Monthly Archives: September 2007

China quietly scolds Burmese junta

With a bunch of people having been killed, this situation in Burma is fast turning into a nightmare, but it might be one that yet has a positive outcome. Not at all to marginalize the deaths of those unfortunate to get in the way of the Burmese security forces’ “warning” shots (incl. Japanese journalist Kenji …

September 28, 2007
 // 1 Comment
 // Read More »

In Love & Hate of Chinese Supermarkets

Hey, so I’ve started a new Group Writing Project over at Lost Laowai called China: Love It Hate It. Essentially I’m asking China bloggers (not at all limited to English-speaking bloggers) to chime in and sound off on what they both love and hate about China. The post can be written in any form or …

September 26, 2007
 // 18 Comments
 // Read More »

Why I support MMP, and what the heck is it anyway?

On October 10th a provincial election is being held in my home province of Ontario, Canada. In conjunction, a referendum is also being voted on – the subject of which is Ontario’s (and by future extension, Canada’s) voting process. Generally it’s being hailed as the most important electoral reform of “our” lifetime, and the most …

September 23, 2007
 // 6 Comments
 // Read More »

Wipha! Hit me baby one more time

Back two years ago I posted about being a bit let down that typhoon Matsa never quite hit Dalian as promised. Well, looks like the (ahem) winds of fortune are changing and I might get my wish to finally experience a full-on typhoon (which is fancy Pacifician terminology for ‘hurricane’). Typhoon Wipha, possibly the coolest …

September 18, 2007
 // 12 Comments
 // Read More »

Has anyone seen my face?

One of the things I like about Chinese is that it tends to be quite module-like. There are lots of little structures that you can just modify with new nouns, adjectives or what have you, to create entirely new meanings. A couple examples: 越 … 越 … 越(来)越(好) | yuè lái yuè hÇŽo | better …

September 15, 2007
 // 24 Comments
 // Read More »

Soochow University, here I come

So, I’m registered. As of yesterday afternoon I am officially a student of Mandarin at Suzhou University (cue hollers and hats thrown in a random and celebratory fashion). The whole process was pretty straight forward, and I have to admit that I’ve little clue as to what is actually going on (mantra – follow the …

September 7, 2007
 // 17 Comments
 // Read More »

The Long-needed Lost Laowai Facelift

Hey all, as most know I run another little site called Lost Laowai. It’s a community site dedicated to demystifying China with a no-nonsense approach. On top of the core site – featuring message boards, job listings, classifieds, and a number of other things – the site also plays host to a nifty little collaborative …

September 2, 2007
 // 3 Comments
 // Read More »