yè mìng guāntóu

giving your phone to Obama

Yīqún zhōngguó kèrén lái dào wǒ de bàngōngshì. Wǒ lǎobǎn jīngcháng huānyíng wàiguó rén de dàolái. Wǒ de tóngshì dǎ diànhuà gàosù wǒ, qízhōng yī míng kèrén xiǎng yào shǐyòng wúxiàn wǎng, dàn bù zhīdào mìmǎ. Zhèyàng de shìqíng yě jīngcháng fāshēng.

Wǒ bùnéng zài diànhuà zhōng bǎ mìmǎ gàosù wǒ tóngshì. Zhè shì gōngsī de guīdìng: Kèrén liánjiē de wǎngluò bǐ gùyuán liánjiē de wǎngluò gèng kuài. Suǒyǐ wǒ qīnzì qùle huìyì shì gàosù kèrén. Zìcóng wo lái ci gongzuò, wo jiù zhèyàng pao liao wúshù biàn.

Zhè qún kèrén láizì zhongguó, wo gàosùle ni méiyou? Fānyì duì bù huì shuō yìnní wén de kèrén shuō wǒ dàole. Dàn nèitiān wǒ yǒu yīgè hěn màoxiǎn de xiǎngfǎ. Rúguǒ méi tōngguò fānyì de bāngzhù, wǒ zhíjiē yǔ zhè wèi kèrén jiāotán dehuà, zuì huài de qíngkuàng huì shì shénme?

Yúshì wǒ yòng biéjiǎo de zhōngwén shuō 'Wǒ kěyǐ xiě'. Wǒ de yìsi shì wǒ kěyǐ xiě xià wúxiàn wǎng mìmǎ. Wǒ juédé tā míngbáile, yīnwèi tā gěile wǒ yī zhī bǐ hé yī zhāng zhǐ. Wǒ hěn gāoxìng, shìqíng jìnzhǎn shùnlì. Ér lìng yī míng kèrén xiǎng ràng wǒ bāng tā zài bǐjìběn diànnǎo shàng shèzhì wúxiàn wǎngluò. Zhīhòu, wǒ zìrán'érrán zǒu dào zhàn zài zuìhòu dì nà wèi kèrén shēnbiān, xiǎng wèn tā, hái yòng biéjiǎo de zhōngwén, yào bùyào zài tā de shǒujī shàng shèzhì wúxiàn shàngwǎng. Dāng wǒ yìshí dào wǒ chūxiànle kǒuwù shí, yǐjīng tài wǎnle. Diū sǐrénle, wǒ bùshì gùyì wèn guìbīn tā yǒu méiyǒu shǒujī!


业命关头


一群中国客人来到我的办公室。我老板经常欢迎外国人的到来。我的同事打电话告诉我,其中一名客人想要使用无线上网,但不知道密码。这样的事情也经常发生。

我不能在电话中把密码告诉我同事。这是公司的规定:客人连接的网络比雇员连接的网络更快。所以我亲自去了会议室告诉客人。自从我来此工作,我就这样跑了无数遍。

这群客人来自中国,我告诉了你没有?翻译对不会说印尼文的客人说我到了。但那天我有一个很冒险的想法。如果没通过翻译的帮助,我直接与这位客人交谈的话,最坏的情况会是什么?

于是我用蹩脚的中文说“我可以写”。我的意思是我可以写下无线网密码。我觉得他明白了,因为他给了我一支笔和一张纸。我很高兴,事情进展顺利。而另一名客人想我帮她在笔记本电脑上设置无线网络。之后,我自然而然走到站在最后的那位客人身边,想问他,还用蹩脚的中文,要不要在他的手机上设置无线网。当我意识到我出现了口误时,已经太晚了。丢死人了,我不是故意问贵宾他有没有手机!



too brave too furious...


So a group of guests from aboard came to my office. This happens a lot. My colleague called me, said that one of the guests asked for the Wifi password. This also happens a lot.

