March 13th, 2010
谷歌的事情又被拿出来说。
工信部部长:希望谷歌遵守中国的法律。如果真要做出违背中国法律的事情,就是不负责任的,后果要自己负责。
这段话好像有点逻辑问题。一、已经认定人家不负责任了,怎么还指望人家能够对后果负起责任来呢?二、其实即使不违法,出了事后果还是自负的,政府又不会帮着分担。
华尔街时报:谷歌的创立者布林之所以能这么英勇抗争,他在苏联的成长时目睹和经历的压迫是其主要原因。
不知道这位恐是娱记出身的记者是否忘了了解一下,布先生在苏联长到六岁就移民了。这么英勇抗争,恐怕更多的是六岁以后受的教育所致,觉得普天之下自己的价值观是唯一放之四海而皆准的真理所以一定要推而广之。
Posted in News & Events | 5 Comments »
March 8th, 2010
有些名称挺有趣,拿出来说说,免得以后忘了。
去理个发,理发师傅的头衔是“总监”。我在想是不是总管太监的简称的时候,他喊了一句,帅哥把眼镜拿下来。我楞了一下才意识到,帅哥这个和我一点缘分都没有的词,居然指的是我。后来听旁边的各个总监们也是帅哥美女的乱叫,不知是个别现象还是各处理发店都一样,有待考察。
商界人士似乎喜欢相互叫“总”。赵钱孙李总,周吴郑王总,总书记也是总,总太监也是总,总之大家都是总。总们相互交流谈话那一定叫“沟通”,我们来沟通一下,你去和他们沟通一下,然后大家一起沟通一下。
“小姐”一词好像真的成为禁忌了,服务员称女性顾客就叫“女士”,顾客叫女性服务员就叫……“服务员”。
各种手机服务计划都叫“套餐”,恐怕还需要一段时间来改掉听见套餐就联想到薯条和可乐的习惯。好不容易弄明白了“G3”其实就是国中动移司公的3G业务,不知道日后发展到8G时代它怎么办。电信的那个3G图标明摆着说明电信要和移动做一样的事情但是要反着来。实在是弄不懂各种市话费长话费漫游费本地上网费漫游上网费等等事项,于是想联通卖的iPhone虽然是没有Wifi的,但好在服务计划比较简单明了,就去买一个来用,才发现人家的3G,小虫一样的图标,居然叫——沃!以后每次看见都想在后面加上“靠”。
Posted in Misc. | 4 Comments »
March 5th, 2010
北京的空气质量好像波动很大。前几天差到隔几条马路的楼房都看不清楚,今天又出奇的好,从办公室的窗口看出去,居然能隐约看见西北郊的小山。
小南开始上幼儿园了,是小区里的一个民办双语幼儿园。中班的外籍老师还在教abcd,就让她上了大班。打听了一下国际幼儿园的价格,已然和很多其他东西一样与国际完全接轨了,贵得咋舌。小区幼儿园的收费是三万二一年,还算能够接受。几天以后新鲜劲过了,小南有一天回家说我在幼儿园哭了因为想爷爷奶奶爸爸妈妈。一番开导后第二天回家说我今天没有哭,只是掉了几滴眼泪。看来也需要个适应过程。
此前考察过另一个双语幼儿园,问外教是哪里人。答曰:哈尔滨。
哈尔滨好像还是咱中国的地盘。于是再问,得知是菲律宾的。
Posted in Baby, Misc. | 4 Comments »
February 27th, 2010
回国不到三周,在美国的那些日子已然恍若隔世,没有太多留恋,更多的是期待。
大概还在蜜月期,好像除了觉得包括房子在内的各种东西价格比心理价位要高以外,暂时还没有什么不适应的。其实是一个心态问题。已经有好几次被人问:都出国那么长时间了还回来干什么?不知有没有“是不是混不下去了才跑回来”的弦外之音。我想,我在国外还是能混的,也没觉着给那什么什么的丢脸,但会游泳的就一定要一直泡在水里么?
然而南京市敬爱的警察阿姨却不这么认为,非要假定我已经在国外定居,一定要我出示两年前在美国从学生签证转为工作签证的美国移民局文件才给我上户口办身份证。于是,一个中国公民在中国的土地上得出具美国政府的文件才能落户才能拥有自己的中国身份证,也算是奇闻一件。而国家一方面说欢迎留学生回国,但回来以后国家要怀疑你,程序上假定你一定是在国外定居了,非要自己国家的公民来举证没有别的国家的户口,也是非常具讽刺意味的。
回国前萍儿说,以后不能总用国内的短处比国外的长处,应该多反过来想想。深以为然。

肉食动物的新发现
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另:如果有朋友遇到过类似情况有办理的经验,请不吝指点一下。
Posted in Thoughts | 14 Comments »
February 26th, 2010
I mean, began a couple days ago. As usual, what I do at work is entirely off-limits to this blog, but there’s always something to write about outside of work, or at least that’s the hope.
So it’s past midnight here in Beijing and I’ve just finished what I wanted to get done for the day and am getting settled into my new office. Compared to my old office in NY, it’s bigger, has newer furniture, plenty of shelf space, and no officemate (though this last point oddly isn’t as much a plus as I thought).
For a few days in a row now I would go home for a quick bite at night and go for a walk outside with Ping to sample all the things Beijing has to offer after nightfall, or just admire the glitter. On one of the walks Ping said that she’s really happy that we came back, so that we can enjoy, among many other things, a late night walk hand-in-hand, side-by-side, worry-free, after a long day’s work.
I couldn’t agree more. And I was even happier when we found a decent place nearby that offers 5 yuan breakfast and 10 yuan meals and is open 24 hours.
Posted in Leisure | 4 Comments »
February 23rd, 2010
Huge. Beijing is huge. Even the CBD area seems huge. Despite the massive skyscrapers there still seems to be plenty of open space, unlike in Manhattan where sunshine on the ground is a rarity unless the street is perfectly aligned with the direction of the sun.
Expensive. Not as much as New York overall, but certain items are as expensive or even more expensive. My rent is about 1/3 what I used to pay in NY, for an apartment that sells for about the same as what my old apartment in NY would sell for. But there are certain things that seem to be double what I am used to paying in the U.S. Overall my preliminary estimate is that 400k rmb per year after tax is what it takes for a family of 4 to live comfortably in Beijing in a rented apartment with no luxury purchases and still have just a bit of money put away as savings, but whether that turns out to be true remains to be seen.
Posted in Uncategorized | 13 Comments »
February 18th, 2010
上一次到北京还是两千年的时候,千禧年午夜和萍儿在某辆出租车里听广播里的主持人倒数计时,听见零点时相视一笑互祝新年快乐。
今晚的火车,又要去北京了。不知这次能住多久,是不是还像以前一样喜欢这个深厚大气的城市。
Posted in Thoughts | 7 Comments »