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Scheherazade
08-07-2012, 07:35 AM
http://media.cakecentral.com/gallery/716583/600-1263460027.JPG

Happy Birthday!

An interview with JBI:

*Why are we doing this interview thing?*
I am bored.

*Are you sure you want to do this?*
I guess.

Why would you want that?
This is getting tedious.

*So, how old are you?*
Too young, and too old. Too young to be taken seriously, to old to doubt myself.

*If you had a personal theme song what would it be?*
Surrounded On All Sides (the Chinese pipa theme).

*Are you male or female? *
Male

*If you could build an entire planet from scratch, what would it look, sound and smell like?*
100% white, no smell, no sound.

*If you owned the site, what would you change?
*
Get rid of my infraction points, and better moderation on the poetry section. Likewise, I would try to encourage a more international discussion, as I find English novels tedious at best.

*What was the inspiration for your LitNet username?*
My name.

*Which countries have you visited?*
Over 40 of them, much of Europe, Asia, some of South America, much of North America, Australia, New Zealand, etc.

*Which languages do you speak?*
English and Chinese fluently, Italian moderately, Hebrew selectively (comprehension is still high), and a little French.

*What is the last thing that you have done that you have been really proud of?*
Telling a Chinese father that I would not take a picture with his baby son because as a father he should know better than to smoke openly in a closed space in front of a small child, or anyone. Especially when there are clear signs that it is prohibited to smoke, and there is a clear smoking area. I told him off in front of everybody.

*If you could live somewhere different, where would it be and why?*
Not China. On return, this place is hell. Everything is wrong here, the people have gotten worse, and the place is deteriorating fast. For all you China is the place of the future people, wait five years for their recession to destroy this country.


*Do you have any pets?*
A dog

*What makes you happy?*
Being right. It's hard to be happy in a place where everyone is prejudiced against you because of your skin colour. Especially when you come from a much better country, have a bigger wallet, and better education, and are overall more accepting, more intelligent, and better mannered.

*Which actor should play you in a movie based on your life?*
Woody Allen

Who is your favourite Beatle?
John

*How do you like your coffee? *
To quote Airplane, Black.

*Given the option, what animal would you choose to be?*
Panda. People will be willing to treat me like a king, and keep me alive at a ridiculous expense simply because I will be cute.

When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Stay at home dad.

*What's the biggest fish you've ever caught?*
Maybe 2-3 kilos.

*What makes you feel great about yourself?*
Not compromising, no matter how bad things get.

*What are you naturally good at? (Skills, abilities, gifts etc.)*
Arguing, discussing literature, finding the bad in everything, reading people, and self-questioning (questioning in general.

*If you had to teach something, what would you teach?*
Chinese literature.

*What would you regret not fully doing, being or having in your life?*
Wine.

*If you were to be stuck at a particular time in your life, which one would you choose and why?*
Five years from now.

*Do you get tired living life?*
No, but I get tired of China.

*Do you have a tasty recipe for life that you could share for a reasonable price? … Is it REALLY tasty?*
If you come from a good country, stay there.

*What method do you cherish above all others, as means to improving your life?*
Ignore all dogma, and do not listen to your teachers.

*What one thing would you NEED to have on a deserted island if you didn't have to worry over food and water? *
A female, preferably an intelligent good looking one.

*If you were a king/queen for a day, what would you do?*
Get rid of all services not in English or French in Canada. If they want to use the government, make them learn how to speak the government's languages. No excuses for illiteracy.

*What song is in your head at the moment?*
我愿意 - 王菲 Cannot give a link right now as youtube is blocked.

*Which book are you reading at the moment?*
鲁迅全集 - collected works of Lu Xun.

Which comedians or cabaret artists do you like?
Woody Allen.

*Favorite avatar on the Forum?*
Mortalterror's old one.

*Favorite threads?*
None at the moment. The forums have been relatively dead of late.

What's your favorite sandwich?
Corned Beef.

*What is your answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything?*?
It sucks.

Who were some of the nicest people you met on LitNet?

*What are you wearing at the moment?*
T-shirt and jeans.

*Favorite poem?*
Li Sao 离骚 Escaping sorrow, Qu Yuan 屈原 from the lyrics of Chu 楚辞

*First novel you remember reading on your own?*
Goblins in the Castle.

*What era do you find most of the books you read are from?*
Contemporary criticism of medieval China.

*Favorite TV shows?*
Seinfeld

*Which Forum members would you like to meet in person?*
Too many to name.

*Last words you said out loud?*
我已经吃饱了,谢谢你。

*What do you do (for a living) to be able to keep your LitNet addiction going? And are you happy with your chosen profession?*
Student being paid by China to pretend this is the best place in the world. The money and accommodation are not bad, but one feels guilty being a dog for a toss government.

