A pal of mine moved from Arizona to Beijing to teach Engrish and he absolutely loved it out there... Wifey and I went to visit in '06, and to have a local whitey take us around was much good times. Whenever we were in line at places I'd notice a lot of other Americans, and upon further investigation were residents, not visitors..
@GreshamEspionate: I engage here just to clear up something: "Zhōngguó" variously translates in English as "Central Nation," "Middle Kingdom," etc. There is no "right" or "wrong" translation.
You didn't like Shanghai? Sorry, I think you're lame.
Please don't come - we don't want you here. If you honestly think you can find a respectable job without speaking Chinese, you're wrong. However, there's always teaching English...
@shanghai xiaojie: Haven't you seen Star Trek? Obviously in this scenario you Chinese are the cold, logical Spocks to our intuitive Kirks.
Except in this scenario Kirk is some white chick that slept her way into a decent job.
Other than that the situation is completely analogous.
@shanghai xiaojie:
Screw that, now we're going to come over and secretly sprinkle snark powder in your eggdrop soup for free, while singing snippets of the Canterbury Tales and Mao's great poem of '49, The People's Liberation Army Captures Nanking.
An ex of mine went to China to seek fame and fortune, and found them, in moderate quantities. He did, however, find it inconvenient to confine himself to the hotel when the government decided to send the tanks down the street into Tienanmen Square and run them over all the students.
As someone who was afforded the privilege to live in the Central Kingdom, I shall like to point this much out: The public toilets there are beyond gnarly, you need to carry toilet paper and soap upon yourself at all times. Also, if you're gonna settle in China, pick Shanghai or Shenzhen, not Beijing. Shanghai is the future—infinitely more progressive and charming than Stalin-gothic Beijing.. Though I personally root for the Cantonese in Shenzhen—they’re my kind of people. Utterly obsessed with food and money, majorly CRAZY and totally fun. I adore their culture and felt privileged to have lived in Hong Kong and experienced it first-hand.
@snugbug: Here here. We went on a Beijing/Shanghai trip in 06 and it occurred to me Beijing was somewhat like Shanghai was Times Square meets Dubai, while Beijing seemed like an old world shitmess...
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I think you mean "Middle" Kingdom.
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You didn't like Shanghai? Sorry, I think you're lame.
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Now I want to go just to spite you and mangle your language.
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Except in this scenario Kirk is some white chick that slept her way into a decent job.
Other than that the situation is completely analogous.
08/11/09
Screw that, now we're going to come over and secretly sprinkle snark powder in your eggdrop soup for free, while singing snippets of the Canterbury Tales and Mao's great poem of '49, The People's Liberation Army Captures Nanking.
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Oh sure, ONE measley data point.
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Now get the hell out of here and go to China. We've got enough burger flippers. ;)
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