User Comments - pretzellogic

Posted on: Toothache

"I have encountered studying Chinese in a classroom setting here in the US is that some of the teachers don't know English well enough to explain grammar and other complicated topics to beginning students."

Hey Abelle, this is as big a problem in Beijing as it is in the US. The good news in China is that you can switch teachers to find the one with good enough command of English.

Posted on: Blind Massage

I guess because I believe that Azzote and Bodawei kept using the term cripple, and in the states, we've pretty much moved away from using that term. I thought Bodawei was from Australia, and I have no idea where Azzote is originally from.

Posted on: What does she look like?

baba, thanks for checking, but it turns out that after multiple tries, the picture downloaded. All's well that ends well :-)

Posted on: Are You Busy?

at the 80,000ft level, much of what you said about US schools makes sense. And then at the Boscawen NH, Winnetka IL, Lincoln MA, Palos Verdes Estates CA, where individual school districts raise money through a mix of city, state, sales taxes. In one of the states where I used to pay taxes, New Hampshire, school districts get 100% of their revenue from property taxes. Towns that are property poor (like the the north country of New Hampshire) have little money for anything. This is certainly where not just the teachers and the teacher unions are the culprit. And personally, I'm not interested in cleaning my school; its enough that I have to clean my room :-)

Posted on: TV Commercials

Now we know how to say bad breath.

Posted on: Thanksgiving

Abelle, you should probably put your story here online for the rest of us to learn from. I could also learn how to say "Mayflower" in Chinese as well :-)

Posted on: Thanksgiving

so how did you translate "one of the pilgrims married one of the Indians", and that whole New England colony/farming/native American 1620s thing?

Posted on: Blind Massage

One of the many areas where expats are known to hang out has a couple of beggars.  One of them is begging for her disabled son, who appears to have a pretty severe form of cerebral palsy.  I thought it was interesting that she uses the American term to ask for money for her kid; "my baby is disabled".

Posted on: What does she look like?

Somehow, this needs to be commented on, but boy, i'm not sure if I dare....Maybe this is a reference to something British people do, that has a different connotation for Americans....

Posted on: Second-hand Bicycle

yep, nothing like second-hand love!