sincerely, Shualaw

2000年6月9日
我们认识了你，认识了一个叫孙燕姿的女生。于是，也不知道是你陪伴了我们，还是我们支持了你。
我们一起走过了快8年。这包含了多少酸甜苦辣 欢笑痛哭的8年。这包含了多少年少气盛，风华正茂的8年。因为有你和你的音乐，真的很精彩。
孙燕姿，没有过人的相貌，不会绚丽的舞技，不懂曲意地奉和，她有的只是一副不错的嗓音。一颗对音乐执着的心和那股爱唱歌的热情。所以，她会为了唱好歌而苦练自己生硬的中文。所以，她会为了一首录不到最佳效果的歌而急得泪洒录音间。所以，她记得在她音乐道路上帮助过她的每一个人。所以，她会在每次唱现场前都仔细地走台试音。
到现在，孙燕姿还是会自问说：其实，你这个人，什么都不是！可是为什么会又有那么多的人喜欢你的歌，支持你呢？
我们说：因为你用心做的音乐，用感情唱出的歌感动了我们 ，仅此而已。
幸运，大概是指获得到的奖项和销售的肯定。
奇迹，大概是指没有曲折地获得成功。
如果绿光代表着幸运 代表着奇迹
那么，孙燕姿，你就是那道绿光
你就是我们的那个唯一。
回想那一场演唱会。关于孙燕姿的精彩，终于等来了。
演出是成功的，燕姿是完美的。
万人K歌的场面，那样的场景，真的让人无法用言语来形容。
有人在她的歌声中留下了自己的眼泪，却还是带着泪跟着她一起唱着。那是幸福的眼泪。
一样的舞台，一样的歌曲，一样的表扬，却带来不一样的感动，不一样的精彩。
台上的人多了份撒娇。台下的人多了份亲切。
是你，在华丽的舞台上优雅地翩翩起舞
是你，在热烈的掌声中幸福地感动演出
是你，在耀眼的灯光下开心地大声歌唱
那就是你，最真，最好，最美丽的你。
接下来的日子，有好有坏
但是，我们选择一如既往的相信并支持着燕姿。
只要你朝着你自己的方向努力地去追寻就好。幸福就好。
如果，有一天你不想唱了，那样也好，只要你是开心的。
2007年的那道逆光 你说：
“即使痛得刺眼 去看见希望 看见了爱我的人 看见了我爱的人
我愿意去相信 我会永不放弃”
人生若只初相见，爱会不会更多，我想不会
经过8年，发现原来我比初相见时更爱你了。
怀念你带来的过去，更期待你未来的精彩。
姿迷无处不在，燕姿无法取代。

On my first move to Asia (Singapore) I was excited to find some great Asian music, but was surprised to that great Asian music was not as easily found as I had previously hoped…most of the population loved either American/western bands and musicians, or Chinese “pop” music (liúxíng yīnyùe-流行音乐). There are some amazing western bands and musicians, but as far as I’m concerned Chinese pop music (and pop music in general) is nothing too spectacular; once you’ve heard one you’ve heard them all. So, you might understand my pain when upon first arrival all I heard everywhere was either, music I had already heard while in the states, or a pop song that sounded just the same as the one before. (I understand that by saying this some of my Chinese friends might beat me up, but that’s okay )

I quickly overcame my disappointment when some friends introduced me to some “good stuff” that was truly, “music to my ears”. The following is one of the “good stuff” that I have come to love and enjoy over the last couple of years living in Asia. Her name is Stephanie Sun (sūn yàn zī-孙燕姿）and she is probably my favorite Chinese female singer song writer.

Sun Yanzi (English name= Stephanie Sun) was born in Singapore on July 23, 1978, and according to wikipedia has sold over “10 million copies” of her 10 albums thus far in her career (and probably twice or three times that amount have been downloaded “illegally” on line–which is very very common in China especially). Most of her songs are sung in Mandarin Chinese, with the occasional English or Hokkien (fú jiàn hùa-福建话) song thrown into the mix.

Now, to understand why I enjoy Sun Yanzi I will tell you a little bit about my taste in Music. I am not super analytical when it comes to why I like a certain bands or musicians, it normally comes down to one thing, “how does it make me feel?” . I like music that brings a certain emotion with it; whether it makes me happy, sad, euphoric, upset..or want to dance uncontrollably… etc. So if a song is able to carry with it pretty much any emotion (except for “annoyance”) then to me that is a great song, and I will enjoy the listening experience.

Sun Yanzi is definitely one who fills her songs with feeling, rhythm and emotion. Her vocals are unique, but pleasant to the ear, and her songs combine many different elements of Singaporean culture. Although some of her recent songs are a little too poppy for me they still carry enough of Sun Yanzi signature vocals that they are still quite pleasant to the ear just not as amazing as some of her others.

