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I always liked the Chinese folk tale version of the afterlife and how it's pretty much exactly like mortal life in that you still have to do all sorts of bullshit to accumulate wealth and bribe the various demons and underlings, even after you die. The WASP version of heaven is really weird by comparison and we are all supposed to stand around singing all day and praising God, which sounds really crappy and boring. The Chinese afterlife is very complicated and involves constant political wrangling and negotiating with various entities. Edit: it really cements the individual's place in the world in a pragmatic framework where everyone has to cope with the existing structure of things. Most of the times I've thought "oh these stupid Chinese people don't understand" it later turned out I was the one who didn't understand as there is usually a reason for why people say and do things, even if it's not a great one. For example, I have no clue when I start working again. My best guess is next Monday. But maybe not. I know they will probably call the the day before in order to tell me I have class. No biggie, it's always like this. I am prepared, no need to get indignant and shouty about how nobody ever informs the foreign teachers about anything. Nothing I can do is going to change this. bad day fucked around with this message at 17:29 on Feb 12, 2014 |
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Feb 12, 2014 17:20
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Jeoh posted:Pannenkoeken Pannekoek   
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Feb 12, 2014 23:23
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bad day posted:For example, I have no clue when I start working again. My best guess is next Monday. But maybe not. I know they will probably call the the day before in order to tell me I have class. No biggie, it's always like this. I am prepared, no need to get indignant and shouty about how nobody ever informs the foreign teachers about anything. Nothing I can do is going to change this. Same situation here. Classes start on Sunday for some damned reason, but that's all anyone knows. The powers that be in administration haven't seen fit to supply any of the teachers, Chinese or foreign, with more details. Hell, probably they're waiting for someone to tell them. Like you, I've gotten used to it, but reconciling ourselves to the state of affairs makes none of it any less ridiculous and stupid. It's just a piss-poor, inefficient way of doing things. I wonder sometimes how prevalent this tomfoolery is in the corporate world of China, far afield of the education sector. I suspect it's gotta be better, or at least much more systematized and predictable. It seems like it would be impossible to shoestring something so massive. I'd be curious to hear if that's true from anyone in that game. Meramjert and caberham? Sogol too, I think? systran posted:Has anyone in here read? http://goo.gl/t03WRk And yeah, this book looks fantastic. Thanks, picking it up. blinkyzero fucked around with this message at 23:30 on Feb 12, 2014 |
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Feb 12, 2014 23:26
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I am not sure I am speaking with you all. I am highly offended that no one saw fit to empty quote my incredibly edgy statement that I drink hot water, after pages and pages of derision regarding benighted hot water drinkers and their ilk. I consider it a grave offense and have thrown myself on the ground in protest. I will think about how to answer the "efficiency" v "shoestring" question in a concise way. As it turns out it is a huge question, from my point of view at least (as a hot water drinker). One place to start such a conversation is to consider the differences and effects between grid based navigation and situational navigation.
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Feb 13, 2014 00:01
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We have our next 12 month's holiday schedule in a read-only excel spreadsheet on a public network drive. About 2-3 weeks before any specific holiday, HR sends out an email to China All Users to remind everyone, along with a screenshot of the relevant section of the spreadsheet. I think some of the farther out holidays are guesses, but as soon as the government puts out an official schedule they update it and send out another email to everyone within 1 or 2 days.
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Feb 13, 2014 00:59
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BadAstronaut posted:Pannekoek 
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Feb 13, 2014 01:02
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bad day posted:For example, I have no clue when I start working again. My best guess is next Monday. But maybe not. I know they will probably call the the day before in order to tell me I have class. No biggie, it's always like this. I am prepared, no need to get indignant and shouty about how nobody ever informs the foreign teachers about anything. Nothing I can do is going to change this. My timetable for semester two was ready and available at the end of December - prior to that I had a say in course distribution. I have access to the student records system, which contains a full academic calendar for the year (the one for next year will come out in a month or so) together with other goodies. I also have a copy of the degree program blockings so I know exactly what each of my bans will be doing during the coming 18 weeks (when their reading weeks are, when they go for work experience, etc.). What I am getting at is that although poor communication is the norm within alot Chinese organizations and much of that communication, when it happens, is top down, you should probably quit your job.
