miāo fù chéng

Wǒ dào zhùjiā fùjìn kànjiànle yīgè māo. Tā tóu de huāwén xiāng yījiǔjiǔ líng nián nánhái ér de zhōngjiān fēnjiè. Wǒmen jiù jiàole tā miāo fù chéng.

喵富城

我到住家附近看见了一个猫。它头的花紋相一九九零年男孩儿的中間分界。我们就叫了它喵富城。

aaron meow

There's a new cat on my neighborhood. It's sporting the oh so famous during 90's boy hairstyle: middle or near-middle parting. We call the cat Aaron Meow.

tèbié shì lái yǎ

Wǒ xǐhuān de huàzhuāngpǐn dōu tíngchǎnle, zhēnshi qì sǐ wǒle. Nà wǒ gāi zěnme bàn ne? Tóng kuǎn mǎi shí gè ma? Zhǔnbèi yīgè dà cāngkù lái duī mǎn zhèxiē kùcún pǐn!

特别是萊雅

我喜欢的化妆品都停产了，真是气死我了。那我该怎么办呢？同款买十个吗？准备一个大仓库来堆满这些库存品！

looking at you, l'oreal

I hate that every cosmetics I like get discontinued. What am I gonna do then, buying ten copies of each? Sure need a bigger house to stock them!

zhǎng fā yǔ duǎnfǎ

Wǒ bù xǐhuān Níjītǎ Mǐ'ěrzhānī de xīn fǎxíng. Tā nàyàng de duǎnfǎ zàoxíng kàn qǐlái hěn chǒu. Tā liú zhǎng fā shí, xiàng nǚshén yīyàng, shì Yìndùníxīyà zuì piàoliang de nǚ yǎnyuán.

长发与短发

我不喜欢尼基塔•米尔扎妮的新发型。她那样的短发造型看起来很丑。她留长发时，像女神一样，是印度尼西亚最漂亮的女演员。

long hair vs short hair

I don't like Nikita Mirzani's new look. She looks awful sporting a short hair like that. When her hair was long she looked like a goddess, the prettiest actress in Indonesia.

yòng zìdiǎn xuéxí zhōngwén

Biāozhǔn zuòfǎ shì zěnme yàng? Biāozhǔn zuòfǎ shì wǒ, yòng bào zhù zhā mǎwěi biàn, zǒu xià tōngdào, zài xiǎng wǒ néng fǒu yòu kànjiàn nǐ.
-- wǒ --

Wǒ fāxiànle xuéxí yǔyán de yòu yī fāngfǎ! Dǎkāi yī běn nǐ xiǎng xuéxí de yǔyán de zìdiǎn, suíbiàn fān bìng suíjī xuǎnzé yīgè zì! Ránhòu jiù yòng nàgè zì xiě yī piān jiǎnduǎn de wénzhāng. Nǐ juédé líng bù líng?

用字典学习中文

标准做法是怎么样？标准做法是我，用抱住扎马尾辫，走下通道，在想我能否又看见你。
--我--

我发现了学习语言的又一方法！打开一本你想学习的语言的字典，随便翻并随机选择一个字！然后就用那个字写一篇简短的文章。你觉得灵不灵？

learning chinese through a dictionary

What is normal? Normal is me, lifting my hair into a ponytail, holding it in a grip, walking down the corridor, wondering if I'll ever see you again.
-- me --

So I found another way to learn languages! Open a dictionary of your chosen language to learn, open it at random and point to a random word! After that just write a short article about it. Effective or not?

jièshào wǒ wèilái de lǚxíng huǒbàn

Wǒ de yìnní péngyǒu bù zài cānjiā hànyǔ péixùn bān yīnwèi tā de bàngōngshì bān dàole qítā dìfāng. Tā shuō xīn de bàngōng dìdiǎn lí péixùn bān tài yuǎnle, huì zài lùshàng huāfèi dàliàng de shíjiān.

Wǒ quàn tā jìxù cānjiā péixùn bān. "Wǒmen yīqǐ qù zhōngguó de suǒyǒu dà chéngshì ba," wǒ shuō: "Wǒmen xūyào nǐ hé wǒ liǎng gèrén kěyǐ qīngsōng de qiēhuàn chéng pǔtōnghuà móshì."

