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HappyHelmet posted:On a somewhat related note I really hate those colored contacts some girls love to wear. They kinda creep me out. When those first came out, the most common ones were super fake, super blue, and had streaks of other irregular colors blended in (like purple). More recently, though, I've started to seeing colors that are a lot duller. They're still obviously fake, but they're fake in a "natural" sort of way. I guess I can't really blame them for wearing colored contacts and dying their hair. Everyone is dark haired, dark eyed, so you have to find ways to give yourself a bit of flair. I just prefer streaks and highlights and lighter eyes to super obviously fake blonde hair and eyes that are brighter and bluer than mine.
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May 2, 2012 15:51
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I really hate it when the girls wear the jet black ones and the fake glasses. For some reason that bothers me more than blue "anime" eyes. It really threw me off when I was first confronted with it. It's more off putting in China because the fashion sense and clothing is worse, much worse. Be lucky you don't have to see girls with literal stuffed animals on their hands in the winter. Simplified wins in my book because you write 个 instead of 個 and 什么 instead of 什麼. Most kids will be incapable of writing any characters in a few generations thanks to cellphones and apathy according to most alarmist hardliners in China, Taiwan, and Japan so enjoy it all while it lasts. Taiwan should adopt pinyin on the principle that the guy who made it, Zhou Youguang, is a huge critic of China and an 106 year old badass.
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May 2, 2012 16:53
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RocknRollaAyatollah posted:I really hate it when the girls wear the jet black ones and the fake glasses. For some reason that bothers me more than blue "anime" eyes. It really threw me off when I was first confronted with it. It's more off putting in China because the fashion sense and clothing is worse, much worse. Be lucky you don't have to see girls with literal stuffed animals on their hands in the winter. Taiwan already has adopted Pinyin. It's not used in instruction since it doesn't really matter what the local 6-year-olds use, but signage and post office stuff etc... are in Pinyin. Admittedly the exceptions are numerous, but at least they're pretty established and famous places. Also those alarmists really are just alarmists. Sure average character retention may go down by a hundred or so for a few generations, but people are never going to be unable to write 你好. If that day were ever to come, life would be so digital that what would it matter?
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May 2, 2012 17:25
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USDA Choice posted:Taiwan already has adopted Pinyin. It's not used in instruction since it doesn't really matter what the local 6-year-olds use, but signage and post office stuff etc... are in Pinyin. Admittedly the exceptions are numerous, but at least they're pretty established and famous places. It was pretty noticeable when I was in Taipei a couple months ago. I'm trying to think of examples but all I remember is the traditional character signs. Wade Giles is the tool of the (foreign) devil though. I think the character issue is just one of those, "This generation..." outcries that's largely not true. Most my kids can write pretty well and they're very low 高考 scoring Mainland Chinese, from Henan no less.
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May 2, 2012 17:52
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I can hardly write my name, but I can type tons of Chinese, and read it. It's weird being able to read things you couldn't write if given a pen and paper, and when explaining this to people back home, they just don't 'get' it. I explain it like so: "Just because you see and recognize things, doesn't mean you can draw a picture of it, right? Same thing here. I can see and recognize what the characters mean, but if asked to write them, I just can't."
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May 2, 2012 18:35
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RocknRollaAyatollah posted:Taiwan should adopt pinyin on the principle that the guy who made it, Zhou Youguang, is a huge critic of China and an 106 year old badass.
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May 2, 2012 20:28
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The best is when road signs randomly change between the different pinyin systems. I've gotten used to it now, but before it was all pretty 
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May 3, 2012 00:39
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Magna Kaser posted:There was that one CCP member who literally killed himself over simplification. Given the choice between a communist place that used simplified characters and a not-communist place that used traditional, he just decided it was best to end it all. If you mean Chen Mengjia, he committed suicide after/while being persecuted and publicly "struggled against" during the cultural revolution (which happened because of his opposition to simplification.) He didn't kill himself just like, in a fit of pique over simplified characters >_<
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May 3, 2012 02:23
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HappyHelmet posted:The best is when road signs randomly change between the different pinyin systems. I've gotten used to it now, but before it was all pretty I saw 中 written us Jung on a street sign yesterday. I wept.
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May 3, 2012 03:11
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Haraksha posted:I saw 中 written us Jung on a street sign yesterday. I wept. That's some Hong Kong bullshit.
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May 3, 2012 03:28
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Ravendas posted:I can hardly write my name, but I can type tons of Chinese, and read it. It's weird being able to read things you couldn't write if given a pen and paper, and when explaining this to people back home, they just don't 'get' it. It would actually be pretty easy for you to learn to write the characters if you felt like taking the time to do so. Already knowing basically what they look like would go a long ways. Besides, the Heisig book is so loving good at teaching writing anyway, there's not really a good excuse not to learn.
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May 3, 2012 05:03
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HappyHelmet posted:The best is when road signs randomly change between the different pinyin systems. I've gotten used to it now, but before it was all pretty
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May 3, 2012 06:44
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I used to live in Ximen/Shimen/Hsimen Ding. It was confusing at first.
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May 3, 2012 12:17
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I live in San Xia/Hsia/Shia.