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Feb 13, 2014 01:10
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Can I apply this QYJ philosophy to other east asiatic confucian countries? I'm excited to utilize this new strategy and see my dreams come true. In Korea the head of the department (or so she tells me) won't even know what grade or subject she will be teaching until 2 weeks before the first day of class, a vacation day where we have to come in for a few hours if we want to find out. Books will be delivered on the first day of class. Maybe QYJ can work for me.
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Feb 13, 2014 01:52
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systran posted:Has anyone in here read? http://goo.gl/t03WRk I have a 50 dollar amazon gift card and am totally gonna order this right now. I won't be home until mid-summer but I'll be there for a few weeks for work and then a two week holiday so I'll have it waiting for me 
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Feb 13, 2014 01:53
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goldboilermark posted:I have a 50 dollar amazon gift card and am totally gonna order this right now. I won't be home until mid-summer but I'll be there for a few weeks for work and then a two week holiday so I'll have it waiting for me Listen, I know Skyrim's beyond you, and I get that, but let's start with something smaller. It's called a Kindle. A Kindle is a magic box that shows you words. You can get the words off the series of tubes we call the internet. In no way must you present your physical person at the location of the words in order to obtain the words. After you have the words, you read the words and they go in your brain. A disclaimer: apropos of recent chatter, the Kindle in no way makes hot water or improves your health.
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Feb 13, 2014 02:08
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I have a few friends that use them, but ever since grad school I have written and underlined and marked the hell out of most books I have, and I don't think a Kindle really works like that. I also cringe at the thought of having something like that and having a ton of books on it and losing it. Someday I'll probably make the jump but not yet...sitting here at my desk at work and I have hard copies of The Portable Sixties Reader, Robin Hood, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and A Christmas Carol and I have marked up all of them to pieces. I guess I just like holding a book in my hands. I'm a weirdo FYI
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Feb 13, 2014 02:18
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goldboilermark posted:I have a few friends that use them, but ever since grad school I have written and underlined and marked the hell out of most books I have, and I don't think a Kindle really works like that. I also cringe at the thought of having something like that and having a ton of books on it and losing it. I agree actually. Having the book in your hands is optimal. The Kindle's been amazing while living overseas, though, and not just because English books can be a bitch to find. The lack of weight is fantastic when you're running around for work or making those miserable transatlantic/transpacific/transgendered flights.
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Feb 13, 2014 02:25
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DontAskKant posted:...QYJ philosophy... Do not ask whether you have quit your job, but rather, whether your job has quit you. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/askaboutenglish/2010/01/100126_aae_also_page.shtml
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Feb 13, 2014 02:26
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goldboilermark posted:I have a few friends that use them, but ever since grad school I have written and underlined and marked the hell out of most books I have, and I don't think a Kindle really works like that. I also cringe at the thought of having something like that and having a ton of books on it and losing it. You can annotate Kindle books, and they're all backed up on your Amazon account?
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Feb 13, 2014 02:31
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I also think Kindles feel weird and much prefer an actual book.
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Feb 13, 2014 02:40
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Infinite Jest was designed to be read on a Kindle. Any other book I'd rather hold.
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Feb 13, 2014 03:06
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caberham posted:Well you should give a shot. Come during summer time, besides all this forum slap fighting, goons are pretty cool in person. I never met Goldboilermark, but I'm sure he's a decent host in Tianjin (but why would you want to go to Tianjin as a tourist I'm planning on taking a trip with my girlfriend this summer actually and she wants to show me her village in Shandong. We'll also spend a week in Beijing but she's never been there so I'll try to visit some of the places you mentioned.
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Feb 13, 2014 04:11
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MeramJert posted:I also think Kindles feel weird and much prefer an actual book. I actually dislike reading from paper books at this point.
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Feb 13, 2014 04:30
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The China Megathread IV: E-book and e-reader discussion megathread
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Feb 13, 2014 05:46
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computer parts posted:I'm planning on taking a trip with my girlfriend this summer actually and she wants to show me her village in Shandong. We'll also spend a week in Beijing but she's never been there so I'll try to visit some of the places you mentioned. Shandong owns and is my favorite province if you're in the good parts. The good parts being Laoshan/Qingdao/Yantai and the bad parts being anywhere not near the ocean (Jinan). Any idea where her village is? The summer is a great time to go to Shandong, and if you get the chance I'd suggest going to Taishan or something cause it's pretty cool! e: also if you're interested in good Japanese or Korean food, Qingdao and Yantai probably have the best and best priced stuff in the mainland due to both being huge business centers for multinationals. Qingdao has the best sushi in China hands down.
