My Chinese lessons are back, because I'm eager again to learn more. I'm sorry for the long break, but I do wonder if anyone followed. Well, who knows, maybe this will be useful to someone in the future. It certainly is useful to me. This time we will focus on taking the girl out to dinner. These phrases are more casual in the beginning and romantic at the end. It's more about the procedure of going to dinner, but I won't give you advice for flirting with the girl here. Please go to this post, if you're planning to flatter her while dining.
[Voice file with pronounciation here(orhere) - by Lily]
5.0 Taking her out for dinner
妳愿意和我出来吃晚餐吗？ Nǐ yuàn yì hé wǒ chū lái chī wǎn cān ma? Would you like to go out for dinner with me?
是的，我愿意。 Shì de, wǒ yuàn yì. Yes, I'd like to.
妳想在哪里碰面呢？妳想在哪里见面呢？ Nǐ xiǎng zài nǎ lǐ pèng miàn ne? Nǐ xiǎng zài nǎ lǐ jiàn miàn ne? Where do you like to meet?
在中央车站。 Zài zhōng yāng chē zhàn. At the central train station.
什么时间？ Shén me shí jiān. What time (do you like to meet)?
七点。 Qī diǎn. At 7 o'clock.
---------------------------
Inside the restaurant
妳想吃什么？ Nǐ xiǎng chī shén me? What would you like to order (eat)?
我想吃炒面。你呢？ Wǒ xiǎng chī chǎo miàn. Nǐ ne? I would like to have fried noodles. How about you?
炒面很好吃。 Chǎo miàn hěn hǎo chī. The noodles are delicious.
你喜欢你的水饺吗？ Nǐ xǐ huan nǐ de shuǐ jiǎo ma? How do you like your dumplings?
他们也很好吃。 Tā men yě hěn hǎo chī. They are delicious, too.
我吃很饱。 Wǒ chī hěn bǎo. I am so full.
你想散步吗？ Nǐ xiǎng sàn bù ma? Do you want to go for a walk?
我可以牵妳的手吗？妳的手很温暖。 Wǒ kě yǐ qiān nǐ de shǒu ma? Nǐ de shǒu hěn wēn nuǎn. Can I hold your hand? Your hand is warm.
你今晚看起來真美，我想吻你。 Nǐ jīn wǎn kàn qǐ lái hěn měi. Wǒ kě yǐ wěn nǐ ma? You look so beautiful tonight. I want to kiss you.
谢谢妳给我这个美好的夜晚。 Xiè xiè nǐ gěi wǒ zhè gè měi hǎo de yè wǎn. Thank you for the wonderful evening.
明天晚上再见了。 Míng tiān wǎn shàng zài jiàn le. Let's meet again tomorrow.
If you had to chose between Twitter or Facebook, if you would only be allowed to use one of these sites, which one would you choose?
I'd delete my Facebook instantly! Seriously, what does Facebook want to be? They are shamelessly stealing things from Twitter. I read that they plan to implement something similar to Twitter's @reply, naming it Facebook mentions. When will this stop? When Facebook came out, it had a philosophy to connect people (like ex-schoolmates, ex-colleagues, lost relatives etc.). It was innovative and interesting. And what is it today? A "Twitter-monster" with games and tests and massive picture tagging that's going slightly out of hand. And with photo albums, which is some of their strenghts and something I like. Things like the Chat feature and the Like feature are just redundant in my opinion, because I can chat on MSN or Skype and the Like feature is shallow. It's like for those people who are lazy to write a comment. I admit, I sometimes click like randomly, because I am lazy, too. So what's the point of it?
As for Twitter, I wouldn't want to miss it. It does connect people so much better. It's simple, it's very open, it's like one big community of (mostly) awsome people. I really hope they don't screw up and add tons of useless features, but rather keep it simple. I'm afraid that they will start with ads sooner or later (I still don't know how they maintain the site without them), but I hope they won't be like the out-of-control (and ugly) Google ads. Twitter is so useful to bloggers, I met so many awsome people thru Twitter and I am tweeting like half a year tops, while I'm on Facebook since 2007. I know that after a while these websites lose their initial charm, because we (the users) change, too. We're always overly excited about something new and then after a while we either move to a new hot website or we just become periodical users. Nevertheless, I still think Twitter is so influential and has changed lives of so many people. Hopefully it has enriched their lives. It's really so simple, convenient and addictive. You gotta love it ;-)
And besides, the world's oldest Twitter user, the 105 @IvyBean104 can't be wrong, right? Ok, I have to admit, she's also using Facebook... -_- I guess Twitter and Facebook are in a love-hate relationship or something similar...
