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barbecue at the folks posted:I've started to wonder lately, after years of following these threads: is there anything redeeming about Mainland culture? Something you goonpats actually like that you couldn't find anywhere else? Habits or ways of going about things or cultural institutions or stuff like that? (Also, something that isn't the food?) If you are part of an "in" group or tight social circle, whether it's family or an exceptionally close group of friends, they'll often move heaven and earth to help you out if poo poo hits the fan. They may well be doing it with an eye towards banking favors that they can (and will) call in in the future, but they will go to great lengths to help you.
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Jul 31, 2017 10:41
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barbecue at the folks posted:I've started to wonder lately, after years of following these threads: is there anything redeeming about Mainland culture? Something you goonpats actually like that you couldn't find anywhere else? Habits or ways of going about things or cultural institutions or stuff like that? The foo- barbecue at the folks posted:(Also, something that isn't the food?) oh. Uh. There are times when being able to completely disregard any concept of rules and decency is handy? Is that redeeming?
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Jul 31, 2017 10:52
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Grand Fromage posted:The foo- Not if you enjoy orderly societies.
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Jul 31, 2017 11:09
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Haier posted:Dude/tte, Mainland culture is seriously the dumbest loving culture. Yeah lol I know. I was thinking of dysfunctional international couples... the stupid and terrible usually goes both ways.
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Jul 31, 2017 11:44
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barbecue at the folks posted:I've started to wonder lately, after years of following these threads: is there anything redeeming about Mainland culture? Something you goonpats actually like that you couldn't find anywhere else? Habits or ways of going about things or cultural institutions or stuff like that? (Also, something that isn't the food?) For every "WTF is their obsession with warm water?" moment, when you return, you'll notice similar hardwired cultural habits. It's also a bit depressing in how it exposes how concepts such as rule of law, equality, human rights, democracy, justice and individual rights are largely localised cultural relics, inherited by an ignorant privileged minority. It can teach you to be a better communicator, and when obstinate patience is more effective than yelling. barbecue at the folks posted:I just still have a hard time believing all of the stuff I read in these threads (except for Haier's tales of his adventures, those I believe 100%) and am convinced there must be some sort of confirmation bias going on. There's no way all of it can be this bad, right? It's not bad, you just have to abandon your western ideas about ethics, morality and giving a crap about anybody you don't know. Also the food is amazing.
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Jul 31, 2017 11:44
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Boiled Water posted:Not if you enjoy orderly societies. Yeah, as a decadent Nordic social-democrat type who's used to a) people following rules and just giving a poo poo about their fellow man, and b) people doing their jobs properly, and c) enjoying the benefits of functional and well-kept infrastructure, all of these stories of The Dollar Store Experience: The Country are just... harrowing. edit: Yeah, I guess the experience itself is quite something. However, this thread has kinda made me want to never visit Mainland China in the foreseeable future, for all the reasons you just outlined. (Even if the food is awesome, I appreciate my diet lighter on heavy metals, thank you) barbecue at the folks fucked around with this message at 11:51 on Jul 31, 2017 |
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Jul 31, 2017 11:46
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JewKiller 3000 posted:i won't even ask out the korean girl i kinda like because of this thread Lol, don't be a goon. Seriously bizarre blowups about INSULTING KOREA only happen like, two or three times a year.
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Jul 31, 2017 12:08
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Trammel posted:
I've never had a good meal on the mainland. And especially fruit was poo poo compared to Taiwan.
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Jul 31, 2017 12:36
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Sounds like somebody went to Shanghai.
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Jul 31, 2017 12:40
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Have you tried Durian? It's amazing. Lol.
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Jul 31, 2017 12:49
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barbecue at the folks posted:I've started to wonder lately, after years of following these threads: is there anything redeeming about Mainland culture? Something you goonpats actually like that you couldn't find anywhere else? Habits or ways of going about things or cultural institutions or stuff like that? (Also, something that isn't the food?) I work in the entertainment/event industry and have maybe a half dozen friends who have lived/worked in china and all of their experiences have been pretty uniformly bad, allways involving either being lied to about the actual work or being cheated out of money. I had just assumed that it was just "the industry is shady the world over and stagehands/production folks are socially hosed up weirdos" but it's really amazing how much of the little day to day stuff they would complain about shows up in this thread.