介绍我未来的旅行伙伴

我的印尼朋友不再参加汉语培训班因为她的办公室搬到了其他地方。她说新的办公地点离培训班太远太远了，会在路上花费大量的时间。

我劝她继续参加培训班。「我们一起去中国的所有大城市吧，」我说：「我们需要你和我两个人可以轻松的切换成普通话模式。」

my future travel buddy

A friend stopped attending her Chinese classes due to her office moved to another place. She said this new workplace was too far away, costing her more time on the road.

I urged her to continue. "Let's visit all the big cities in China together," I said: "For that, we need two heads that can be switched into Mandarin speaking mode at the snap of fingers."

zài fàndiàn diǎnle zhāngyú bǎoluó

Zhōngguó yǒu hùliánwǎng shěnchá zhìdù jiàozuò fánghuǒ chángchéng. Wǒ zhè gè yuèchū qù zhōngguó de shíhòu, gǔgē lián bù shàng. Zhè duì bù huì shuō zhōngwén de yóukè tài máfanle: Lián gǔgē fānyì dōu bùnéng yòng.

Xìngkuī wǒ zhīdào bǎidù de wǎngzhǐ. Dàn hěn yíhàn de wǒ bù tài huì yòng nàgè, suǒyǐ méiyǒu fānyì rènhé yīgè zì, zhǐ néng yòng tā de sōusuǒ gōngnéng.

Chīle yīdào yòng xūn niúròu zuò de cài hòu, wǒ xiǎng zhīdào nàgè cài rúguǒ yòng xiā, wūzéi, hái yǒu zhāngyú, méi yòng xūn niúròu, shì bùshì yě zhème hào chī. Suǒyǐ wǒ yòng bǎidù sōusuǒle nà zhǒng hǎiyáng shēngwù de zhàopiàn, ránhòu bǎocún zài shǒujī shàng. Xià cì qù nàgè fàndiàn, wǒ kěyǐ gěi fúwùyuán kàn kàn.

Nà càisè dé fēicháng měiwèi, dàn dāng wǒ wǎnshàng tōngcháng kàn shǒujī shí, wǒ fāxiàn zìjǐ shǐyòngle zhāngyú bǎoluó de zhàopiàn, zhège zuì shòu quán shìjiè xǐ'ài de zhāngyú.

在饭店点了章鱼保罗

中国有互联网审查制度叫做防火长城。我这個月初去中国的時候，谷歌連不上。这对不會说中文的游客太麻烦了：連谷歌翻译都不能用。

幸亏我知道百度的网址。但很遗憾的我不太會用那個，所以沒有翻译任何一個字，只能用它的搜索功能。

吃了一道用熏牛肉做的菜后，我想知道那个菜如果用虾，乌贼，还有章鱼，没用熏牛肉，是不是也这么好吃。所以我用百度搜索了那种海洋生物的照片，然后保存在手机上。下次去那个饭店，我可以给服务员看看。

那菜色得非常美味，但当我晚上通常看手机时，我发现自己使用了章鱼保罗的照片，这个最受全世界喜爱的章鱼。

ordering paul the octopus at the restaurant

So in China there's a strict censorship called The Greal Firewall. During my visit earlier this month Google isn't accessible there. Which is a huge problem for non-Chinese-speaking visitors: no Google translate whatsoever.

Luckily, I knew Baidu's URL. Unluckily, I could only operate the very basics, so I've never get it to translate a word. I can only search things up.

After tasting a certain dish with smoked beef, I was wondering if the dish would turn out fine should the ingredients be changed to shrimp, squid, and octopus. So I baidu-ed images of those sea creatures and save them to my phone to be shown to the waiter the next ocassion.

