Monday, May 08, 2006

Well, as a little gift for not writing for a while, I'll give you guys this. Fanfan showed me these videos recently, and, though I can't understand a word of what's being said, I think they're hilarious.

Fanfan, while not translating the songs for me in their entirety, she explained some of the lyrics, which are pretty funny as well. Things like, "I thought I was a good dancin' man, until this woman came and out-danced me" (She explained it in French, that's my loose english translation). I don't know what he's talking about though, this guy dances more than anyone else in the videos, which is the funniest part of the videos.

Also, if someone knows where these videos came from, I'd love to know. They're all under the tag "山歌" ("Mountain Song," if I'm not mistaken). I thought they were old videos, but Fanfan told me they were new. In any case, I hope they're old. If not, that shatters some images I had of a progressive China that is surging forward.

Then again, perhaps it's a sign of how far they had to go.

One last thing, for those Chinese that may be reading this and thinking, because Fanfan is Taiwanese and I'm American, that we're insulting China, we're not. Well, we are making fun of Chinese music videos, but that has nothing to do with our views on China. The first time I saw these videos, in fact, it was with Chinese students here in Paris who found them just as funny as Fanfan and I did.

I just want to be clear about that. We spend most of our time with Taiwanese and Chinese students here.



















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Friday, May 05, 2006

I know it's been a long time since I've written anything, but it's been hectic. First of all, we changed internet servers, which, in France, takes weeks (three to be exact). Now, it's the end of the semester. Fanfan's finishing up at school, and she's gotten an internship working at Ultra Peau. As for me, I've been writing discertations and preparing presentations.

We'll both be finished with school at the end of the month. After, we'll have about a month and a half left until we both go home. This is assuming that our next trip to that god-awful, hell-hole (the Paris prefecture) goes well. We'll see at the end of this week....

I just wanted to mention that if anyone reading this blog knows could help me get a job in Taiwan, I'm planning on coming in September. I've already started applying for teaching jobs, but I've heard a lot of what concerns getting a good teaching job in Taiwan relies on connections. If anyone's got 'em and wants to hook me up, I'd be forever grateful.

That's all for now. Have a good one.

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