User Comments - calkins

Posted on: Is China Scary?

Ha ha, these boards have been cracking me up since yesterday.

I'm happy to see that the new policy wardens have the week off...cpod is more entertaining with this kind of passion :)

Posted on: Ordering Songs at Karaoke

I second xiaophil's request for a lesson on the indie music scene in China.  It's so hard to find good independent music in China (more so in Taiwan I think).  It's even more difficult to find a good venue to see shows.  Glad to hear a lesson is in the works, and thanks for the Neocha link Matt.

Speaking of 'Schizoid Man', here is an amazing "all-strings" rendition done by an all-(beautiful)-women Japanese ensemble ;)  The ending is pretty awesome.

Posted on: Traveling around China

I've noticed that my Taiwanese friends, when texting or emailing, use 的 in place of 得。I had assumed they were simple typos, but it looks like it's okay. 

Maybe it's more prevalent in Taiwan...I know how the Taiwanese like to simplify Mandarin as much as possible.

Posted on: Introduction to Pinyin

Here's another great site for learning the sounds of pinyin.  It includes animation of the mouth and tongue, detailed description of what the mouth and tongue should do, as well as video of a native Chinese's mouth producing each sound.

The layout/useability of the site isn't the greatest, but the content is really useful.

LearnChineseABC.com

Posted on: Introduction to Pinyin

Regarding pinyin in Taiwan: 

1.  Bopomofo is the only learning vehicle for children.  They don't learn pinyin at all, that I'm aware of.

2.  Street signs do have pinyin, but they are a hodgepodge of Hanyu and Wade-Giles.  It's based on individual jurisdiction (ex:  Taipei is said to have gone the way of Hanyu, but it's still a hodgepodge).  This is mostly annoying for foreigners, as Taiwanese don't read pinyin anyway - to them, it's just like reading English, no need as the characters are there.

3.  It is true that pinyin is taught to foreigners in Mandarin learning schools (i.e. 師大，臺大，etc.).  Actually, they provide both pinyin and bopomofo.  I go to 師大 (shida) and my teacher's pinyin is about as good as the street signs - it's all over the place, misspellings, tones in the wrong place, etc.  She's a great teacher for teaching Chinese, but not for teaching pinyin!

Overall, I think Taiwan uses pinyin for the sole purpose of making life easier for mainland Chinese and foreigners who have learned Chinese by way of pinyin.  This is great, I just wish they would really standardize it (Hanyu preferably).

Posted on: Morning Hygiene

Many (I would say most) Chinese shower at night. 

For a Westerner, this initially seems strange...only because we are used to showering in the morning.

But when you think about it, showering at night actually makes a lot more sense than showering in the morning, especially in Asia.  Here are some reasons why:

• Many cities in Asia are very dense, and there is a lot of pollution.  It's dirty when you go outside, and you can feel it.

• Many people drive scooters (especially here in Taiwan) and you drive through the pollution.

• Many cities in Asia are hot and humid, and the second you walk out the door, you feel like two rats making sweet love in a wool sock (i.e. very sweaty;).

So which makes more sense:

• Western : Take a shower in the morning, leave for work or wherever, get sweaty and "dirty"...come home, sit on the sofa, go to bed.  You just brought the "dirt" of the city into your house and into your bed.

• Chinese : Leave for work or wherever, get sweaty and "dirty"...come home, take off your shoes at the door and put on a pair of clean slippers...take a shower and put on some clean clothes, sit on the sofa, go to bed.  Your house is still clean, and when you wake up in the morning you are still clean.

That being said, I think it's still difficult for us Westerners to get used to.  But it does make a lot of sense.  One other thing, for some reason Chinese don't seem to get bed-head like most Westerners do!  I don't understand this phenomenon...maybe it's the thinner hair.

One other note (who thought I could write a dissertation on showering?)....many Chinese are adamant about keeping their beds clean.  There were numerous times when I tried to sit on my ex-girlfriend's bed (pre-evening shower) and basically got B-slapped off.  It's actually kind of a fun game to play with the Chinese!

Posted on: Getting Nationalities Straight

Sydcarten, you can say 印尼 Yìnní for Indonesia.

Posted on: The Final Show

Well, I feel really stupid, as I should.

All I can say is that I sincerely apologize to you Amber.  I am very sorry for my thoughtless comments.  I don't know what I was thinking.  Like I said above, I know you are a good person.  I know how much you have given us, and how hard you have worked to create the wonderful reputation you have.  I feel extremely bad for tarnishing that in any way.

I know this has caused you trouble and pain.  Causing you to come out in public and explain your personal life is inexcusable.  I hope you can forgive my stupidity and thoughtlessness.  I've been around long enough to know that I shouldn't listen to rumors, and I know even more that I shouldn't create waves with rumors, especially when I don't know all the facts.

When my emotions get the best of me, and thoughtlessness follows, I wish there was a hand that would come out of my computer and slap me upside the head.  我的脑子坏了。Xiaophil summed it up for me:

Having a community is good, but communities should be nurturing.  I for one have engaged in debates before, but I'm going to try and focus on studying from now on...

I will be doing the same going forward.  My apologies to everyone for creating such negativity here.

Posted on: The Final Show

Henning, those dates were referring to the "lessons published" date.  They said they had to use earlier dates to get them into iTunes.  A bit odd, but okay I'll buy that. 

The February 10th date is the date Amber became a "new member" in the member list.

One other thing "this company" did that left a bad taste in my mouth:

In the first News podcast they did, a Cpod member had asked an innocent question (in the comments section) regarding the coincidental timing of Amber's departure of Cpod and beginning at this other company.  He posed a tough question, but it was an innocent one.  There were a few responses, from Frank and maybe Dave I think (I can't remember exactly).  Anyway, within a day all of those comments had been removed from the page.  There was no foul language, no attacks, just simple honest questions (which were not answered).  Very strange to me that they would delete those comments....unless of course they were trying to hide something?

Posted on: The Final Show

RJ, this is one of the few instances where we don't see eye-to-eye. 

I agree that Amber should have the right to remain silent in the beginning.  But why the need to continue lying once she was settled in NY, was no longer employed by Cpod, and had started the new gig?  At some point (it's now going on 6 months), the truth would have been nice.

Actually, I don't put too much of the blame on Amber.  I know Amber is a good person, and I still respect her.  I think her new company has handled this very poorly.  If there was anyone in the company with some foresight, they would have easily seen this coming.  Once Amber started the job (what, beginning of February, or sooner?), her new employer should have told her that it'd be in her best interests (and theirs) to come clean.  Like Ken said, not the best way to start a new venture.  Is it a secret that half the employees came from Cpod?  No...their names are in B&W on the website.  So why hide the details?  Again, we're all adults here.  This makes me wonder about the recent Cpod losses...is Marco really going to HK to pursue his love of directing, or is he going to work for the other website?  I'm half kidding here.

At the end of the day, it's none of my business, and I know I should butt out.  It's just disappointing.  I do agree...nobody's perfect, live and learn.