I wasn't allowed to tell her through the phone, because guests got faster internet connection than employees. Company's policy. So off I went to the meeting room for the hundredth time since I work here.

This group of guests were from China. Like what's usually done to guests who don't speak Indonesian, our translator started to say something and gestured to my direction. But that day I was feeling particularly wild and thought, what's the worst that could happen if I communicate directly to this guest without the translator's help?

So I went "Let me write the password" in broken Chinese. I was given pen and paper, so I guess he understood what I meant. Going smooth, I thought. But another guest wanted me to set the wifi on her laptop. I turned to the last guest of the group, meaning to ask him in Chinese whether he wanted me to set the wifi on his phone or not. It was too late when I realized my slip of the tongue. The honorable guest was asked whether he had a phone or not!

yòng shèngjīng xuéxí zhōngwén

new testament

Jìrán wǒ yǐjīng kěyǐ bùyòng zìdiǎn jiù néng rèn chū yīxiē hànzì yīncǐ wǒ juédìng yào tíshēng yīxià nándù.

Shàng cì qù xiānggǎng de shíhòu, wǒ jūzhù de fàndiàn gěile wǒ miǎnfèi qǔ yuè de xīn yuē. Tāmen jiù fàngle tā zài wǒ de fángjiān lǐ. Tā zhēn bùcuò, shì zhōng yīngwén duìzhào de. Huílái hòu, wǒ shìtú dúshū zhōngwén bùfèn, dàn dú bù dǒng, suǒyǐ wǒ yě fàngqìle yīngwén bùfèn. Nà xīn yuē jiù zài jiàzi shàng méngchén.

Jìrán wǒ yǐjīng kěyǐ bùyòng zìdiǎn jiù néng rèn chū yīxiē hànzì yīncǐ wǒ juédìng yào tíshēng yīxià nándù. Wǒ bǎ xīn yuē fān dào suíjī tiāoxuǎn de yè, yòng shǒu fùgài yīngwén bùfèn, dú yīduàn zhōngwén bùfèn, shìtú zhǎo chū nà duàn de nèiróng shì shénme. Hǎo ba wǒ shuōle yīxiē huǎng, suǒwèi “suíjī tiāoxuǎn” de yè duōbàn yǒu hěn duǎn de duàn. :P

Wǒ jīntiān xuǎnzé de duàn yǒu yīxiē hànzì wǒ kěyǐ rèn chū: "... men duì zhǔ shuō... jiā wǒmen de... xīn... zhǔ shuō... nǐmen... yǒu... yī... zi dàxiǎo de... xīn... jiùshì duì zhè... shuō... lái... qù... zài... lǐ... tā yě huì tīngcóng nǐmen." Wǒ hěn kuài juédé zhè shì 'gàosù shān dào hǎilǐ qù' nà duàn, dàn wǒ cuòle. Zhè shì 'gàosù sāngshù dào hǎilǐ qù' nà duàn. Wǒ zǎo jiù zhīdào! Zài zhè duàn lǐ méiyǒu hànzì 'shān'. -__-

Cóng rènhé gàn de qūzhú shān shì zài mǎ 21·21, ér sāngshù nì zài hǎiyáng lǐ shì zài lù 17·5—6. Zhǔ xǐhuān bǎ qíguài de shì jìnrù xián de shuǐzhōng.