The dish turned out to be superb, but as I browsed my phone that night as I usually do every single day, I realized I have used the picture of Paul the Octopus, the world's most loved octopus.

qǐngwèn chōu rèn kǎ

Dāng nǐ lǚxíng dào yǔyán bùtōng de guójiā shí, nǐ kěyǐ yòng 'qǐngwèn chōu rèn kǎ'. Qǐngwèn chōu rèn kǎ bāohán nǐ xiǎng qù dì dìfāng de zhàopiàn, nǐ xiǎng chī de shíwù de zhàopiàn yǐjí nǐ xiǎng mǎi de dōngxī de zhàopiàn, děng děng. Wǒ jiào tāmen qǐngwèn chōu rèn kǎ shì yóuyú liǎng gè yuányīn. Dì yī gè, tāmen de chǐcùn hé chōu rèn kǎ shì yīyàng de. Dì èr gè, yòng nàgè kǎ wèn běndì rén: "Qǐngwèn, nǐ zhīdào zài nǎlǐ kěyǐ mǎi dào zhège?" Wǒ méiyǒu bǎocún nàxiē zhàopiàn zài shǒujī shàng shì yīnwèi wǒ xiǎng wéihù shǒujī diànchí, hái yǒu xiǎng bìmiǎn qiǎngjié de kěnéng.

请问抽认卡

当你旅行到语言不通的国家时，你可以用《请问抽认卡》。请问抽认卡包含你想去的地方的照片，你想吃的食物的照片以及你想买的东西的照片，等等。我叫它们请问抽认卡是由于两个原因。第一个，它们的尺寸和抽认卡是一样的。第二个，用那个卡问本地人：「请问，你知道在哪里可以买到这个？」我没有保存那些照片在手机上是因为我想维护手机电池，还有想避免抢劫的可能。

qingwen flashcards

... Are helpful when you're travelling to a country of which language you're not familiar with. Those are pictures of places you'd like to visit, food you want to eat, to-buy-list, etc. I call these qingwen flashcards because of two reasons. First, mine are the size of flashcards. Second, using the cards to ask locals for directions I start my sentence with "Qing wen, do you know where I can ...?" I don't use the phone to store those to preserve battery and to avoid phone snatchers.

juédé zìjǐ xiàng gè huāhuā gōngzǐ

Nǐ kàn shàngqù shì yǒuhǎo qiě cōngmíng de rén. Biérén kěyǐ bǎ shíqíng gàosù zhèyàng de rén, ér bù xūyào yòng shànyì de huǎngyán.
-- Měi jí·jiékè --

Zhè cōngmíng de rén xūyào biérén shànyì de huǎngyán.
-- wǒ --

Wǒ xǐhuān shàngle yīgè ànmó shī de jìqiǎo. "Wǒ xià cì lái zhèlǐ, zěnme cáinéng ràng nǐ gěi wǒ ànmó, ér bùshì biérén?" wǒ nàyàng wèn tā, shì xiǎng zhīdào tā de míngzì.

"Zhèlǐ de zuì pàng shì wǒ," tā huídá: "Nǐ yīdìng bù huì rèncuò rén."

"Nǐ shì xīwàng wǒ qù qiántái zhǎo zhèlǐ zuì pàng de nǚhái ma?"

Tā wéixiàozhe gàosùle wǒ tā de míngzì.

觉得自己像个花花公子

你看上去是友好且聪明的人。别人可以把实情告诉这样的人，而不需要用善意的谎言。
--美極·捷克--

这聪明的人需要别人善意的谎言。
--我--

我喜欢上了一个按摩师的技巧。「我下次来这里，怎么才能让你给我按摩，而不是别人？」我那样问她，是想知道她的名字。

「这里的最胖是我，」她回答：「你一定不会认错人。」

「你是希望我去前台找这里最胖的女孩吗？」

她微笑着告诉了我她的名字。

already feel like a playa!

You seem like a nice, intelligent person who can handle the blunt truth in all its glory instead of needing someone to sugar coat everything and feed it to you with a silver spoon.
-- Maggi Checco --

I am an intelligent person and I need everything fed to me sugar coated. On a silver spoon, please!
-- me --

I fell in love with a particular masseuse's skill. "How do I make sure that the next time I go here, it's you that will be massaging me, not the others?" I asked her, determined to know her name.

"I've the biggest body here," said the voluptuous lady: "There's no way you'll have me mixed up with the others."

"You don't really expect me going up to the receptionist area and ask for the biggest girl around, do you?"

