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MeramJert posted:This sucks and it sounds like you live in a sucky place. I've never had to deal with anything like this at all, hth! Like I said, that's why we are slapping together our 业委会. First order of business is kicking them out on their asses and suing the crap out of them. Looks like we should be there by end of December.
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Oct 29, 2013 05:20
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VideoTapir posted:If the car hit one of those steel traffic barriers they've got all over Beijing end-on, it would sound like an explosion. Heard a couple of such incidents myself. You may be right. I'm assuming its a bombing because a lot articles are reporting people heard an explosion. Also the articles are saying that the gov doesnt know if its a terrorist attack or an accident. Speeding around Tiananmen Square, killing 5 and leaving 38 injured is one hell of an "accident".....
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Oct 29, 2013 07:01
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One of my colleagues just said that she "has a friend" at BBC China and apparently the rumours are that the drivers of the jeep were from Xinjiang.
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Oct 29, 2013 07:04
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I was in a cab last night and that guy sure didn't like the government!!! He was telling me all about the explosion and how we wouldn't see it on the news today.
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Oct 29, 2013 07:50
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AfroNinja posted:You may be right. I'm assuming its a bombing because a lot articles are reporting people heard an explosion. Also the articles are saying that the gov doesnt know if its a terrorist attack or an accident. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Russell_Weller Also, a fire wouldn't be impossible after crashing into one of those things, I guess, but it doesn't seem especially likely. I'm just saying it explains the reports of hearing an explosion. Of course, that could be easily confirmed with photos. VideoTapir fucked around with this message at 09:29 on Oct 29, 2013 |
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Oct 29, 2013 09:26
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Rabelais D posted:One of my colleagues just said that she "has a friend" at BBC China and apparently the rumours are that the drivers of the jeep were from Xinjiang. Did you know they all carry knives?
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Oct 29, 2013 09:34
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Here's amateur video footage: http://cdn.videos.thetimes.co.uk.edgesuite.net/huMHFoZzpbIJ0EEHIdq4IZhlINZ2u2-9/DOcJ-FxaFrRg4gtDIwOmk2OjBrO97z6k
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Oct 29, 2013 09:44
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Japanese tv reports a jeep drove along the sidewalk, then crashed at the bridge at the front middle. At least 2 of the passengers are said to be Uyghur, but whether it's meant to be a statement or just terrible driving is still undetermined. NHK did explain where Xinjiang was and that there's been some horrible riots before.
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Oct 29, 2013 11:11
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Jeoh posted:Here's amateur video footage: http://cdn.videos.thetimes.co.uk.edgesuite.net/huMHFoZzpbIJ0EEHIdq4IZhlINZ2u2-9/DOcJ-FxaFrRg4gtDIwOmk2OjBrO97z6k Hory sheet! What the gently caress kind of car were they driving to blow up like that? A Pinto?
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Oct 29, 2013 13:37
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ZombieParts posted:Hory sheet! What the gently caress kind of car were they driving to blow up like that? A Pinto? My money is on a Gleagle.
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Oct 29, 2013 15:18
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Someone probably just flicked a cig into the toxic moat around the Forbidden City to cause that much of a mess. Also, trip report from in laws staying with us in Tennessee for the last month and a half - it sucked poo poo.
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Oct 29, 2013 15:45
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TheBuilder posted:Also, trip report from in laws staying with us in Tennessee for the last month and a half - it sucked poo poo. Come now, don't leave us hanging. 
