User Comments - bodawei

Posted on: Hot Pot Chitchat

Barbs

Ah, thanks; so he was on 'scout duties'.. ;-)  We watched the new-born and mother for a couple of hours and there was no reuniting of the spouses on that occasion.  Perhaps the drake had been commissioned for hot-pot duties.  Mandarin ducks are a threatened species because people like to eat them. (I got my information directly from Wildlife Protection Society members who were tracking their every movement.)

BTW Have i happened upon a beta version of the new Search function?  I have looked at the 'related' lessons and conversations and can't see any connection at all with this lesson.    

Posted on: Hot Pot Chitchat

Oh, that is too weird.  I come back in and there is 'Related Lessons' and 'Related Conversations'.  I swear 'Related Lessons' was not there last time I looked, and where did 'Related Conversations' come from?  Take a little break from ChinesePod and they go all efficient on you.  

But I don't think there are any links to the previous conversation about dual hot pots and 鸳鸯... 

Does this mean that you can search conversations now?   

Posted on: Hot Pot Chitchat

@Barbs

I love you illustrations of 鸳鸯 yuānyāng.   I've seen them，a big family of 鸳鸯, in the flesh and they weren't so colourful - but maybe I was just viewing the female and her brood come to think of it.  I think the male had done his bit and had fled the coop.  Out 'hunting' for the family.. ;-).  BTW what is your reference for them being a symbol of 'fidelity'?  

But I'm having deja vu, or I'm very tired (or are those the same thing?)  

Haven't we had this discussion before on ChinesePod, not too long ago?  I remember sharing on the same topic but cannot see any cross-reference.  What happened to the 'Related Lessons' feature, does it still function do you know?  

Posted on: Getting a Driver's License

I now have more direct (and therefore more reliable) information on the cost of getting a drivers licence in a medium size city in China - someone I know is just about through the process.  They have spent about 3,500 RMB on compulsory driving instruction and the test itself costs 300 RMB. For some reason there are four different test components held on four different days (I'm not clear on the details of the test components but part of it is a knowledge test.)  

Posted on: Jason and Sarah

@Jason

Yeah, no need for apologies, I know that us white folks from Brisbane all look the same.  :-) 

Used to 白酒 hey?, that definitely takes some drinking. We had a party here on Sat and I am just surveying the damage.  I carried out a lot of empty foreign beer bottles (how is it that Australian wine and beer sells in China cheaper than in Sydney?)  The 劲酒 bottles are empty - it was recommended to me because it contains 白酒 and medicine in the same bottle, not to mention a lot of sugar. Apparently the medicine perfectly balances the damaging effects of alcohol.  Perfect 阴 and 阳 ..and a cute-shaped bottle.  As a virtual non-drinker the aesthetics are important to me.  

All my bottles of Yunnan wine seem to be intact.   

RJ - you can have some of our 火锅 restaurants, we definitely have too many. US productivity would fall noticeably if you had this many; they are designed for leisurely eating.   

Posted on: A Chinese Bachelor Party

We had a party tonight - I wasn't sure what to call it and was told to call it a 'party'.  So when I sent a text  message I had to switch between 中文 and 英语 to write 'party'... My 'taxi driver' check (actually the 保安) confirmed for me that 'party' is widely understood.     

Posted on: A Thanksgiving Phone Call

@eupnea63355 

That is an impressive meal - but is that 'sweet potato and banana casserole with pecan topping' traditional?  I would like to know how Americans have survived hundreds of years of Thanksgiving Dinners! Actually it sounds kind of tropical - did it originate in Hawaii?  We've heard that you eat sweet potato with marshmellows but this is really extending your range. 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Yes, I get Thanksgiving greetings even after I tell my friends we don't celebrate it.  But it is a nice thought.  

Posted on: Finding a Street Number

@waiguoren

The protocol, such as it is, is described above.  It is just difficult for foreigners and, as we've noted, locals don't use it much anyway.  Numbering goes south to north and east to west (who could be surprised that it starts in the East?)  

I also find Chengdu difficult to navigate if relying on street names.  And the address system in their large apartment complexes.  The convention for residential addresses does vary in detail around the country.  

Posted on: Capital Punishment

@Changye

Any idea why the cow was the most important sacrificial animal in ancient China?  Of all the animals to choose from, why the cow?  (Seems a waste to kill any animal at all, but economically speaking, to kill such a useful animal seems stupid.)  I wonder if it was that it was considered more valuable than other animals?  

In Papua New Guinea the pig was and is still probably the most important animal, and it was killed in (family/village) rituals. The pig is highly valuable and used like currency.  I think that it was the most valuable and available animal for the purpose.   

Do we still kill valuable things in the cause of a ritual?  Apart from brain cells from too much alcohol being drunk. I wonder how many cows and pigs were slaughtered to celebrate Obama's visit?    

Posted on: Finding a Street Number

@Matt

You make exactly the same point I was thinking of making; numbers are rarely used here.  You either refer to a landmark or an intersection. (Incidentally in Seoul the 'problem' is much greater - everyone navigates by landmark rather than street numbers. And my brief experiences in Beijing suggest that the numbering there is less reliable than elsewhere in China; maybe a function of the age of the city. Numbering is a nightmare in any big old city.)  

So the dialogue, while amusing to foreigners, would be rarely said by native speakers?   

Let's hope?..:-) 

Actually this lesson really needed a map to illustrate the complexity, the randomness - the dialogue, I think, made it sound easier than it is. Maybe it is more complex in China's W - no-one commented on my description above of a fairly typical collection of streets all with the same core name.  The ones that are broken up along their length are easy to navigate by comparison. (Sorry, David's comment is along the same lines.)   

BTW thanks for the phrase - simpler and better than the expression I have been using for some time! I would say 万航渡路和长宁路娄山关路的路口附近  but 万航渡路，近长宁路娄山关路的路口 sounds better to me!