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May 3, 2012 13:51
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I went to Taiwan in '08 and in '09 and Danshui was, well, Danshui. Just returned from a trip a bit over a week ago and now all the signs say "Tamsui". 
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May 3, 2012 18:49
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Just bought my ticked to TPE and, in an effort to save a few hundred dollars, it looks like I'll be layovering overnight at PEK in Beijing. Anyone have any tips? I believe you need to grab a visa to leave the airport, and that sounds like a hassle and a half, so I'm just wondering about where to sleep, ha.
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May 3, 2012 20:25
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I know I'm woefully uneducated about Chinese and stuff but that "Tamsui" thing really irritates me, especially since I rarely make it up north and like Khysanth it was weird one day to just show up and see all the MRT signs with "Tamsui" printed on them. I mean, for me at least, it seems that the point of romanization is to help aide English-speaking people with knowing the names of places, streets, or whatever. There's no way that changing all the signage to "Tamsui" is helping any foreigner. It seems like after a few years of making progress with attempting to standardized towards Hanyu Pinyin (which yeah, as everyone has mentioned, will probably still never ever be correctly updated on street signs throughout the country despite it being the "official" national romanization), the powers that be are making a bunch of weird decisions with things like "Tamsui" or "New Taipei City." The New Taipei City thing is especially weird, the Taiwan Railway Administration went through and updated pretty much all of the station names to have proper Hanyu Pinyin romanization (except for ones with "acceptable" oddness due to history like Taitung or Kaohsiung), and even purposely changed names with 新 that originally were romanized as "New ____ Station" into "Xin ____ Station", i.e. 新左營 station in Kaohsiung where the HSR ends was formerly romanized as "New Zuoying" but is now "Xinzuoying", which makes a lot more sense if you're a foreigner who speaks no Chinese and needs to speak to a taxi driver or something. I know that's just one part of the government, but it seems they've got the right idea. I know I'm ranting hard about romanization but especially considering the fact that Danshui used to be, y'know, right, and the original name for New Taipei was going to be "Xinbei", it just seem like the government is going out of its way to mess things up. POCKET CHOMP fucked around with this message at 20:32 on May 3, 2012 |
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May 3, 2012 20:30
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quadrophrenic posted:Just bought my ticked to TPE and, in an effort to save a few hundred dollars, it looks like I'll be layovering overnight at PEK in Beijing. Anyone have any tips? There are some nice reclining chairs to sleep on near the McDonald's in Terminal 3. McD's is open 24 hours whereas everything else closes at like 11pm. Also free wireless internet and outlets around there so you can surf or watch movies or whatever. I'm unsure about the getting a visa to leave the airport, but you probably edit: Magna Kaser makes a good point. You're probably hosed, have fun in the airport! SB35 fucked around with this message at 05:08 on May 4, 2012 |
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May 4, 2012 03:16
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POCKET CHOMP posted:I know I'm woefully uneducated about Chinese and stuff but that "Tamsui" thing really irritates me, especially since I rarely make it up north and like Khysanth it was weird one day to just show up and see all the MRT signs with "Tamsui" printed on them. The wiki has a reasonable if annoying explanation. I wasn't aware that the name was officially switched over last year, but I kept reading your post and trying to figure out what there would be a "Tam" in a Chinese name. Tam isn't a possible Chinese syllable. Turns out, Tam isn't even Chinese. It's Taiwanese. The official government of the area has referred to itself as Tamsui for years, and so they decided to make it standard regardless of language. It makes perfect sense to call it that, but if you read the Chinese characters, it's going to have a different pronunciation.
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May 4, 2012 03:25
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SB35 posted:There are some nice reclining chairs to sleep on near the McDonald's in Terminal 3. McD's is open 24 hours whereas everything else closes at like 11pm. Also free wireless internet and outlets around there so you can surf or watch movies or whatever. I'm pretty sure you're just stuck in the airport. If Chinese visas were so easy to get we could just grab 'em on the go in the airport everyone's lives would be so much easier. I do wonder how it will work though with customs and stuff. Is Taiwan technically an international flight????? I MEAN IT'S THE SAME COUNTRY, RIGHT?
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May 4, 2012 03:49
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I think one of the other Hess new hires is on the same flight that I am, we're gonna drink our collective weights in baijiu together. 
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May 4, 2012 04:11
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If you were coming in August or September you might have come to my branch. Most of our teachers' contracts start then, and end then.
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May 4, 2012 04:23
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Well, my contract starts August 8th, so IDK. When do they let you know what branch you're assigned to, anyway? They haven't even narrowed it down to a city for me yet.
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May 4, 2012 04:33
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Haraksha posted:The wiki has a reasonable if annoying explanation. I wasn't aware that the name was officially switched over last year, but I kept reading your post and trying to figure out what there would be a "Tam" in a Chinese name. Tam isn't a possible Chinese syllable. But yeah, it was switched over late last year IIRC, along with Lugang becoming Lukang for even less reason. Honestly I'm not even sure where I stand on Tamsui; it's dumb because very few of the people who need the romanization would even realize it's Taiwanese and not Mandarin, and because the change was 100% arbitrary, but it'd also be hypocritical of me to call them on that and still be an advocate of just giving the obviously Aboriginal placenames their actual Aboriginal names back.
