By now you might have heard the news that an earthquake has hit Central China. The first I heard of it was this thread at Shanghaiexpat.com .
I don’t have any dramatic stories; I was playing table tennis on my balcony with Dad when it hit, and didn’t feel a thing! I just got a call from a distressed Aika, asking if everything was ok. I had to tell her that we didn’t feel anything, and if I hadn’t stumbled on the thread at ShanghaiExpat.com, I wouldn’t have known what she was talking about.
I can’t imagine why we didn’t feel anything. The guys from the previous post aren’t anywhere to be seen though. *gulp*
As I type, there are three workers climbing around on a scaffolding that is on top of a tall office building near my apartment. I hope that they have taken safety precautions!
Seeing these guys reminds me of the time my landlord had to climb around on the exterior of my apartment. One summer, something went wrong with the air conditioner. As happens when something is broken, I called my landlord. It didn’t take him long to come around and see what was wrong: he said that a pipe was broken, and would just need to be replaced. He seemed a little bit relieved, he’d be able to do it himself without buying any extra spare parts or spending any money. He said that the same thing had happened to him once, and that he had some spare hose at his apartment. He lives in the same complex, so he dashed home to get it. He returned not more than ten minutes later carrying a short length of tubing.
I was a little puzzled as what he intended to do with the tube. It was only 30cm or so, and quite thin. He had said that all he would have to do was swap this new tube for the old one. But I couldn’t see a similar tube anywhere. The air conditioner was just a big metal box that sits in a corner of the living room. No thin white tubes anywhere. But he seemed to know what he was doing. As I started to move furniture around so that he could get at the air conditioner, he opened a window, and climbed out.
A look of surprise crossed my face, and a look of horror crossed Aika’s as we realised what he was doing. He had slid open our window, clumsily hauled both legs overand gripping the flimsy handrail, inched across to the exterior part of the air conditioner.
I hadn’t realised, but there is an exterior part to the big, two meter tall machine in my living room that pumps out cold air. It was a pipe on the EXTERIOR that had broken, and needed to be replaced.
And we live on the 22nd floor, and the exterior air conditioner isn’t made for easy access or anything. They didn’t put it in a convenient, easy to reach place in case someone had to, at some point in time, fix or replace the thing. Anyone that has to reach it must be spiderman or something.
Before asking if he needed a rope or anything, my landlord had made his way to the exterior part of the air conditioner, which sits on a specially made ledge next to one of the exterior walls. He was sitting on it, and reaching around trying to feel for the leaking tube. The new tube was in his mouth as he felt around for it. He was 22 floors above ground level, the wind whipping his hair and business jacket.
My landlord isn’t a spry young guy either. He’d obviously shown up to fix my air conditioner after work. He was dressed in a business suit, and is in his mid forties. He’d spent all day at the office, but before retiring for the day, he had found himself sitting on an air conditioner, 22 stories up, awkwardly fumbling around for a leaking plastic pipe.
He fixed it. No problem. He replaced the pipe, slowly made his way along the ledge again, and climbed back in the window. “I’m really sorry about the mess,” he said, indicating a pair of dirty footprints. “Can I open my eyes now?” said Aika. As he had climbed out the window, she had closed her eyes.
I didn’t know what to say! “Thank you, thank you thank you!” I felt myself thanking him so much for his help, for risking his life for the broken tube. It was quite surreal actually, for both sides. I could see that he felt quite uncomfortable about all the fuss we were making. I wouldn’t be surprised if somewhere in cyberspace, there’s a blog entry by my landlord, something along the lines of “I went to my tenant’s apartment to fix a pipe, and he acted like I had saved the world or something!”.
I’ve included a picture of the exterior of my air conditioner. This is what my landlord was sitting on, in his suit and tie, hair being blown by the wind, groping around blindly for a broken pipe.
Since I started learning Chinese in earnest 3 years ago, I’ve been diligently making electronic flash cards for myself. These have been simple, small jpg files that I’ve loaded into my phone or iPod, and gone through whenever I’ve had the chance. You can see what they look like here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6AisYnJ8y
Recently I lost my entire hard drive which deleted every photo that I have taken over the last few years, and as a final cruel blow, I have somehow deleted the thousands of flash cards that I had in my iPod. I’m particularly upset about this, because it has been like a diary of my journey learning Chinese and Japanese… I used to be able to look back on my progress in a very real way. I’d be able to see words that I’ve mastered and recognise my first steps to understand them. All of these thousands of flashcards are now gone.