She giggled and gave me her name.

qīnghuācí liányīqún

"Nà, nǚhái zěnmeliǎo?"
-- Huí Dào Dìqiú --

Yìnní yǒu yīgè shíshàng cháoliú: Sà lā táocí liányīqún. Wǒ bù gǎn kěndìng zhè zhēn de shì nà cháo pái zhìzào de, yīnwèi zài zhèlǐ yǒu hěnduō jiǎ huò. Bùguò, nà tiáo liányīqún díquè hěn xiàng qīnghuācí.

Zuìchū wǒ bìng bùxiǎng mǎi, yīn wéi hàipà chuān qǐlái xiàng chuān shuìyī. Dàn zuìhòu háishì mǎile nà tiáo liányīqún, xiǎng zàixià zhōumò chuān tā.

Dàole zhōumò qì sǐ wǒle, yīnwèi wǒ kàn jiàn liǎo bù shǎo yú wǔ gè nǚhái chuānzhuó gēn wǒ wánquán yīyàng liányīqún!

青花瓷连衣裙

"那，女孩怎么了？"
-- 回到地球 --

印尼有一个时尚潮流： 飒拉陶瓷连衣裙。我不敢肯定这真的是那潮牌制造的，因为在这里有很多假货。不过，那条连衣裙的确很像青花瓷。

最初我并不想买，因为害怕穿起来像穿睡衣。但最后还是买了那条连衣裙，想在下周末穿它。

到了周末气死我了，因为我看见了不少于五个女孩穿着跟我完全一样连衣裙！

china blue dress

"What about the girls?"
-- Return to the Earth --

There's a recent fashion trend in y country: Zara ceramic dress. I can't say for sure that it's really made by the popular brand, for Indonesians are notorious for brand hijacking, but the dress indeed looks like China blue.

At first I was reluctant to buy it, I was afraid it'd look like sleeping gown when worn.

I bought it anyway with the intention to wear it the next weekend. The day came, and lo', I encountered not less than five other women wearing the exact same dress!

gòu lāměi dì yǎ, shèngdà shān, hǎo xǐhuān nǐmen!

Zhè yī nián duì dúshū àihào zhě lái shuō tài bàngle. Gòu lāměi dì yǎ jǔbànle hěnduō shūzhǎn, shūjià dī zhì wǔqiān dùn. Shèngdà shān zěnme yàng? Zhèlǐ de shū zài yuánjià jīchǔ shàng dǎle wǔ zhé.

Wǒ dāngrán mǎile hěnduō shū. Duō dào shènzhì zài fángjiān jiànle liǎng pái shūjià. Wǒ dàgài huāle wǔshí wàn lái mǎishū, bùguò qízhōng dà duōshù shì yī wàn dùn de hé yī wàn wǔqiān dùn de shū.

Xiànzài xūyào chōukòng bǎ zhèxiē shū dōu dú wán... >.<

够拉美第雅，盛大山，好喜欢你们！

这一年对读书爱好者来说太棒了。够拉美第雅举办了很多书展，书价低至五千盾。盛大山怎么样？这里的书在原价基础上打了五折。

我当然买了很多书。多到甚至在房间建了两排书架。我大概花了五十万来买书，不过其中大多数是一万盾的和一万五千盾的书。

现在需要抽空把这些书都读完。。。>.<

love you gramedia, love you gunung agung!

This past year have been good for book lovers. Gramedia held many book fairs where book price ranges from IDR 5K. Gunung Agung also had been having a platform where books went for less than half of their original price.

Of course I bought many. I even had two rows of book shelves erected at my room. I think I have spent half a million over several ocassions. Mostly I bought the IDR 10Ks and IDR 15Ks, though.

Now just find the time to read them all... >.<

wénhuà de qūbié -- dì sì bùfèn

Wǒ zhōngguó péngyǒu cízhíle. Tā xiànzài zài fùshìkāng gōngzuò, jǐnguǎn zài 2012 dāng wǒ dì yī cì lái zhōngguó, tā gàosùguò wǒ fùshìkāng de hěnduō yuángōng zìshāle.

