So “bless you” is the phrase you could say when somebody sneezes in the US, as I explained here.
There is another thing you can say for this occasion in the US. I first heard it in 1997. It sounded something like giZAntie to my ear, and has baffled me ever since, until last year when one of my students clued me in.
Here is what wikipedia says:
Gesundheit is the German and Yiddish word for health. When a person sneezes, German, Yiddish, and often English speakers typically say Gesundheit! to wish them good health, serving much the same purpose as “bless you” in English. The expression arrived in America with early German immigrants, such as the Pennsylvania Dutch, and doubtless passed into local English usage in areas with substantial German-speaking populations. The expression is first widely attested in American English as of 1910, about the time when large numbers of Yiddish-speaking Ashkenazi Jews immigrated to the United States.
Interestingly, one of my students of Polish descent told me that Polish people also say something to the effect of “one hundred years old”, just like their brothers and sisters from southern Shandong province, China, where yours truly is from.
I checked with an English guy at work. He told me that people in England say “Bless you”. They don’t use gesundheit. I am not surprised.
It was a clear sky in LA, but looking down, the city seemed to be covered in smog. After working on Sql Server 2008 material in LAX airport for a while, I boarded a turbo-prop for San Jose. Landing time was windy, so it was a bit bumpy. The only flight attendant, Cindy K, joked that “United throw in a few rides free of charge”. She was helpful with my luggage, with an easy smile.
So I checked in Radisson Hotel around San Jose airport afterwards. I booked the hotel through HotWire. It was a sweet deal, around 60 dollars per night. HotWire is a great site, especially for hotels. I’ve used it three times, all pretty satisfied.
Google map is awesome. It even provided me with information on how to get to Santa Clara convention center via public transportation. So I walked to the Gish station, saw Mexican, Moroccan, Japanese, and Chinese restaurants along the way, and got to the Santa Clara convention center in a jiffy. This is the first time I stepped on the VTA, and I was impressed: it has bike racks. I also saw signs in English, Spanish, Chinese, and Vietnamese, and people seemingly from all parts of the world. Now that is the America I love!
Oh, I am here for the MySQL conference. Unlike Sql Server conferences I attended in the past, I don’t know many people in this community, so my objectives are to talk to and learn from people, schmooze, and network, and score as many free food and drinks as I can. So don’t disappoint me, MySQL!
I just read some news on wenxuecity.com, a popular overseas Chinese portal, and saw pictures below about the torch in Paris. Come on people, when you go down this low to fight for the Olympic torch with a disabled young lady sitting on a wheelchair, what kind of f****** moron are you?
I doubt an ordinary American reader would ever see these. All s/he sees are cropped images of Tibetan people being beat up by Nepalese police, and the caption would say something like a Chinese brutal crackdown. Yes, MSNBC and Chicago Tribune, I am talking about you, although you two are not mentioned in a lot of netizen’s complaints. I personally saw the pictures myself. It is an image where people seemed to be locked in a cage. The only problem is: that didn’t happen in China. In the case of MSNBC, that image probably has been taken down because I couldn’t find it anymore. For Chicago Tribune, that picture was printed on the front page in the print issue a few days ago. I may go to the library and take a picture of it when I get a chance.
Of course, footage of thugs rioting and burning down shops in Lhasa is conveniently ignored or just mentioned in passing.
Here are a few examples, so readers can understand where some Chinese’s complaints are coming from.
From Washington Post. The event in the picture happened in Nepal, but the Washington Post implied that it happened in China
Fox News. The caption says “Chinese troops parade handcuffed Tibetan prisoners in trucks” Do the soliders look like Chinese soliders?
German Bild. Sorry, that’s not China. That’s Nepal. Check out the cutting, how creative!
German N-TV. Sorry Nepal
Before CNN’s cut
After CNN’s cut
BBC’s caption for a picture of an ambulance: “There is a heavy military presence in Lhasa”
This could be a lengthy entry (It turned out to be one. Man, I’ve been working on it for hours, but I feel good afterwards, because I feel compelled to write about it and let it out of my chest.) In fact, I thought about writing this in both English and Chinese, but I don’t have the time and energy, so you will have to put up with it, dear reader.
I don’t know much about the Tibet region, so I don’t have much fact on it. Here are just some thoughts that have been going on in my mind. If I come across as being preachy, I apologize. In addition, I understand that the term of Western media is very general, but when it comes to the event in Tibet, it does look they use one voice.
For people in the west
1. In a democratic society, which China clearly is not but I think it is on that path, one certainly has every right to express his/her opinions and should be encouraged to do so;
2. When one tries to express his/her strong feelings and convictions, it needs to be done in a respectable manner. One also needs to have the humility to realize that his/her conclusions could be wrong, one-sided, and/or incomplete, which could be a result of drinking too much of one’s own kool-aid. But by all means, call it when you see bull, whether it is happening in China, US, or whatever country, with the right attitude, so serious engagement can ensue, which in turn brings positive changes.
