Sorry, this is not a question for you, but a lament prompted by today’s news about Bush’s shoe incident in Iraq. You may google it or watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uIj0YvDBKE.
My lament is: How low will America’s standing in the world plunge? Well, hope not nearly as low as the Dow these days. Last week I was at a party, where an Irish man asked me if I thought Americans’ claim “America is the greatest country in the world” arrogant. I said “no” as I believe in the country’s greatness on an overall scale, but I hope we work hard, really hard, to live up to that claim.
As you said, it is a new look and feel. Perfect timing too, as 2009 has quietly arrived.
I still miss the old gotoofareast a little bit. But I know to keep moving is one of the few things that makes our days meaningful.
On the road. I can sense that on this page.
Your motion, your change, your new encounters, your next journey… along with the new look and feel… I’m looking forward to reading all about them, and being in your stories of life.
well, i’m sure you know as many 成语 as chinese know idioms in english – you’re even i love 成语. not just that they’re chinese idioms, but also that the cautionary tales or pithy comments must be expressed within 4 characters only. that’s the unique beauty of the chinese language.
I agree, it’s a lot like snow. Being born and raised in Texas snow was a rare and celebrated event. As a little girl I was faced with a delima, I wanted to play in the snow but it was so pretty I didn’t want to mess it up.
After I was grown with children I noticed that after the snow melted, usually very quickly in Texas, the only snow left was the snow that had been played with. The messed up snow, made into a makeshift snow, dirt and grass mixed snowman stood as the last testament to the transient snowfall.
The moral to the story is it’s only what we touch and sometimes mess up that last and leave our fingerprint on the world.
“These books short change us our own life experiences in hopes that we’ll buy everything they tell us. It’s not interesting reading material (to me), and it’s certainly not leadership.”
Sounds like when your parents try to give you advice and save you a lot of pain and grief, somehow we need to make our own mistakes. Parents think it’s leadership, kids think it’s _____. Every generation does it.
These are pretty interesting. You’re a good writer when you can make which shoes you wear interesting. It’s the mundane things that we have in common and are the feelings we can relate too.
Bethany showed me the u tube clip of you and Ning at Andrew and Aimee’s making taco salad. Looks like you are going a little Bohemian with the hair, is this the writer thing coming out?
Well, I’m not sure if I have really learned Mandarin yet I’ll probably be learning for the rest of my life. Anyway, I studied it formally for one year. The first six months made the greatest impact–that will get you to the basic conversational level. But it really takes a year to get your listening high enough. Reading … still not so good. Writing … even worse.
I do believe you have crossed the threshold, Tim. The point of no return. No more excuses. No more reasons not to. All there is to do is give yourself a deadline. Something you’re good at doing in your day job. So let me help you here. How’s Independence Day for a first draft? I’d propose that’s your line in the sand …..
You paint a picture of everyday common things so well that I’m drawn into your characters , their feelings, and the bigger world around them. I love to read about this stuff.
Joel: I called him “蜂蜜” in Chinese, I also call him “小甜心”. Ha, just kidding. When it comes to Romance, I choose English. It’s too weird to express the intimacy in Chinese. I guess it’s my problem. But language is not only simply a language either.
Gardener: you are right. I love reading this kind of writing in his blog too. He’s a good painter with a brilliant brush.
It’s funny I happen to comment right now, when he’s out to get the rug back. He wore a jacket this time. (Now I hear the door opening. Wonder what story he brings back this time:)
“The great revelation had never come. The great revelation perhaps never did come. Instead there were little daily miracles, illuminations, matches struck unexpectedly in the dark…making of moment something permanent–this was of the nature of a revelation.” —Virginia Woolf
I detected the simply joy you had when “popped open that can of Dr. Pepper and poured the Coke-killer into the glass”. It was interesting and I’ve felt it many times.
I believe in these “daily miracles” that bring us a moment of intense joy, a glance of a tiny edge of the big truth.
Thanks for coming to the rescue Antony. Unfortunately, I beat you to it — try reading “In Tim’s Shoes” Day 5 (this post is part of a series): http://www.gotoofareast.com/toblog/?p=922
I love your photos a lot. I’ve been teaching at a migrant school in a tiny village in north-western Beijijng suburb for half a year. That was really an inspiring experience…
Hello!
Very Interesting post! Thank you for such interesting resource!
PS: Sorry for my bad english, I’v just started to learn this language
See you!
Your, Raiul Baztepo
Tim, I know that Friday evening crash feeling – it’s just I get it on a Wednesday night. Geez, I’d kill right now for a burger and a Dr Pepper. Things have changed since the little one came along – no more ducking out for a quick bite to eat, or a quick movie…
Enjoy your precious time with Ning. You have such a beautiful relationship – and what native Chinese person can whip out Virginia Woolf? So impressed.
