User Comments - RJ

Posted on: Leisure-time Activities and Mahjong

mahjong is very popular in the states among the Jewish community (especially women). Dont know how this got started or why.

Posted on: Manly Men and Womanly Women

明镜高悬 idiom - big brother is watching you. More or less.

老大哥 - big brother?

Ads? doesnt happen to me. :-)

Posted on: I don't smoke

Im saving that routine for my boss. :-)

Posted on: I don't smoke

Oh. So alcohol is ok? hmmmm. Could I interest you in some sanbian jiu?

http://www.sinosplice.com/life/archives/2011/01/11/three-penis-liquor-the-perfect-gift

Posted on: I don't smoke

Well, in the future I will think of wo baba, chuckle and say no. I am pretty comfortable in China now. I can say no. There are other ways to fit in. Interesting thing is I usually do say no to baijiu. I think maybe once I gave in and took one shot. Tastes like a mixture of fuel oil and turpentine. Re your shenme yisi - remember the baby formula contaminated with melamine? Well I can just see someone using re-cycled propylene glycol that just happens to have trace levels of heavy metals or something in it to save money. That's what I mean. If there was some assurance that pharmaceutical grade ingredients were being used, no problem. There as of yet, is no oversight that I am aware of. Hey maybe if Bodawei wants to go for "try number 3", he could handle the 电子烟. Especially after all that wood chopping. Not walking, aerobics, weight lifting, or anything not "little house on the prairie" but "wood chopping". There has to be magic in that.

Posted on: I don't smoke

Sorry I brought it up. Wont happen again :-)

电子烟 - I told a few guys in China about these. One guy was going to get one for his father. They are made in China and were invented in China after all. They vary in cost but you can get a starter kit for around $50 US and then the cartridges are half the cost of cigarettes. Depending on how you "smoke" them. And yes, You can tell them apart if you look closely. The vapor is water, nicotine, and propylene glycol (which is used in asthma inhalers, so I guess its safe) They are already banned on planes in China and it was part of their pre-flight announcement in Chinese the last time I flew a domestic China flight. My feeling is they are certainly better than cigarettes. I am just concerned about the lack quality oversight. Contaminants could be an issue I suppose. I told my doctor about them and he was really excited to have an option for his patients that cant, or wont quit. In fact, I think I will take one with me to China next time. Then when offered a cigarette, I can pull out my dian zi yan. Smoke this.

Posted on: I don't smoke

I dont disagree with you Baba, thats fine, Im just telling you what I have done on occasion. I dont smoke, I am not advocating smoking, and like Bill Clinton, I didn't inhale :-)

Posted on: I don't smoke

well you're right, the expression is mine, but there was, a long time ago, a commercial in the US where some kid hits a cigarette and starts choking. The Narrator says- "remember your first cigarette? Don't you think your body was trying to tell you something?" There is some truth in that, and your experience made me think of this. That, and I do so enjoy winding you up a bit. I have to say though, the peace pipe thing never occurred to me. There is pressure to smoke at times in China and it just seems so rude and unappreciative to say no. It is a form of bonding, and with the language barrier, sometimes its almost all you have. Anyway its not as bad as eating chicken feet or stinky tofu :-) (and Ive done that too)

Posted on: I don't smoke

Bodawei

sometimes when your body sissies out on you, its for your own good. How different your life may have been had your first experiences been more enjoyable. I quit smoking years ago but it was never a hard to stop thing for me. When in China I occasionally smoke to keep the social peace as it were. I have noticed the younger, newer graduates we have hired are not smokers. I expect things to change. And I have never seen a Chinese woman smoke. Dont think so, nope, never.

Posted on: Sleeping in

Its all relative. I love the mornings. Im up at 4 every day. Email first while the Chinese are still in the office, an hour commute, and my boss starts an hour before our standard starting time of 8. Sleeping to 6 on a Saturday is my "sleeping in." There was a time when 4 was my bed time however. In school I tried never to schedule a class before noon. I dont think its cultural, it all depends on your lifestyle at the time. If I sleep past 6 on Saturday now, I miss my coffee, and my quiet time. Good time to study Chinese.