Tā yě gǎile míngzì. Gǎi de shì tā de yīngwén míngzì, bùshì zhōngwén míng. Wǒ juédé yěxǔ zài cízhí de shíhòu, zhōngguó rén, tèbié shì shìchǎng yíngxiāo de rén, huì bèi yāoqiú bǎ tāmen de yīngwén míngzì liú xià, suǒyǐ jiētì tāmen de rén jiù néng yòng nàgè míngzì.

文化的区别 -- 第四部分

我中国朋友辞职了。她现在在富士康工作，尽管在2012当我第一次来中国，她告诉过我富士康的很多员工自杀了。

她也改了名字。改的是她的英文名字，不是中文名。我觉得也许在辞职的时候，中国人，特别是市场营销的人，会被要求把他们的英文名字留下，所以接替他们的人就能用那个名字。

culture shock -- part four

A friend who, upon my first visit to China in 2012 had told me about the Foxconn suicides, quitted her job. Now she works at another place.

Guess where?

Foxconn.

She changed her name, too. Her English name, not the Chinese one. I think maybe upon resigning, Chinese people, especially in sales and marketing, are required to leave their English name behind to be used by people who will take their place.

liángbàn hǎizhē

Zhè jìshì fúzhǐ,
yěshì zǔzhòu:
Duì wànshì wànwù
gǎnshòu nàme de shēn
-- Ài yǔ yǔzhòu chén'āi --

Wǒ dì yī cì chī liángbàn hǎizhē shì zài èr líng líng jǐ nián. Wǒ hé yīgè péngyǒu qùle Xiānggǎng Diǎnxīn fàndiàn, tā diǎnle liángbàn hǎizhē. Cóng nà shí qǐ wǒ jiù xǐhuān shàngle liángbàn hǎizhē!

Zài shēnghuó zhōng, méiyǒu shìwù néng yǒngyuǎn bù biàn. Wǒ bù zài chī “xiānggǎng diǎnxīn” de liángbàn hǎizhē, yīnwèi xiànzài tā bèi jiāle yīxiē duò suì de máo cōng. Wǒ xǐhuān máo cōng, dàn máo cōng de wèidào hé liángbàn hǎizhē dāpèi bù shìhé.

Suǒyǐ wǒ hěn gāoxìng zài yīgè rìběn fàndiàn lǐ fāxiànle yīyàng de cài, dànshì méiyǒu yòng máo cōng. Zài nàlǐ tā de míngzì jiàozuò): Zhōnghuá hǎi yuè.

凉拌海蜇

这既是福祉，
也是诅咒：
对万事万物
感受那么地深
--爱与宇宙尘埃--

我第一次吃凉拌海蜇是在二零零几年。我和一个朋友去了《香港点心》饭店，她点了凉拌海蜇。从那时起我就喜欢上了凉拌海蜇！

在生活中，没有事物能永远不变。我不再吃《香港点心》的凉拌海蜇，因为现在它被加了一些剁碎的毛葱。我喜欢毛葱，但毛葱的味道和凉拌海蜇搭配不适合。

所以我很高兴在一个日本饭店里发现了一样的菜，但是没有用毛葱。在那里它的名字叫做：中華海月。

jellyfish salad

It is both a blessing
And a curse
To feel everything
So very deeply.
-- Love and Space Dust --

The first time I ate jellyfish salad was in 2000-something. My friend and I went to Orchid Hongkong Dim Sum and she ordered it. I fell in love since!

But as life would have it, nothing is eternal. I stopped eating jellyfish salads on Orchid Hongkong Dim Sum when they added minced shallots to the dishes. I love shallots, but the taste is not complimentary to jellyfish salads.

Imagine my joy when I found the exact dish, with the old recipe, at a Japanese restaurant. They call it by a different name: chuka kurage.

yánsè de jiànbiàn huì ràng wǒ dì dìpíngxiàn kàn qǐlái gèng dà ma?

Jīntiān xiàwǔ rìluò de shíhòu, tiānkōng chūqí de shì fěnsè, ér bùshì tōngcháng de chéngzi sè. Yīnwèi qìchē bùduàn de yáohuàng, wǒ dū méiyǒu bànfǎ pāi zhàopiàn.

颜色的渐变会让我的地平线看起来更大吗？

今天下午日落的时候，天空出奇的是粉色，而不是通常的橙子色。因为汽车不断地摇晃，我都没有办法拍照片

does this shade make my horizon look big?

