Maybe some of you remember a post from last spring where I quoted an article from Mpls's free 'zine The Rake about the censorship of the film 'Sideways' for airline in-flight movies. No? Well, the gist of it was that they replaced a dirty word for a jerk with the word 'Ashcroft' and inserted it over the original word in the movie. With this said, I found something else online today.
That is, the list of the year's most used politically correct words - from English language papers around the world. The group, Global Language Monitor, compiled the list which was topped by "Misguided Criminals" as a euphamism for terrorists and "Thought shower/word shower" to replace brainstorm (which may be offensive to those with brain conditions such as epilepsy). The list is quite interesting and quite funny.
Being an English teacher and full time wonk - perhaps this is just the sort of stuff that makes me laugh these days, but I thought the list to be pretty interesting. Language can dictate the way we perceive an issue or problem and, as I learned, those who control the language, control the conversation.
Another cool site, if you have time to waste, is Behindthename.com which tracks names in the English language, their roots and translations into different languages.
In all, these are interesting for those who believe that language is important.
Oh yeah, and in the word X-Mas, the Greek letter 'Chi' represented by the Roman X actually stands for the first two letters of the name Christ. So, think you're PC and wish someone a merry 'X-Mas'! Sucka!
和平。保罗。peace. paul.
Friday, November 18, 2005
Thursday, November 17, 2005
The 'One Child or Else' Policy
Since 1979, the Chinese government has administered their One Child Policy to cap the exponentially growing population of China. Before, it was seen as patriotic and desireable to have a large family because that meant more hands to work in the fields. Today, those who have a second child are faced with grim penalties and even more grim options.
Under Chinese law, the following will happen if a woman has a second child: a fine of no less than 300,000 rmb ($37,500 USD), the revocation of business or teaching or any other such license, stoppage of water AND power to the household. And, if this isn't bad enough, if the second child is discovered by the government they will kill the child or force an abortion for the woman.
What options are then left for a person from Zhongshan who is pregnant with her second child? None are very pleasent and none are very legal.
The woman could: illegally enter Hong Kong or Macao or try to find an international flight to Guam (US soil) or LA (v. difficult) and overstay her visa to have the baby illegally in the US. Other options include: going to a distant province, moving frequently as not to stir questions, having the baby and handing it over to relatives or, gulp, not having the baby at all. Any way, it's pretty grim.
This policy has helped to control a population surge in the world's most populus country, but a what cost?
Under Chinese law, the following will happen if a woman has a second child: a fine of no less than 300,000 rmb ($37,500 USD), the revocation of business or teaching or any other such license, stoppage of water AND power to the household. And, if this isn't bad enough, if the second child is discovered by the government they will kill the child or force an abortion for the woman.
What options are then left for a person from Zhongshan who is pregnant with her second child? None are very pleasent and none are very legal.
The woman could: illegally enter Hong Kong or Macao or try to find an international flight to Guam (US soil) or LA (v. difficult) and overstay her visa to have the baby illegally in the US. Other options include: going to a distant province, moving frequently as not to stir questions, having the baby and handing it over to relatives or, gulp, not having the baby at all. Any way, it's pretty grim.
This policy has helped to control a population surge in the world's most populus country, but a what cost?
There's no such thing as a free accupuncture session.
I started working out about a month ago and my body doesn't seem to like it as much as I'd hoped. Sure, I've seen results: increased energy, deeper sleep, biceps the size of SPAM cans... well, that's an exaggeration, but a healthier life is better a life.
After the second week in my 4 day a week workout rotation, I noticed a strain in my neck. A dull muscle strain, nothing serious, just a sign that I should easy up and stretch better. At a dinner later that week, I told a friend who is a doctor at the campus clinic about the soreness and she said that she had a rememdy. Feeling adventurous, I wanted to give it a shot.
So, bright and early on a Sunday (11:00am usually is bright and early on a Sunday morning for me) I awoke and went to the clinic. Sitting before Su Min were packages of 12 individually sealed needles, a set of small baby food jars, an oil lamp, cotton swabs, surgical tweezers, and rubbing alcohol. What does she have in mind?
In Chinese she asked me where the pain was and I motioned to my neck and said, "Right side." She used some icy-hot type medicine to loosen the muscle and then began to massage my neck. This traditional medicine is great! I thought. After 10 minutes or so, she started to unpack the needles.
With a gentle, dart throwing motion, she pushed the needle into my neck. The muscle tensed up, but it felt good, like a deep muscle massage. She placed 10 more on various pressure points on my neck, one in each elbow, one near the pinky tendon (the thing that prevents one from giving someone the 'ring finger' without the pinky rising to attention as well), and one into the meat between the thumb and index finger of both my hands.
I was immoble. I could not raise my head to make eye contact with her and my hands were beginning a strange numbness - like they were falling asleep, but the pins and needle feelings were real. It was not painful, just a dull soreness.
With a heat lamp warming the needles, thus warming the blood, thus opening the veins for increased flow, they stayed in for about 20 minutes. Su Min was making small talk with me and trying to practice her English. I understood about 60% of what she was saying in basic CHinese, but I guess the thrill for her was not the procedure, but a captive audience.
