In modern China, there are two national “long vacations” a year. On the academic calendar, it conveniently works out to one each semester. The length of each vacation is one week, nominally. In the Fall, it’s in celebration of the founding of the current government (国庆节), and takes place October 1st – 7th. In the Spring, it’s May 1st – 7th, beginning on May Day, the Communist “international working class holiday” (五一). This …
24
May
2003
2003
ZUCC Chinese Student Blog
A few weeks ago in class I explained to my students what a blog is, and what a powerful force blogs are becoming on the internet. I also tried to promote blogs as a means of reaching out to the world to further international understanding (and practice language skills at the same time). I wanted to start some group student blogs. I would help them set it up, and explain how everything works. I asked anyone interested to e-mail me. …
23
May
2003
2003
她他
最近我在看Ziboy很精彩的照片的时候，偶然看了一下“miumiu”的blog。我一看到一个全是汉字的网页，一下子就想跑回去很舒服的英文网页（很懒吧！）。miumiu的网页也一样，但吸引我的是她网站的音乐！是我第一次听“徐若?u – 她他”， 感觉非常好。我一般不喜欢中国流行音乐，但它给我的悲惨感觉很经典。听了以后就想下载。下载了以后再听了几次。听了几次就想看歌词。歌词蛮动人，我很喜 欢。看了歌词以后我又去看miumiu的网站，听了更多音乐（我也喜欢Chara）。听完了以后我才去认真地看她的blog。
她他
他他 深深爱着她 他他 永远的吗 他他 送她玫瑰花和吉他 她她 也深爱着他 她她 不变的吗 她她 收到的玫瑰花已枯萎了（已枯萎了）
他和她 爱很美 浪漫就像玫瑰花 他和她 爱很难 很小心也不一定留得住它 他和她 有时候很可怕 静静地死去它不挣扎 不说话
他他 轻轻吻着她 他他 弹着吉他 他他 最爱摸她的长头发 她她 看着那个他 她爱听他弹吉他 她寂寞的小世界被他融化（慢慢融化）
他和她 爱的melody多到挤不下 他和她 人随时也可能没有明天 不要害怕 他和她 让灵魂自由 看见爱与被爱在打架 算了吧
他和她 爱很美 浪漫就像玫瑰花 他和她 爱很难 很小心也不一定留得住它 他和她 有时候很可怕 静静地死去它不挣扎 不说话 他他送她rose and guitar
我还想问一个很无聊关于语言学的问题。中国人第一次听这首歌，如果不看歌词的话会不会完全懂哪个“ta”是“她”和哪个“ta”是“他”？…
21
May
2003
2003
Voluntary Brain Rot
Any regular reader of my site knows that the regular commenters of my site tend to go off topic quite frequently. This slightly annoys a part of me, but how can I can mad when the off-topic stuff is often good stuff? For example, in my last post, “Da Xiangchang” stated:
I’m not sure if this mass infantilization is uniquely American. I have seen nothing in China that would suggest the Chinese wouldn’t act the same way if they
…
18
May
2003
2003
For many complicated reasons
For many complicated reasons that it’s best to leave him to explain, Wilson recently decided to go back to California and stay there for the rest of the year. He might come back in 2004. Who knows. He drove off today (Monday) at 9:30am in a taxi along with all the material possessions from China that he wanted to keep.
Even though he originally planned on staying only one year and he’s already finishing up his third semester, I …
15
May
2003
2003
SARS Media Correspondence
Recently I wrote a letter to many different media agencies using addresses I found online. (I won’t go into the spam-related ethical issues at this point…) The basic letter I sent out is below.
To Whom It May Concern:
I am a 25-year-old American citizen living in Hangzhou, China teaching English. I love China, and I love my life here. I find it very distressing, then, to see an abundance of hysteria- and hype-driven news stories on SARS. What I
…
13
May
2003
2003
短信
也许有一些中国人觉得这种笑话不好，但我觉得非常好笑。是一个学中文的美国朋友发给我的。很有意思的是前五个完全可以翻成英语，都可以用英文打出来，但第六个很有中国特色！
(.)(.) 美丽的胸部 (.Y.) 完美的胸部 (+)(+) 隆过的胸部 (o)(o) 大头的胸部 (O)(o) 不对称的胸部 (.人.) 下垂的胸部 …
10
May
2003
2003
A Madman's Diary
Recently I was given a really cool birthday present: Selected Stories of Lu Xun. It’s got the Chinese on the left side and the English on the right. I tend to read in English first and then go back and study the Chinese later. Lu Xun (鲁迅) is simply the most famous modern author in China. Lu Xun’s writings predate Communism by a bit, and reflect the great turbulence China was experiencing in the early 1900′s.
Anyway, …
07
May
2003
2003
Yang Rui and Dialogue
Some people say there are no certainties in life, but those people would probably admit that there are certainly very high likelihoods. For example, if you turn on the TV in China, there is a very likelihood that you’ll be tuning in to crap. Still, raised on television as we are, foreigners in China will at times find themselves watching anyway. Whether we do it “to get a feel for the propaganda machine,” or out of some kind of sick …
05
May
2003
2003
Japan Invades Again
I periodically do Google News searches for stories related to both China and Japan, since I’m interested in both countries. This week something interesting turned up which has some bearing on my own life. The topic is not extemely captivating — and it’s not life-threatening like SARS — but it’s relevant to China’s future. Japan is invading again. I’m talking about convenience stores, people.
For some time, Japan and the USA have had a tradition of small, brightly lit, immaculate, …
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