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Feb 13, 2014 05:49
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Qufu is also nice. You can visit Confucius temple/mansion/graveyard then rent a bike and ride around the nearby villages and cornfields.
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Feb 13, 2014 06:21
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Magna Kaser posted:Qingdao has the best sushi in China hands down. I must go then. As A Sushi Snob I must try the tamago, kohada, and maguro. Shanghai was a bit disappointing 
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Feb 13, 2014 06:24
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Kindles are cool, you can also sync to your phone and desktop. Harder to lend books to friends, but you can lend the friend your Kindle and read on your phone. Or lend out your phone. Sogol is right about everything
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Feb 13, 2014 09:08
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peanut posted:Kindles are cool, you can also sync to your phone and desktop. Books on phones now? What's next? Edible trousers? [edit] I wrote this an then realized that I have The Gulag Archipelago audio book on my Lenovo Thingy. It's got me. I didn't even know it was happening but it's got me. I feel dirty. Dirty and confused. GuestBob fucked around with this message at 10:23 on Feb 13, 2014 |
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Feb 13, 2014 10:17
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peanut posted:Or lend out your phone. wat
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Feb 13, 2014 11:23
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caberham posted:I must go then. As A Sushi Snob I must try the tamago, kohada, and maguro. Shanghai was a bit disappointing Shandong has some of the best seafood in China. Or it did, there was an oil spill. No idea how things are now they might be bad, actually.
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Feb 13, 2014 13:30
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Magna Kaser posted:Shandong owns and is my favorite province if you're in the good parts. The good parts being Laoshan/Qingdao/Yantai and the bad parts being anywhere not near the ocean (Jinan). Any idea where her village is? The summer is a great time to go to Shandong, and if you get the chance I'd suggest going to Taishan or something cause it's pretty cool! Fairly near Jinan actually (about a 1.5 hour drive east from there), but we're there for a week so there's no reason we can't visit Qingdao as well.
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Feb 13, 2014 13:36
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I lent my spare iPhone 3gs to peanut and the phone ended up being in a puddle of water. At least my wifi hotspot is still ok. Oh well there goes my phone.
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Feb 13, 2014 14:51
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Goons, I need advice. It's about to get all E/N up in here. So for the third time in as many days I've been "street harassed"--i.e., a bunch of Chinese dudes rolling up in a car or on foot, following me, saying sexual things. It's run the gauntlet from the tame "hey, where are you from?" to "give me your number!" to some pretty gross stuff. In the past this has happened to me with teenage boys, or dudes in a work context saying things, but I've never had a group of adult guys straight up follow me while yelling about how I should totally sleep with them. Every time this has happened I've been out running errands, which means wearing a giant coat/an ugly alpaca hat/a resting bitch face. I've handled it with work--reported it--and with kids--yelled at them or seen older people yell at them--but I have no clue what to do when it's a group of dudes in a BMW. When I've mentioned it to my Chinese coworkers or friends before I could tell they felt like they had to defend Yuyao/China, or they went nuclear over a group of idiots making "them" look bad...so I don't want to ask them how it's best to handle it. I know there aren't as many ladies here as there are in WeChat, but does this sort of thing happen to you guys? Or when you're out with your female friends/gf/wives? How do you handle it? I'm more worried that I'm going to flip off some 2nd generation kid and end up with a fine (because China) not that these guys are going to act on it, but it's really frustrating. I've had this sort of thing happen in the States and Europe, and based on the experiences of my friends in the US it's even worse being a Asian chick in America, so I don't want this to come across as a "China sux because" thing. It's more of a "holy poo poo I hate leaving the house now and I'm not sure how to handle it" thing.