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Oct 30, 2013 14:24
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This is a little e/n but, since you ask... They showed up in Memphis on the 17th of last month. The English/Chinese language card worked really well, and I was pleased that everyone they showed it to in Chicago during their flight connection made sure they got where they needed to go. But after exchanging pleasantries, we were going to head to baggage claim. They stopped us and said they had no additional luggage... just a small backpack for a 60 day visit? It was a late arrival and our baby was already asleep so after some food, they hit the sack and would wait until the next morning to see their newest grandchild. What followed was 48 hours of fussing at us in Hakka about every minute detail of our child care methods. - Baby needs at least 4 blankets on her - Baby needs to be eating rice porridge with rice wine in it - Baby shouldn't be held this way or that way, its bad for her legs - Diapers will stunt her growth - Baby shouldn't sleep in a crib This line of nonsense continued ad infinitum. During bathing of our baby, my mother in law would stand about 2 inches away from me thinking I, as a man, had no clue how to handle a child. She yelled constantly at my wife in Hakka about the water not being boiled before we bathed the baby. Eventually she went up to her room and didn't come down until the next day. The hostility to the way we lived our life was incredible. My wife's parents showed up on our doorstep with no money, no clothes, and on a free trip to visit us in the United States and we received nothing but complaints, yelling and hostility. I didn't want to leave my wife and baby home alone each day with them. After a few days, my wife laid the law down on them and made them accept that our baby was very healthy and happy doing the childcare in our own way. Her parents literally had no childcare experience of their own - all of the 5 girls they bore were raised by grandparents, and they did the typical coddling of their final child, the son. My wife's sister is also staying here (overstayed on a travel visa, working in a restaurant). Father in law has been insistent that all of the cash she has made is his for the taking. I think we have convinced her not to give up the whole savings to him. Also I think he might have trouble taking 9 grand in 5s, 10s and 20s with him on such a trip, but knowing him he'd probably stash it in his long johns. Over the next days and weeks they would get to see some of local sights, eat BBQ, drink margaritas, and get a new wardrobe from the young adult and teen departments at Macy's. I think in the last month their minds and hearts have changed on a few things. They still worship the CCP, Mao is still God, but they have been touched by the southern hospitality, the clean environment, and the free refills. Men can indeed help in childcare and housework, and non-whites aren't all murderers and rapists. They also broke my LED TV, set off the smoke alarm that brought the fire department, watched softcore romance movies constantly on Netflix, and her dad was caught repeatedly trying to wear my shoes and clothes (not sure how as I'm 13 inches taller than him), but I'm really running too long to tell those bits. The takeaway from the visit was that it was a life transition for my wife; she broke a lot of deep bonds with her parents and forged new ones with me and our baby. On seeing our child, the inlaws would constantly remark how much our little girl looked like their son when he was a baby and make all sorts of remembrances of him as a child. When my wife asked "What about me, don't you remember me as a baby?", they would change the subject. My wife would never have the love or care that her oldest sister or brother had received. Though older these were the same parents that beat her, step on her bare feet and break off her toe nails, and whip her with bamboo. They were poor and hungry as people living off the grid during the 80s and 90s, but poverty was no excuse for the abuse that the daughters faced. If anything, this visit was for my wife to show that she had improved her life beyond any of her siblings, and that she was raising her daughter with the love and care she herself deserved but never received.
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Oct 30, 2013 15:42
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Where are they from that they like the CCP so much? I've never met anyone, even my ex's grandfather who was a red guard, who didn't deeply distrust the government. It's even weirder hearing that they're Hakka and think this way 
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Oct 30, 2013 15:53
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Jesus that sounds like a loving nightmare, it's just so absurd and ridiculous. How have you managed for 45 days so far?
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Oct 30, 2013 15:53
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Thanks for posting that, it is interesting and not too E/N. I am also curious how their CCP love came, I've literally never met anyone from China who likes the government. MY GIRLFRIEND claims the only Chinese people who like the Communist Party are Communist Party members who use it in order to steal everything, which seems like an accurate assessment.
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Oct 30, 2013 15:56
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Woodsy Owl posted:Jesus that sounds like a loving nightmare, it's just so absurd and ridiculous. How have you managed for 45 days so far? Many nights, my wife and I would take the baby into our bedroom after getting home from work and keep her there until bedtime. Also I have drank almost every night since they've been here. On the CCP thing, they are from southern Jiangxi. Their parents had first hand experience during the war with Japan, and being poor and very lightly educated country people, I think they bought a lot of the postwar propaganda, and continue to believe everything they see in CCTV (I liken it to my country rear end grandfather from Mississippi.) They don't understand the correlation between the starvation they faced as children and the Great Leap Forward. They don't like government people getting under the table money, but at the same time, they credit the government with their rise in economic freedom and not having to worry about starvation each season so its all clearly working in their minds.
