User Comments - wildyaks
wildyaks
Posted on: Yang Jie's Diary: Everyone Is Dating
September 19, 2007 at 1:52 AMjiefu, yes they drink... I don't know what university you were at. They may not have bars on campus (that's probably against the rules), but they just get whole boxes of beer and get plastered... Darylk, you can never translate word by word. "Dating" seems to be an American term for something specific. If you translate that in to other languages the connotations change. "yuehui" as far as I understand it, is getting together, going out together for whatever reason, romantic or not. "tan lianai" is to be in a romantic relationship. You are "tan lianai" even if you are not currently out with your guy on a date. But you are only "yuehui" if you are doing something together with one or more other people, meeting with them.
Posted on: Beauty Pageant Registration
September 18, 2007 at 1:35 PMi commented on that before, that image women seem to portray of themselves in China. Sometimes when I observe students on campus I am amazed... If the women in the podcast come over as "catty", then I think it does reflect something you can observe in Chinese young women. I don't want to say they don't have depth or what not. There are just certain behaviours that seem to be encouraged, expected which come across as "catty"
Posted on: Yang Jie's Diary: Everyone Is Dating
September 18, 2007 at 10:55 AMBlogs are just public diaries, aren't they? At least that is how I translated the concept when I was first told about their emergence. (That was only just recently. Since I live in back of beyond such things take a while before I catch on)
Posted on: Arrival in Jizhou
September 18, 2007 at 10:46 AMMark, 好像空落族是一个虚构的民族。是一个和外界没有什么关系的民族。他们自给自足得生活。。。我认为是一个很恐怖的和落后的一个民族. Although I have problems with that very last concept...
Posted on: Arrival in Jizhou
September 18, 2007 at 2:32 AMI am going to change the subject here. Sorry, guys. And probably nobody is interested to hear what I have to say. I restraint myself the whole weekend, but I have to get it out of my system. It seems nobody else picked up on these things and it just shows that I am probably over-aware or these things. So my apologies for ranting on about something that is not really relevant in terms of language learning - but maybe a little in terms of cultural learning?: This is a fictive lesson, I am well aware of that. However, it is located in the 喜马拉雅山 on the 高原, in the region where to everybody's knowledge Tibetans live. I myself live in a Tibetan place in Sichuan. Since Sichuan is a border region between Tibetan areas and others, you get to hear and experience a lot of underlying attitudes of the Han majority towards the Tibetans or other ethnic "minorities". One of them is, that Tibetans are dirty. So, the remark about not showering in the podcast did not go down well with me, because to me it just reinforced such stereotypes. The second thing is the "Let's go and explore the ethnic minority culture" and "experience the minority culture". There is nothting wrong with this per se. That's what tourists do everywhere, all over the world. But living in a 少数民族地区 and observing on a regular base how many show so little respect for the people. Sort of treat it like they are in a museum or have made a step back in time and since they have paid to come here they assume to have every right to take pictures of people worshipping at a temple for example or intrude into their private lives.... It's all quaint and exotic. But tourists often seem to forget that these are real people with real lives. Tourists can be so intrusive. It annoys me too, because in much government rhetoric, the 少数民族cultures are valued for the economic benefits they bring on the tourism market, but on the other side they are regarded as backward, as a stage in civilization to be overcome until everybody is like the modern and civilized Han majority. I am just stirring up some discussion here. The lesson itself is great and I am looking forward to the follow-on.
Posted on: Personal Questions and Bargaining
September 16, 2007 at 4:09 AMNow, these are stereotypes. But I have been told they love the Japanese tourist - who pay whatever you tell them - and they hate the Israeli tourist - because they are ruthless in their bargaining. I enjoy a good bargain. My sister sometimes feels so sorry for the poor vendors, one of whom once was almost in tears, although I keep on telling her, he would not have sold if he did not make a profit....
Posted on: Feminine Products
September 15, 2007 at 7:56 AMsome of us out here might be interested to know the name of this wonder Chinese medicine. Did she tell you?
Posted on: Arrival in Jizhou
September 15, 2007 at 5:49 AMhow about you study the lessons on computers that already exist? Might cover some of the vocab and language you need Some of these things I don't even know what to call them in English...
Posted on: Arrival in Jizhou
September 15, 2007 at 3:51 AM我已经比较长时间在高原藏区生活。不洗澡最好怎么办呢??? This is a weird lesson... Looking forward to the next sequence.
Posted on: Yang Jie's Diary: Everyone Is Dating
September 19, 2007 at 4:03 AMgreggygate, I sure hope you have company. There is nothing sadder than to spend an evening with nobody but a case of Qingdao... maybe you should try xuehua for a change...