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Feb 13, 2014 15:40
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How many doughy Chinese dudes do you think you could beat up? edit: That sort of thing is one reason I'm a little uneasy about the idea of taking my wife back to northern AZ with me. If we went to live with my dad...well, before one of the neighbors died I'd have been CERTAIN this sort of thing would happen to her there; now I'm just pretty sure it would. VideoTapir fucked around with this message at 15:58 on Feb 13, 2014 |
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Feb 13, 2014 15:55
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I don't have any advice, but people suck, especially men.
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Feb 13, 2014 16:38
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That sucks, Fearcotton. I've asked some of my Chinese friends about this before because my American guuurlfriend was having similar problems. On her way to class, she'd pass a carwash where the dudes would whistle and say lovely things. Her reaction I think ranged from ignoring it to flipping the bird. My guy friends usually acted like you said and got ready to either defend China or mount up and go kick some rear end. Like calling up friends and asking where it was while hailing taxis. Which was I guess a nice gesture but I felt a bit excessive. My female friends were split. Most said ignore it and some said call them out in public. One of my former students said she shouts "Would you talk to your mom like that, rear end in a top hat!" or something along those lines. The thing that stopped the harassment in my girlfriend's situation was me walking by the place with her. Which is lovely that it takes that to get some guys to not be jerks. I didn't even say anything, I didn't know it was the carwash with the problems. But they saw me and backed off for the rest of the semester. Is this happening to you like midday on a public street? I think my friends' suggestions of the yelling was meant for that so people give judgy looks.
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Feb 13, 2014 16:40
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Is it always guys in cars? Carry some carpet tacks to throw under them.
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Feb 13, 2014 16:53
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Yeah I would just call them out loudly so that they lose face. I think especially if they realize you understand Mandarin it will be different for them. Especially in China, it can be cathartic or healthy to just go up to people who are being pieces of poo poo and rage out on them. You're already not really a part of society or the social fabric (which is why they think they can do this) so use it to your advantage and just let them know you aren't going to take poo poo by drawing attention to them. I'm not a woman and I never actually feared for my safety, but I am tempted to even say you should just go up and ask them why they think they can do that. Say they aren't civilized, etc. Stop other people passing by and say poo poo like, "Hey, these guys are yelling at my like I'm some object, why don't they care that they are losing so much face???" I did stuff like this on buses before where people kept talking about me, and where after I looked them in the eye and said, "please stop talking about me, I understand you," they kept doing it anyway.
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Feb 13, 2014 16:58
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VideoTapir posted:Is it always guys in cars? Carry some carpet tacks to throw under them. Are caltrops legal? Get some caltrops.
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Feb 13, 2014 17:00
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Ceciltron posted:Are caltrops legal? Get some caltrops. Ask your lawyer and report back.
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Feb 13, 2014 18:07
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Magna Kaser posted:Ask your lawyer and report back. Quit your jurisprudence. (also, lol)
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Feb 13, 2014 23:56
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Magna Kaser posted:Ask your lawyer and report back.  Actually, on an interesting note, at the law offices we went to a while back, one of the lawyers (the one with an oddly perfect grasp of English idiomatic speech), had only one hand, the other was some kind of pointing fork. I don't know why I mention this.
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Feb 14, 2014 02:11
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FearCotton posted:Goons, I need advice. It's about to get all E/N up in here. Holy poo poo is this real? I've never had this happen to me or know anyone one who has gone through this. How often is this happening? If its the same group of guys then you got some stalker problems!
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Feb 14, 2014 02:31
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There's no good solution to this problem: stick to populated areas at normal times of day and use your phone alot when walking. Dressing smartly may also help to deter people and can give your confidence a little bump as well. Personally, I always confront people who say stupid stuff but they're mostly students on campus and they get sheepish after I ask them whether they're in middle school and they work out what's coming next. Yesterday, on my way to the shops, some random dude commented on my ethnicity particularly loudly as I walked past (his mate spat ostentatiously on the ground too) and I turned on my heel and gave him an uncomfortably lengthy slow hand clap whilst vigorously praising his intelligence. You could always try taking down the car's number plate - assuming it has one of course - I bet dollars to donuts that it'll drive off if they work out what you're doing. [edit] You should take action on this in some way though, otherwise you're going to have problems with any other female teachers who get sent to this town. GuestBob fucked around with this message at 02:49 on Feb 14, 2014 |
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Feb 14, 2014 02:40
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