用圣经学习中文


既然我已经可以不用字典就能认出一些汉字因此我决定要提升一下难度。

上次去香港的时候,我居住的饭店给了我免费取阅的新约。他们就放了它在我的房间里。它真不错,是中英文对照的。回来后,我试图读书中文部分,但读不懂,所以我也放弃了英文部分。那新约就在架子上蒙尘。

既然我已经可以不用字典就能认出一些汉字因此我决定要提升一下难度。我把新约翻到随机挑选的页,用手覆盖英文部分,读一段中文部分,试图找出那段的内容是什么。好吧说了一些谎,所谓《随机挑选》的页多半有很短的段。:P

我今天选择的段有一些汉字我可以认出:「。。。们对主说。。。加我们的。。。心。。。主说。。。你们。。。有。。。一。。。子大小的。。。心。。。就是对这。。。说。。。来。。。去。。。在。。。里。。。它也会听从你们。」我很快觉得这是《告诉山到海里去》那段,但我错了。这是《告诉桑树到海里去》那段。我早就知道!在这段里没有汉字《山》。-__-

从任何干地驱逐山是在马21·21,而桑树溺在海洋里是在路17·5—6。主喜欢把奇怪的事浸入咸的水中。



learning chinese through a christian bible


Now that I can recognize several Chinese characters without the help of a dictionary, I decide to up my game.

Last time I went to Hong Kong, my hotel provided a complimentary copy of New Testament. They placed it in my room. What's great about it was that it was in two language, English and Mandarin, side-by-side. After going home I tried to read the Mandarin part but wasn't able to, so I left the English part altogether. The book stayed on the book shelf, collecting dust.

Now that I can recognize several Chinese characters without the help of a dictionary, I decide to up my game. I open the New Testament on a random page, cover the English part, read one passage in Mandarin, trying to figure out what the passage's talking about. OK I cheat a bit, most of the time the 'random' page contains the shortest passage possible. :P

In the passage that I chose today I recognized the words 'Lord', 'toward this', 'it also will listen to you'. I immediately thought of 'telling the mountain to relocate to the sea' passage, which this passage was not. This one was 'telling the mulberry tree to relocate to the sea'. I knew it! The 'mountain' character wasn't found in that passage. -__-

The eviction of the mountain from any dry land was Matthew 21:21, while drowning this mulberry tree into the ocean was in Luke 17:5-6. The Lord sure loved having strange things submerged in salty water.

zá cǎo zhōng qiáncáng de wéixiǎn

snake

Yǒu yītiān, bùguǎn nǐ shì shísì suì, èrshíbā suì, huò liùshíwǔ suì, nǐ huì yùjiàn yīgè rén, tā huì diǎnrán nǐ nèixīn zhī, ránshāo ér wúfǎ xímiè.
-- Bó tǎ pǔ lín --

Fàng mǎ guòlái, wǒ xǐhuān zài ránshāo.
-- wǒ --

Wǒ de yīgè tóngshì gàosù wǒ fāshēng zài tā māmā shēnshang de shì: Tā zài wàimiàn zhěng yuányì shí gǎnjué tuǐ bèi yǎo shāngle.

Bàn xiǎoshí hòu tā fā gāoshāole, suǒyǐ bèi sòng wǎng yīyuàn qiǎngjiù. Xìnghǎo tā xìngyùn dì huóle xiàlái. Tāmen méi fāxiàn yǎo tā de dàodǐ shì shénme, dàn zhè yǎo shāng cóng wàiguān kàn yīnggāi shì shé dǎozhì de.

Xiànzài xiǎng qǐlái, tā jiā yǒu hěnduō zá cǎo, yīxiē zhíwù fēicháng gāo. Dàjiā yīnggāi qín xiūjiǎn jiā mén qián de cǎopíng!


杂草中潜藏的危险


有一天,不管你是十四岁,二十八岁,或六十五岁,你会遇见一个人,他会点燃你内心之,燃烧而无法熄灭。
-- 博塔普林 --

放马过来,我喜欢在燃烧。
-- 我 --

我的一个同事告诉我发生在他妈妈身上的事:她在外面整园艺时感觉腿被咬伤了。

半小时后她发高烧了,所以被送往医院抢救。幸好她幸运地活了下来。他们没发现咬她的到底是什么,但这咬伤从外观看应该是蛇导致的。

现在想起来,她家有很多杂草,一些植物非常高。大家应该勤修剪家门前的草坪!



danger lurking behind weed


One day, whether you are 14, 28 or 65, you will stumble upon someone who will start a fire in you that cannot die.
-- Beau Taplin --

Bring it on, I like them fire.
-- me --

So someone at my office told me this story about her mother. She was out gardening when she felt something bit her on the leg.

