Quick quiz: Does time go up or down?
I generally think of time moving, well, clockwise. Or maybe forward. But not down.
But in China, the way you say “next” is basically to say “the lower one.” Next week = the down week. Last week = the up week. It’s like they are walking down some great mountain of antiquity. (more…)
First, let’s talk about how I was attacked from above by parachuting wine advertisers while I was cutting class to promote Virgin soda…
Ni hao from Chengdu, the quite pretty tree-lined capital of Sichuan. I’m studying Mandarin starting on Monday at the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics. There’s a lot to learn, but I should be fluent in a few days 🙂
Since I have a tendency to drone on and on in emails, I’ll share some initial impressions Chinese style — in numbered outline form:
(1) It’s really smoggy here. You can never see (more…)
Aabservations 