But my loss is your gain, dear reader! I’ve recently taken to backing up everything that I do. My flashcards are now online at my new Flickr page, along with any other photos that I want to keep online. I have put them there not only to safeguard against any catastrophe that might delete them from my computer or iPod, but also for anyone else who might find them useful.
They are primarily for my own use. So you might find Korean words with Japanese definitions, or Japanese/Korean words with no definitions except for the 漢字, or lines from comic books that don’t really make sense out of context… I just hope that at least someone might find them (or at least the idea of electronic flashcards) useful.
Yesterday I met Steve for the first time in months! We used to work together teaching English; there was a time when we would see each other every working day of the week, but we haven’t seen each other much at all since I left that job.
We met up with some other teachers and various people at 中山公园, we spread a few blankets under a tree and had a nice afternoon.
Almost all passers-by stopped to have a look at us. Foreigners aren’t uncommon in 上海, but a large group will always attract some stares. I talked to everyone that I could; it always makes me uncomfortable when someone just stares at me, and speaking to them makes me feel less awkward.
At one point I got up and left our group, and joined some people that had stopped to stare at everyone. We chatted about this and that. Everyone asked where I was from, and assumed that everyone was. They asked the nationalities of everyone in the group, and some were astonished that I didn’t know everyone’s nationality. China is a very nationalist place, and people are always surprised to find that not everyone is!
One man in particular stopped for a long time to talk to us. He ended up talking to only me! He told me that he had learnt English for only one year, when he was very young, but had kept it up as a hobby. He was a steelworker before he retired, and had three sons. He was once fluent in Russian, but after China’s falling out with the Soviet Union he never had occasion to use it. As often happens, people think that when I say “I don’t speak Shanghainese at all” I am being modest (really, I don’t speak more than a few words) and for uncomfortably long chunks of the conversation I didn’t understand what he was saying at all, but it was still great fun talking to him
This is part 2 of a series that teaches Taxi Chinese. For part 1, visit youtube or www.maxiewawa.com . For an mp3 of this lesson, visit www.maxiewawa.com or subscribe to maxiewawa.libsyn.com/rss. If you can’t see the video, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GLOve3IEwo
If you’ve listened carefully to part 1, you should be in your taxi and on your way to your destination. The driver knows your destination, and is going the fastest way. By listening to part 2 (this part) you should be able to get through the actual journey. You won’t be able to tell the driver where to stop, or how to pay yet (that’s part 3!) but we’ll get you through the actual journey in this lesson.
If you’ve done your research before coming to China, you might know that not everyone that drives a taxi is honest. Most taxi drivers are honest and hardworking, but there are occasions when unlicensed drivers try to trick you. For the record, always check that a driver has an ID card displayed on the dashboard before getting in.
Whenever I suspect that a driver is not going in the right direction, or that he is taking the long way around, I use this phrase. I say it loudly, and accusingly.
你走哪里呀？？
Nǐ zǒu nǎli nǎli ya？
Where are you going?
This means “where are you going?” “ni” is you. zou is “to go” or “walk”. nali is ‘where’. Ya’ is an emphatic article. Similar to putting “DUDE!” or “Mate!” on the front of the sentence. So the phrase 你走哪里呀 might also be translated as “dude, where are you going?” or “Mate, where are you going?”
Usually, after I say this, the driver will protest his innocence. Like I said, 99.99% of all taxi drivers are honest, and hardworking. It’s usually me; we actually ARE going the right way, it’s just that my knowledge of Shanghai streets isn’t very good.
In any case, I use this phrase 你走哪里呀 even when I DONT know where I’m going, and if I just SUSPECT that the driver is trying to trick me. I just use it to keep him on his toes! And after he explains in detail where we’re going, and that he really ISN’T going to take me on an expensive tour around Shanghai, I respond this way.
哦。
O.
Oh yeah, that’s right.
I usually try to make as if I’ve understood everything he’s said, that every landmark that he’s mentioned. 哦 expresses this; it’s like saying “oh, right, I understood what you’re saying.” That phrase again: 哦。
The only other thing you might have to say to the driver is the answer to a question that every visitor to China gets asked.