The sunset colored today's sky a rare occurence of pink instead of the usual orange. I couldn't snap a decent picture because the car kept bouncing.

bǐyǒu -- dì sān bùfèn

Wǒ bǐyǒu yòu gěi wǒ jìle yī fēng xìn, zhè shì dì yī cì xìnlǐ zhǐ xiěle hànzì, méiyǒu duìyìng de yīngyǔ fānyì.

Wǒ hěn nǔlì de chángshì dú dǒng nà fēng xìn. Duì wǒ lái shuō zuìdà de bànjiǎoshí shì bùnéng qūfēn tā de zì dàodǐ shì yīgè zì háishì liǎng gè zì.

Lìrú, yóuyú jiānjù wèntí, wǒ céngjīng yǐwéi 'xì' yīgè zì shì 'xiāng' hé 'tián' liǎng gè zì.

Duì, zhè bù róngyì, wǒ xīwàng wǒ de zhōngwén néng jǐnkuài tígāo!

笔友 -- 第三部分

我笔友又给我寄了一封信，这是第一次信里只写了汉字，没有对应的英语翻译。

我很努力地尝试读懂那封信。对我来说最大的绊脚石是不能区分她的字到底是一个字还是两个字。

例如，由于间距问题，我曾经以为《细》一个字是《乡》和《田》两个字。

对，这不容易，我希望我的中文能尽快提高！

pen-friend -- part three

So this time my pen friend sent me another letter, the first one without the English translation.

I burn the candle at both ends trying to read the letter. My biggest stumbling block is that I sometimes cannot know whether my friend intended to write two words or one.

For example, due to spacing, what I thought was two words: '乡' followed by '田', is actually one word: '细'.

Yes, this is hard, I hope my Chinese will improve soon!

gān jú chá

Wǒ de tóngshì gěile wǒ yī bāo gān jú chá. Páizi shì tài shū de. Huí dàojiā hòu, wǒ ná gǔnshuǐ jìnguò chá bāo, ránhòu hēle yīxià. Hǎo xiāng de chá! Wǒ yě gěile wǒ àirén pǐncháng.

Tā de píngjià ne? "Wén qǐlái xiàng biànzhí de yóu."

=_= Zhè nóngmín...

甘菊茶

我的同事给了我一包甘菊茶。牌子是泰舒的。回到家后，我拿滚水浸过茶包，然后喝了一下。好香的茶！我也给了我爱人品尝。

他的评价呢？「闻起来像变质的油。」

=_=这农民。。。

calm chamomile

So a colleague gave me a packet of chamomile tea. It was Tazo's. Later at home I poured boiling water over the teabag and enjoyed the tea. It was very fragrant!After drinking it myself, I let my lover take a sip.

"Smelled like cooking oil gone bad," he said.

=_= This good-for-nothing man...

xúnzhǎo zhōng wén de xuéshì xuéwèi de jiǎngxuéjīn

Qián jǐ tiān wǒ sōusuǒle guānyú jiǎngxuéjīn de xìnxī. Wǒ xīwàng huòdé zhōngwén de xuéshì xuéwèi de jiǎngxuéjīn.

Zhǎo bù dàole. :( Zài yìnní zhǐ zuìzǎo èr líng yīsì nián zhōngxué bìyè de réncái kěyǐ huòdé jiǎngxuéjīn. Xiànzài shì èr líng yīliù nián. Èr líng yīsì nián zhīqián, wǒ zǎo jiù xiǎoxué bìyèle. Wǒ gūjì, tài lǎo liǎo bùnéng huòdé jiǎngxuéjīnle.

Qíshí wǒ suīrán méiyǒu hěnduō qián, dànshì hái kěyǐ ná chū xuéfèi. Nà wèishéme wǒ yào kǎolǜ jiǎngxuéjīn ne? Yīnwèi wǒ bùyào wéi bùnéng zhíjiē zēngjiā shōurù de shì fù qián, yóuyú wǒ de gōngzuò shì diànnǎo gōngchéngshī. Duì wǒ lái shuō zhè shì yī zhǒng shēchǐ.

