With air pollution off the charts in Beijing, we turn our gaze outwards this week and invite Echo and Amber into our studio for an advanced show about their experiences living and traveling across the United States. Little did we know that we would not get a podcast about the majestic sweep of American wilderness, the dynamism of a working Republic, or even the great American foods like deep-dish pizza. Instead, they both went on about something completely different....Learning Chinese? At the advanced level, we try to showcase a wider variety of materials than explicit lessons, which means we also have some shows featuring the kind of Chinese-only advanced conversation featured in this podcast. Beyond listening to this sort of listening material, we also encourage advanced students to check out our manually annotated collection of Chinese short stories, our not-as-regular-as-it-used-to-be film guessing game, and our archive of upper-level HSK materials.
孔瑞
said on January 16, 2013
你们跟很多的美国人有同一的意见。 据说纽约人很凶，加州人很奇怪。我觉得我就算一个所谓的奇怪人。你们在美国的时候怎么没有安全感？大家都知道中国人都是厉害的功夫手 :) 我觉得你们感觉不安全的原因是因为普通的美国人不愿意坐地铁还是打的。大部分的美国人住在郊区，总是开车。听说在欧洲和中国郊区和农村是最不发达的地方- 跟美国城市的市中心很像。我是最近去欧洲的，觉得很安全但是在洛杉矶我从来没见过小偷可是只在欧洲过了一个月看见了好多小偷 （特别在西班牙和意大利）。可能是因为在美国小偷怕偷东西之后被人枪毙。我今年夏天要去北京～是我第一次去亚洲。我期待看中国跟欧美的区别，我对中国一直真有兴趣。PS. Echo你为什么去了伯克莱？？？它的学生都是没有素质的“小便色熊”～～～最好去看斯坦福！ PPS. 你们说的对，加州的无家可归挺多的是因为天气不冷。第二原因是因为我们没有城管～但我不要！
LukeandLisaB
said on January 17, 2013
我也觉得到一个新地方， 没用你的母语地方比较容易给你不安全的感觉。 我有很多中国朋友， 可是如果我一个人去旅游， 我要特别注意安全。 如果别人的口音， 方言我不懂， 或者是一个新的情况， 我会觉得自己不舒服。 Being in a new cultural or linguistic situation can make even an ordinary event or conversation feel unsettling. (i.e. "How can I know how to respond if I don't even understand what is happening to begin with?" or "The way I express a certain emotion here may be completely different than how I do so in my home country.")
Echo
said on January 18, 2013
@孔瑞，我挺同意你的说法。哈哈哈“小便色熊”是什么？我也去看了斯坦福，感觉非常非常好，特别漂亮，是梦想中的校园啊。BTW，你居然从来也没来过亚洲？没来过中国？你的中文这么好，你太厉害啦！--Echoecho@popupchinese.com
Echo
said on January 18, 2013
@LukeandLisaB,没错，我非常同意！这就是我在伯克利的咖啡厅里遇到那个流浪汉时的感觉，因为不了解当地的社会“潜规则”，所以感觉很不安全。--Echoecho@popupchinese.com
孔瑞
said on January 18, 2013
你也去看了斯坦福～好样的！斯坦福学生经常开玩笑说我们好像在动物园因为亚洲旅游团特多。因为伯克莱大学的吉祥物是 “金熊”, 我为了骂他们说“小便色熊”。斯坦福和伯克莱的学生对抗。我承认这个称呼是我造的因为太难翻译我们对那儿的英文称呼。Amber老师肯定知道我中文还差的这么远呢。我汉字读得还可以但因为没去过中国的原因我口语有不少问题。我会一个字说出来 is in large part thanks to Popup Chinese! 我希望在中国的时候我口语会发展比较快。
amber
said on January 21, 2013
@孔瑞，“怕偷东西之后被枪毙”，哈哈。Amber
AmateurAsian
said on February 20, 2013
很有意思的對話！我很喜歡這樣的內容。繼續做這樣吧！雖然我是美國人，我還是可以了解妳們對美國的印象。
kuan93
said on April 7, 2013
I just listened to this and found the stories to be funny because, to a degree, they're true. It's especially interesting because I'm an ABC and have lived in Shanghai for a month now. And thinking back on my time in America, it's true that the big cities don't feel nearly as safe as in some other countries. New York can be especially chaotic.Just glad you guys are speaking your minds, and hope that your next trip to America is filled with only happy stories! :)