Well, I won’t bore you any longer with writing about Sun Yanzi. After all, the best way to find out if you like a certain musician is to listen to their music.

So…in the words of Jordy laforge, from Reading Rainbow, “don’t take my word for it” have a listen and tell me what you think.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I still remember the exact moment that I realized this principle. I had been living in Singapore and Malaysia for about a year and half, when my friend (an American born Chinese or A.B.C.) and I went to a small party with about 10 to 15, Singaporean’s and Mainland Chinese. The party started as any good party normally starts, with lots of FOOD…!!! After enjoying a great meal together we proceeded to play a series of little games. As the night went on I started to notice that everyone around me was laughing uncontrollably, everyone but ME! I understood what they were saying, but I just didn’t think that it was funny… so I wasn’t laughing… and it really hit me at that moment that I just didn’t fit in.

By this time I thought that Mandarin was pretty good. I had worked very very hard over the last year and a half to learn all I could. But when it came to a couple fairly simple jokes and games I just wasn’t grasping what was happening. At this point I began to understand that learning a language isn’t just about words and sentences that is a robot or computer’s job. I definitely am not a computer or a robot that just spouted words and phrases! I am a PERSON with feelings, and emotion that can COMMUNICATE with others! And if I was going to communicate with Chinese people I would need to change and seek to understand the culture more fully…laugh when they laugh and cry when they cry.

I wish I could say that after making this descision I immediately started laughing at all the joke’s that I heard while also creating a whole bunch of my own, but that hasn’t been the case; it hasn’t been easy. Now, it has almost been 6 years since I came to that realization. I still have the occasional thing that goes right over my head, but for the most part I feel like a fit in.

Now you’re probably saying to yourself, “how do I change what I think is funny?” The answer is that you’re not changing what you think is funny, you are just adding to it. There’s no need for you to change who you are. It is just the act of opening up your mind and heart and accepting more, and over time it will happen!!!

Added Pointers:

If you are a people watcher: watch people! see how they tell jokes, what they are laughing at…and over time you will naturally do the same things.

If you like movies: try watching a couple classic Chinese comedies…Zhou Xingchi (Stephen Chow) is by far the most famous Chinese comedy director! A couple of his movies that have made it to American soil are “Shaolin Soccer” and “Kungfu Hustle”

If you like to read: look at jokes on line and pick some out, learn them and start telling them and see what kind of reaction you get.

]]> http://www.crazina.com/2009/06/becoming-fluent-joking/feed/ 0 http://www.crazina.com/2009/06/happy-duan-wu-jie/ http://www.crazina.com/2009/06/happy-duan-wu-jie/#comments Sat, 06 Jun 2009 05:31:00 +0000 shualaw http://www.crazina.com/?p=98 今天是中国的端午节，希望大家端午节快乐。每年的端午节都是中国农历的五月初五。这个节日是为了纪念爱国诗人屈原而来的，屈原古代伟大的诗人和政治家，他的作品“离骚 至今流传。屈原为了国家和人民的安危，最后在绝望和悲愤之下投汨罗江而死。人们为了纪念他，以后的每一年的五月初五这一天，老百姓都会把米饭做成粽子投在江里喂鱼，这样鱼就不会吃屈原的肉体。划龙舟也是端午节的习俗，因为当时人们为了救屈原，许多人划船追赶拯救，他们争先恐后，后来每年就有了划龙舟比赛的传统。除了这些，还有饮雄黄酒，游百病，挂香囊等传统做法在端午节的时候。。总是，希望大家端午节快乐

Through-out the world there are many fun and unique ways that people have found to keep cool… What type are you? are you the type who wears nothing more then a light tank-top, shorts and flip-flops all summer long, or are you that person who shaves their head bald and carries a pack of ice on your head…?

No matter what you may prefer… when it comes to Chinese Men there is mainly one preferred method for “cooling down” on those hot, humid summer days……. and you guessed it. It is to simply lift ones shirt above ones belly and let it rest there all day long. Not only does this act help to keep your belly nice and cool, while cooling down the rest of your body (of course ) it also gives every belly a chance to “show off” and flaunt itself round giggly self… even if it is only during the summer:)

So next time you’re walking around the streets of Shanghai admiring each of the unique little shops, and suddenly a man with a huge belly comes meandering around the corner; showing his gigantic midriff off to everyone that fancies a gaze….. you should do the following 4 steps in order:

1.Take out that permanent marker that you have been storing just for this occasion, and remove the cap!

2. Quickly, yet stealthy, run up to the man…

3. Draw a large smiley face on that huge belly…

4. Run like the dickens.

Why do this you might ask…because simply stated a huge, smiling belly is a happy belly!!! plus belly buttons make fantastic noses.