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Jul 31, 2017 13:03
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barbecue at the folks posted:I've started to wonder lately, after years of following these threads: is there anything redeeming about Mainland culture? Something you goonpats actually like that you couldn't find anywhere else? Habits or ways of going about things or cultural institutions or stuff like that? (Also, something that isn't the food?) Unfortunately, it is this bad. The trick to enjoying China is to try to interact as little as possible with China. I know that sounds terrible but if you can get yourself a situation where you are doing something you like with a foreign company, you're probably going to be living in a nice apartment, the food is good, you can save a lot of money and life is kinda adventurous...sure, no big deal. I'm in a group chat with a bunch of friends from Tianjin that have all kind of moved on. I'm now working in a rural area at a University, where I live on campus and mainly have to work with Americans in the States or Chinese that studied abroad. I'd say my "having to interact with China" level is probably at 2/10. I don't go out on the weekends, mainly just stay in my apartment. Maybe go work out. Either way, it's fine. I'm out in the middle of nowhere with NO people around. That's not an exaggeration. My buddy lives in Beijing and works for a foreign company. Has a really nice apartment and is super close to the Joy City area, which is a really awesome shopping area with good restaurants and the like. I'd say his HtIWC level is probably at 5/10. Lives near his work, work isn't China based, likes it a lot. He's based in Beijing, though, which has a lot of people. Goes out a fair amount. Has pretty good stories. My other buddy lives in Shanghai and works for an international kindergarten. All his coworkers are foreigners, all his students are foreigners, he lives downtown, his girlfriend is a foreigner. He has to commute every day but that's about it. I'd put his HtIWC level at about 4/10. My last buddy works outside of Wuhan and is the manager of a Chinese branch of a foreign company. He is the only foreigner for miles. He has to do everything for the company, like find a new warehouse, distribution, he oversees everything. He is like 9/10 on the HtIWC level and he absolutely despises everything he does. He has the most hilarious stories and keeps our chat moving along. What I'm kind of getting at is that the people who have to interact with China the least seem to like it the most. You can see this when you see literally billions of RMB leaving the country every year and people leaving along with it. You don't see people flocking TO China. You see them running AWAY from China. I'm one of the more positive people I know about China, which was a chore sometimes living in the city center of Tianjin, and I think it is because I really have read a lot and really worked to try to parse out why things are the way they are in the Mainland. I've got a few friends that are in Tianjin and when I go back to see them we get beers, talk about what we've been reading, talk about how quickly it's changing, talk about what it was like in 2009 or whatever, and we love it. I know a bunch of foreigners sitting around talking about China culturally or whatever probably reeks of orientalism and will get us labeled all racists because "ALL CULTURES ARE EQUAL!!!!  " but it really helps keep things positive when you can try to frame why things are they way they are and how things are changing, etc.Anyway I'm kinda rambling. Yes, on the surface it is as bad as people make it sound, but it can be cool and good if you have the right mindset and you can appreciate aspects about it that you wouldn't think to appreciate.
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Jul 31, 2017 13:54
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Yeah I've been feeling pretty okay about it the last few weeks and realized that's because I'm on vacation and in my apartment most of the time since it's 40000000 degrees outside and I don't have spare cash to leave the country. When I do have to venture to the grocery store or whatever I end up in a lovely mood. lol. Usually I spend a good part of the summer exploring and I've seen most of Chengdu that way but it's so. loving. insanely. hot this year that I just can't do it.
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Jul 31, 2017 13:59
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The Great Autismo! posted:I know a bunch of foreigners sitting around talking about China culturally or whatever probably reeks of orientalism and will get us labeled all racists because "ALL CULTURES ARE EQUAL!!!!
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Jul 31, 2017 14:06
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barbecue at the folks posted:: is there anything redeeming about Mainland culture? Something you goonpats actually like that you couldn't find anywhere else? Habits or ways of going about things or cultural institutions or stuff like that? (Also, something that isn't the food?) nobody knows how to lie convincingly. depending on where youre coming from this can be super refreshing or make you want to murder everyone
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Jul 31, 2017 14:17
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Bum the Sad posted:It doesn’t help when the culture is basically brand new because Mao destroyed he gently caress out of it 50 years ago. There was a documentary on Mao last night and Jesus gently caress did he wreck that country. And yet according to some atudies something insane like 80% of the current elite can trace their heritage back directly to pre revolution elites.
