She's Chinese (as is my gf), so she studied abroad (for a masters!) and still writes and speaks like that. My gf's English is way better. My GF's only consistent issue is not knowing what to do with be verbs in reported speech or negative statements. EX:
"I don't know where is that."
"I asked him where is he from."
I'll bet Happy Grammar time girl wouldn't even know why those are wrong.

I've actually noticed a few times Chinese who've studied abroad and come back with very subpar English and I always wonder..."how the hell did you graduate?" Imagine Kate writing an essay. It'd be an F for grammar every time. I guess they either
a) bribe the hell out of school officials
b) hire someone to edit/write all of their written work.
c) blow all the teachers.

I remembered another reason I thought Caocao was a bad guy: near the beginning when Caocao is fleeing south to his hometown, he comes across an official who arrests him. But he convinces the official to join him by saying that he's loyal to the emperor against Dong Zhuo. later, at the home of one of Caocao's father's friends, they hear knives being sharpened and kill everyone there (thinking they were about to be killed). They realize their mistake and flee. On the road they see their host, who'd left to buy some wine. Caocao immediately kills him to prevent him from going back to find his family murdered. The official leaves Caocao in the middle of the night.

hmmmm,
u can try watching the 3 kingdoms drama,
its in youku.

God damnit Kate

Heya, man. I'm planning to go to China, somewhere close to Kunming (seems alright, cheap, clean and flights are not so expensive/long)

Do you think I'd be able to survive on $1k/have a good time with no Mandarin? I'm talking 30 days or more

Where close to Kunming? I've been to Shangri-la, Lijiang and Dali, those are the major tourist places, but they're a few hours from Kunming.

1k should be plenty, as from your thread I see you like finding cheap deals. I've used ctrip.com before with good success.

That far from major population centers, don't expect ANYONE to speak English. Consider it a pleasant surprise if they do. Look for restaurants that have pictures on the wall or menu. You can get very full for like $3-$5 if you stick to cheap places. Pointing and body language should get you far enough, but it may be frustrating.

Anyone else feel free to input.

I'm in Guangdong btw, the far from Kunming.

I've just done some bland research months ago. I actually think my decision had been Nanning.

I hope it's not a stupid idea to go like this lol. But I really think China is an important place and would like to see it with my own eyes.

Will definitelly keep an eye on your thread. Appreciate any ideas or suggestions
See ya around the forum ;D

1k usd for 30 days is 33 dollars a day. I think thats stretching it a bit IMO if you are also paying lodging from that budget.

Yes, I am paying lodging with that too. But theres some cash in the bank that I can tap into if needed. Still would rather not

PRE, how did you learn Mandarin?

I mean, I just looked up hostels in Kunming (OP you know Nanning is pretty far from that? I'm actually closer to Nanning than Kunming) and you can get a 4.7/5 rated hostel for less than 50rmb. I think 150rmb a day is plenty for entertainment and food. Not enough for hookers/picking girls up though.

btw, checking Nanning: both this and this are rated 4+/5 and less than $9/day.

very slowly haha. And I'm not done yet, Ameoba, Kennywu, possibly BGP (tbh never heard/seen his Chinese) are better.

Since I started seriously studying a little over a year ago (my first year in China I barely studied) I've used the New Practical Chinese Reader books (finished 2,3,4 and just started 5), together with memrise courses that match the books, and the Chairmans Bao.

I actually like textbooks as they lay things out in a systemic way, and if they're good they'll continue using vocabulary/grammar you've learned in previous lessons to reinforce it.

Last night had street BBQ. I'm starting to make this a tradition.

It's not the cheapest meal (because no rice/noodles to fill you up) but it's damn good.

Last week we got 2 eggplants, 12 oysters (loaded with garlic and spices), 3 skewers of green beans, 2 skewers of those tiny mushrooms, 4 large bottles of beer, 2 dried squid and maybe a few other things. Total cost; 115rmb.

Last night we got something similar, fewer eggplants but more oysters. Price about the same.