Half an hour later she got high fever. They rushed her to the hospital. Luckily her life was saved. They never found the thing that bit her, but judging from the look, it was a snake bite.

In retrospect her lawn was full of weeds, some of them of the very tall variety. Mow your lawns, guys!

liánjià de hóng wǎn

red bowls

Wǒ de tóngshì mǎile jǐ zhǐ wǎn. "Yī wàn dùn sān gè," tā bǎ yī zhǐ wǎn fàng zài yǔ yǎn píng qí de wèizhì, shuō: "Liǎng wàn dùn qī gè."

Tā jìxù shuō: "Yǒu yīgè nǚhái wèn wǒ kěbù kěyǐ gè fù yī wàn dùn, ránhòu tā ná sì gè wǎn, wǒ ná sān gè."

Tā píngshí shìgè hěn zìsī de rén, suǒyǐ lìngwài yīgè tóngshì wèn: "Wèishéme bùshì nǐ ná sì gè wǎn?"

"Yīnwèi," tā huídá, "Nàgè nǚhái zhēn piàoliang!"


廉价的红碗


我的同事买了几只碗。「一万盾三个,」他把一只碗放在与眼平齐的位置,说:「两万盾七个。」

他继续说:「有一个女孩问我可不可以各付一万盾,然后她拿四个碗,我拿三个。」

他平时是个很自私的人,所以另外一个同事问:「为什么不是你拿四个碗?」

「因为,」他回答,「那个女孩真漂亮!」



cheap, red bowls


My colleague bought some bowls. "If you pay 10K rupiahs, you'll get three of these," he said while bringing one of the bowls eye level. "If you pay 20K rupiahs, you'll get seven."

He continued, "A girl asked to combine her 10K rupiahs with mine, and to have four bowls while I get only three."

Another colleague of mine asked: "Why weren't you the one who took four?" My colleague who bought the bowls was known as a very selfish man.

"Because," he answered, "The girl was very pretty."

bèn bèn de gǔgē fānyì

colorful stockings

Wǒ wèn yīgè zhōngguó de nǚxìng péngyǒu: "Zài gàn ma?" Tā huídá, "Gānggāng qù chāoshìle, mǎi niánhuò."

Gǔgē fānyì shuō, niánhuò shì sīwà de yìsi.

Wǒ wèn tā, "Shénme yánsè?"

Zhègè wèntí ràng tā gǎndào kùnhuò. "Shénme?"

Shén... Shénme? Nándào shì wǒ de zhōngwén tài bù qīngchǔle ma? "Nà niánhuò yǒu shé me yánsè?"

Tā huídá: "Niánhuò shì zhǔnbèi guònián yòng de tángguǒ a!"

=_=a


笨笨的谷歌翻译


我问一个中国的女性朋友:「在干嘛?」她回答,「刚刚去超市了,买年货。」

谷歌翻译说,年货是丝袜的意思。

我问她,「什么颜色?」

这个问题让她感到困惑。「什么?」

什。。。什么?难道是我的中文太不清楚了吗?「那年货有什么颜色?」

她回答:「年货是准备过年用的糖果啊!」

=_=a



stupid, stupid google translate


I asked a female friend from China what she's doing. She said, "Going to supermarket to buy nian huo."

On Google Translate, nian huo translated to stockings.

I asked, "What color?"

She was confused. "What?"

What was what? Was my Chinese that bad? "What is the color of the nian huo?"

She answered: "Nian huo are the sweets for the upcoming Chinese new year!"