*Would you rather be an educated fool or an ignorant fool?*
Educated fool.

*What would you like to be if you could change your profession?*
Real estate mogul.

*Which one of the seven dwarves are you and why?*
Grumpy, because I have a low tolerance for stupidity.

*What is your most outstanding feature?*
Self-Determination.

*If you could change one thing about the way you look, what would that be?*
Make my hair thicker.

*Which book do you wish you had written?*
Casanova's Story of my Life.

*What book would you recommend to others of all types and ages as a must read?*
Lu Xun's Outcry.

*What should you be doing at the moment instead of answering these questions?*

Sleeping.

*Describe your ideal day, please.*
I don't get out of bed, nobody annoys me, and I don't need to deal with disappointment everywhere I look.

*Favorite movie?*
Mrs. Doubtfire.

*Last movie you watched?
Some crappy one on the bus about a Chinese singer who sings in a castrato range.

[*How are you going to pick just one favourite painting?*
Choose Caravaggio's David and Goliath.

B]Do you want to buy a banana?[/B]
yes.

*Favorite painting?*
See above.

Bowie, yay or nay?
yay.

*Wonderful Superman or depressing Batman?*
Batman.

*Something you want to forget but you never can?*
Where I come from.

What is the best thing that happened to you since your last birthday?
Constant success.

*If you could send one thing to the Room 101, one would that be?*
A letter reading, 'don't bother, it's a waste of time.'

*Are you mostly happy with life or are you still in pursuit?*
I was happy three months ago, now I am depressed having returned to the world of mediocrity and disappointment.

*How long did it take you to answer all of these questions?*
Too Long.

*One final word of wisdom for LitNet users?*
Read widely, and don't only stick to Russian and English 19th century fiction.

*What question would you like to ask to the person to be interview after you?
Are you gellin'?

mona amon
08-07-2012, 08:52 AM
Happy Birthday, JBI! :)

Charles Darnay
08-07-2012, 09:58 AM
Happy birthday! Good to see that you're still around.

JBI
08-07-2012, 11:17 AM
Geez, for if I could build a planet I put 100% white - I meant the planet's physical form not occupants! Now I look like a bigot.

Mutatis-Mutandis
08-07-2012, 11:32 AM
Happy birthday, bro. We may usually disagree, but you're one of the best members here.

Helga
08-07-2012, 11:41 AM
Happy birthday JBI

qimissung
08-07-2012, 01:24 PM
Geez, for if I could build a planet I put 100% white - I meant the planet's physical form not occupants! Now I look like a bigot.

I don't know if you meant it to be (or not to be), but the whole thing is hysterical, and the above is one of the reason's why.

But it's not clear, are you in Canada now or China?

Anyways, happy birthday!

LostPrincess13
08-07-2012, 03:18 PM
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JBI! I've always thought you were an interesting fellow. You remind me of Dr. Gregory House. I like House. :D

By the way, you were spot on about the panda! :D

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/394747_449071605112977_83158022_n.jpg

Pensive
08-07-2012, 03:56 PM
Happy Birthday JBI (I guess I am perhaps not late at all since in some time zones it might still be your birthday!)


*What do you do (for a living) to be able to keep your LitNet addiction going? And are you happy with your chosen profession?*
Student being paid by China to pretend this is the best place in the world. The money and accommodation are not bad, but one feels guilty being a dog for a toss government.
Your interview has become of special interest to me seeing I just recently visited Beijing (I wouldn't say China since I believe Beijing is probably more of a show-case capital rather than true representation of the whole country) and returned with so many questions bubbling in mind about a country which is seen as pretty much of an inspiration in my own.

I was there for only five days but couldn't help noticing the general air of artificiality..and even though I had an absolutely wonderful trip (seeing from point of view of a tourist since the place boasts of rich culture and heritage) I guess I would also not like to live there for long at all (and yes I belong to another developing Asian country which is a lot less well-off than China but I like to think we have much more freedom here at least). I also noticed how my Chinese contact shooed away the begging-woman who had tried to approach me further explaining how the woman was not actually poor and just making up the whole scene about poverty even when Chinese government was doing everything required to remove the slightest traces of poverty from the place! People just seemed a way too patriotic, extremely fearful of saying anything negative about authority.

However I also noticed some very positive aspects like hard-work and hospitality. I also had the good fortune of not encountering any theft (even in supposedly notorious places like the Forbidden City area) which generally leaves a very good impression of my first travel abroad (even if not necessarily the country...but yeah experiences like these tend to make you become strangely fond of the places you have had positive experiences in as well).