你是哪里人？
Nǐ shì nǎli rén
Where are you from?
ni means you. Shi is the verb to be. Nali is where, ren is person. Literally the question is “You are what person?”
There are various forms in which someone might ask this question: Nǐ shì shénme guó jiā de? literally means “what country are you?” 你从哪里来的？cóng nǎli lái de? is “where do you come from?” Whatever the form, the chances are that if the taxi driver asks you a question during the journey, he’s asking about your nationality. You should answer,
澳大利亚／日本／法国etc
àodàlìyà/rìběn/fǎguó/etc
If you need to know a country that isn’t listed here, let me know!
After hearing where you are from, the driver will probably answer with something like this:
很好！ hěn hǎo is very good! 漂亮！ piàoliɑng is beautiful!
hěn means “very”. Hǎo means “good”. “Piàoliɑng” means “beautiful”.
This is a cultural thing that the Chinese have. They MUST compliment someone on their culture or nationality when they hear about it. In any case, I’m not sure why it is. I’ll just tell you that after hearing one of these compliments, the polite response is:
不不不。
Bu bu bu.
No, no, no.
You should also shake your head and wave your hand like this: . This is the polite response you should make whenever someone compliments you. I won’t go into an analysis of why we must go through this ritual in China, but just try to remember to deny any compliment given to you. And if you can remember the Chinese way to deny a compliment, it’s the phrase I just mentioned: 不不不。
Other than asking about nationality, I don’t think I’ve had any other conversation with a taxi driver in China. So armed with these short phrases, you should be able to have the only conversation you’re likely to have in a Chinese taxi. But what should you do when you’re nearing your destination? Tune in to the next part of this series to find out how to give a driver directions, and to pay for your journey.
Here’s how you might use these words in a taxi.
Bob is getting a bit suspicious that his taxi isn’t going the right way.
Bob: (To taxi driver) Nǐ zǒu nǎli nǎli ya？
Driver: 人民广场啊！你不是说要去人民广场啊？我们走隧道！
Bob: (Thinks for a moment, looks around) O.
Bob: (To taxi driver) Where are you going?
Driver: People’s Square. You said People’s Square, didn’t you? We’re taking the tunnel.
Bob: (Thinks for a moment, looks around) Oh yeah, that’s right.
(A bit later in the journey)
Driver: What country are you from?
Bob: The Central African Republic.
Driver: The Central African Republic is very good! The Central African Republic is beautiful!
Bob: No it’s not.
We learnt from JapanesePod101.com today that to call someone “omae” is rather rough, and rude. We also heard that sometimes boyfriends call their girlfriends “omae”. I thought I’d try it out on Aika, and see her reaction!
It took me a while to get my message through to Aika; she said afterwards that my grammar was a little off, and I think I really overdid it on the “omae”. It was obvious something was up. So I’m not sure what my little experiment proves, but I’ll include it here all the same!
I used to spend hours making music not on the piano, but with a computer. Here’s a little ditty I came up with the other day. I’d like to pretend that I just whipped it off but it’s actually a really fiddly process… I’m quite pleased with the results though!
I’m never sure how to arrange tracks like this, so if anyone’s got any suggestions let me know!
I came across Magnatune in a podcast directory and I’m glad I did! They are a record label with a difference: their philosophy is very different to most record companies, one buys albums there by making a “donation”. Recommended donation is $8, but they accept a minimum of $5.
I won’t go too into their whole philosophy, if you’re interested have a look at their site. A record label with a conscience really why I’m taking the time to write this post; of much more importance is that through Magnatune I found Drop Trio.
On one of Magnatude’s podcasts I heard two great tracks; I checked the track listing and found that they were both by the same band, Drop Trio.
Have a listen to Magnatune by clicking on their name above. Groovy, aren’t they? They mention on their homepage droptrio.com that they have a podcast of all their live shows. As you might be able to tell from my own podcast, it is a medium that I’m very interested in.
A great band with an active interest in podcasts. Don’t great minds think alike!
As I type, there are three workers climbing around on a scaffolding that is on top of a tall office building near my apartment. I hope that they have taken safety precautions!
Yesterday I met Steve for the first time in months! We used to work together teaching English; there was a time when we would see each other every working day of the week, but we haven’t seen each other much at all since I left that job.