=_=a

yìnní de wǔzhuāng jūnduì

weapon

Dāng yīgè péngyǒu bèi wèn dào tā zhǎng dà yào gànshénme shí huídá “ABRI”, wǒmen juédé hěn jīngyà. Wǒmen dōu shì bā líng hòu. Yìnní de jūnduì suīrán rújīn yǐ gēngmíng wèi “TNI”, dànshì zài sū hā tuō zhízhèng qíjiān, tāmen jiào “ABRI”. Nàgè shíhòu duì wǒmen huárén lái shuō, yǒuyī fèn hé zhèngfǔ xiāngguān de gōngzuò shífēn hǎnjiàn.

Jǐ nián hòu, wǒ de péngyǒu jìnrùle Taruna Nusantara xuéxiào, nà shì yī suǒ wèiyú mǎ gé lǎng de bàn jūnshì huà de gāozhōng. Zhè suǒ xuéxiào de hěnduō bìyè shēng dōu chéngwéile jūnrén. Wǒ dì nàgè péngyǒu bìyè hòu, yě céngjīng shēnqǐng jiārù jūnduì, dànshì bèi jùjuéle. Tā fǎndào jìnrù dàxué, bìyèle hòu chéngwéile yī míng yīshēng.

Yòuguòle jǐ nián, jūnduì zhēngzhào xiàng yīshēng, diànqì gōngchéngshī děng zhèyàng de zhuānyè rénshì. Bùyòng shuō, wǒ nà péngyǒu yòu qù shēnqǐngle. Ér zhè cì tāmen tōngguòle tā de shēnqǐng.

Tā méiyǒu lìkè kāishǐ shàngbān. Tā xūyào jīngguò yángé de tǐnéng xùnliàn, měitiān xùnliàn qíjiān bìxū tízhe gè sānshí gōngjīn zuǒyòu de wǔqì. Tāmen bìng méiyǒu rènhé de xièdài. Tā de yīgè tóngshì, yěshì tōngguò “zhuānyè rénshì” bàomíng jìnrù de jūnduì, hòulái yīnwèi shǒuliúdàn bàozhà shīqùle yī zhǐ gēbó.

Zài wǒ zhè wèi péngyǒu fàngjià de shíhòu, wǒ jiàn dàole tā. Yīnwèi tā qiàhǎo jiù zài wǒ nà shí jūzhù de chéngshì shòu xùn. Gāng kāishǐ wǒ méi rèn chū tā. Tā yuánxiān bǐjiào shòu, diǎnxíng de zhōngguó liǎn (nǐmen kěyǐ zài Youtube shàng kàn kàn zhòng guó xìjù, tā hé xìjù lǐ de dànjué er zhǎng dé jīhū yīmúyīyàng), pífū báibái de. Dànshì zhè cì zàijiàn dào tā de shíhòu, tā yǐjīng biàn chéngle shēncái jiànměi, pífū yǒuhēi de jīròu xíng nán. Dāng yīgèrén shēncái biàn dé nàme jiànměi, tā de xiàbā hé quán gǔ yě huì biàn dé... Zěnme shuō, xiàntiáo gèngjiā túchū, zhěng zhāng liǎn dūhuì suí zhī gǎibiàn.

"Wǒ jiǎnzhí rèn bù chū nǐle!" wǒ jīng hū. Zhīqián tā "hāi" "hāi" de jiàole wǒ hǎojǐ biàn, wǒ dū méi lǐ tā, wǒ hái yǐwéi shìgè suíyì zhǎo rén dāshàn de jiāhuo.

Yǒuqù de shì, zuòwéi shíxí shēng, tā bèi cìyǔle jūnxián. Bù jìdé shì jūnshì háishì zhōngwèile. Wǒ yǐqián rènwéi xùnliàn wán hòu cái bèi shòuyǔ jūnxián, dàn xiǎnrán bùshì zhèyàng zi.

