User Comments - wildyaks

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wildyaks

Posted on: Cold Will Kill You
October 31, 2007 at 4:19 AM

If Shangai winters are anything like Chengdu winters, then two to three layers of long underwear is called for. ACs - to warm your apartment - are a new development here. I remember the days when we wore scarves and gloves to class and went out for a stroll to warm our stiff bones, because it tends to be colder inside the house then outside in winter. And it's not even below zero! The cold, humid air kills. Ganmao is a very important subject of conversation for winters in Chengdu

Posted on: Scary Clown
October 31, 2007 at 4:12 AM

Switzerland. So, is it just Stephen King's IT, then, that makes most Cpoders scared of clowns?

Posted on: Scary Clown
October 31, 2007 at 3:40 AM

I am starting to wonder if this is a cultural thing, that clowns are scary. It seems most everybody agrees... In my cultural upbringing clowns were funny, they fooled around, made people - kids included - laugh. I never associated them with fear. Some hospitals have started to hire clowns to visit the children's ward. Because laughter brings healing... On the other hand, I used to be scared of Santa Claus, who in my culture, has nothing to do with Christmas. He comes on Santa Claus Day (6. Dec. in my country) and either brings you gifts as rewards for good behaviour, or a whip for bad behaviour.

Posted on: Cold Will Kill You
October 31, 2007 at 3:21 AM

This lesson reminds me of the time when I started to learn Chinese. We had these great text books from 北京语言学院(Beijing Foreign Language Institute). The phrases we learned in the first few lessons were 你忙吗? (Ni mang ma? Are you busy?) and 马丽感冒了 (Mali ganmao le. Mary got a cold). We would walk around practising these two very crucial sentences. The message definitely was driven home by our teachers, that 感冒was a serious affair.

Posted on: Buying a Custom-Built Computer
October 31, 2007 at 2:51 AM

goulniky, thanks a lot. I will print this out and put it on the wall next to the office computer.

Posted on: Buying a Custom-Built Computer
October 29, 2007 at 11:11 AM

I would like a lesson for computer users. our office computers all run on chinese and I get so frustrated because I am not familiar with the language. Of course the icons help. But not always are there icons.

Posted on: Scary Clown
October 29, 2007 at 10:23 AM

Am I the only one who is NOT scared of clowns? I have only come across clowns who make me laugh... (I haven't read Stephen King...)

Posted on: New York City
October 29, 2007 at 8:26 AM

pulosm, that makes so much sense. "soei si" like in "Suisse" - French for Switzerland and the word used a lot to transliterate it into other languages. Cool. That really reconciles me with the term "瑞士" for Switzerland...

Posted on: New York City
October 28, 2007 at 1:52 PM

pulosm n changye, How would you read 瑞士in Cantonese then? I have always been puzzled why those characters and sounds.

Posted on: Massage and Renting an Apartment
October 27, 2007 at 8:22 AM

35% for the real estate agent! That's so cheap. Here (in Chengdu) the minimum and normal rate is 50%. I had people asking for 100% - to which of course I did not agree..