I sat there, like a enert pincushion. Then, a group of female nurses arrived to witness this spectacle. Suddenly, this became like a show, or a zoo, I'm not sure which. I heard hushed mumbling and the word "wai guo ren" (foreigner) a few times so I knew they were talking about me. They asked Su Min questions about me and then turned to the specimen for live responses.
"Ah. Ah? Where? Ah. Where? Ah. Where do you come-a from-a?" asked a brave nurse. Frustrated at the scenario, I replyed a gruff, "USA." My tone did nothing to sway them.
"Ah. What. What. Ah? What? What is you-a name?" she persisted. "Paul. Hai shi, Wei Bao Luo." I said, hoping that they would take my feeble Chinese as a sign that they could continue the inquisition in their native tounge - which I was more like to understand than slow English.
"Yes. I can use chopsticks." I said in response. ... ... "Yes, Chinese women are very beautiful." ... ... ... "No, I'm not married."
Don't get me wrong, I am a patient person who wished to help them practice English. I've had to coax more questions out of shy speakers than I'd care to remember, but this time... I was really frustrated and thought about freaking out, falling asleep, or getting up and running out of the room. Oh...wait. I've got needles in my neck.
This continued for about 10 minutes. Su Min was happy because after I stopped answering the nurses English questions, she was able to play translator for me to them. I was happy because I could see Su Min when she talked to me, unlike the hoarde that had assembled behind my back.
Moral of the story: There's no such thing as a free accupuncture session.
Moral of the story #2: When in Asia, make a shirt with: your country of origin, two basic emotions (good/bad) and yes/no. This way you can point to your shirt in moments of frustration. Oh... wait. I've got needles in my hands, too.
After the second week in my 4 day a week workout rotation, I noticed a strain in my neck. A dull muscle strain, nothing serious, just a sign that I should easy up and stretch better. At a dinner later that week, I told a friend who is a doctor at the campus clinic about the soreness and she said that she had a rememdy. Feeling adventurous, I wanted to give it a shot.
So, bright and early on a Sunday (11:00am usually is bright and early on a Sunday morning for me) I awoke and went to the clinic. Sitting before Su Min were packages of 12 individually sealed needles, a set of small baby food jars, an oil lamp, cotton swabs, surgical tweezers, and rubbing alcohol. What does she have in mind?
In Chinese she asked me where the pain was and I motioned to my neck and said, "Right side." She used some icy-hot type medicine to loosen the muscle and then began to massage my neck. This traditional medicine is great! I thought. After 10 minutes or so, she started to unpack the needles.
With a gentle, dart throwing motion, she pushed the needle into my neck. The muscle tensed up, but it felt good, like a deep muscle massage. She placed 10 more on various pressure points on my neck, one in each elbow, one near the pinky tendon (the thing that prevents one from giving someone the 'ring finger' without the pinky rising to attention as well), and one into the meat between the thumb and index finger of both my hands.
I was immoble. I could not raise my head to make eye contact with her and my hands were beginning a strange numbness - like they were falling asleep, but the pins and needle feelings were real. It was not painful, just a dull soreness.
With a heat lamp warming the needles, thus warming the blood, thus opening the veins for increased flow, they stayed in for about 20 minutes. Su Min was making small talk with me and trying to practice her English. I understood about 60% of what she was saying in basic CHinese, but I guess the thrill for her was not the procedure, but a captive audience.
I sat there, like a enert pincushion. Then, a group of female nurses arrived to witness this spectacle. Suddenly, this became like a show, or a zoo, I'm not sure which. I heard hushed mumbling and the word "wai guo ren" (foreigner) a few times so I knew they were talking about me. They asked Su Min questions about me and then turned to the specimen for live responses.
"Ah. Ah? Where? Ah. Where? Ah. Where do you come-a from-a?" asked a brave nurse. Frustrated at the scenario, I replyed a gruff, "USA." My tone did nothing to sway them.
"Ah. What. What. Ah? What? What is you-a name?" she persisted. "Paul. Hai shi, Wei Bao Luo." I said, hoping that they would take my feeble Chinese as a sign that they could continue the inquisition in their native tounge - which I was more like to understand than slow English.
"Yes. I can use chopsticks." I said in response. ... ... "Yes, Chinese women are very beautiful." ... ... ... "No, I'm not married."
Don't get me wrong, I am a patient person who wished to help them practice English. I've had to coax more questions out of shy speakers than I'd care to remember, but this time... I was really frustrated and thought about freaking out, falling asleep, or getting up and running out of the room. Oh...wait. I've got needles in my neck.
This continued for about 10 minutes. Su Min was happy because after I stopped answering the nurses English questions, she was able to play translator for me to them. I was happy because I could see Su Min when she talked to me, unlike the hoarde that had assembled behind my back.
Moral of the story: There's no such thing as a free accupuncture session.
Moral of the story #2: When in Asia, make a shirt with: your country of origin, two basic emotions (good/bad) and yes/no. This way you can point to your shirt in moments of frustration. Oh... wait. I've got needles in my hands, too.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
The Good Doctor Su Min - Zhongshan
Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Su Min.
Su Min, meet Ladies and Gentlemen.
Su Min, meet Ladies and Gentlemen.
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