Sarah是老公二姐姐Kate的女儿，今年3岁了。出奇得伶牙俐齿，听她说话不知道的还以为这孩子已经7、8岁了呢。
这个星期六我们约 了他们一家人到家里吃晚饭。当然准备的是中餐，一人一双筷子，大家坐定下来，第一道上的是春卷，Kate先帮Sarah把春卷切成了小块。小姑娘拿起筷 子，对于一个3岁的孩子，特别是从来没有拿过筷子的孩子来说，拿筷子真的很有难度。我们给Sarah示范了好几次，还是没有成功。大人们开始说话，注意力 也就没在Sarah身上。这时候M示意大家小声点，我们看到Sarah用筷子夹起了一小段春卷，大家都屏住了呼吸，她笨拙得把筷子上的食物 放到了嘴里。我们开始欢呼起来.”Sarah, you made it!” 连睿恩都因为大家的欢呼雀跃而跟着拍起手来。
Sarah在吃掉了春卷之后，得意得说:”Now I’m Chinese!”(现在我是中国人了)， 引得大家哈哈大笑。
I love listening to Podcasts and I download waaaay too many. The other day I heard one from PRI (Public Radio International) and their GEOQUIZ. If you like geography (地理学) you would like this podcast. But anyway, the reason I’m posting this quick post is because this particular GEOQUIZ was on Shanghai. Now, when I heard that it was all about Shanghai, I was excited because I love Shanghai and I’ve lived there for the past 4 years.
But there were a few strange things in the podcast. First of all, it mentioned that the road you were supposed to name, since it is a quiz, was along the Huangpu River…
You hardly need to ask for directions to get there. It’s the most famous street and walkway in Shanghai. It’s in the city’s bustling Huangpu District — and it runs a mile along the western bank of the Huangpu River.
So far it is all true…
The area’s usually jammed with street vendors, tourists, and young people just hanging out.
Now, that is most definitely NOT true. I lived very close to this road that they are talking about and I went down there many times. There are very few street vendors and the only people there are tourists or very very rich people. But across the street, on the walkway over looking the Huangpu River, yes, this is bustling with vendors and young people and tourists.
Following the answer, which you just have to go to their website and listen, there is an audio postcard from Shanghai. Not very flattering but funny especially when the guy asked what he was selling, the man replied, FISH! The guy asked, What kind of fish? The man replied: FISH! Funny!
Happy New Year to everyone. Here is our little boy who is now 13 months old. Amazing how time flies. He now has 9 or 10 teeth… and shortly after this picture we cut his hair. He is crawling all over the place and he really likes that Panda in a Red Sox shirt!
Earlier this month we hit a milestone. He loves dogs. Even when he was a few months old he would always find dogs and point at them and make noises. He’s even been face to face with a German Shepherd (德国牧羊犬) and he didn’t freak out too much! So when one day I asked him what sound a doggie makes and he made a RUFF RUFF RUFF sound… we were so excited! He purses his lips like he’s going to kiss you and makes this very quiet, RUR RURR RURR sound. TOO CUTE!!!
Thanks for reading the website and keep coming back. Please spread the word if you enjoy the website and tell other people who are interested in China or have been to China or are Chinese! Keep reading and keep laughing.
-M and MX and 睿恩
I just saw this video on a new website. It’s a promotional video about Shanghai. Usually I don’t like these but since it shows virtually EVERYTHING that Shanghai has, it is a pretty cool video. I’m assuming though that those living in Shanghai have been seeing this everyday.
The video has everything from Chou Doufu to a foreigner who can’t use chopsticks. I do like the one foreigner who was taking photos… that was a cool effect.
Enjoy the video!
Video found here.
This crazy story came out in Beijing a while back and many people have already posted articles across the world on this man. We’ll call him MR. WU. He makes robots. Serious, life like, operating robots! Here at M and MX we decided after reading about this guy that we should also put our two cents in. You can find our cartoon here.
Here are a couple other links to articles around the web.
There is also a video that is absolutely hilarious on Quirky Beijing.
I love the part when the robot walks by the kitchen door and the foreign interviewer looks out… HILARIOUS!
MandMX cartoon found here.