*What is the last thing that you have done that you have been really proud of?*
Telling a Chinese father that I would not take a picture with his baby son because as a father he should know better than to smoke openly in a closed space in front of a small child, or anyone. Especially when there are clear signs that it is prohibited to smoke, and there is a clear smoking area. I told him off in front of everybody.
Maybe because I am not too judgmental about right and wrong I don't really see the big deal about taking a photo with the baby. You were getting photographed with the baby not the father after all! :D (this actually reminds me of an occasion where a Chinese woman captured a few photos of me without my permission at all! I was expecting my nationality to be rather too common for Beijing to notice...but they did...too often..but I think it was rather cute)

Paulclem
08-07-2012, 08:26 PM
Happy Birthday and many more of them.

Silas Thorne
08-07-2012, 08:39 PM
生日快乐!:)

JBI
08-07-2012, 08:53 PM
The son was not conscious of the photo. I am not stopping for a rude father who barely asked me before trying to shove his infant in my hands. Seriously, anybody who smokes in front of a baby, be that their own or someone else's, is disgusting and needs no sympathy. You are dealing with the Chinese middle-upper class (the only class that goes traveling and owns 3000$ nikon cameras). They should know better.

As for travel in China, the whole thing is super artificial, but not in the sense one would expect - rather it is designed and selling China to Chinese people. Beijing is one of the exceptions in that it is actually an international tourism city. But I will put it in these terms:

When the Forbidden city was first built, China did not have concrete. The whole thing was rebuilt in the last 30 years, in concrete, meaning except for a few carved blocks (the fancy long ones that have fences around them) the whole place is new - no aura of mystery for red painted concrete buildings that all look the same.

As for the Great Wall, the only nice parts are the Ming Dynasty Sections (roughly 15-16th century) parts that were also rebuilt in the last 30 years.

Next, Summer Palace - the garden is old but all the structures are new, so this constitutes a real charm,

Temple of Heaven - all rebuilt, however the blue ceilings are endlessly more pleasant than the red of its twin the forbidden city.

This is all alright - you are walking in what they are trying to create of a "Historical Museum". Where you are living culture. It is all tied into China teaching itself that it has the longest, most advanced, most culturally rich, most tolerant, most wealthy history in the world. When listening to classmates speak like that, I tend to listen, and then when they get preachy tell them, 80 years ago you would have had bound feet and been unable to leave your family home, otherwise would have been sold as a concubine-slave to someone probably 4 times your age when you were 13-14. That is the big 5000 years of history. 5000 years of violence, class warfare, sexism, racism, and genocide. It's nice to believe everything is neat and made of concrete. Now lets try to imagine the 120+ concubines who were basically stolen from Korean villages that occupied the forbidden city's harems, or the men there made into eunuchs to do the lacky work. That is if they got off lucky. If they were born when they made the Forbidden city, most of them would have been burned alive with the dead emperor (meaning, they steal you from a Korean village at 13, he dies when you are 15, tough luck). As for the rest of the time (after the 16th century or so), you basically would become an outcast and live in a monastery for the rest of your miserable days.

That is what they should have written on the placks at any rate if they wanted to be historical. But the country doesn't.

You got out lucky 5 days in the cheapest tourist city in China. Imagine paying 30$ to get in to see every little crappy attraction. That's what tourism in China outside of Beijing is. Every little village 20$, every little cave 10-30$, the road leading up to the cave, 10$ - traveling in Europe is arguably cheaper, and Europe at least didn't burn the Sistine Chapel down the way China burnt virtually the whole country down, and rebuilt it for show. It's nerve to charge someone more to see some heavily damaged caves, no matter how beautiful, than the Pope charges to go into his private country and see the world's greatest collection of art on display.


If people want as tip, don't bother going to China for tourism, it's a waste of money, and it is disappointing. It reminds me of those amusement parks where you line up 1 hour to go on the roller coaster, only to be unamazed by it.

JuniperWoolf
08-08-2012, 02:04 AM
Geez, for if I could build a planet I put 100% white - I meant the planet's physical form not occupants! Now I look like a bigot.

Haha, that response made me pause for exactly this reason.

Anyway, happy birthday!

Gilliatt Gurgle
08-08-2012, 10:31 PM
Happy birthday JBI

(Texas Armadillo)

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/th_DSC03023.jpg (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/?action=view&current=DSC03023.jpg)

Mutatis-Mutandis
08-08-2012, 10:44 PM
What kind of dog do you have, JBI?

P.S. Seinfeld rules.

LitNetIsGreat
08-09-2012, 06:33 AM
Ha, ha, good interview, I could feel you getting more irritated with China as you went on.

JBI
08-09-2012, 09:39 AM
Ha, ha, good interview, I could feel you getting more irritated with China as you went on.