And Tim, you’ll be interested to know I have started a blog as per our boss’s feedback today. The Voffice… Have to thank you for that one. thevoffice.blogspot.com check it out.
Blocked again. oh, my! That is the same kind of freeze thing they did in Grand Central Station. I think the one who organized that freeze Beijing thing must have seen this one. very coooool~
And by the way, where is you and ning? at what time? tell me!!!! I can’t find. the video is too vague.
336 Comments
Sorry, this is not a question for you, but a lament prompted by today’s news about Bush’s shoe incident in Iraq. You may google it or watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uIj0YvDBKE.
My lament is: How low will America’s standing in the world plunge? Well, hope not nearly as low as the Dow these days. Last week I was at a party, where an Irish man asked me if I thought Americans’ claim “America is the greatest country in the world” arrogant. I said “no” as I believe in the country’s greatness on an overall scale, but I hope we work hard, really hard, to live up to that claim.
I hear ya. Had my own little (annual) Christmas rant here. Actually, I two this year; one for “America” and one for China.
You are so right on and the problem starts at the top.
We should right a book together and I already have the title; Corporate Rape in America!
Hi Tim, happy new year, looking forward to your new blog, and the book.
As you said, it is a new look and feel. Perfect timing too, as 2009 has quietly arrived.
I still miss the old gotoofareast a little bit. But I know to keep moving is one of the few things that makes our days meaningful.
On the road. I can sense that on this page.
Your motion, your change, your new encounters, your next journey… along with the new look and feel… I’m looking forward to reading all about them, and being in your stories of life.
如你所说，是一种“全新的面貌和感受”。时间也正好，2009新年悄然而至了。
我还是有一点想念旧的gotoofareast。但是我知道，一直向前，是仅有的几样赋予我们生活意义的事情之一。
在路上。在这个网页上，我能感受得到。
你的不停息，你的改变，你的新奇遇，你的下一段旅行……伴随这里全新的面貌和感受，我期待着读到所有这些，期待着存在于你生命的故事里。
Did you end up buying them on your trip?
jie大褂8错，现在说相声的都穿绸绸面的啦？
傻笑的是ning吧，嘿嘿。
well, i’m sure you know as many 成语 as chinese know idioms in english – you’re even
i love 成语. not just that they’re chinese idioms, but also that the cautionary tales or pithy comments must be expressed within 4 characters only. that’s the unique beauty of the chinese language.
I agree, it’s a lot like snow. Being born and raised in Texas snow was a rare and celebrated event. As a little girl I was faced with a delima, I wanted to play in the snow but it was so pretty I didn’t want to mess it up.
After I was grown with children I noticed that after the snow melted, usually very quickly in Texas, the only snow left was the snow that had been played with. The messed up snow, made into a makeshift snow, dirt and grass mixed snowman stood as the last testament to the transient snowfall.
The moral to the story is it’s only what we touch and sometimes mess up that last and leave our fingerprint on the world.
Wow, “…it’s only what we touch and sometimes mess up that last and leave our fingerprint on the world…” –that’s one to live by!
Tim, we can’t get the video to run. Can you check this so we can view it.
Sorry about that–it should be fixed now.
“These books short change us our own life experiences in hopes that we’ll buy everything they tell us. It’s not interesting reading material (to me), and it’s certainly not leadership.”
Sounds like when your parents try to give you advice and save you a lot of pain and grief, somehow we need to make our own mistakes. Parents think it’s leadership, kids think it’s _____. Every generation does it.
Remember, play in the snow.
Wow, on the quote, that’s amazing. I thought it might be someone like that and my fears we’re confirmed.
These are pretty interesting. You’re a good writer when you can make which shoes you wear interesting. It’s the mundane things that we have in common and are the feelings we can relate too.
By the way, you’ve spent four weeks in Red River, NM.
Bethany showed me the u tube clip of you and Ning at Andrew and Aimee’s making taco salad. Looks like you are going a little Bohemian with the hair, is this the writer thing coming out?
Just wondering, how long did it take you to learn mandarin-chinese (speaking, reading, writing). Thanks.
Well, I’m not sure if I have really learned Mandarin yet
I’ll probably be learning for the rest of my life. Anyway, I studied it formally for one year. The first six months made the greatest impact–that will get you to the basic conversational level. But it really takes a year to get your listening high enough. Reading … still not so good. Writing … even worse.
I do believe you have crossed the threshold, Tim. The point of no return. No more excuses. No more reasons not to. All there is to do is give yourself a deadline. Something you’re good at doing in your day job. So let me help you here. How’s Independence Day for a first draft? I’d propose that’s your line in the sand …..
You paint a picture of everyday common things so well that I’m drawn into your characters , their feelings, and the bigger world around them. I love to read about this stuff.
Classic modern China. Thanks for sharing, that made me laugh.
Question, does she call you honey in English or Chinese, and if Chinese, what word does she use?