Would you find it awkward if I visited your city too?

no need to babysit me, it would just be great to actually meet someone with common interests, and you seem like a cool knowledgeable guy

Hnnnnnnnng squid is great

Do they eat veggies in China? Like cabbage, broccoli, rocket?

yeah it'd be great. I'm not terribly far from Hong Kong, so if you fly into there it'd be easy to get here.

People rarely eat raw vegetables. In guangdong they nearly always steam or boil vegetables.

Which bbq place have you been going to?

Place on the street near our mutual friend's house.

How do you eat the street BBQ and not get laduzi?

Some great memories having a few beers out on a little stool on side of street, crushing that eggplant with the garlic cooked in it. Feel like there's a 50/50 shot it was someone from Xinjiang. Every city I've ever been in China, the Xinjiang people are looked down upon pretty poorly, I imagine it's the same situation in Guangdong. One tried to lift my Ipod in Shanghai once, and about 20 Chinese people just stopped, cornered him and were all yelling "新疆人!"

Would be interested to hear your thoughts on the hukou system.

-BBB

the only time Ive gotten food poisoning was after eating MacDonalds.

My way of staying safe is that I dont order the meats that have been sitting out all day (although Im taking a risk with oysters). dried squid shpuldnt cause any problems. The rest is vegetables.

IDK about the hukou systwm. It sems ****ed up that people cant send their kids to public schools, but what would happen if anyone cpuld come to the cities? Would it cause such a flood of migrants that the sum total of human suffering would increase? To an American perspective it seema fundamentally unfair, but I try to check those attitudes at the border.

If youve got interesting reading regarding Hukous boris Id love a rec.

Gonna have a party at mine on Sunday for all my new coworkers. Gonna have so much face itll be coming out tge other end haha

Id like to talk to more minorities about what its like being them in a Han world, but opportunities rarely come up. Seems awkward to ask the person serving me lamian "do you feel like youre discriminated against?"

I know that there are lots of affirmative action programs in place.

So Roger Moore, 3rd James Bond and man from my avatar has died. I've literally never posted about a celebrity death anywhere, but this one counts for me.

dealing with a pretty strong hangover today, and I didn't even go out last night. Need to cut down on the Scotch.

One thing that you don't see often in China but a lot of in SEA and the West: single moms. They're the bane of dating in the US, because if you filter them out your number of choices plummet. In China I can count on one hand the number I've met in two years. It's nice not to wonder if a woman has kids when you start chatting at the bar. To compare with SEA, it's also nice not to have to wonder if she's a hooker or has a penis. Abortion doesn't have a stigma here like it does in Catholic or Buddhist countries, which accounts for the difference I guess. Also the family would lose a lot of face if you spit out a bastard child.

A friend of mine married a divorced mother (a divorced mom on the wrong side of thirty is about the definition of "zero market value"). 2 months after meeting her. No one thought it was a good idea. Then he immediately got her pregnant and disappeared from the social scene like Jimmy Hoffa. perhaps he wanted all of that. Perhaps her family's guanxi is worth it. Perhaps he's happy. I don't know because I've never had a chance to ask him.

I'm having a party on Sunday for my coworkers. I haven't seen most of them outside of work, it should be a lot of fun. After that party I'm gonna have so much face it'll be coming outta my ears . Fortunately I"ve got today and tomorrow off to prepare (a fact that really pissed off one of my coworkers, who complained that I'm the new guy and already getting weekends off and he's never gotten one).

I'm been wanting to write a short essay "how not to be a miserable expat in China", because they seem to be everywhere.

Sorry that post was kind of rambling and disjointed, but when I'm hungover that's how my mind is.

I actuallt liked it very much

Is it easy to pump and dump single moms in China, or are they very defensive when it comes to sex?

So your boss gave you off days at work just so that you could throw a party? Lol great. Is it gonna be at your place?

Indeed I think that 'not becoming miserable' seems like the biggest challenge for expats, if they look like loners here in the Philippines, imagine in China where the shock is much bigger. Have you made many local friends?

Please, write us the essay !

Dunno, never tried. I imagine so. Perhaps BGP could enlighten us.

No, not exactly. I told the scheduler girl that I hated my days off being split up (wednesday and friday). I didn't expect that she'd actually give me a weekend day off.