Hái yǒu, wǒ hěn hàoqí tāmen wèishéme jiàole yī míng yīshēng shǐyòng wǔqì. Tā gàosù wǒ, zài zhàndòu zhōng méiyǒu rén néng bǎozhèng nǐ de ānquán, zhǐ néng kào zìjǐ.

Wǒ er shí de péngyǒu wánchéng xùnliàn hòu, zhùzhá zài yìnní de dōngbù. Rúguǒ zài yǒu tā de xiāoxī, wǒ huì gàosù nǐmen de.


印尼的武装军队


当一个朋友被问到他长大要干什么时回答《ABRI》,我们觉得很惊讶。我们都是八零后。印尼的军队虽然如今已更名为《TNI》,但是在苏哈托执政期间,他们叫《ABRI》。那个时候对我们华人来说,有一份和政府相关的工作十分罕见。

几年后,我的朋友进入了Taruna Nusantara学校,那是一所位于马格朗的半军事化的高中。这所学校的很多毕业生都成为了军人。我的那个朋友毕业后,也曾经申请加入军队,但是被拒绝了。他反倒进入大学,毕业了后成为了一名医生。

又过了几年,军队征召像医生,电气工程师等这样的专业人士。不用说,我那朋友又去申请了。而这次他们通过了他的申请。

他没有立刻开始上班。他需要经过严格的体能训练,每天训练期间必须提着个三十公斤左右的武器。他们并没有任何的懈怠。他的一个同事,也是通过《专业人士》报名进入的军队,后来因为手榴弹爆炸失去了一只胳膊。

在我这位朋友放假的时候,我见到了他。因为他恰好就在我那时居住的城市受训。刚开始我没认出他。他原先比较瘦,典型的中国脸(你们可以在Youtube上看看中国戏剧,他和戏剧里的旦角儿长得几乎一模一样),皮肤白白的。但是这次再见到他的时候,他已经变成了身材健美,皮肤黝黑的肌肉型男。当一个人身材变得那么健美,他的下巴和颧骨也会变得。。。怎么说,线条更加突出,整张脸都会随之改变。

「我简直认不出你了!」我惊呼。之前他《嗨》《嗨》的叫了我好几遍,我都没理他,我还以为是个随意找人搭讪的家伙。

有趣的是,作为实习生,他被赐予了军衔。不记得是军士还是中尉了。我以前认为训练完后才被授予军衔,但显然不是这样子。

还有,我很好奇他们为什么教了一名医生使用武器。他告诉我,在战斗中没有人能保证你的安全,只能靠自己。

我儿时的朋友完成训练后,驻扎在印尼的东部。如果再有他的消息,我会告诉你们的。



indonesian armed forces


As 90's children we were surprised upon hearing one of us answered 'ABRI' when asked what he aspired to be when he grow up. ABRI was the name of Indonesian Armed Force back then. The current name is TNI. This was during Soeharto's reign, it was uncommon for us ethnic Chinese people to have a job that's related to the government.

Fast forward a few years, my friend enrolled in Taruna Nusantara, a semi military high school in Magelang. Many of the school's graduate become armed forces. When he graduated from this school, he applied to be one, but was rejected. He studied to be a doctor instead.

Fast forward a few years again, the armed forces opened a recruitment for practicing professional, for example doctors, electrical engineers, etc. Needless to say my friend applied. This time he was accepted.

He didn't start working right away. He was trained physically, needing to carry 30-ish kg of weapon everyday during training. They didn't tone down a bit. One of his colleague, also recruited from 'civilian practicing professional', lost a hand from a grenade explosion.

I met this friend of mine when he was having a day off. He was trained in the same city I happened to be staying in. At first I didn't recognize him. He went from a skinny, oriental-faced (see Chinese opera on Youtube, that was what his face looked like), white-skinned guy to a ripped and dark-skinned man. When one got that ripped, his jaws also changed to be... IDK, more protruding, his cheekbone showing, his overall face changed.