3. The world is not just black and white. There is a lot of gray in between. The “you are either with us or against us” thinking does not fly in majority of cases. It’s best to put the high-minded, holier-than-thou, and condescending attitude on vacation. Mia Farrow, PETA, Gay pride parade people, you are giving good causes a bad name with your antics;
4. Political grandstanding and cheap shouting match in our media has seriously hurt the US, and drove the American people apart. See Jon Stewart’s excellent point in Cross Fire here (I am sorry, the bow tie guy Tucker Carlson in that show looks like a total arse). Although that show is close to 4 years old, it is still very much relevant. I am impressed with how much Obama was able to have some impact on the tone of deliberation in this primary campaign, though.
One interesting side effect of the whole Tibet business is that Western media companies have lost a lot of credibility in Chinese readers. Believe it or not, many Chinese people who can read English, especially younger generations, actually did think Western media is a model of objectivity. It certainly is way more diverse and better than Chinese government’s official mouthpiece, Xinhua. However, seeing many who cropped, edited, manipulated, PhotoShopped Tibetan riot images and videos to make the stories go certain directions, which is pretty well documented here, I am sorry to report that that illusion is gone for a lot of people. I was one of them a few years ago, but the post-911, Iraq war, and many other incidents changed my mind;
5. It is wrong to think the Chinese government as a communist, totalitarian regime, but that seem to be a lot of people’s impressions, especially in the US. Prior to Deng Xiaoping, yes. Since the early 80s, no. And I do give the regime credit for lifting millions and millions of people out of poverty. Certainly there are human rights violations and heavy-handed government measures, but the majority of people have the individual freedom that’s not possible 10 or 20 years ago. There are still enormous challenges facing China. And yes, stability is the key, because the country has a long way to go to play catchup;
6. Diplomacy conducted behind doors such as frank, private conversation always beats publicity stunt. Heck, I would use the Olympics as leverage, but I wouldn’t use it publicly to humiliate people and a government;
7. Listen but don’t necessarily buy exiles’ opinion wholesale. Remember curveball and Ahmed Chalabi? Granted, those two are mostly stooges of Bush and Cheney, but hopefully you can see my point here;
For China
1. Don’t have the knee-jerk reaction of rejecting any negative comments and/or constructive criticism out of hand. Some are very valid. Listen, draw the lesson, and move on;
2. Olympics is a great way for people to get together. Welcome everybody with open arms and treat everybody with respect, be they from America or Zambia. That does not mean that you should bend backwards to accommodate foreigners, but neglect your own fellow countryman, which I have seen happening;
3. Get rid of the internet Great Firewall once and for all. That does not mean one would not regulate the Internet, but it is time for GFW to go. Imagine the goodwill and positive publicity that will generate, both inside and outside China;
4. Tone down the rhetoric. Talk to Dalai Lama, publicly or in private. I don’t know much about him and his proposals, but he has a great deal of popularity and credibility in the West;
5. Engage in meaningful dialogue. You can certainly brush aside the usual political hackery from smartass journalists. Stop employing the usual rhetoric such as “一小撮别有用心的人的阴谋是不能得逞的”
6. Have a realistic expectation. Be prepared for more freak circus shows prior and during the event, but do your best;
7. China, don’t you ever turn back to be the inward-looking country that we once were for so long. Keep opening up, embracing challenges, and moving forward. Learn from others. Learn good things from others. At the same time, it is equally, if not more, important to learn from other’s mistakes, so it will not be repeated or the damage minimized. Maybe I am not qualified to make recommendations, but since I’ve been preaching throughout this post, I thought investigating, investing in hybrid technology and put out policy guidelines for the nascent auto industry is money well spent;
8. Both the United States and China are great countries. By working together, the benefits to people in both countries and around the world can be enormous. That should be the only way to go, because confrontations can possibly lead to the end of the human race;
9. And to Liu Xiang and all other athletes, do your best. I am with you and will cheer you on whatever the results
Another group that I feel I can vouch for is the Overseas China Education Foundation. I met with their Chicago volunteer group last year, and was impressed by the group’s compassion and dedication.
I will take MySQL certification exams, therefore I am going through MySQL 5.0 Certification Study Guide. It is a pretty cool book in that it goes to the point right away without many wasted words. Too many technical books dance around the topic, fill the volume with screen shots, but do not deliver the goods in the end. I am reading the Safari online version. With so many pages, I can see the physical book can be bulky.
Anyway, some comments and observations:
1. Sybase, MySQL, and Sql Server’s definition and implementation of database and schema are somewhat close. I dislike Microsoft’s definition and usage of schema, especially in Sql Server 2005. It is very confusing to new or DBAs from other platforms.
Sybase, MySQL, and Sql Server all support the USE Database statement;
2. I like mysql command line tool and how the result set is displayed. It looks clean and neat to me, although, like command line tools from other database platforms, when the result set gets wider, it gets messy;
3. Similar to Sql Server, MySQL also has the system and status variables that starts with @@. And, like Sql Server, you can just do SELECT @@Variable to retrieve its value, for example, SELECT @@sql_mode;
4. Played with MySQL Query Browser a little bit. Ctrl - E is the keyboard shortcut for statement execution, the same as Sql Server. However, F5 does not execute the statement in MySQL Query Browser.