In all seriousness, I have always wanted to do this, but up to this point in time I have not yet dared to make the move.

This kid is starting young… just wait til’ he’s 30 years older and another 150-200 lbs.(see image on right) Smiley face here we come.

Vocabulary for this story is here

Side Note: when speaking of these two their stories are rarely separated saying, 盘古开天地和女娲造人.

Feel free to copy, paste and print any of these stories to better study them as well as so that you can jot down some of your own notes. Just don’t sell them or I might have to chase you down with my pet frog.

女娲造人

盘古开了天地以后， 地上就有了这个美丽的世界。 可是这个世界没有什么意思， 因为地上一个人也没有。 有一天， 一位美丽的女神来到了这个地上，女神的名字叫女娲。 女娲看到地上一个人也没有，心里很不满意。 她觉得，这么大的一个世界没有人住， 那有什么意思呢？ 这时女娲就想要造人。 当女娲来到一个水边喝水的时候，她从水里看到了自己美丽的样子。她很高兴， 就在水边用地上的泥土做起人来。

女娲照着自己的样子做了一个小泥人，她把小泥人放到地上，向小泥人吹了一口气， 小泥人马上就活了。女娲很高兴， 就把小泥人叫做， “人”。 她又 做了一些小泥人。 结果， 这些小泥人也都活了。 他们都叫她， “妈妈！ 妈妈！” 女娲这时更高兴了， 她就一直不停地做小泥人来。 十个，一百个，一千个。。。小妮人活了以后， 就到别的地方去住了。

可是女娲天天做泥人， 白天做，晚上也做。 累了也不能好好的休息。 世界这么大，泥人一个个的做太慢了。 他想，什么时候才能使人住满整个大地呢？ 女娲就开始想办法。 她希望有一个更方便，更容易，和更快的方法来造人。

女娲想了一个好办法。 她用了草做成绳子， 把绳子上打上很多结。 她把打了结的绳子放到泥水里， 然后把绳子上的泥水洒在地上， 泥水一到地上就变成了人。原来， 绳子上打的结是 很特别的。 从每一个结上出来的泥水够变成了一个人的样子，而且， 绳子上的结有的大，有的小。 有的结很特别， 有的结很一般。 这就是为什么造出来的人， 有的聪明，有的笨。有的人很好，也有的人不好。有男人，也有女人。 那些笨的人和不好的人，就是女娲在不小心的时候造出来的人。

女娲现在太高兴了！她就一边跑， 一边洒着泥水， 她把泥水洒到了世界上的各个地方， 地上很快就住满了大大小小的人群。 从这个时候起， 这些人群就生活在这个美丽的世界里，一直到现在。

Vocabulary for this story is here

For more info about Nuwa check out wikipedia

Vocab for this story is here

盘古开天地

很久很久以前，在远古的时候，世界上什么东西都没有，没有山， 没有河，也没有树木， 太阳和月亮也没有。 整个的天和地都是在一起的，里面黑黑的，外面看起来好像一个很大的蛋。

又过了很久很久， 这个蛋里面慢慢生出来了一个人， 他的名字叫盘古。 盘古是一个很高很大的人， 他在这个蛋的里面睡了一共一万八千年，后来就起来了。 当他起来的时候，觉得在蛋的里面又黑又难过，他很想出去看一看外面的天地。
他一次又一次地要出去，可是一点也没有办法出去。 他在蛋里面什么也看不见，什么也听不见。蛋里面的空气也不好，这时盘古觉得越来越不舒服了。 他就用了很大的力气，要把蛋打开。突然，他听到很大的 “轰” 的一声最后蛋被打开了。

这个蛋并不是真正的蛋，而是上古的时候天和地的样子。 当蛋打开了以后， 盘古就出来了。 这时候， 他觉得非常的舒服。 蛋里面那些淡而轻的东西就慢慢的往天上去，变成了天。 那些黑又重的东西就慢慢往地下来， 变成了地。但是，这时候的天地分得很近，盘古怕天地再回到一起变成蛋，就站在地上，把天举起来。 他站在那里，举着天， 举了一万八千年也没有休息。 在这一万八千年里， 天变得越来越高， 盘古也变得越来越高， 最后天和地被分开了九万里。 这时的盘古已经非常累了。 他再也没有力气， 就突然 “轰” 的 一声倒下去了。
盘古死了以后， 他的四肢变成了地上有名的大山， 他的血变成了江和河，他的眼睛变成了太阳和月亮， 他身上的毛变成了地上的树木， 他口中的气变成了天上和地上的风， 传说最开始人们生活的世界就是这样来的。

Vocab for this story is here

For more about Pangu checkout pangu wikipedia