"They sure beat the Chinese out of you!" I exclaimed. He had been calling me 'hey, hey' a few times but I ignored him, I thought it was another random guy catcalling.

The interesting thing was, during this training he's been been assigned a rank, a sergeant or an lieutenant, I don't remember, something that ends with ~ant. I thought ranks were given on the end of the training. Apparently it's not.

I was also curious why would they train a doctor to bear arms. He answered that in the battlefield nobody can guarantee your safety, so one must be able to protect him/herself.

My childhood friend finished his training and was sent to serve at east of Indonesia. It's been a few years now. I'll write more if I hear from him again.

jiàomǔ

connie corleone

Zài dédào chóngfù xìng guǎnggào zhīhòu, wǒ zìrán'érrán yāoqiú zìjǐ qù tígōng zuì jiā fúwù, yě jiùshì ── duō xiě xiě zhè bókè.

Yǒu zhème yīgè gùshì: Yǒu liǎng gè yìnní huárén yào dìnghūn, nǚhái de jiārén yāoqiú nánfāng mǎi guì de lǐwù. Nánhái de jiàomǔ shìgè hěn cōngmíng de nǚrén. Tā huíyīng, nánhái huì dài nǚhái de jiārén qù gòuwù, yǐbiàn tāmen kěyǐ zìjǐ tiāoxuǎn xiǎng yào de wùpǐn.

Gòuwù dì nèitiān dàole, nǚhái de jiārén qù dào diànpù cái fāxiàn bìng bùshì jǐn yǒu tāmen, yǒu hěnduō rén hé tāmen yīqǐ qù. Tāmen shì tā jiàomǔ de línjū ── qízhōng bāokuò wǒ àirén de māmā. Zhèyàng ānpái de mùdì shì pòshǐ nǚhái de jiārén bù huì xuǎn ángguì de dōngxī yǐmiǎn qítā rén shuōxiánhuà. Tāmen zhù zài yīgè xiǎo de zhènzi shàng.

Nánhái de jiàomǔ zài shōuyín tái děnghòu, wéixiàozhe wèn nǚhái de jiārén, tāmen wánchéngle gòuwù méiyǒu, xià cì zài mǎi jiù bù huì suàn zài nánhái de zhàngdān shàngle.


教母


在得到重复性广告之后,我自然而然要求自己去提供最佳服务,也就是──多写写这博客。

有这么一个故事:有两个印尼华人要订婚,女孩的家人要求男方买贵的礼物。男孩的教母是个很聪明的女人。她回应,男孩会带女孩的家人去购物,以便他们可以自己挑选想要的物品。

购物的那天到了,女孩的家人去到店铺才发现并不是仅有他们,有很多人和他们一起去。他们是他教母的邻居──其中包括我爱人的妈妈。这样安排的目的是迫使女孩的家人不会选昂贵的东西以免其他人说闲话。他们住在一个小的镇子上。

男孩的教母在收银台等候,微笑着问女孩的家人,他们完成了购物没有,下次再买就不会算在男孩的账单上了。



the godmother


After getting a recurring advertiser, naturally I force myself to give the best service, in this case: write more often.

So, here goes. A girl was about to be engaged to a guy. Both were Indonesian born Chinese. The girl's family requested expensive gifts from the boy. The boy's godmother happened to live a few houses away from my lover's mother. The godmother was a smart woman, so she answered that the boy would take all the girl's family member shopping, so that they could choose gifts themselves.

When the day came, the girl's family watched in dismay that they were not the only ones going to the shop with the boy. The boy's godmother made sure that her neighbors went with them to the shop and watched. In the end the girl's family didn't pick too expensive items because they're afraid people would gossip about them later. It was a small town after all.

The boy's godmother, while waiting in line on the cashier, smiled and asked the girl's family to make sure they were done shopping, as later purchases would not be included in her boy's tab.