User Comments - zhenlijiang

Posted on: Watching the Sun Go Down -- 登乐游原

pete, thanks for sharing this poem.  and i'd love to take a look at the discussion but the link is not working.

(we're all mortal even before we begin, not getting any more mortal as we age, aren't we.  i think i feel now at 3PM--but of course that's presumptuous of me)

obitoddkenobi,  yes i think it's getting old. i've felt that way i think since my mid-30s and this has gotten impossible, as there is something that reminds me every day now, to ignore in my 40s (50s and 40s not too different are they?).  not so much awareness of my mortality as understanding the finiteness of opportunities and appreciating everything and everyone that i do get to encounter in this lifetime.  i guess it's what japanese call もののあわれ【物の哀れ】mono-no-aware.  my J-C dictionary gives me  对人世的变幻莫测深有感触  duì rénshì de biànhuànmòcè shēnyǒu gǎnchù--not sure how appropriate that is in chinese.

this could be the last time i ever ... (everything i will do today!)

Posted on: What do Foreigners Like?

bodawei,  i'm not sure if i'm picturing the same kinds of vases w/plastic flowers as the ones you describe, but we used to have such things in japan too, again, around 35 yrs ago (why my references are all 35 yrs ago i don't know)--in "good" taxis. the taxi flowers were meant to express good service and hospitality, along w/crisp white seat covers and white-gloved drivers. the vases were blue transparent plastic.  i think we used to have fabric (ribbon) flowers too, not just plastic.  so i'm wondering if the origin of plastic flowers in china's buses could be us.

Posted on: What do Foreigners Like?

i relate to the sentiments expressed by reigau re laowai even though i would not be on the receiving end myself. it seems pretty much equivalent to the japanese term 外人 gaijin. about 35 yrs ago the vast majority of japanese even in tokyo were not accustomed to seeing a foreigner in person, and could have no idea about distinctions such as continental european / north american etc etc.

so in those days a foreign (=caucasian) visitor or resident really could not go anywhere w/out being pointed and stared at, having locals whisper to each other (i sometimes got it for speaking english in public) and "gaijin!" shouted at them. japanese then just didn't know any better, but of course for the people on the receiving end it got old really fast, being constantly told you can't just be a person is alienating and frustrating.  i imagine with all the information in this age, things in china will change much more rapidly than they did in japan in this respect.

i don't think of anyone who dislikes being called gaijin or laowai as oversensitive.  even though gaijin is not a really bad word--and  sometimes seasoned ex-pats even refer to themselves like that, to show us they're comfortable w/japanese language and culture--i never use it (unless i'm swearing maybe), not even among only japanese, because it's a word that says a person is not seen as a human being.

when i have no idea where someone is from i may say 外国人 gaikoku-jin, more likely 外国の人（方）gaikoku-no-hito(kata). this is more and more syllables and characters, but that's simply what you got to do.  gaijin obviously is a short, lazy derivation from that.

Posted on: What do Foreigners Like?

reigau, the maker was probably Nikka? the guy you met, possibly a mr. taketsuru.

Posted on: The Magic Word 把

henning, pls tell us which ones are the other four, and if they have actually been placed, which is 1st, 2nd 3rd 4th and 5th!

Posted on: Business Card Gone Wrong

倒霉，我不能喝酒。没有办法 getting plastered, although i still can get drunk by aerial infection. but yes--by all means whatever tongue-loosener works for you, use it!

请大家问一下，what is your goal?

Posted on: Business Card Gone Wrong

calkins, bababardwan, i say give us 20 years we should be passable, if not super. for calkins maybe sooner, your brain should be younger than ours (makes a huge difference).

... that is, assuming we remain dedicated, stoic, diligent students with a sickening (quoting will smith, on himself) work ethic for that entire time ...

Posted on: The Bride Makes Soup - 新嫁娘

hi kdombros, buzzthevegan, pete,

i brought up cinderella's stepmom and sisters to describe the way the bride would be treated by the 姑 and 小姑 from hell--like ever-suffering domestic help, certainly not family.  i guess it was a confusing reference.

did not realize that the OE word for mother-in-law actually did mean stepmother--interesting.

Posted on: The Bride Makes Soup - 新嫁娘

哇，真有点儿兴奋！

Posted on: The Bride Makes Soup - 新嫁娘

pete, such a heartwarming poem and not just from the steaming first pot of broth ready to serve to the family.  the bride already has a good ally in her sister-in-law and you sense the two over a lifetime are going to become like real sisters. so i guess 小姑 is husband's 妹妹.  really nice.

and so different from a (probably unfair but) enduring stereotype of 小姑 ko-juuto in japanese.  the necessary evils of noontime and evening soaps, the 姑 shuuto-me and 小姑 from hell are basically like cinderella's stepmom and ugly stepsisters.