This is a country where people think friends are resources they can "trade" like cards. So they have no problem giving their other friend your phone number when he wants something of you, then calling you racist when you get mad, and say you just are a bad person who hates Chinese culture or some other crap. It gets frustrating when the whole country tries to use for free English lessons, or as a prop in their family photos.

JuniperWoolf
08-10-2012, 04:29 AM
The photos thing would give me an anxiety disorder. I know someone in China far off the beaten path who gets it all the time.

louisgeorge
08-10-2012, 07:43 AM
Happy B'day JBI :)

Pensive
08-10-2012, 04:16 PM
As for travel in China, the whole thing is super artificial, but not in the sense one would expect - rather it is designed and selling China to Chinese people.
Hmmmh it's really interesting now when you mention it because I noticed the chinese girls I talked to had little or no idea about what it was like in other areas of China (outside Beijing). They spoke as if Beijing actually represented whole of China.


You got out lucky 5 days in the cheapest tourist city in China. Imagine paying 30$ to get in to see every little crappy attraction. That's what tourism in China outside of Beijing is. Every little village 20$, every little cave 10-30$, the road leading up to the cave, 10$ - traveling in Europe is arguably cheaper, and Europe at least didn't burn the Sistine Chapel down the way China burnt virtually the whole country down, and rebuilt it for show. It's nerve to charge someone more to see some heavily damaged caves, no matter how beautiful, than the Pope charges to go into his private country and see the world's greatest collection of art on display.


If people want as tip, don't bother going to China for tourism, it's a waste of money, and it is disappointing. It reminds me of those amusement parks where you line up 1 hour to go on the roller coaster, only to be unamazed by it.

I know with my extremely limited experience of Beijing I can't really say much about China and Chinese people so it has been interesting to hear of the place from the perspective of somebody who has been there for quite a while.

One thing I am really curious to know is whether you initially had any trouble with communication in China. I was in Beijing which is supposed to be the most international city in China and despite of that I faced severe communication issues (nobody appeared to know basic English even though I had heard they were taught English from a very early age) Transport, bank services (like currency exchange) and almost everything appeared to be in Chinese. Chinese, as a language, also appears pretty challenging (especially the written Chinese).

And would you like to share where and what are you actually studying in China? I was actually staying at a place close to Peking University (almost their dormitory) and hanged out quite a lot in the campus and I found the university campus really cool, especially the library building and all the cool statues out there (and I heard somewhere their library is the biggest in Asia I wonder if it is true) oh and I was not there for tourism purpose actually it was an education-related thing, but since I had come all the way to Beijing I thought why not see around a bit as well)

papayahed
08-10-2012, 08:23 PM
Happy Birthday

JBI
08-10-2012, 08:29 PM
I came knowing basic greetings and how to do some basic things - that is a long intense year of effort with working 2+ hours a day. I could basically get around, but had no clue what anything on the menu was, nor how to read it. I also could not read any real document, though I could read many signs.

In order to get to the stage of conversation for every day things (how to live, if you will), it took me 2 months or so. Banking was hell, and is hell, because you need to wait forever to get to the counter, then fill in 100 pages of forms before they can do anything. In comparison, opening my Canadian account took 3 minutes, and the teller did it while I was filling out my credit card form. And we don't wait an hour for the bank to take our money in Canada either. OF course, this doesn't hurt you if you are rich in China, since there is a VIP line for all politicians and rich people to basically go ahead of everyone else.

As for people reading and speaking English. Virtually nobody. The country is useless, and it is one of the four subjects on their university entrance exams, yet I have met masters students in prestigious universities who cannot make a sentence. The country as a whole is relatively incompetent, with basic knowledge we take for granted being unknown. Someone, for instance, a university educated person mind you, would not believe me hot water cleans better. That is what, grade 6 science?

As for what I am studying, I am doing a masters in Ancient Chinese literature at Fudan university. Basically I regard it as a field work, and not real education as I feel the country's education system beneath me. Likewise, it is all 100% funded by the Chinese government. As for Peking university, the group is hit and miss. If you are from Beijing, you automatically get in to the best universities in the country, whereas the poorer places make it near impossible to get in (some provinces get like 1 person per province). So you know if the person is not from Beijing and is there, they are the smartest person in the country at writing the test. That isn't to say they are that smart, but there is a good chance they are at those particular 4 subjects, Math History/politics Chinese and English. That still doesn't mean they can make an English sentence. As for them though, usually a self possessed bunch of rich kids, which is the whole middle class here.

Clopin
08-29-2012, 02:32 AM
So wait a minute. You're most proud of your intelligence and the fact that you never compromise and yet you allow yourself to be employed by the government of China?

Whatever, enjoy the heavenly kingdom.