Riffing off on the recent reports of merchants starting charging for plastic bags in China and gas price increase all over the world: These days, 9 out of 10 times, I tell the cashier that I don’t need a bag while shopping here in the US. Plastic and paper bags are free here (the common question of “Paper or Plastic” when you check out). I do ask for one when I need it, nothing wrong with that. A close and reliable source has informed me that the Swedes have been charging for plastic bags for a while. Good for them, I say.
IMHO, the general population in the US are living an EXTREMELY wasteful lifestyle: the gas-guzzling SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicle, Hummer, anyone?); the aluminum and plastic cans and bottles; papers and junk mail; stupid and over-the-top product packaging; fast food packaging, disposable plates, chopsticks, forks, and knives; gadgets, laptops, and phones that use different power adapters; batteries; computer waste, the list goes on and on. It baffles me to no end why we behave in such a bone-headed way. In the last year or so, I’ve worked at a client in a western Chicago suburb, a training center in New York City, a financial firm in downtown Chicago. Of all the places, and I’ve looked for them, not a single one has paper/plastic/aluminum recycling receptacles.
There are efforts to curb that waste, but we need to do much more, such as: encouraging the purchase of fuel-efficient vehicles via tax credit or other incentives, remove the subsidy to oil companies and tax their record-breaking revenue for energy research and development, define sensible regulations for less wasteful yet still tasteful packaging, encourage and make it easy to recycle, etc..
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.
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
We saw Yao Ming’s Houston Rockets play at Chicago United Center before Christmas. Houston won. The seats we got were pretty high up, and they were not cheap. Those athletes earn way too much money.
I haven’t watched sports for a while. Judging from this game and one I watched last week on TV while on the road, I agree with John’s analysis at YaoMingMania.com. The Rockets should definitely start Luis Scola and Aaron Brooks. Scola is an energy player with great hustle for loose balls and rebounds, both offensive and defensive. Brooks is very quick and has better judgment and decision-making than the current starting point guard, Rafer Alston. Tracy McGrady needs to be a better team player or else he needs to be traded, and everybody should work hard to let Yao get touches. When offense runs through Yao Ming, good things happen! By the way, if John gets this through trackback, thank you so much for your terrific job at YaoMingMania.com!
Here is a great article on Yao Ming from Sport Illustrated. (Sports Illustrated, like almost all magazines, produces nothing but junk nowadays, that piece is an exception, a rare breath of fresh air.)
We waited for a while by the section next to the aisle leading to the court during pre-game warmup, hoping to get Yao Ming’s signature. He didn’t come out. As the game time drew near, the security guard shooed us away.
Man, I miss pickup basketball games. I used to play pickup basketball almost daily since middle school. There are always basketball courts in schools or working units. Most outdoor courts in schools are open to the public. It was easy to find an open court and play during my days in China. I hope it is still the case today. Frankly, I found it harder to do it here in the US, where this great sport was invented, since in most cases you will have to join a gym to gain access, or sign up for some kind of league. A lot of leagues, like American culture in general, put way too much focus on competition that they turn me off. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to win, but having fun in the process is much more important than the final results.
I gather some adults play basketball at their churches, but I don’t go to church. I long for the day when we can own a house, where I can setup a hoop of my own and play with my son. Hopefully it will come soon.
Don’t know much about another Chinese NBA player, Yi Jianlian. I am happy that he, along with Jet Li (Li Lianjie), help the masses learn how to pronounce i in Pinyin, because my last name is Ji. Yi Jianlian’s nickname is A’Lian, which sounds like the word alien. Some people have commented that he plays like one! From limited highlights I saw on YouTube, he looks very good.
双语博客. My first attempt of writing the same thing in both English and Chinese. It is pretty time-consuming. English version is in the second half below.
While in Hangzhou last August, my dad suggested we go see the tidal wave. I knew it was a bad idea, because we didn’t know where exactly it was, how to get there, and the timing of the wave. Because of a fight the previous day, I didn’t want to explain anymore.
So, typical of the Ji clan, my parents, my brother’s family, and us headed out in the early afternoon. My better half was a bit under the weather, hungry and tired. But I wanted to create a happy family together image, so I dragged her along. She didn’t have a good idea of what was going on then. That was really my fault, I should have explained better.
After more than two hours of driving, we finally arrived around 5:00pm, and were faced with the cruel reality that the wave wouldn’t come until 11:00pm that night. The park charges admission before 6. So it was decided to have an early dinner. That plan was soon canceled because the food there were too expensive. Disappointed, we decided to head back right away. Thanks to my better half’s persuasion, we changed mind, bought the tickets and entered the park.
So we can say we’ve seen the tidal wave. You can appreciate all its glory through the background of the picture. While I was taking that picture, my better half sat on the stone steps wiping away her tears. She thinks it is hilarious now, but I assure you it was not fun then.
One drawback of self employment is that I don’t have time for blogging nowadays. When I had a full time job dutifully serving my corporate master, I had time to surf the web, slack off, and write a post or two. Ever since I started on my own, my blog production has dropped. I still waste too much time blindly surfing the web, that part has not changed, unfortunately. I will rectify that during the new year.
Anyway, I’ve read some children’s books lately, and enjoyed them all, as listed in the title of this post. I’ve heard about or read excerpts of those books in the past but never read them in full. The Adventure of Tom Sawyer, in particular, helped me to further understand a not insignificant part of the American psyche. I will finish the first volume of Tintin as soon as my son is done with it.
Tintin and The Blue Lotus was particularly intriguing to me. Wouldn’t it be nice if old newspapers, brochures, magazines, treaties among countries, and books are easily available? Say, through the web for free? I would love to have some time to pore over Chinese publications, newspapers, and treaties since the early 1800’s. Speaking of reading, I also have plans to read Shakespeare’s stuff, because my understanding of that part of the Western civilization is very, very superficial. Greek stuff is next when I am done with William. I also would like to read the Qur’an.
Anyway, this also servers as my incoherent shout-out to my non IT-related blog readers. Happy New Year everybody!