“How much?” was the first phrase in Mandarin that I learned. What about you? So therefore “how much” should be one of the first phrases you learn in Shanghainese. This one is really useful but be careful when you use it. Most of the time when I use this phrase in Shanghainese the answer then is in Shanghainese and I can’t understand the answer. So be careful.
You can subscribe on iTunes too! Just search for Shanghaihua or Shanghainese!
The Boston Globe had an interesting article about a girl who studied at Fudan University for a semester. I lived in Shanghai for only 4 years but I didn’t get an article in the Boston Globe. She was there for a semester and she has become an expert on Shanghai. She mentioned it was hard to find Pizza in Shanghai which is not true but of course depending on where you live.
“Turturro craved cheese pizza. But the Western treat was neither easy to come by nor to order.”
Maybe she was studying too much. Pizza is all over Shanghai. Perhaps she really meant GOOD pizza… that IS hard to find.
Another observation she made was all about girls and boys in China. This is not the most accurate comment but I have seen this in younger students. When I taught in Zhengzhou Middle School in the Henan Province and sometimes in University it was difficult to have the girls and boys get together. But this is changing.
“Chinese young adults don’t date until they are at least 20 years old . . . A boy came to our door one time, and I stood there talking to him. [My Chinese roomate] April came out of her room, and saw the boy in the doorway. She gasped, and literally backed up against the nearest wall. She stood there, awkward, embarrassed, and slightly curious as I finished my conversation with him. When I introduced her, she was incredibly shy and giggled, and then scurried away to her room. Mind you - this girl is 23 years old. Chinese girls and boys are sheltered from each other, resulting in April’s reactions.”
You can’t just make blanket statements like this. This is not what all girls and boys are like in China. If you don’t believe me, check out this post from a Chinese BBS.
M and MX relationship Cartoons:
In Shanghainese this is one of the most interesting words. It sounds totally different in Mandarin and it goes with the hand motions. While we were having our son I heard this many many times and asked MX what it meant. That is the best way to learn something. Repetition. Now that I have learned this phrase I hear it everywhere. It gets more and more annoying.
You can subscribe on iTunes too! Just search for Shanghaihua or Shanghainese!
Two things that I found on the web this week.
There was this really cool video about the numbers in our world nowadays. It mentions specific things about China and how many babies were born in China during the 5 minute video. SHOCKING.
The other article is about a student from Tianjin 天津 China who is studying in IOWA in America. The article is kind of long but he has some interesting observations. This is particularly interesting because he is in America for Spring Festival which is similar to most of the foreigners who are in China during Christmas.
“Americans like things simple and direct, not implicit like Chinese people. Americans first speak their mind and then try to explain themselves. Chinese people are just the opposite.”
I found this to be very true with a lot of my students. They talk talk talk and I find myself asking them, “WHAT’S YOUR POINT?”
“The food American’s like is all simple to make, not like Chinese people who like to prepare meals pan-fried. Thus in the supermarket you can see a lot of half-finished food products (however China domestically now also has this kind of similar trend).”
This is also very true because many many times I have looked for recipes… NONE. I have asked many older people, as they cook, to write it down or exactly how much? They can’t answer they just give me a broad idea. ANNOYING!
“Americans like to have ‘excuse me,’ ’sorry’ ready on the tip of their tongue, if they feel they caused someone inconvenience the just blurt it out.”
True. I have bumped numerous people in Shanghai and catch myself from saying, EXCUSE ME or SORRY… after a while I just don’t say it anymore!
“In the U.S., grass is for people to walk on, sit on, or lay on – this is really different from China. In the U.S., pedestrians are ‘king’; cars all have to make way for you.”
This is absolutely true. Too funny. I hope he gets lots of grass stains on his jeans!!!
After you learn the words Thank you in Shanghainese, you will probably hear this phrase. In English the best we can do is “NOT AT ALL” or “DON’T worry about it.” But in Mandarin it is much easier and faster. But in Shanghainese it is ten times more fun to say. MX’s mother (my mother in law) would say it in funniest way. Some people on the street would say it in a fast and slurred way. Anyway you say it, it makes you sound more like a Shanghai person! SO SAY IT!
You can subscribe on iTunes too! Just search for Shanghaihua or Shanghainese!
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