Dànshì wǒ xiǎng yǒu zhòng wén de xuéshì xuéwèi! .>_<.

(Dāng xiě zhège shí, “qiáng shàng de zìjì” nà shǒu gēqǔ zài ěr biān xuánrào bù jué, bù zhīdào wèishéme.)

寻找中文的学士学位的奖学金

前几天我搜索了关于奖学金的信息。我希望获得中文的学士学位的奖学金。

找不到了。：（在印尼只最早二零一四年中学毕业的人才可以获得奖学金。现在是二零一六年。二零一四年之前，我早就中学毕业了。我估计，太老了不能获得奖学金了。

其实我虽然没有很多钱，但是还可以拿出学费。那为什么我要考虑奖学金呢？因为我不要为不能直接增加收入的事付钱，由于我的工作是电脑工程师。对我来说这是一种奢侈。

但是我想有中文的学士学位！.>_<.

（当写这个时，《墙上的字迹》那首歌曲在耳边旋绕不绝，不知道为什么。）

looking for chinese language scholarship

So I found myself looking for scholarship info the other day. The kind of scholarship I want is for bachelor degree on Chinese language.

I didn't find any. :( In this country scholarship was only given to those who had finished high school in 2014 at most (now is 2016). I was graduated way long before 2014. Guess what they were saying's I was too old for scholarships.

Actually I can afford the tuition though I'm not rich. So why did I look for a scholarship? Because I won't be paying for something that doesn't give direct boost to my income, given the nature of my job (I'm a software engineer). It is kind of a luxury to me.

But I want to have a bachelor degree in Chinese language! .>_<.

(I wrote this whole thing with Writing's on the Wall playing over and over in my head, dunno why.)

sūméndálà chá

Jiā fùjìn xīn de kāile yījiā cāntīng. Wǒ hé wǒ de àirén chángshì qù nà li yǒu wǎncān qián xiǎoshí. Tā xiǎng chī niúwán, ér wǒ xiǎng chī suǒ tuō. Suǒ tuō shì yī zhǒng yóu hěnduō cáiliào áo chéng de jītāng.

Fúwùyuánmen shuō Mǎlái fāngyán. Dāng fúwùyuán tīng bù dào wǒmen liáotiān dehuà shí, wǒ àirén gàosù wǒ zhè shì zài Běigānbālǔ shǐyòng de fāngyán.

Shíwù duì wǒ lái shuō hái suàn kěyǐ, dàn wǒ àirén bù xǐhuān niúwán de ròu tāng. Yǐnliào jiù lìng dāng biélùnle. Wǒmen diǎnle chá, dàn chá hǎoxiàng xīshì de tángjiāng.

Zài huí jiā de lùshàng wǒ àirén shuō, "Wǒ jiù zhīdào huì zhèyàng." Ránhòu yòu shuō: "Sūméndálà rén, yóuqí běifāng de, hē chá de shíhòu xǐhuān fàng hěnduō táng."

苏门答腊茶

家附近新的开了一家餐厅。我和我的爱人尝试去那里有晚餐前小食。他想吃牛丸，而我想吃索托。索托是一种加了不同材料的鸡汤。

当服务员听不到我们聊天的话时，我爱人告诉我这是在北干巴鲁使用的方言。

食物对我来说还算可以，但我爱人不喜欢牛丸的肉汤。饮料就另当别论了。我们点了茶，但茶好像稀释的糖浆。

在回家的路上我爱人说，「我就知道会这样。」然后又说：「苏门答腊人，尤其北方的，喝茶的时候喜欢放很多糖。」

sumatran tea

So there's this new place to eat near my place. My lover and I tried going there for a quick pre-dinner. He had meatballs in broth and I had soto, a kind of chicken soup with different ingredients.

The waitresses spoke in Malay dialect. After they were out of hearing range, my lover said that it was the dialect used in Pekanbaru.

The food turned out OK for me (my lover didn't like his broth). The drink however, is a different story. We ordered tea, but it was more like undiluted syrup.

On the way home my lover said, "I know from the start this would happen." He continued: "Sumatran people, especially those on the north-ish, love having their tea super sweet."

yè mìng guāntóu

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

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

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!