I don't really have an overall message in this post, I've just found and been shown a few interesting things that I thought ought to be shared and, to be honest, I just haven't used the 'News and Culture' title in a while. The first piece of 'news' is regarding myself and, of course, my Chinese. I had been complaining that my 口语 [kouyu, Spoken Chinese] wasn't quite as good as my other skills and, as if it heard my calling, the Universe sent me a series of tests and morale boosts in quick succession.
The first test was in the form of a taxi drive at roughly 2 a.m. after having consumed a substantial quantity of alcohol - I had had a bit to drink too. I can't really get his accent across in Characters, but I'll give it a go in the transcript. I feel the need to include the characters, just so you can get a feel for how complex it got at one point. The conversation went a bit like this [I missed out quite a lot of slurs, 'excuse me's and nonsense]：
D: 你是哪个国家的？[where are you from]
Me: I'm from England
D:英国啊！你汉语说得挺好，学了多长时间了？[England, hmmm, your Chinese ain't bad, how long you been studying for?]
Me: About two years
D: 是啊？那你觉得英国和中国有什么差别？ [What's the difference between England and China]
Me: eeehhhh...there are quite a few, for example the food is completely different, also everything's much cheaper in China-
D: 中国对你来说很便宜吧！现在英镑和人民币是什么汇率？[China is obviously cheap for you! What is the exchange rate]
Me: 10 to 1, taxis are quite expensive
D: 在英国你们谁都有车，对吧！你们的领导是谁？[But you've all got cars in England！Say who's your 'leader'?]
Me: *ok, that topic changed quickly* Well, we have two leaders. A Prime minister and a Queen
D: 为什么？
Me: Well, the Queen is more for ceremonial purposes, whereas the Prime minister makes the actual decisions. But technically he can't pass any laws without the Queen's permission.
D: 好复杂雅！[How complicated!] 那，你觉得[and this bit I can't actually write in Chinese], how long do you think it will take for the Chinese economy to catch up to Britain? [Yh! I know, right!]
Me: Ehhhhh......Well, in my opinion between 5 and 10 years. China has the ability to catch up and the materials, it's just that the quality is lacking. I feel if the Chinese were more innovative [创新的, yes, I know the Chinese for innovative] then they could catch up faster, but they definitely have the man power and education system to overtake the West soon. Boom.
I did not say boom at the end of that conversation.
The other morale boost was the fact that a lady who works in a shop on campus said that my Chinese was very 标准 [biaozhun, litt standard, in this context bangin'], much better than most of the foreigners that go in. MWHAHAHAHAHAH. ha.
The first test was in the form of a taxi drive at roughly 2 a.m. after having consumed a substantial quantity of alcohol - I had had a bit to drink too. I can't really get his accent across in Characters, but I'll give it a go in the transcript. I feel the need to include the characters, just so you can get a feel for how complex it got at one point. The conversation went a bit like this [I missed out quite a lot of slurs, 'excuse me's and nonsense]：
D: 你是哪个国家的？[where are you from]
Me: I'm from England
D:英国啊！你汉语说得挺好，学了多长时间了？[England, hmmm, your Chinese ain't bad, how long you been studying for?]
Me: About two years
D: 是啊？那你觉得英国和中国有什么差别？ [What's the difference between England and China]
Me: eeehhhh...there are quite a few, for example the food is completely different, also everything's much cheaper in China-
D: 中国对你来说很便宜吧！现在英镑和人民币是什么汇率？[China is obviously cheap for you! What is the exchange rate]
Me: 10 to 1, taxis are quite expensive
D: 在英国你们谁都有车，对吧！你们的领导是谁？[But you've all got cars in England！Say who's your 'leader'?]
Me: *ok, that topic changed quickly* Well, we have two leaders. A Prime minister and a Queen
D: 为什么？
Me: Well, the Queen is more for ceremonial purposes, whereas the Prime minister makes the actual decisions. But technically he can't pass any laws without the Queen's permission.
D: 好复杂雅！[How complicated!] 那，你觉得[and this bit I can't actually write in Chinese], how long do you think it will take for the Chinese economy to catch up to Britain? [Yh! I know, right!]
Me: Ehhhhh......Well, in my opinion between 5 and 10 years. China has the ability to catch up and the materials, it's just that the quality is lacking. I feel if the Chinese were more innovative [创新的, yes, I know the Chinese for innovative] then they could catch up faster, but they definitely have the man power and education system to overtake the West soon. Boom.
I did not say boom at the end of that conversation.
The other morale boost was the fact that a lady who works in a shop on campus said that my Chinese was very 标准 [biaozhun, litt standard, in this context bangin'], much better than most of the foreigners that go in. MWHAHAHAHAHAH. ha.
Also, Holly and Shinya went bungee jumping, which was suspiciously cheap, but apparently very fun. I have yet to be convinced on the 'fun' part, but they're still alive which was a better outcome than I had anticipated, especially on Shinya's part. It was also suspiciously cheap. You know how I feel about suspicious things.
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| This is Holly shittin' herself |
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| This is Holly being pushed off a cliff by a Chinese man |
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| This is Holly diving gracefully into a good time. Or just paralysed with fear... |
The following items of News and Culture were lovingly donated by Tim Graham, ever aware of the fact that I'm in China, and taking an active interest in my education by helping me keep up with what's going on. He's surprisingly good at it - much better than I am, and I live in the bloody country.
The first is the story about this girl growing up black in China, which is a genuine tear jerker and a youtube video.
The other is an article about how Chinese people are a bit crazy about education, which isn't really news but still an interesting read.
Good day all xxx
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