User Comments - bodawei
bodawei
Posted on: Toilet Types
April 9, 2009 at 11:37 AMI don't think anyone has mentioned that at 'reception' in a public toilet the attendant may ask: 大便还是小便？ A very personal question, and crudely put, but the price depends on the need. So you need to decide before you go in. And no cheating. Also, don't 'forget' to pay - a lot of people make their living looking after toilets.
Posted on: Toilet Types
April 8, 2009 at 1:54 PMMost of the best advice has already been provided, with diagrams even. But a few more warnings are in order: the regular version is definitely squat. There is a preference in places with reputations to maintain to call it 洗手间 rather than 厕所, which is fortunate for beginners because the latter is more difficult to say. Although you can make hand signals that look like you are washing your hands. The plumbing in some places does not permit all the usual functions of a toilet (only #1s allowed) and you can be fined if you offend. It might help to remember that many (most?) Chinese think that sit-down toilets are dirty - sitting on a seat that someone else has used.
Our toilet in a flat we once lived in had a diagram showing with an arrow the direction for pushing the flush button. If you think about it there is absolutely only one way to push a button.
Posted on: Business Card Gone Wrong
April 7, 2009 at 2:23 PM30 - 50 RMB for 100 business cards seems rather a lot to me given the purchasing power of the RMB; I guess that's Shanghai prices. Starbucks prices.
I can't get used to how cheap photocopying is. I'm often out by a factor of ten. They'd say 什么 什么 mao and I thought it must be 什么 什么 kuai. I had to keep a special collection of mao for going to copy something.
i guess some people don't worry about saying 那你退钱。。or。。退票 (get your money back on unwanted tickets) because things are so cheap. I have lined up at the 退票 window more than once and watched the market in unused tickets play out up and down the queue - for some reason the police seem to frown on the 'professional' go-betweens but the system works as far as I can see.
Posted on: Two Poems about Music -- 弹琴 and 听筝
April 7, 2009 at 1:16 PMHi Pete
Was that a 古筝 in KungFu Hustle? I'm sorry, I have to take my culture where I can get it it.
Another great effort - thinkbuddha said it best: you have got the perfect balance in these lessons.
The comment about traditional characters makes me wonder: if we could gaze at the old caligraphy while listening that would complete the sensory experience!
Posted on: Which Finger?
April 3, 2009 at 12:10 PM那部电影叫做<天下无贼>看过了吗？很有名的电影。我认为一位人物叫Uncle Li说：‘我要砍你一个手指‘。。然后他把一个手指砍好了。 这个CP的故事不一样，因为龙哥也说 ‘我要砍你一个手指‘，但是不砍！
Posted on: Which Finger?
April 3, 2009 at 12:10 PM那部电影叫做<天下无贼>看过了吗？很有名的电影。我认为一位人物叫Uncle Li说：‘我要砍你一个手指‘。。然后他把一个手指砍好了。 这个CP的故事不一样，因为龙哥也说 ‘我要砍你一个手指‘，但是不砍！
Posted on: Which Finger?
April 3, 2009 at 3:21 AM有人可能说‘no!'很多的方法！ 不要！ 不行! 不不不! 对不起，有事! 明天再说吧!
Posted on: Welfare Lottery
April 2, 2009 at 11:28 AM@michellekc7
Hi Michelle - I don't believe I said that bribery is a big problem in China, correct me if I'm wrong. It is a story I hear from Chinese friends. My point was that Chinese people are over-sensitised on the issue. The penalties for corruption are very severe by Western standards. My belief is that there are fewer cases of bribery than is commonly believed, at least in respect of welfare payments. I have essentially an economic argument - the returns from mis-directing the paltry funds paid through the local 'welfare' system are far outweighed by outlandish penalties for those who are caught. No-one in their right mind... etc.
BTW whether corruption is common in other countries is a bit beside the point, even if it is interesting. I guess as humans we all try to get away with what we can. But what is acceptable in one culture may not be acceptable in another. We aren't all the same. There are international organisations that study corrupt behaviour in different nations - you can see their published reports no doubt if you google say Transparency International. And although I certainly don't condone it let me say that there are worse crimes than bribery?
Posted on: Picking Up 拿
April 12, 2009 at 8:14 AM@calkins
your transliteration of latte 拿铁 brought to mind other dodgy transliterations of Italian in the hot drinks arena like 印度拿铁 (chai latte), 玛其亚朵 (machiato) 摩卡 (moccha) and 意式浓缩 (espresso)..
- from which point I can raise one of life's little mysteries: why is a flat white coffee called: 澳式奶咖 (Australian-style coffee)? If anything the cappuccino is the most common coffee drunk in this country. People drink them morning, noon and night (uncool I know). Personally I have given up coffee, or sometimes drink 脱咖啡因的 (de-caffeinated).
When asking someone to clear the table you can emphasise that EVERYTHING goes: 通通拿去吧 - tong tong na qu ba (take away the lot!)