UPDATE: I came accross this touching story about how some Twitter friends helped a girl in need. That shows how awsome 'tweeple' can be :-)
Sometimes I don't understand the times we are living in. It's the sort of times when the media says there was a new case of swine flu and people start wearing masks.
So now I'm seriously wondering about this recession. They repeatedly said it's the worst recession since the 1929 Great recession. Really? How come that the iPhone sells like there's no tomorrow? From what I learned from history books, people in 1929 literally starved in huge masses! Yet these days I still see people continuing their lives the same way as before. And here's the problem:
Those who fared well before the so called "recession" are still doing well. And those who struggled before, are in the same position now or even worse.
As for my country, the recession began years ago. Slowly and subtly, affecting the middle class. It's so hard to find a good job as a young person these days. I'm talking about a job that would give you the chance to start a family, buy a house and a new car. Everything is so expensive these days! No wonder so many people have children when they're over 30 and still many live at home, because rents are very high. The rift between the poor and the rich is getting bigger and bigger and nobody was doing anything about it all these years!
Those who do well, don't care about it. And those who don't do well are too weak to help themselves.
People in the West are becoming more and more indifferent. That's no wonder, since we have to compete with others everywhere! You study, you compete. You try to find a job, you compete. You have a job, you compete again. It's a vicious circle! We're becoming very selfcentred, it's always me me me... Is this capitalism going too far? When did the solidarity and sympathy get lost? And what will we learn from the so called "recession"?
I don't think we've learnt much so far, because after the initial shock (driven by the media), we fell back into our daily routine and try to make the best of it. We just think I hope the recession doesn't affect me, I don't care for the rest. Because that's how it is in 2009. And we can only do so much to change the status quo. We just have to make the best of it.
[*I wish all of you good luck and hope that the recession doesn't and won't affect your lives.]
*Disclaimer: I wrote this post in a cynical and sarcastic way, inspired by Seinfeld's nihilism and seasoned with my recent bitterness. Keep that in mind.
I recently added many old schoolmates on my Facebook. There were so many requesting to be my 'friend', I just couldn't continue ignoring them. So I created another account just for them. First of all, why do so many people I was never close with, want to follow my daily life, rummage thru my photos, be my 'friends'? Didn't they get the hunch by me virtually ignoring them in real life for almost a decade? I'm not gonna update anything on my second account but just upload photos from my travels and let them wonder. Yes, that's how I roll, hehe. I still have my old (main) account where I only add people who I feel comfortable with. And guess what, most of them are from all over the world. Yes, in this phase of my life, I only befriend like-minded people and not those who just happen to live in the same town like me. And some people from here, who happen to be my friends, don't use Facebook (weird). But thanks to the internet, I can have 2 identities and nobody can do anything about it. Yes, I am very selective.
Well, what actually made me write this post, was the fact that so many of my old schoolmates have babies and they post pics of them on Facebook. I mean, why would they do this? Why? First of all, I would never put a photo of my (future) baby online. I mean, what will these 'babies' say in 20 years? Do we have to document someone's life online since their birth? What happened to the old classic phot album? They are humans and not objects and since they're incapable to tell wheather they want to be exposed online or not, I would never put their photos online. Secondly, every baby looks the same. So what's the point to let others see a baby? Can't you just write 'I have a baby, it's healthy and it looks like any other baby' on your wall and get on with your life? Wouldn't that be enough?
I mean, where is the time when people, if they really wanted to see your baby, came to your home? Is this so 20th century? [*Am I too sentimental?]
I mean something like that on the clip below, from Seinfeld:
I feel like some people post the pics of their babies like trophies, like Look at me, I am not yet 30 and I have a baby! I accomplished something! I am mainstream. Are you? Well, I am not. I could be easily, but since I was always a skilled master of *cough... I mean, I was always careful, so I just happen not to be. Which can be an accomplishment far bigger than the opposite. Then again, what is mainstream these days anyway? Men in twenties 'having babies' seem to become rare recently. So maybe I am mainstream.
