User Comments - wolson
wolson
Posted on: Train to Beijing
April 10, 2008 at 10:50 AM可能是！可是，我有很重的行李。我也是很老！出租车更容易。我的大学位出租车吃苦！如果你没有行李，地铁车比较很好。
Posted on: Train to Beijing
April 10, 2008 at 9:15 AMAnd, I forgot to say, Wave Amber and Jenny: I can see you :)
Posted on: Train to Beijing
April 10, 2008 at 9:12 AMSorry, Goulniky, I can’t write this in Chinese in any reasonable amount of time. This lesson is timely. I just finished my first train ride in China. I am now in Shanghai in eyesight and walking distance of CPOD at the Jin Jiang Towers. If I can distinguish their building, I can see their building from my room here as it faces that direction. I understand why Jenny fears trains. When I and my graduate student walked into the train station at Hangzhou, it was a mass of people. To enter the building you show your ticket. But so many people were jamming the entrance and going through; she could not check all of the tickets. My graduate student slipped through. I had to put my bags through an X-Ray machine. But the guy watching the screen was dead asleep. Then I found my train number. It was D train (the fastest mode) and so I had to go through a 2nd security. The student did not make it through that one. So he left the train station. (He wasn’t in any trouble.) When I got to waiting room, it was totally packed. So I went upstairs to a second waiting room. I was lucky and found a seat. About 20 minutes to departure, they announce the train. I joined a mass of people trying to get down the stairs. It was literally take one step and wait one minute. At the bottom of the stairs, everyone was jammed up trying to get through the doors to the track. You just fought your way through like everyone else. I had a first class ticket and found my car. On entering the train, you show the ticket to the conductor and she points you towards the seats. I found my seat number, put my bags in the overhead track and settled down. It was better than an airplane ride. The seat was comfortable and I had plenty of leg room. About ten minutes into the ride a man came down the aisle selling snacks and drinks. So I zoomed along at speeds up 180 KPH towards Shanghai. They ride was nice and lasted 1 hour and a half. At Shanghai South, I again joined the masses of people trying to get out of the train station. I found the never ending line for taxi’s and joined it. Meanwhile a number of gypsy drivers were asking people to ride with them. I learned my lesson the first time I was in Shanghai about riding with them. I did not see any other Chinese riding in their cars…. Best to stay away from them. The line was extended several times by people who cut into the line … the Chinese seem to be exceptionally forgiving when people cut the line. But less than a half hour after the train stopped, I was in a taxi crawling to Yanan Expressway with a million other cars. So what did I learn: the train ride in 1st class is very nice. But getting on and off the train is a lot of fighting crowds. It is kind of like a game of rugby. Also, don’t take many bags… it is hard to fight a crowd with bags and you are going to have to lift them on stairs. I read somewhere that Chinese trains limit you to 20 Kg but I did not see anyone checking that. Stay away from the gypsy drivers if you like your wallet and maybe your life. Be prepared to wait for a taxi for up to 20 minutes or more. And remember this is on a Thursday afternoon! Imagine what it would be like on a major holiday!
Posted on: Detroit
April 8, 2008 at 12:32 PMYes, it is the merging of Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang, the three cities separted by the Yangtze and the Han Rivers. What really imressed me was the huge amount of water in this area. Beside two fo the largest rivers in China, there are huge lakes everywhere you go. Of course Donghu and Nanhu are the most well known but there are many, many more.
Posted on: Ending Your Sentence with 吧 (ba)
April 8, 2008 at 7:25 AMYou can add La to the mix as well!
Posted on: Detroit
April 8, 2008 at 6:43 AMJohn, The comments I make about Detroit I hope are a bit more informative than this lesson was. But I will agree that as an Intermediate, we do need to be able and equipped to discuss cities in China. And now to talk about a depressing city: I just left Wuhan. I have never been to a Chinese city as dirty as Wuhan. But you know what? I had a lot of fun in Wuhan. Saturday was a bust because of the rain. But Sunday was just outstanding: I visited the Yellow Crane Pagoda and the working Guiyan Bhuddist Temple. They were totally great. And then last night after business, I was invited to a 4 hour 茶道！We my host said we were going to a tea house, I thought he meant one of those things where a pretty girl pours a little tea in a more or less mock ceremony and you sit around and chat， 白酒喝啤酒 optional. This was nothng of the sort. This was a serious 茶道。Tea will never taste the same again from what I learned there. I am going to have to make the 茶道 a separate thread if I get the time.
Posted on: Detroit
April 6, 2008 at 1:38 PMI was thrilled to hear an intermediate lesson about Detroit; but after hearing it, I was not so happy. When I first heard the Chinese word, "破" (po4) I thought the word was po' like in "those po' people." I live about 50 miles South of Detriot. I often drive to Detroirt for both professional and recreational purposes. While central Detriot is 破, there is much about Detroit that is positive, very interesting and would have made this a better lesson. Unfortunately, the authors decided to stick with stereotypes rather than provide actual information. If you are going to comment on a city like this: you need to do better research. Your lesson introduction above would have been better in Chinese than the actual dialogue. Most of the time, I like CPOD's lessons but I think you blew it on this one. I know you are capable of much better and factual information than was given in this lesson.
Posted on: You Must Listen to this Episode - 非...不可 (fēi...bù kě)
March 31, 2008 at 12:40 PM今天，我拜访子安和鲁克莱。我非说不可，鲁克莱在猪的天堂！他自己防守很多漂亮女人。他菲高兴不可。
Posted on: Online Shopping
March 29, 2008 at 9:25 AM这节课好学！从网，我买了一点儿东西。可是我只用英语。现在，我可以定购在汉语！谢谢！
Posted on: Superstitions and Business Trip Tales
April 12, 2008 at 8:26 AMRJ, One shot of baijiu is OK but at some of the banquets I have attended, they were full wine glasses and people were "gan bei" ing them. I did this a couple of times but lately, I can't go near the stuff. And white wine seems to be a significant rarity in China. If you do get it is as others have said above "bai2 pu2tao jiu4". I am curius as to how they refer to "saki" ... time for the ol' cidian: 清酒 qing1 jiu4? Incidently I like what CPod did to the out-takes: they did a nice job of editing to make me sound better. :)