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Jul 31, 2017 14:17
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Bum the Sad posted:It doesn’t help when the culture is basically brand new because Mao destroyed he gently caress out of it 50 years ago. There was a documentary on Mao last night and Jesus gently caress did he wreck that country. trust us, we know
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Jul 31, 2017 14:25
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LentThem posted:nobody knows how to lie convincingly. depending on where youre coming from this can be super refreshing like the girl who canceled dinner plans with me by texting me from her phone, to tell me she couldn't make dinner because she couldn't find her phone after that, while i was kinda annoyed because she was cute and i really wanted to hook up with her and i couldn't believe she thought something that dumb would fly, i realized that she thought dumb poo poo like this would fly all the time and i actually probably dodged a pretty big bullet
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Jul 31, 2017 14:26
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Not on topic but I was reading the Wikipedia page about Teresa Teng, a pop singer from Taiwan who was pretty famous in Japan as well. I ran across this bit that made me laugh in its apparent China-ness:quote:Her voice was also described as being "like weeping and pleading, but with strength, capable of drawing in and hypnotizing listeners." Songwriter Tsuo Hung-yun said Teng's voice was "seven parts sweetness, three parts tears."
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Jul 31, 2017 15:09
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The Great Autismo! posted:My last buddy works outside of Wuhan and is the manager of a Chinese branch of a foreign company. He is the only foreigner for miles. He has to do everything for the company, like find a new warehouse, distribution, he oversees everything. He is like 9/10 on the HtIWC level and he absolutely despises everything he does. He has the most hilarious stories and keeps our chat moving along. POST. THAT. poo poo!
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Jul 31, 2017 15:09
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Dr.Radical posted:Not on topic but I was reading the Wikipedia page about Teresa Teng, a pop singer from Taiwan who was pretty famous in Japan as well. I ran across this bit that made me laugh in its apparent China-ness: Hey, let me guess, it sounds like somebody left the mic open in Sauron's torturing pits.
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Jul 31, 2017 15:15
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The Great Autismo! posted:like the girl who canceled dinner plans with me by texting me from her phone, to tell me she couldn't make dinner because she couldn't find her phone oh, I'm so sorry, I laughed really hard at this!  but yeah, bullet dodged!
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Jul 31, 2017 15:18
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JaucheCharly posted:POST. THAT. poo poo! there's just so many. this weekend he picked his ebike somewhere and one of the guys said he couldn't pick his ebike there, my buddy said he thought it was because he was a foreigner as there were tons of ebikes everywhere, and he came back later and there was a dead rat on the seat all bloody and gross. he sent a pic, loving hilarious, lol. im gonna try to go visit him in the fall, poo poo sounds crazy where he is
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Jul 31, 2017 15:24
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hehehee I knew this rat corpse would come in handy!
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Jul 31, 2017 15:35
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Barudak posted:And yet according to some atudies something insane like 80% of the current elite can trace their heritage back directly to pre revolution elites. It's in the nature of elite competition that a lot of the pre revolution elites ended their lives in a ditch along with all their children So even if the current elites are descended from the pre revolution elites, it's a subset selected specifically for FYGMism Some elites in western countries and Good China are cool af This is not the case for the prc
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Jul 31, 2017 15:41
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you guys ready for some tibetan traditional medicine with chinese characteristics?
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Jul 31, 2017 15:48
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JaucheCharly posted:Hey, let me guess, it sounds like somebody left the mic open in Sauron's torturing pits. sorry Teresa Teng is actually a Good Singer because she is not from Bad China https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XXTUJJIsfA peanut posted:hehehee I knew this rat corpse would come in handy! every time i see "hehehe" in china threads i can't help but hear this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blpe_sGnnP4
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Jul 31, 2017 16:19
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Thank you for repping Teresa Teng, her music is good.
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Jul 31, 2017 16:46
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I met Chaoshan Girl at a buffet. We're sitting there on a long table when this girl in her early 20s sits down opposite from us, a few chairs down. She's staring hard at me/us, and making it really weird. Because she is the direction I am turned to talk to CG, I keep looking at her looking at me. When I speak she stares me, and I am guessing she's trying to listen to English. She was playing with her phone and was taking very poorly sneaked photos of us. I told CG about it when the girl got up to get food, and she got upset. "Why is she taking photos? We are not fighting, we are not bad. We are just eating, no reason to take photos!" I pointed at myself and said "the zoo animal?" She said "Oh, oh, oh,.. I get it." I did not stuff myself at the dinner like I usually do, and I avoided most of the salted and fried stuff. I feel good and not soggy and crampy. That's SO weird how things work out that way. We came back to my house and watched The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. CG planned to sleep over, but after watching the delightful comedy-drama she wanted to go home and be alone. She was horrified seeing old people living slightly on their own, and couldn't handle the idea that they didn't want to, or couldn't, live with their kids. Not only was the movie full-blown culture shock to her, it made her realize her own mortality. "Oh my God, I am going to be like this when I get old? My life will have so many problems!! This is why my mom wants me to get married immediately. What will I do when I am old!???" This is the girl that had decided she is never going to marry or have kids because it's 100% the worst deal for women here, and now she was freaking out about being old and alone. I was hanging laundry while she was laying in bed, kicking her tiny feet and tossing and turning, randomly sitting up to say "I'm going to get old and die. My dad never wanted to get old, he said he would kill himself. His dad used the rope on his neck when he got old. Maybe I should do that too." Cool culture they have going on here. No pressure on anybody at all. Pretty relaxed. barbecue at the folks posted:I've started to wonder lately, after years of following these threads: is there anything redeeming about Mainland culture?
