Lots going on - but life's looking up :)

[imbecamiel]

Well, we got our Christmas tree today, which is much fun. And then the tree stand broke when the guys were trying to put it up, which is not so fun. They were trying to fix it, but we finally had to get a new one - it was that or have our tree standing undecorated in a beat-up five gallon bucket in the family room when our family comes over tomorrow :P But anyway, we got quite a bit of Christmas baking and other decorating done today regardless.

And since our van is now officially totaled, and insurance is going to quit paying for a rental in less than a week, we need to buy a new car within the next few days. Which was... not exactly planned for this year, much less the middle of December. And makes me very sad, because even though I maybe should be excited about getting a new van... our other one may have been getting old, but I liked it. And even though they're nice, I haven't really liked the new ones we've rented for trips or most of the ones we've looked at recently. But ah well, God's provided the means to get a new one, even on such short notice, and even though it was an "accident" nothing happens without His planning, so I'm sure He's got something good for us. So, all that means that we spent a lot of the afternoon/evening looking at cars today, but with no real decisions made yet... We shall see.

And randomly, a funny link my mom got sent this morning. Hilarious video. Anyone who's been homeschooled will definitely get a kick out of it. *g*

We went to a Chinese restaurant  the other day, and I yet again got a good laugh out of the chopsticks' packaging. Now I must first clarify that this is not some small, hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant. No, it is a comparatively up-scale, prosperous business, part of a large chain of restaurants. Also, these packages have not been around for simply a few weeks (that could certainly be understandable - one doesn't throw out a bunch of chopsticks simply because the packages are ridiculous, after all), nor have they been around for a few months (certainly explainable, they could have ordered a large supply of them), no, they have been around for a number of years. And not just at this restaurant, but others in the chain. The package? I will quote exactly what's written on them.

The front:

"Welcome to Chinese Restaurant.
Please try your Nice Chinese Food With Chopsticks
the traditional and typical of Chinese glonous history
and cultual.

BAMBOO CHOPSTICKS
PRODUCT OF CHINA"

The back, interspersed with pictures illustrating how to correctly hold chopsticks:

"Learn how to use your chopsticks

Tuk under        tnurnb
and held firmly

Add second chocostick
hold it as you hold
a pencil

Hold tirst chopstick
in originai position
move the second
one up and down
Now you can pick
up anything:



PRODUCTOF
CHINA "

Yes, aside from the quotation marks (and the fact that on the package it's horizontal, rather than vertical as it is here) that is exactly what it says, spacing, spelling, and punctuation included. Now I understand that this was almost certainly written by a non-native English speaker. And I don't delude myself into thinking I could do any better were I to attempt to write something in Chinese. Still. If you're going to print off thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of copies of something to be sold and distributed in a foreign country... wouldn't you think you could get someone who knew the language to at least give it a brief glance-over to make sure it's not ridiculous? Or at least use a computer with a basic spell-checker?

*sighs* Yes, I get entirely to obsessed and worked up about such things. :P

Seems I'm quite random today. But happily random. :) And now off to write some more comments on certain stories. Seems t'was a bit optimistic to hope to get something sizable done on it today, but ah well - I'm working on it, at any rate. And very, very happy to be back to it - I've been missing it very much. :)

Comments

[niro1689.livejournal.com]

*laughing* Wow...that's absolutely awful. :D I don't mean this gruffly, but...LEARN ENGLISH, PEOPLE!!! LOL

[imbecamiel.livejournal.com]

Hehe... isn't it, though? I mean, honestly, I'm really not an arrogant American who thinks we've got the right to demand everyone else learn our language because we're so powerful and big and all. But really, if you want to sell something to someone in a foreign country... you can do better than that. C'mon, I met some Chinese college students while we were in Beijing - I'm sure almost any of them could have immensely improved on that package with little effort. :P

[polingly.livejournal.com]

Oh, I am sorry about your van. It's odd how you can get used to a vehicle, even if it isn't perfect or new...I was so used to our old Toyota, especially after driving it, that I was actually a little sad when we replaced it with our new car. We'd had the thing since I was five years old. *gets all nostalgic* But I do hope you all find a new one that you like, and soon, despite all of the near-Christmas mayhem. :D

And that link.... *dies* I especially like the looks on the neighbors' faces, and the "indoor recess." That's awesome. :D

And gahaha, the spelling! *winces* These kinds of things are so, so funny. Still, I can only imagine how hard it is to transition from Chinese to English, partly because of the letter/character differences.... I can tell, like with "tnurnb" that the writer might have mistaken our "n" for "h" and even "r" and "n" together for an "m." Same with the "i" in the place of "l" in "orginai." You can just tell they tried so hard. I do wonder why they don't--or can't--have some system of spell-checking though, possibly from someone who actually does speak English.... *scratches head*

[imbecamiel.livejournal.com]

It is strange, isn't it, how attached you can get to a car, even an older one? And it's so frustrating, we could easily get one almost identical to our old van, except that almost all of the new ones are "stow-and-go" now - which may be convenient, but makes for horrendously uncomfortable back seats. *sighs* Gah, and I'm really not looking forward to continuing my learning how to drive (and doing so in the snow for the first time) in our new (or new-used, as the case may be) car. Even if I really didn't want to damage the old van, at least I could have some comfort in knowing it was older, and that I wouldn't be the first to do something to it. *bites nails*

Hehe, isn't it great? The expressions on the neighbors' faces was one of my favorite parts, too - that and, "We never leave our dwelling." *bg* I mean, seriously, on learning that we homeschool people have asked my mom, in tones of great concern, "But you do get them out of the house, right? Have some activities, opportunities to socialize...?" No, you don't understand! Being homeschooled means we never leave the house and we can't talk to anyone outside our family! :P

I am far more reluctant to make fun and ready to show mercy when it comes to people for whom it isn't a first language making mistakes in writing. Heaven knows I've had enough personal experience in how hard it can be. And you're right, you can see they were trying! But really... you would think they'd have some better way to check it. As I was telling Niro - I met a number of Chinese college students while we were in Beijing, when we were "guest speakers" at an English class, and I would bet that the majority of them could easily have done better. If spell-checkers and such aren't effective, how much could it cost to have a student look it over? And you'd think that someone to whom they're trying to sell the product, on looking at it, might point out the rather obvious mistakes... *shakes head*

[calen-greenleaf.livejournal.com]

*am promptly embarrassed because she herself is Chinese*
*snickers*

Cami, it's actually not the worst of it. I've seen far, far worse "Chinglish," as it has been dubbed.

Look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinglish

Have fun laughing. I nearly had tears in my eyes. :)

[imbecamiel.livejournal.com]

He! Oh, that link is hilarious. Thanks for sending it! *giggles*

Have you seen the badly-done LOTR subtitles? One of my favorites is in FOTR, when Arwen is taking Frodo on Asfaloth, and Aragorn says to her, "Arwen, ride hard. Don't look back." Which was turned into: "Arwen, ride hard. Don't come back." Hehe, had a bit of an argument, did we? *bg*

[calen-greenleaf.livejournal.com]

No, I haven't seen the bad subtitles. *g* But I'll look out for them the next time I watch LOTR!

[imbecamiel.livejournal.com]

Actually, I don't think they're on the US version of it... If you go to www.arwen-undomiel.com, though, they have a link to some of them in the humor section. :)

[calen-greenleaf.livejournal.com]

Ah...
Thanks for the link. *goes over*
*nearly falls of chair with laughter*