User Comments - mouseneb
mouseneb
Posted on: Not on purpose
June 26, 2008, 09:00 AMJust a quick cultural note about 更衣室 geng1 yi1 shi4 (changing rooms) at the beach or a pool or someplace like that - don't expect any privacy! My husband wasn't too fazed by it but I was a bit embarrassed. At the most recent pool I visited with several of my adult students there was a small room with lockers on one wall, and 4 shower stalls, no curtains. All the ladies showering were totally nude, and of course those getting into/out of swimsuits were in various stages of undress. I wished I'd worn my suit under my clothes - and you might want to do so the next time you head to the beach or the pool! That is if you're a fairly modest woman like myself.
Posted on: Tomb Sweeping Day
April 19, 2008, 10:32 AMYou can see some pictures that we took on 清明节 in Haikou here, if you like: http://picasaweb.google.com/wallaby78erik/QingMingJie2008
Posted on: Getting Nationalities Straight
March 17, 2008, 07:28 AM我是美国人. When I lived in 三亚, everybody thought I was 俄罗斯人. Most of the foreigners there seem to be...
Posted on: Ordering Xiaolongbao
March 13, 2008, 01:21 AMHmm. When I checked out 小笼包 in my favorite online dictionary, http://www.xuezhongwen.net/ it did not recognise the word and suggested 小龙包 instead. A google search got about 1,280,000 for 小笼包 and about 819,000 for 小龙包. Seems like 笼 is the correct and original way to say it, but some people use 龙 instead? 好吃 either way, I guess!
Posted on: Is someone in here?
January 20, 2008, 09:24 AMI think the difference in usage for Americans is that for us, the toilet is the actual porcelain fixture, so inside the bathroom you can see a sink, a toilet, and a bathtub. In BE toilet means the whole room, yes?
Posted on: Is someone in here?
January 19, 2008, 08:35 AMI think it's interesting that although the man doesn't reply when the woman asks if anyone is there, she's the one who apologizes to him. I would think it would be the other way around, but perhaps that's a cultural issue? The other thing that continually baffles me is that even when the lock on the door is functional, I find a lot of people don't bother/remember to lock it, leading to embarrassing intrusions! Guess I better remember to ask.... 有人吗?
Posted on: Key Card
December 07, 2007, 09:19 AMI usually listen to the podcast directly on the page here, but today it sounds like gibberish...my husband thought our computer needed an exorcism.
Posted on: Noodles without Cilantro
December 04, 2007, 03:21 AMThis is great! I'm thinking this will be useful for ordering food without any hot peppers/spicy. I can't eat it at all, but it's hard to convince my Chinese friends of this when we are ordering together! I say "不要辣" bu yao la and then they turn to the waitress and tell her "一点可以" yi dian ke yi! Now I can counter with "一点都不要!" yi dian dou bu yao!
Posted on: Are you OK?
November 05, 2007, 02:57 AMThis is great - after I had listened to this lesson my husband and I went out for a walk. This kid on a bike saw us scary scary laowai and literally fell off his bike in astonishment. Right in front of us. As he was dusting himself off and I was trying not to laugh, I managed to say "你没事吧?" He looked up in terror, mumbled "没事!" and we went our seperate ways. It was great. For me at least. Not so much for the kid, maybe.
Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Hainan
July 17, 2008, 01:12 AMI've been living in 海南 for over three years now and I have to say that one of the most celebrated local dishes is Wen Chang Chicken, 文昌鸡 Wén chāng jī. Wen Chang is a town in Hainan, and the chicken dish is usually served cold. I'm not a big fan, but most of my friends from around here love it!