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Oct 30, 2013 16:11
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Sounds like quite the experience TheBuilder, I feel lucky that my Chinese family visit was quite the opposite. 加油 man! My girlfriend's mother came to visit a few months ago now. When she first arrived she was a little upset because she didn't realize that her daughter and I were actually living together and sharing a bed. Apparently she honestly thought we had moved to the US together and then proceeded to be little angels and rent separate apartments for some reason. Then again, probably my girlfriend's fault for not skirting the issue with her parents. Anyway, after a few days of warming up to me everything was pretty peachy. Except for me sleeping in the guest bedroom and gf/mother in the bedroom. Every day I came home from work, mother had dinner prepared. She'd even make extra so I could take it the next day for lunch, or fry some leftover rice for me. On the weekends we took her out shopping, restaurants, local touristy things, the county fair, took walks around the neighborhood and gawked at houses for sale, etc. Even had some decent conversations with my limited Chinese. I got a nice break when gf and her mother went to NYC for a few days, and in fact mother bought me a Nexus 7 tablet while she was there. I'm not exactly sure why I deserved such an expensive gift, but I won't complain. My parents even came down as a side excursion on their road trip to Milwaukee. I think things might have been awkward for gf since ~~oh no the parents are meeting!~~ but it turned out fine. Went out for dinner, chilled in the hotel hot tub, and saw the area a bit. It was only a 36-hour visit anyway and my parents stayed in a hotel nearby. After awhile gf's mother got used to the fact, and became much more comfortable with our relationship and the fact that we live together. She became a lot less nervous about gf driving, and even decided that she would go back to China and learn to drive a car. Anyway, I just wrote a lot about nothing, and I guess what I'm saying is that visits from Chinese in-laws aren't all bad. Although I'm fortunate that my experience was far more pleasant than others I've heard word of. SB35 fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Oct 30, 2013 |
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Oct 30, 2013 16:37
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Since I'm already super judgmental, I'm also picky about my girlfriend/potential girlfriend's family. I got 130+ relatives already, there's enough drama for a TV soap opera, seating arrangements in weddings/funerals/Chinese New Year dinner is already a chore. I don't want to deal with more crazy stuff in the feature. But then again, I grew up with a large families so dealing/deflecting/redirecting with elders is second nature to me. I still have trouble understanding non-Chinese girls though  TheBuilder posted:My in-laws are cavemen Props to you TheBuilder! Holy poo poo that's rough. My goondolences, man you should have kept goon chat updated with this stuff. I hate to even think how much you guys have already spent on your wife's extended family. God forbid your inlaws suffer from some health problem in the future . Who knows how much they will try to nickel and dime you and make you "feel guilty for stealing their daughter". Uggh entitled and irresponsible parents. I actually feel sorry for your wife. She's getting dragged down by association and the weight of shame must be the size of the Concordia. Props to her for propelling herself to something better. gently caress the haters if they say "well she just married a white guy". I'm glad she laid the law. Grand Fromage posted:Thanks for posting that, it is interesting and not too E/N. I am also curious how their CCP love came, I've literally never met anyone from China who likes the government. Well that's because you have never met Pro PRC Lao Wai, or tried talking to cab drivers  SB35 posted:After awhile gf's mother got used to the fact, and became much more comfortable with our relationship and the fact that we live together. She became a lot less nervous about gf driving, and even decided that she would go back to China and learn to drive a car. God loving drat it, stop romanticizing the automobile. This is why people in China want a house with a garden, a car, and worst of all - a fireplace. But anyways, I'm glad your GF's mom had a good time. I think the Nexus 7 is a nice gesture, but did she get any hints from your GF? caberham fucked around with this message at 17:41 on Oct 30, 2013 |
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Oct 30, 2013 17:29
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caberham posted:I got 130+ relatives already caberham posted:I still have trouble understanding non-Chinese girls though There may be no more unintentionally entertaining part of the wedding than watching the gossiping and sneering about which relative or friend or business associate gave proportionally less than they're worth in the envelope. Honest to God, I've never seen people so obsessed with obnoxious displays and transfers of wealth outside of Scorcese movies. Did Marx write the stuff on commodity fetishism after a visit to China? I mean showing off a check in front of the camera at a wedding. Good lord, these people. ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 18:36 on Oct 30, 2013 |
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Oct 30, 2013 18:28
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caberham posted:God loving drat it, stop romanticizing the automobile. This is why people in China want a house with a garden, a car, and worst of all - a fireplace. But anyways, I'm glad your GF's mom had a good time. I think the Nexus 7 is a nice gesture, but did she get any hints from your GF? Sorry, cars are an absolute necessity in bumfuck Indiana. Not like gf's family needs a 2nd car, her mother is a teacher and they own an apartment in the teacher's complex one block away. Guess she just wants to learn how to drive is all. No fireplace to romanticize over in my house unfortunately. And yeah, I'm sure my gf was just like "he wants one of those, let's get that".
