"Two Chinas"

This Australian sketch is a few years old (2008), but it's pretty funny and worth watching.

This week in Yancheng...

Four giant sperm whales found beached in Yancheng City

This photo was taken by one of my adult student's colleagues. My student informed me of the story.

She also confirmed this story: Mutilated Whales in E China Spark Netizen Rage

Where's Liu Bolin?

I know there's a meaningful message behind this guy's work, but I just get lost in how amazing it is! (Both links have a slightly different collection of photos. If you only have time for one, choose the second link.)

I admit, I'm intrigued as to how that'd work

For those of you who don't remember, I use a computer program (a VPN) that makes it so my computer registers as being located in the US, and thus is not subject to the online limitations of Chinese citizens. I can connect through proxy networks in different states, each with its own quirks. For example, if I connect to Atlanta, GA, stupid facebook makes me go through a security process every time I want to sign in, because it "doesn't recognize my computer." And if I'm connected to the Seattle or San Diego proxies, I can't always access the Chinese dictionary I like.

Usually, however, everything works great and the only thing noticeable is that sites' user-specific content will be different depending on where a site thinks I am. Like the notice t-shirt site, threadless, shows if I'm using the Seattle proxy:

But, amusingly, and for reasons I can only guess at, the Utah proxy doesn't even bother registering a fabricated location:

 

Adventures in Chinglish: Grocery Store Ed.

In case you were curious, I have a quite backlog of unpublished Chinglish photos. Today I'm featuring linguistic delights from four different grocery stores.

The shopping garts will make you ecstatic.

English Songs & Chinese Karaoke

Like the rest of Asia, Chinese people looove karaoke, aka KTV. Here are the four most* popular English songs, ones it seems every Chinese person must have in their KTV repertoire:


Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver
   [It's official: everyone on Earth loves the song about a coal mining Union state.]

My Heart Will Go On -  Celine Dion
   [I've mentioned this before.]

Sailing - Rod Stewart
   [I'm pretty sure I never heard this song before I came to China, but since it's Rod Stewart, I wouldn't put money on that bet.]

Yesterday, Once More - The Carpenters
   [I swear to good money that I've never in my life heard this song before I came to China.]

*Conclusion solely based on the untold number of times I've gotten to sit through awful renditions of each song (at KTV and non-KTV venues/functions) until I noticed a pattern.

Uh... thanks?

I've gone native and taken up cross stitch. My theory is that cross stitch is so popular in China because it's a perfect creative activity for people who aren't educated to be creative: stitch specific colors in a specific pattern to create a specific design. Surprisingly, I find it quite fun even though it doesn't require my imagination or innovation.

My first, practice piece.

Last week I was sitting on a coach returning from Shanghai, working happily on a piece, when out of the corner of my eye I noticed the lady in the seats behind me blatantly watching my progress. I've kind of lost patience the nosy-busybody attention I attract, so I purposely ignored her. Or did so until she tapped me on the shoulder and motioned for me to hand her my work. She spent the next 5-10 minutes trying to show me a better stitch technique which was, in fact, no simpler or more expedient than the standard approach. Finally she gave up and I went back to my work.

"Why don't you tell them exactly what 'bathhouse' means then."

Even though modern homes have indoor plumbing, it is customary for people in Yancheng and other rural cities to regularly go out and bathe at bathing facilities. [Although, some people still do it out of necessity, because, for example, college students' dorms don't have showers. And, during the winter months or times of high pollution, when the sun can't penetrate the cloud cover, home solar water heaters are useless.]  

packaging for a shower cap

The problem is, in English, the word "bathhouse" doesn't connote just "a place for bathing." So when a student (in a class of adults) told me she and her mother were going to a bathhouse this weekend, I went into the classroom next door to ask Tiffany's opinion on the proper terminology. She uses "spa," except then my students protested that "spa" was used for expensive establishments. 
Tiffany recommended I put an end to the problem by explaining just what bathhouse means. I got a kick out writing the following sentence on the whiteboard: a bathhouse: a place where men go to have sex with other men. 

The class agreed that "spa" was an appropriate alternative.