User Comments - MexicoBob
MexicoBob
Posted on: Eating Tofu
October 3, 2007 at 11:44 PMgpknopp, If as you say, your Russian is as bad as your Chinese, and you want people to write in simplified Russian, why don't you just say it in English so that everybody can understand it. I don't think there are any secrets here :)
Posted on: Too Fat
October 3, 2007 at 2:22 PMThis is a lesson that I can really relate to. I feel for sure that they are talking about me :)
Posted on: Getting Reimbursed
September 30, 2007 at 11:52 PMGoulniky & Bazza,
Thanks for you help. I think I figured out what I was doing wrong. Below is a test. If you see a picture you will know that it IS possible to teach an old dog new tricks. If you don't see a picture below then it means that old dogs shouldn't mess with HTML :)
Posted on: Don't Leave
September 28, 2007 at 6:06 PMHi alwingate, Don't get discouraged. I first started studying Mandarin Chinese in 1965 as a 17 year old in the Air Force and I have been studying with ChinesePod for over a year now and I can't honestly say that I am an Intermediate yet. I have had some really depressing moments but decided to keep on plugging away at it. I probably won't have the wonderful experience that you have practicing on a daily basis with native speakers and since we are about in the same age bracket (the coot bracket) my friends ask me why I still bother. I tell them, "Ya never know. When I get up there to the pearly gates it would not surprise me at all if St Peter says "Nǐ hǎo ma?".
Posted on: Getting Reimbursed
September 28, 2007 at 12:10 AMOkay, Bazza. I think I've got it now. Thanks!
Posted on: Getting Reimbursed
September 27, 2007 at 8:50 PMVery funny Bazza :)
Posted on: Getting Reimbursed
September 27, 2007 at 7:22 PMBazza, How did you insert that image of the receipt into the comment window? If it isn't a secret would you mind sharing it with us.
Posted on: Eating Tofu
September 24, 2007 at 3:43 PMjuno and MikeinEwshot, I cook my 豆腐 dòufu in a microwave. I eat it with a little rice and some eggs with a dash of soy sauce. Yum :)
Posted on: Cycling
September 22, 2007 at 2:49 PMI remember that back in the seventies right after Nixon's ping pong diplomacy the bicycle was the first item to be imported into the United States from China by Sears. The Sears marketing people called it the "Free Spirit" bicycle. I also remember hearing that in China the bicycle had a nickname. It was called "The donkey that doesn't eat grass" but I don't know how to say that in Chinese.
Posted on: Treating and Foreigners on TV
October 5, 2007 at 6:37 PMDear Amber, You are breaking my heart! If I had known that you were coming to Mexico I would have baked a cake or something. When you get back to Shanghai you must tell us all about your trip. Regarding paying the bill. When I studied Mandarin at DLI (Monterrey) many years ago we had a native Chinese teacher tell us that paying the bill involved an actual ritual designed to let everyone save face. Most of the time it was fairly obvious beforehand which participants were likely to or expected to pay the bill. However, when the time came everyone present fumbled through their clothing as if looking for their wallet and after hesitating a few moments the person who actually was paying the bill would produce the money, thus letting all of his poorer friends save face. The payee, in turn, received a lot of face for being the hero who let everyone else off the hook.