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Oct 30, 2013 18:39
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I don't mean for my story to be a generalization of Chinese people. Bad in-laws can come from anywhere. In my situation the differences in culture made for some uncommon and unusual areas of conflict. Her parent's lust for a son drove the direction for all of their lives, but again, this is not anything that is unique only to Chinese culture.
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Oct 30, 2013 19:05
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TheBuilder posted:I don't mean for my story to be a generalization of Chinese people. Bad in-laws can come from anywhere. In my situation the differences in culture made for some uncommon and unusual areas of conflict. Her parent's lust for a son drove the direction for all of their lives, but again, this is not anything that is unique only to Chinese culture. Unique to the culture, no, but exacerbated by? I definitely think so. Lots of credit to you for not murdering them. That's an impressive display of patience. I'd probably have lasted three days before taking them out to the woodshed for happy fun rusty hatchet calisthenics time. But yeah, there are bad in-laws everywhere. I'm lucky on that score -- my wife's parents are great. An older friend of mine, however, is gleefully waiting for the day his mother-in-law dies so he can take a nice long piss on her headstone.
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Oct 30, 2013 19:21
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TheBuilder posted:In my situation the differences in culture made for some uncommon and unusual areas of conflict. First time I had a one night stand with an American girl, I insisted on her blow drying her hair after showering! She just laughed at me. In the end I didn't complain, she was blowing something else besides her hair Difference in culture sure does make for some uncommon and unusual areas of conflict, but what matters is conflict resolution. There's always some difference in etiquette, values, tradition etc... But tact and empathy is universal. Always make it easier for the other side to step down. You know, being truly harmonius and all. Your inlaws may have spent most of the time in country bumpkin China, but they spent way more time on survival mode and being in abject poverty. It's a pity that they never had much time to cultivate their minds, wasting their efforts on having a son instead of bettering themselves. It's ok to be E/N from time to time, that's what the internet is here for. If Argle can endlessly whine about his job, then an occasional rant here and there is perfectly fine. blinkyzero posted:Unique to the culture, no, but exacerbated by? I definitely think so. I think this just happens with cultures with big families 
caberham fucked around with this message at 03:06 on Oct 31, 2013 |
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Oct 31, 2013 03:01
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caberham posted:I think this just happens with cultures with big families Like Catholicism? I think blinkyzero might know a bit about that.
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Oct 31, 2013 03:24
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caberham posted:First time I had a one night stand with an American girl, I insisted on her blow drying her hair after showering! She just laughed at me. In the end I didn't complain, she was blowing something else besides her hair  Jesus dude, doesn't your girlfriend read this thread? lol MeramJert posted:Like Catholicism? I think blinkyzero might know a bit about that. I converted in college. The rest of my family are all heretical Protestants. 
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Oct 31, 2013 05:25
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blinkyzero posted:
Yeah this made me excessively cringe but I just ignored it because "Prince Abe" bla bla bla lol
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Oct 31, 2013 05:27
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blinkyzero posted:
He's not afraid to say this stuff in person with his girlfriend sitting beside him.
