User Comments - SiYao
SiYao
Posted on: Street Food Buffet
September 20, 2008 at 5:49 PMCan any poddies tell me how to add the vocab tour videos to my ipod? It's an mp4 file but my ipod doesn't seem to recognize it. Can one export the file to ipod format and then sync it to ipod? Thanks!
SiYao
Posted on: Prescription Drugs and Overseas Chinese
September 6, 2008 at 5:07 PMNi hao Poddies - I enjoyed the banter on "overseas chinese", being born in New York City but having two Shanghainese parents. I was a fetus when I arrived in Manhattan, so you could say I am somewhat 中国人. I still remember the lullabyes my mom would sing to me in Wuxi dialect. Anyhow, Amber and Jenny hit on a lot of nerves as I listened to the podcast. Many Chinese Americans can understand their parents speaking whatever dialect they use but cannot respond very fluently, others luckily can. Hearing Shanghainese spoken brings me back to my childhood. Even Jenny Zhu's expressions have a very local flavor. Having never studied mandarin nor Hanzi, I am here at CP and in Chinese classes to offset the years of frustration of being unable to communicate with my Chinese speaking relatives and friends. The Chinese identity issue is a personal one, everyone deals with it in his/her own way. Some, of course, cannot be bothered nor find the time, they have been termed by some as "bananas", a word some Asian Americans use rather derogatorily. But I'd rather not pass judgement. In my case, my dad was particularly involved with Chinese culture and Kunqu opera. He pioneered Kunqu study in the U.S. during the time when Chinese immigration to the U.S. was very limited. (pre-1965).
Here is a website where you can read about the "Roots" program in San Francisco, whereby Chinese-Americans return to Taishan and discover their ancestors or parents' 老家.
http://www.c-c-c.org/programs/roots/
When I visited Shanghai/Jiading and was shown by a cousin, the place my grandfather lived (subsequently destroyed during wartime), it really transformed me. Really just landing in China was amazing and emotional. I believe many overseas Chinese have similar heartfelt experiences. I think of it as a missing link to one's soul.
Si Yao
Posted on: 旧金山
June 22, 2008 at 9:35 PMJenny and Connie: Thanks for your 旧金山 lesson! I had help from my native Chinese friend in getting through the areas of the lesson I didn't study yet. We just had a heat wave here, it was close to 100F the other day, I started missing the fog! 今天天气是比较凉一点.
Jenny - 我们最好巧克力的牌子是 " "Ghirardelli" and "See's".
Si Yao (斯 耀 在旧金山)
Posted on: Group Photo
January 26, 2008 at 3:37 AMJohn and Jenny: Thanks for this lesson! You read my mind, I had been searching for these terms. All the photographer's out there will agree with me, ChinesePod rocks again!
Posted on: New York City
October 26, 2007 at 6:03 AMIf you poke around S.F. Chinatown as I do, many Cantonese folks actually speak mandarin when pressed. More recent Guangzhou immigrants are well versed in mandarin but they prefer speaking Cantonese apparently.
Posted on: New York City
October 25, 2007 at 4:06 AMJenny and Ken - Thanks for your NYC lesson! I'm totally biased - being born and raised in Manhattan. Too bad the Yankees and Mets didn't make the playoffs! (baseball fans out there are nodding at the Red Sox, probably). Xie xie, Si yao
Posted on: Ordering Xiaolongbao
May 10, 2007 at 2:55 AMDa jia hao! Thanks for the great lesson on xiao long bao! I''ve been eating these all my life. They bring me back to my childhood. IMHO, The heart of Shanghai lies in these little juicy morsels! The small talk in town (Bay Area, CA) is where one can find the best xiao long bao and other regional favorites - dou jiang, cong you bing, dun dun. Xie xie!
Posted on: Street Food Buffet
September 21, 2008 at 4:30 AMI have no problems with audio files, but the new video vocab tour files (.mp4) don't seem to show up when I sync with Itunes. Is there something I'm not doing right? I have a 5th generation Ipod with 80 gb capacity.
SiYao