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May 4, 2012 07:01
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Tamsui is pronounced like "Tom-Swee" right?
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May 4, 2012 07:20
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In Taichung I think one of the goofiest things in the city is that for some reason they decided that the main road through town (台中港路) should be the English translation: "Taichung Port road". Instead of just using the Pinyin "TaizhongGang". When I first moved here I was so confused why no one knew what the hell I was talking about with this "Taichung Port road" because everyone used the pinyin for it.
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May 4, 2012 07:29
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This is the problem I run into when I try to get taxis to take me to Taipei City Hall station.
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May 4, 2012 09:52
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Spanish Matlock posted:Tamsui is pronounced like "Tom-Swee" right?
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May 4, 2012 10:04
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Hey kids, don't forget it's tax month, where you apply to get a nice chunk of your last year's salary this year! in like August
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May 4, 2012 10:19
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duckfarts posted:Hey kids, don't forget it's tax month, where you apply to get a nice chunk of your last year's salary this year! If you e-File they say they'll get it to you before the end of July 
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May 4, 2012 11:53
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quadrophrenic posted:Well, my contract starts August 8th, so IDK. They probably won't tell you until the few first days of training are done.
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May 4, 2012 14:16
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quadrophrenic posted:Well, my contract starts August 8th, so IDK. They tell you during training. Usually the 1st or 2nd day, so you can find who else is going to nearby branches, and you can have some buddies that will help keep you from fleeing the country. ~Culture shock~
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May 4, 2012 15:28
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Magna Kaser posted:I do wonder how it will work though with customs and stuff. Is Taiwan technically an international flight????? I MEAN IT'S THE SAME COUNTRY, RIGHT? Haha we flew LAX - PEK - TPE and also had trouble figuring out where they wanted Taiwan transfers to go. I'm pretty sure it DID end up being an international transfer though.
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May 4, 2012 18:02
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duckfarts posted:Hey kids, don't forget it's tax month, where you apply to get a nice chunk of your last year's salary this year! Don't pretty much all buxibans do this for you though? My boss just asked me for my info, and gives it all to his accountant who handles everything. Also gently caress trying to find an oven in Taiwan. Hopefully the place I'm going to today will have a few that aren't ridiculously overpriced.
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May 5, 2012 04:11
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Recently ate at Ed's Diner in 大值Dazhi in Taipei. It was so good I feel like I have to share it. I saw it on 大學生了沒 and figured might as well give it a shot. The barbecue is excellent. And not like a lot of the western places here are "good for Taiwan," the ribs are really a lot better than many places back in America. The pulled pork sandwich had a particularly good mustard slaw on it. Definitely worth getting out there.
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May 5, 2012 09:46
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USDA Choice posted:Recently ate at Ed's Diner in 大值Dazhi in Taipei. It was so good I feel like I have to share it. I saw it on 大學生了沒 and figured might as well give it a shot. That sounds great! Got any food pictures? I'm torn between using my airmiles going to travel a week and a half staying in Taiwan or Xian --> Zhengzhou -- > Beijing? Regional food is definitely great but nothing beats finding those rare awesome western nice restaurants. Yeah, blowing money on Ruth Chris is fantastic, or dining at a Michelin star French Restaurant can't go wrong.... Finer dining is always French/Italian/Steak House But finding the odd comfort/exotic food in this part of the world? Perogies, Swedish meatballs, Barbecue, Jewish Deli, REAL philly steak sandwich? That's just paradise for me. Sometimes I think I'm just a food masochist, when I'm in the Americas I crave Chinese/Asian food and when I'm in Asia I crave western. 太翻賤了。
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May 6, 2012 13:30
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HappyHelmet posted:Don't pretty much all buxibans do this for you though? My boss just asked me for my info, and gives it all to his accountant who handles everything. What kind of oven are you looking for? In my experience Carrefour sells the counter-top models for like 2000-3000. Big enough to cook a chicken maybe. If you're looking for something big enough to do thanksgiving turkeys in you may be SOL.
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May 7, 2012 08:45
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Unfortunately no pictures. Their facebook page (god I sound like a shill) has a couple and they look pretty much like what I got. And yeah, it is so nice to find truly good food when somewhere else. Diamonds in the rough, truly.
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May 7, 2012 10:31
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Spanish Matlock posted:What kind of oven are you looking for? In my experience Carrefour sells the counter-top models for like 2000-3000. Big enough to cook a chicken maybe. If you're looking for something big enough to do thanksgiving turkeys in you may be SOL. * 
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May 7, 2012 12:10
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Spanish Matlock posted:What kind of oven are you looking for? In my experience Carrefour sells the counter-top models for like 2000-3000. Big enough to cook a chicken maybe. If you're looking for something big enough to do thanksgiving turkeys in you may be SOL. Already found one (finally). I'm looking to start my own bakery here in Taichung next year. So I needed something a bit more heavy duty than a toaster oven  .Found a slightly used one at a restaurant equipment re-seller for $14K yesterday though:  
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May 7, 2012 15:21
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