PekingPhil's Blog

New pics

pekingphil — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 13:28:09 +0000

Finally got off my keister and uploaded more pics. Because I know you’ve been clamoring for ‘em.

https://picasaweb.google.com/Phillip.Atkinson/

New pictures uploaded

pekingphil — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:27:47 +0000

Got some new pictures uploaded to my picasa site…

http://picasaweb.google.com/phillip.atkinson

World Cup stuff

pekingphil — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 12:40:21 +0000

So skip if you’re not interested…and admitting that you’re a horrible person…

Here’s a good link on where to watch games online:
http://lifehacker.com/5559652/where-to-watch-world-cup-soccer-streaming-live

This is pretty funny – analysis of different World Cup team tactics…sorry it’s in Chinese, and it’s pictures too so google translate won’t help that much…that said, you can get the general idea from the flags on the pictures and all:
http://www.itxinwen.com/view/new/html/2010-06/2010-06-12-1261371.html

WOOHOO !!!

pekingphil — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:05:30 +0000

Game on !!!

World Cup fever!

pekingphil — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 03:24:59 +0000

I’m very happy to say I have a few friends going to see the World Cup in South Africa. I had planned to join them, but sadly the plane ticket costs got too expensive – upwards of $2500 a ticket.

Here’s to J.ed, Banky, Bo and Kim Wims. Have a great time ya’ll!

GO USA!!!

Fast-food nation

pekingphil — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 13:36:46 +0000

*all data is unscientific and limited to Beijing

It seems like the big 3 of American fast food here in Bejing are McDonalds, KFC, and Pizza Hut. McDs and KFC are pretty recognizably the same, whilest Pizza Hut tends to a more "upscale restaurant" than in the States. I have yet to see ANY other American fast food place.

I hear tell that there are Poppa Johns here. I haven’t seen one yet – not that I’ve really been looking all that hard, but still…you can’t turn around but you trip over a McDs.

I remember hearing that America’s best / biggest export was culture. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing that it seems limited to the above 3.

Down the rabbit hole

pekingphil — Fri, 28 May 2010 06:43:38 +0000

China keeps getting stranger and stranger…during my recent Chinese classes, I learned that you "drink yogurt" in China, rather than eating it! Preposterous, I say!

Anyway…

About my learning Chinese – I really find it seems easier than many other languages. Not that I’ve learned that many other languages. Or really, any languages, for strict definitions of "learned"…

As one Chinese colleague / friend put it, "The Chinese language is very object-oriented!" (note: when I say "Chinese" I mean Mandarin / putonghua). Bigger and more complicated words are usually made up of many smaller, more basic words. So part of the hard part is boot-strapping your knowledge, learning the basic building-block words. But once you start to learn the building-blocks, other words start becoming easier. Maybe not so easy to just hear a word and know what it means because you know all of the "blocks", but learning and retaining the words is easier, because you can make associations in your head.

One thing I just learned today: Laugh Out Loud (LOL). In Chinese, it’s 大声笑, literally "big noise laugh" or "loud laugh". Simple, right? I mean, I don’t think it’s sooo easy to just hear a word like that and guess it’s meaning, but once you hear it’s meaning, and can trace back all the little parts, it makes it "stick" in your brain.

I guess many languages are like this, to a certain degree. German is certainly famous (cliched) for forming new words by just pasting smaller words together. Even English, if you know some Latin / Greek, can have word meanings puzzled out. But it seems that Chinese makes it that much easier and simpler.

This is all about speaking / understanding, mind you. The whole reading and writing of characters thing is a WHOLE other story. I’m told there is a rhyme and reason to the characters, building-block-type logic applied to those too. I just haven’t started down that road yet…

(catchy title goes here)

pekingphil — Sat, 15 May 2010 01:25:49 +0000

I’ve been having charley horses in my legs alot at night. I’ve never had them before coming to China. Charley horses, bad enough that my legs kind of ache the next day too. I wonder if it’s the increase in "mobility" that I’m experiencing? Like, I’m walking EVERYWHERE. I would hate to think my body is that "out of shape", but it really seems like I’m using my leg muscles so much more. I guess it’s a different kind of work for the leg muscles, walking everywhere, as opposed to just one hour or so every few days of semi-hard running?

Gone baby gone

pekingphil — Tue, 11 May 2010 08:55:24 +0000

Dawn had left a pack of ice-cream bars in the freezer at work, to have a nice treat available when we want to take breaks…

Now the ice-cream bars are gone…

Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnn!!!!

China 9 Me 1

(this counts as a ton of points in China’s favor…I mean, it’s ice-cream!)

Nerdcore

pekingphil — Mon, 10 May 2010 07:11:18 +0000

I’ve played a few new card-based games recently:

Kaker-laker Salat
Set
Flux
Bang

There’s a card-based game that seems really popular here in Beijing, called "San Guo Sha", or "3 Kingdom Killer". It’s very similar (based-on) the game above, "Bang". You are randomly assigned a role, and you have to try to kill / arrest the other players in other roles, depending. It’s pretty fun.

Pictures link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/phillip.atkinson