User Comments - pearltowerpete
pearltowerpete
Posted on: 中国崛起
February 2, 2009 at 11:30 AMHi all,
Scratch a loud-mouthed nationalist and you reveal someone deeply insecure about his society and his place in it.
Every society has them: not quite smart enough or hard-working enough to make it in the real world. But tell them something unexpected or controversial, and they erupt. Pathetic.
Hi chistudent,
第一，不是我先下手啦。
第二，您说我是做客的。 难道主人也应该那样对待客人吗？我还以为中国人很好客呢。
粪青嘛，找不到工作，找不到对象，一天到晚打电子游戏，乱吼因该把谁谁谁消灭掉。这种人我看多了。
幸亏绝大多数的中国老百姓不是那样的。但学了一点欧洲历史你就会发现：就算数量不多，那种loser 还是可以影响到国家的发展。这才可怕。
Posted on: 麻将风波
February 2, 2009 at 9:49 AMHi bababardwan,
Actually, Chinese has another even closer equivalent to "when the cat's away..."
山中无老虎，猴子称霸王
When there's no tiger on the mountain, the monkeys will declare themselves dictators!
I prefer these kinds of sayings to the standard four character 成语. Chinese has all kinds of earthy, realistic sayings. These are really worth keeping. I hope they survive the society's move from the villages to the cities.
穷鬼乍富，狗穿皮裤
When a poor guy suddenly gets rich, even his dog wears [expensive] leather pants.
So true...
Posted on: 中国崛起
February 2, 2009 at 8:15 AMHi cassie
真不好意思，我好像打错了字。算了，不改了 ;-)
我自己不爱国，我爱文明。
而且我同意 miantiao 的理论。我认为人类都有种族歧视，排外注意的本能。人类以生存为主，为了生活，什么可怕的事都做得出来。这就很合理，我们最早在森林为了生存而奋斗的时候，害怕和痛恨别人对我们生存有利。
现在时代不一样了，教育的目标就是让我们放弃这种过时，落后的想法。
Posted on: 麻将风波
February 2, 2009 at 8:02 AMHi peterleon74
Thanks for a funny story. It is a real-life application of the old proverb, 天高，皇帝远-- Heaven is high, and the Emperor is far away.
Have you tried Google Pinyin? It is very convenient, although it does put a cookie on your computer, and who knows what kind of information they are collecting about us. Ah, studying Chinese in the digital era.
Posted on: 中国崛起
February 2, 2009 at 7:43 AMHi all,
For those who didn't believe my comment about ugly nationalism, please see mayuanjjd1256's offering for a classic example of the 粪青 in action.
Posted on: 中国崛起
February 2, 2009 at 6:11 AMHi Changye
你说得很对。老百姓很容易被欺骗，听到新闻播放自己国家崛起的消息，就高兴得吐血。很少有人仔细分析自己最基本的理论和想法，疑问“我国崛起了，这个消息会不会影响到我自己的生活？”
Hannah Arendt 写了一本著名书，她所讲的就是德国对犹太人的大屠杀。她还创造了一个新概念，叫做“the banality of evil" ，大概是“邪恶之平凡”吧。它的意思就是历史上最邪恶的事情之所以能发生就是因为普通老百姓太天真，太容易信任领导的话。
不管在哪个国家，都应该好好考虑，想一想，政府告诉我的消息是不是可靠。
Posted on: Seeing off an Old Friend 渭城曲
February 2, 2009 at 4:36 AMHi angelinov
Thanks for the suggestion. We are releasing the show on Tuesdays so that I will be able to reply quickly to any comments and questions that may pop up.
We could reconsider this, however, if a lot of poddies felt as you do. Tell us what you think on User Voice ;-)
Posted on: 中国崛起
February 2, 2009 at 3:36 AMHi hutudan
You raise an excellent point. Most of the Advanced lessons are based on daily life and business, etc.
But there are quite a few lessons with some serious nationalist chest-thumping. This is a fact of life in modern China, one that it's easy for us from the West to forget or underestimate (and I say that as an American, from the most nationalistic of the Western countries).
Think of this as cultural content, in addition to "pure language." I have had countless discussions and arguments over chauvinism, nationalism and patriotism here-- China is "civilizing" its minorities, other countries are "keeping China down" etc. Of course, all these ideas are endlessly reinforced in textbooks, the media, and propaganda.
Anyone wanting a full picture of modern China, especially of its young people who have not lived through the turmoil caused by blind nationalism, cannot afford to ignore this social phenomenon.
Posted on: 中国崛起
February 3, 2009 at 12:01 AMHi all
Nothing like a rollicking discussion of nationalism and world views! Let's continue to keep the tone respectful. Also, please remember that many of us are communicating in our non-native langauges, and that it's hard to make your meaning understood in message boards anyhow.
That said, I'm delighted to see some new faces at the Advanced level. And none of us should have anything to fear from a frank discussion. If your ideas are worth keeping, they won't fall apart under a few jabs from the CPod community.
Hi hotpot2000
首先， 谢谢你参与我们讨论。
我基本上同意你的观点，而且很赞成中国近年来的和谐发展。
虽然你说的对，中国的成就没靠掠夺或者暴力但还是有一个非常重要的受害者：大自然。愚蠢的政策，像什么“人多力量大”，“围湖造田”，“以粮为纲”先别说了-- 工业化也给贵国带来了非常严重的后果。目前，中国爱国者应该拼个命研究环境保护，可持续发展，等。乱说跟谁要打起来，一点屁用都没有。
Hi alearnerandeducator and miantiao
有时候，在西方，“用某地方的视觉去判断那个地方”是一种code word， 实际意思就是“mind your own business." 以前美国南方种族歧视特别厉害，甚至很多饭馆啊，电影院啊，都不接待黑人。那时，美国本地的粪青也会看某个黑人不顺眼，就乱杀他。当时中央政府一直想制止这种行为，但南方人一直说“你们别管了，这就是我们的土地，我们有自己的习惯和文化，你们管不着啦。” 美国黑人吃了ｎ 年苦头才能有今天的奥巴马总统。
So I think miantiao is arguing that certain values go beyond (often cruel or stupid) local governments, and apply to all people. We could disagree about what those values are.
It might help to think of planet earth as a spaceship with a limited supply of air and water. Fighting too hard for our own little patch of land is pointless, and misses the big picture.
美国革命战争的时候，我们国父Ben Franklin 为了说服各个州联合起来，说了一句很经典的话，“We must all hang together (团队起来） or we shall certainly all hang separately (一个一个的吊死）."