User Comments - weibwo
weibwo
Posted on: Of Soldiers and Military People
February 7, 2011 at 6:17 PMA xin bing is a recruit which is a more appropriate translation than new soldier.
Posted on: Of Soldiers and Military People
February 5, 2011 at 6:30 PMWhat is the word for Marine? Jen, I think that the Marine Corps has the best dress uniform.
Posted on: What's in a name?
February 1, 2011 at 9:49 PMMy Chinese name is a transliteration of my last name Webb 偉博 Wei1 (great) bwo4 (broad knowledge)(Pinyin bo4. At the time I first studied Chinese we used the Yale romanization system and I still use it for my name only. However it was given to me by some Chinese students who were in the same masters program as I was. They gave me the name after the first Historiography class. I had taken several Historiography classes as an undergraduate and unfortunately they didn't teach this subject in Taiwan at the time. Also I was used to seminars where the instructor relies on the students to participate more than I think Chinese students like. I was in 7th Heaven but the Chinese students were a little nervous at the prospect of getting an A. So the students were at a disadvantage to say the least. At the end of the class they gave me that name. I translated it and was quite proud to say the least, however, I never was quite sure whether it was a compliment or not. I found out later that the Chinese have a very keen sense of humor and complements sometimes aren't quite what they mean.
My Chinese family calls me 汤姆 [tāngmǔ] which is my first name.
I look a little like 圣诞老人 with white hair and beard so I when I am in China they call me that. I get asked quite often to have my picture taken with children, teenage girls and some adults when I am in China.
Posted on: Turn in Your Homework
January 26, 2011 at 4:04 PMHomework in the US depends on the time period. After Sputnik went up in 1958 my homework load increased about 10 fold. We had a lot of homework and were required to take a lot of math and science classes. This is not so true today. Also parochial schools dish out a lot of homework where public schools not so much. Currently there is more homework than in the 70's, 80's and 90's with the emphasis on testing for achievement.
I have mentioned this once before the epistimology of China is rote memorization which consequently requires a lot of repetitive activities including learning how to write the myriad of Chinese characters. One only need look at the vision problems in China to see one of the side effects of so much homework.
My wife talks about the hours she spent practicing her characters and how little time was spent on developing critical thinking skills which is now emphasized in the US and Europe, more so in Europe.
Posted on: Marco Polo in China
January 25, 2011 at 9:37 PMHow about the reverse Marco Polo Syndrome:
I have a Master's degree in Chinese Philosophy and History and when I first went to China in 1979 the socialist history was still prevalent especially among guides at the various tourist spots. At that time they were still giving tourists the Maoist revisionsist version of history and when you disagreed with them they became very indignant to say the least.
Marco Polo never wrote his travels it was done while in a Genoan prison by a Frenchman called Rustichello. Marco Polo described his travels while in the East and Rustichello wrote them down.
Posted on: Chinatown Diary
January 19, 2011 at 7:23 PMInterestingly enough the old China Towns in the US, consisted of Chinese from a specific region in Guangzhou named Toishan. Most were from the Leong Clan. Consequently the old Chinese Benevolent Society is called: Ong Leong Hui.
Posted on: How to Address Someone
January 18, 2011 at 9:54 PMI have always wondered where the Chinese (Jenny and Di Lu) got that little "mmm" when listening to others speak or responding.
Posted on: This Needs to be Dry Cleaned
December 10, 2010 at 4:30 AMJenny:
Chinese may be super sensitive about personal hygiene but have you seen the restrooms lately???????
Posted on: Blind Massage
November 29, 2010 at 9:35 PMMy good heavens. Give China some time!!!
Posted on: Ordering Fancy Coffee
May 21, 2011 at 6:21 PMIn my past life I was part owner of a gourmet coffee roasting and distribution company. We had a retail outlet and sold roasted coffee beans. It would be fun to know the terminology of this kind of retail store. For example how would one buy a kilo of Columbian Supremo, Ethiopian Harrar, Java Estate Number 1, Jamaican blue mountain Wallensford Estates #1, Kenyan AA, Mexican Primo Lavado, Brazil Santos, Costa Rican Terrazu, Sumatran Blue Lintong etc. in Chinese.