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Jul 31, 2017 17:20
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Grand Fromage posted:When I do have to venture to the grocery store or whatever I end up in a lovely mood. lol. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-TE_Ys4iwM
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Jul 31, 2017 17:28
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https://www.reddit.com/r/blackpeoplegifs/comments/6qjiax/being_black_in_china/quote:I lived in china for more than two years. One of my friends once arrived at work and told us that during her bus ride an older Chinese man came to her and asked in Chinese if she were sick and why is her skin that colour? She tried to explain that she was born like that and he was very dubious, even tried to rub the colour off her arm. He left her by telling her to take care of herself and giving her a cough lozenge. quote:Last time I wandered around China I got my picture taken a lot and a ton of really weird questions. quote:Unless they come here... I worked at a resort.years ago where a convention was held. There were lots of Chinese men. Everybody: 1. smoked, and 2. wanted a picture of me. I thought it was because I was cute. Now i know it was all the melanin! quote:In Shanghai some random old dude punched me in the shoulder as I walked past him on the street. When I turned to see wtf was up he had the biggest goddamned grin on his face and waved frantically, then walked away. Like this 6'4" white dude was the craziest goddamn thing he'd seen in his entire, long-rear end life. quote:One security guard used to see me leaving the building and just say: "international" in Chinese (国际）and I would respond with hello and then he would wait a second and say, under his breath "pizza". This happened nearly every time I saw him. Sometimes the second word was "party". I like the thread where people are saying Chinese learned from Americans how to be racist against black people, because China has no black people. It's no wonder we can't tell these dumb Millennials about our China experiences without the immediately resorting to "ur racist!!" Haier fucked around with this message at 17:46 on Jul 31, 2017 |
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Jul 31, 2017 17:44
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I am frequently asked how I get my skin so white and sometimes I just tell them to try having an Irish grandparent but if I'm bored I like to make up some sort of elaborate TCM-esque food thing like boiling avocados in blended fish juice and rubbing the goop on before bed and hope they actually try it.
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Jul 31, 2017 17:59
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Grand Fromage posted:I am frequently asked how I get my skin so white and sometimes I just tell them to try having an Irish grandparent but if I'm bored I like to make up some sort of elaborate TCM-esque food thing like boiling avocados in blended fish juice and rubbing the goop on before bed and hope they actually try it. I'd suggest telling then to use lye but someone would be dumb enough to try it on themselves/their children so don't do that.
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Jul 31, 2017 18:15
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Jeoh posted:sorry Teresa Teng is actually a Good Singer because she is not from Bad China Yeah I was gonna say, you may not like her genre or whatever but calling Teresa Teng a bad singer is dumb as gently caress because she's pretty definitely not?
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Jul 31, 2017 18:54
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this sort of parent is definitely not an exclusively china thing
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Jul 31, 2017 20:31
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Grand Fromage posted:I am frequently asked how I get my skin so white and sometimes I just tell them to try having an Irish grandparent but if I'm bored I like to make up some sort of elaborate TCM-esque food thing like boiling avocados in blended fish juice and rubbing the goop on before bed and hope they actually try it. I'd just tell them they need to ingest massive amounts of vitamin B-17.. 
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Jul 31, 2017 20:35
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Blistex posted:I'd just tell them they need to ingest massive amounts of vitamin B-17..  All natural cyanide pills!
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Jul 31, 2017 20:41
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Spatial posted:Is this real? Yes, yes it is. Some were/are still at groceries like Whole Foods.
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Jul 31, 2017 20:53
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Spatial posted:Is this real? I wish that more alternative medicine proponents would use it. . . in quantities greater than 100mg/day.
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Jul 31, 2017 21:15
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cake on the makeup like everyone else?
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Jul 31, 2017 21:17
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