User Comments - masterkrang

Posted on: A New Jug for the Water Cooler

the housework fairy was a really good piece of random info... i already used this on my friend who cleaned my room when i wasn't there recently...

Posted on: A New Jug for the Water Cooler

i wonder why John chose "water cooler" as a translation for "饮水机"？the reason why i ask is because i was always met with strange looks when asking about ice water or cold water when i lived in Beijing. it's one thing i was really surprised about when i lived there, that people there even think if you drink cold things you'll get sick. they even say something like, “你不能喝冰的”, or maybe “不应该。。。”, can't remember.

i didn't really see too many 饮水机's while i was in china, but if they are anything like they are in the states, i wouldn't be very surprised if the blue side (for cold water) doesn't get much use there...

Posted on: A New Jug for the Water Cooler

while i was staying in Beijing most people i knew (students) just put the jug on the floor and connected a pump (cheap plastic thing like 10块) to the spout of the bottle and pumped the water out. i found that was really convenient. a lot better than waking up at 3am and having to boil water for sure. the water is pretty damn cheap too, beats buying bottled for sure, and usually they deliver for free. it's funny, some guys will wait outside a building all day trying to sell jugs of water of the back of their bike.

Posted on: A New Jug for the Water Cooler

my dictionary says "water dispenser".

Posted on: 新能源

"anything is possible" or "everything is possible" in my opinion is preferred over "impossible is nothing". it's not even correct english and sounds super strange when people say it.

Posted on: Into the Sandstorm

i really enjoy lessons with Jiaojie in them. what other lessons does she speak in?

Posted on: Into the Sandstorm

ben, are you sure that "jacket" is the proper translation for 冲锋衣? seems like this is a more specific kind of terminology to explain something like a windbreaker thought even windbreaker doesn't sound right. possibly a word that can only be used in certain situations.

Posted on: Into the Sandstorm

i was also wondering about this translation... when i first heard i thought "windbreaker", that seemed like the right translation but it sounds a bit more serious in chinese, cuz when you look up 冲锋 it translates it as "assault", and it's a totally different 风. i thought it would be funny to call it an "assault jacket" but that sounds too army. but at least it shows the severity of the situation... if it were america we'd probably call it a sandbreaker but we don't really have any sandstorms out here, well at least not in cali. i'm guessing it's just like a windbreaker with more pockets and maybe some more padding on the inside? apparently there is already a word for windbreaker 风衣.

Posted on: Shanghai Expo Pavilions

mark, i would see disneyland as even worse, it's a way for americans to escape reality totally, not much of an international experience, sorta like "take me anywhere but reality". i'd go with bababardwan's point about LV. i guess the only difference between our chinatown or little italy though, is it's sort of a way to simulate a foreigners version of their own country in american, not a simulation of a foreigners country for americans.... seems more tied to the way people like to immigrate and feel comfortable, or to facilitate people who aren't too willing to assimilate.

Posted on: Shanghai Expo Pavilions

your comment reminds me of being in beijing and going to a college student fair where all of the decorations we basically made by hand... all of the things were so cheap, like landscapes made from multiple magazine cuttings, and plants made out of pieces of paper, but when you added them all together and sorta pretended you weren't so snobby, it was pretty awesome... i think this is a cultural difference between americans and chinese, the chinese seem so much more enthusiastic and willing to work with limited materials, sometimes even more creative than what i'm used to in america.

if i could go, which i can't unfortunately, i would just try to pretend i was a little chinese kid. or if i still blazed it i would do something like that to try to get in the mood. ha!