I really don't know... maybe I'm bitter now, but once I have a baby myself, I will be like them: An overly excited parent-freshman, who will post hunderds of photos of his newborn and prouldy tweet: My baby made his first poop. #proudparent #baby #random and then soon after post another tweet: Please follow @littleMKL #FF. Hehe, who knows. We'll see in few years ;-)
Now, what do you think? Baby photos online, pro or contra and why? Not being a parent in the twenties, pro or contra and why?
Ever since I've read Andhari's brilliant post about blogging, I keep thinking about it. She really struck a chord with me and wrote about so many things I totally feel the same way. Apart from her being an accomplished blogger and me blogging more or less since this year (I blogged before, but not so much), the things she said apply to me as well. So, if you're a blogger, read thru her post, she makes excellent points and you will learn so much from her (as I have).
I guess every blogger asks himself this question at one point: Why do I blog? And sometimes, if I drill very deep, I can't seem to find a definite answer. Seems like all of us kinda start quietly and carefully and without knowing we all of a sudden have readers, followers, even friends. And we're just like Wow!I totally did not expect that! And in my case, I really didn't. There's so many reasons why I started to blog. I had like 2 waves, where I suddenly felt the urge to write: one last year, one this year - each time after a break up. I guess blogging seemed like a therapy for me. I instantly realized how good it felt when I wrote things off my chest. I remember how I used to have a book as a teenager, where I wrote in poems and things that happened in my life. It always felt like my private shrink and I cherished it (I still have it, but it's worn out). Didn't we all, who blog today, have something like that in the past? That means that we always were bloggers, we just didn't have the platform (internet) to connect with other like-minded people. I think blogging really changes a person. It changed me. It helped me a lot. And the most rewarding thing about blogging for me is meeting new interesting people. Blogging connects. Of course one also encounters morons, but don't we all encounter them in real life, too? It's funny when I look back, how important page impressions or hits were for me. And I still see people who are totally focused on them. If they blog for money, that may be one of their objectives, but that was never the case for me. My blog will always remain ad- and advertorial-free. All of you, my dear readers, who left so many comments recently, made me realize that hits don't really matter. Really thank you guys. I prefer quality over quantity (I try my best) and I don't post like 2 times daily anymore, but rather once in a while. And it feels so much better. It's liberating. But people blog for various reasons and have all kinds of objectives. I don't judge you. I won't ever tell another blogger what and how to blog, even if he makes a fool out of himself. I'm doing my thing and the blogosphere is like the universe. There's enough space for everyone. And yes, I admit, I really like it when you guys give me feedback. It keeps me going, it makes me think, it makes me want to improve. At the same time, I don't feel pressured, but rather reassured and confident, that I can scribble something and make people smile, wonder, think (even if it's just for a day or for a moment). Blogging is about giving and recieving.And I'm always giving a part of me to you. I'm always putting a lot of thought in every post, even if it seems the silliest post you've ever read. Because I always try my best, even when I'm trying to be funny. I'm aware of my flaws, but I know all of you are forgiving, because that's how our kind is. And if sometimes something I write upsets you or if it just doesn't seem to make sense to you, stop for a second, take a breather, pull your head back and try to see the whole text like this:
And then you'll realize: It's just letters! Is it really worth to get upset over a combination of letters? No, it's not. It really is not. Because in the end, you will have to switch off your computer and go back to reality and deal with your own real life issues. So will I. I think blogging can be part of one's life but not be one's life. I've been thru that, too and I've learned my lessons. Especially the part that we shouldn't take everything too seriously online. And mostly it was my "bloggy friends" who taught me that (special thanks to Jerine).
And that's the point for me (besides being my therapy): to learn and evolve. Each friendship I made thru my blog is really precious to me. Even if I'd make just a single good friendship, it would be worth all the effort I put in here. Because good friends are hard to find.
Blogging is my therapy. And I think I want to remain in therapy as long as possible.
Two people, two genders...
My Chinese lessons are back, because I'm eager again to learn more. I'm sorry for the long break, but I do wonder if anyone followed. Well, who knows, maybe this will be useful to someone in the future. It certainly is useful to me. This time we will focus on taking the girl out to dinner. These phrases are more casual in the beginning and romantic at the end. It's more about the procedure of going to dinner, but I won't give you advice for flirting with the girl here. Please go to this post, if you're planning to flatter her while dining.
If you had to chose between Twitter or Facebook, if you would only be allowed to use one of these sites, which one would you choose?