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Oct 31, 2013 05:37
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MeramJert posted:He's not afraid to say this stuff in person with his girlfriend sitting beside him. 
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Oct 31, 2013 05:39
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MeramJert posted:He's not afraid to say this stuff in person with his girlfriend sitting beside him. Uhm wow
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Oct 31, 2013 05:40
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To be fair, it was right after we had all gone to Beertopia.
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Oct 31, 2013 05:41
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caberham posted:I insisted on her blow drying her hair after showering! ...In the end I didn't complain... What sort of monster does this?!
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Oct 31, 2013 05:43
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MeramJert posted:Like Catholicism? I think blinkyzero might know a bit about that. My dad's family is one generation off the boat Italian Catholic. There are easily 150+ of them in our town, as my dad was one of the youngest of 8 and all of their kids have gone on to have an equal number of children/grandchildren. The first time Blinky came to meet them he was subjected to 80 of them in my grandma's house, all of who: 1. wanted to know when we were getting married 2. when we were having children 3. who the gdparents would be 4. what job Blinky would have to support us Then one of my aunt's cornered him and wanted to know who he voted for/if he believed in the angels and saints. She's a Padre Pio person so most of us don't talk to her, but finding Blinky trapped in a corner with nothing but a plate of anginetti to protect him was hilariously sad. All cultures have their weirdness, even ones with day drinking and a love of carbs that mesh--more or less--very well with American cultures.
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Oct 31, 2013 05:53
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Yeah, my dad's family is similar except they're 1 generation off the boat Slovak Catholic. But my parents moved away right before I was born, so I only really know them from weddings and funerals. There sure are a lot of them, though.
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Oct 31, 2013 06:02
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All of you guys sure have cool stories about your families. For those of you who have been to Tibet, what's the deal with this extra special secondary visa that foreigners supposedly need? Is that really a thing?
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Oct 31, 2013 06:26
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Bloodnose posted:All of you guys sure have cool stories about your families. Last I checked it was. It also has to be obtained as part of a package where you go with a group. There are ways around it, of course, but I still see lots of ads for trips to Tibet here in Chengdu. They're also really overpriced because for most foreigners it's the only way they'll be able to go there.
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Oct 31, 2013 06:39
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What, you guys can't just buy a ticket to Lhasa? Aiiiiyaaaaa, I guess I will make a trip report this coming summer! Or perhaps I should wait for the other hk goon to get Chinese naturalization and go to Tibet with him. think there was another thread about some goon going to Tibet
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Oct 31, 2013 06:45
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Magna Kaser posted:Last I checked it was. It also has to be obtained as part of a package where you go with a group. There are ways around it, of course, but I still see lots of ads for trips to Tibet here in Chengdu. They're also really overpriced because for most foreigners it's the only way they'll be able to go there. I remember reading someone has to take your passport to Lhasa because you can only apply for the permit there. Is that true?
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Oct 31, 2013 07:00
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Magna Kaser posted:Last I checked it was. It also has to be obtained as part of a package where you go with a group. There are ways around it, of course, but I still see lots of ads for trips to Tibet here in Chengdu. They're also really overpriced because for most foreigners it's the only way they'll be able to go there. Unless I'm mistaken you HAVE to book with a guide/government approved tourism association. I think the number last year was 5--i.e., you needed 5 people in your group--but I'm guessing most places apply for visas on behalf of large "groups" that understandably split once on the train/plane/yak whatever. Not sure if this is still true, but I heard last year that the groups also cannot be mixed nationality--if you're American you can't join up with a group of Chinese or German tourists. The only difference of course being if you hold a Chinese passport, at which point you only need to apply for the entry permit, not the entry permit AND visa. (Or if your spouse holds a Chinese passport, I guess). I DO know you can't even apply for a visa without a tour group letter, and that if you admit to being a journalist you'll probably get denied (but unless you came to China as a journalist/have press credentials I assume lying about this isn't a huge deal?).
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Oct 31, 2013 07:02
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You can also go if you have an official letter of invitation from someone living in Tibet. Source: A Tibetan bar around the corner from my apartment.
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Oct 31, 2013 07:08
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