Joel: I called him “蜂蜜” in Chinese, I also call him “小甜心”. Ha, just kidding. When it comes to Romance, I choose English. It’s too weird to express the intimacy in Chinese. I guess it’s my problem. But language is not only simply a language either.
Gardener: you are right. I love reading this kind of writing in his blog too. He’s a good painter with a brilliant brush.
It’s funny I happen to comment right now, when he’s out to get the rug back. He wore a jacket this time. (Now I hear the door opening. Wonder what story he brings back this time:)
“The great revelation had never come. The great revelation perhaps never did come. Instead there were little daily miracles, illuminations, matches struck unexpectedly in the dark…making of moment something permanent–this was of the nature of a revelation.” —Virginia Woolf
I detected the simply joy you had when “popped open that can of Dr. Pepper and poured the Coke-killer into the glass”. It was interesting and I’ve felt it many times.
I believe in these “daily miracles” that bring us a moment of intense joy, a glance of a tiny edge of the big truth.
Even if it was only a Dr. Pepper.
That supposed Marx quote is a hoax that has been repeatedly debunked. See:
The Atlantic
http://meganmcardle.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/01/faux_marx.php
International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/25/business/col26.1-437515.php
Even the John Birch Society admits it is a fraud, and you don’t get more right wing than that:
http://www.jbs.org/index.php/news-feed-archive/4580-about-that-karl-marx-quote
Thanks for coming to the rescue Antony. Unfortunately, I beat you to it — try reading “In Tim’s Shoes” Day 5 (this post is part of a series): http://www.gotoofareast.com/toblog/?p=922
Funny typo: Do you really mean antidotes or anecdotes?
Haha, nice catch Mercator. One of those things spell check can’t help with … pure stupidity
I love your photos a lot. I’ve been teaching at a migrant school in a tiny village in north-western Beijijng suburb for half a year. That was really an inspiring experience…
看见你的网站昨天才更新的，真开心~马宁的博客都不更新的，真急人啊~~我昨天才从边的博客找到了宁的博客，看到你们的婚纱照了，真替你们开心啊~代我向你可爱的老婆讲一下，我是她高中的室友，我叫张雪菲~但愿她还记得我，嘿嘿~但愿你不介意我留言中国字，祝你们幸福~顺便说一句，在你这里留言我研究了有一会儿呢。。。
你好菲！我很高兴你来到我的博客. 宁现在坐我的对面. 她说你是她以前的好室友. 边现在是我们的邻居. 你下次来北京我们应该见个面.
Hello!
Very Interesting post! Thank you for such interesting resource!
PS: Sorry for my bad english, I’v just started to learn this language
See you!
Your, Raiul Baztepo
Cool Tim. Saw the two of you (Ning had a bluish scarf on, right?)
The song is “teenage wasteland” by “The Who”
Very interesting post, I missed it the first time around. Brings back precious memories.
I loved Ning’s response, “a glance of a tiny edge of the big truth,” very deep, makes you think. You’re both such good writers.
Tim, I know that Friday evening crash feeling – it’s just I get it on a Wednesday night. Geez, I’d kill right now for a burger and a Dr Pepper. Things have changed since the little one came along – no more ducking out for a quick bite to eat, or a quick movie…
Enjoy your precious time with Ning. You have such a beautiful relationship – and what native Chinese person can whip out Virginia Woolf? So impressed.
And Tim, you’ll be interested to know I have started a blog as per our boss’s feedback today. The Voffice… Have to thank you for that one. thevoffice.blogspot.com check it out.
Wayne, I did have a scarf on, but it was bluish. are you sure that was us? haha.. keep looking~
Matthew, when are you and Karen coming to the big B?
张~~~雪~~~~菲~~~~~！！！
地球太小了昂！！嘿嘿。我这就更新博客去，冲你一句话！
Tim, check this out~
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3eKTJhVPZc&eurl=http://share.xiaonei.com/share/ShareList.do%3Fcurpage%3D3%26id%3D1500188694&feature=player_embedded
Hi Mengster, I can’t watch the video because YouTube is blocked in China right now. Are you watching non-harmonious internet content?
Blocked again. oh, my! That is the same kind of freeze thing they did in Grand Central Station. I think the one who organized that freeze Beijing thing must have seen this one. very coooool~
And by the way, where is you and ning? at what time? tell me!!!! I can’t find. the video is too vague.
We can’t find you either. Give us some hints.
Are you standing next a flower bed just as a young man with a baby walks in front of you?
Handyman: You found us!! haha!
April is easily the most beautiful month in Tianjin. Amazing colours and great weather. Haha, better enjoy it while it lasts and get outside!
Is this where we took the boat ride?
Beautiful! It is Ba Yi Hu, the place I grew up.
Ning, you write so well, who would believe this is your second language.
25 Trackbacks