August 06, 2011, 10:34 AMI know in Chinese sign language to ask for someone's phone number you do the fake phone (like a cheesy "call me!" gesture) then hold your hand with your palm facing yourself and thumb tucked in, then wiggle your fingers, which means 多少。 And in the asking for the wifi password lesson we were taught to ask ”密码多少？“ All of which lends credence to “你手机多少来看” meaning "What's your number again?"
Posted on: Punctuation Marks
August 06, 2011, 06:26 AMHeh, yes...... I didn't read Joyce until I was in my 20s...... to the mortification of most of my friends.
Posted on: Punctuation Marks
August 06, 2011, 06:19 AM!? is called an "interrobang"
Posted on: Punctuation Marks
August 06, 2011, 06:05 AMWhen I was in middle school the school started a new program for "gifted" students. We were put in a separate reading class where we read books that were actually interesting. (I felt bad everyone couldn't read them. Perhaps simply being given good books to read would increase interest in reading.) Anyway, we were reading Hemingway in the reading class, then went back to the regular class for the writing portion.
Long story short, I got marked down for run-on sentences quite a lot that year. Never mind that the entirety of consists of one sentence.
So, it's not just you, that's what I'm sayin.
Posted on: Punctuation Marks
August 06, 2011, 05:57 AMActually, perhaps "explanation" points would be a good idea. You could use them when you previously wrote something ambiguous and are called upon to elaborate.
Posted on: Punctuation Marks
August 06, 2011, 05:55 AMYeah, I'm not a big fan of the recent profusion of exclamation point... (though I do like a good ellipsis...) but I have succumbed to it's use after text messages have inadvertently offended for their terseness. "Yeah, that would be great." vs. "Yeah! That would be great!" Whereas in Chinese you get “好” vs。“好啦” or “好吧。”
haha! I just wrote all that without noticing "explanation" points. 我打错了。 That's pretty funny.
Posted on: Punctuation Marks
August 06, 2011, 04:48 AMAh! so this explains why the coma is the first option when I am typing in Chinese on my phone.
I wonder if explanation points are used less often in Chinese than English because Chinese uses mood particles and English relies on inflection, which by it's nature cannot be written.
Posted on: Weekend Warriors
September 06, 2011, 12:15 PMYou could say "I like staying at home and resting." But it would be more common, and sound more natural, to say "I like to stay at home and rest."
You are right, this website is pretty great! Welcome.