yanuo
said on April 12, 2013
有时候柏林也一样。虽然还是“小欧洲”的样子，但是各种各样的人也是有的，上次被一个贩毒差点被打了。我虽然也不是很喜欢中国的那些城管啊，警察之类的，但起码能说北京还真是十分安全。肯定也有闹事的什么的，但总体还真的是很少。不知道为什么西方的大城市都这么乱。
agwright
said on May 21, 2013
你们好！第一次听泡泡中文，我觉得挺有意思的！ 我是伯克利毕业的美国人，现在还住在伯克利。@孔瑞－ 你不要小看伯克利人咯！你有些想法我不太同意，只要说清楚一点： 第一，你说大部分美国人住在郊区，总是开车，不愿意坐地铁。你这么说显得有点孤陋寡闻，应该说有钱的美国人不愿意坐地铁，总是开车。你有机会去一下中国的农村开开眼界。每个地方都有优点和缺点 － 我以前在中国住了一年半，钱包被偷了两次！ 欢迎你们回来加州！ －吴悠
孔瑞
said on May 21, 2013
@agwright 欢迎！我只是逗你们伯克利学生们玩因为David是伯克利毕业的。在中国的时候你钱包被偷了两次，我的天啊！I think whenever a person goes somewhere they aren't from or aren't accustomed to without local friends, it feels more dangerous (which is probably why Echo felt less safe in the US). 我以前住在一个墨西哥的很不安全的地方（A pretty rough neighborhood in Tijuana for 3 months),但是我感觉挺安全因为有墨西哥朋友。我去过海地好几次也感觉挺安全因为海地人陪我们。I think it matters less how dangerous an area is than who you're with. 我这夏天要自己去四川的农村和河南的农村-希望没有人偷我的钱包!其实”95 percent of American households own a car...only 5 percent of Americans use public transportation to get to their jobs today"http://photos.state.gov/libraries/cambodia/30486/Publications/everyone_in_america_own_a_car.pdf . I guess what I meant is the vast majority of Americans don't use public transit- that means stations are not as full of people as in other countries (especially late at night you can be the only person there) and it is not nearly as safe- my Chinese still sucks too much and I write it too slow to express this- sorry for so much English! 我自己算个“奇怪的美国人”因为我以前住在洛杉矶的时候每天骑自行车上班经常坐轻轨和公共汽车。遗憾的是大部分的美国人不愿意坐地铁还是没有机会。Even in low income areas in most parts of the country people are forced to use cars since there are few other options- especially now as gentrification in big cities is pushing lower income people to have to commute from suburbs. I wish there were more subways and everyone rode them! I envy the Berkeley area and it's public transit- public transit was terrible in the Stanford area.
julias
said on May 22, 2013
我同意上面人说的几句话，不同的地方给你更大的危险感，美国大城市特别是。纽约地铁太脏了！真不懂为什么那么脏！我讨厌！我本来是美国中东人，在《印地安那》长大的，很偏僻，又安静又安全。。。什么都没有，太无聊。哈哈。所以我搬出去了，搬到迈阿密然后又搬到《康涅狄格州》也以前在广东住了一年。迈阿密像纽约很危险不过我一次都没遇到什么意外，反而我犯了什么错误，人都帮助了我。在美国，很多外面看起来很凶的人其实内心好。我很多次听到中国朋友说不认识的人或者地方，随便说太恐怖，没去看实际上怎么样。还有，要是在美国大城市你的天真表情太浅显，坏人当然想骗你或者做什么坏事。我在外地的时候总有人想骗我或者偷东西。我命中只有一次有东西被偷了，就是在广州被偷走了而我在中国比在美国更小心。%_%
jessica.d.moyer
said on October 1, 2013
我也同意，中国大城市比美股大城市安全多了！我在中国待过两年，虽然大部分时间是住在青海西宁教英文，但是，到北京、西安、成都等大城市去旅游的时候，我从来没有不踏实的感触。但是我的朋友在贵阳被几个贼人打击，他们竟然用大砍刀打击了她几次，胳膊受伤得比较厉害。哪儿都有可能发生意外的事情啊。。。不过，总的来说，我还是同意你们的：美国城市比中国城市危险多了。除了这个事实的区别以外，我还想提出另外一个一个原因，之所以中国人（特别是中国女人）来美国可能会感觉到不安全。我的一个中国朋友告诉过我，他每次看到美国男人，都觉得神清特别攻击性。我的美国朋友告诉我，他每次看到中国男人走路，总是觉得他们像女人走的一样。为什么呢？因为各各国家，各各文化不但有自己的语言和风俗，而且，还有自己的肢体语言和特征姿态。美国人第一次到中国去，会感觉到自认空间一再被侵入。因为在中国，人之间的距离和在美国的不同。在美国，我觉得人，特别是男人，的姿态比在中国人更加开放，姿势更加夸张，走路的时候也会大摇大摆地走。我觉得，对习惯了比较内敛的姿势的人来说，这种的身体语言可以传送一种潜意识性的危险感。当然，人向我讨钱的时候，我也觉得特别不舒服（甚至有危险感），但是如果碰到一般人的时候而还有这个感觉的话，那可能还有别的更复杂的因素。
Gail天堂的声音
said on October 1, 2013
@Julias,哈哈，我们也觉得广州是不太安全的。在中国，女孩子是不太喜欢自己去广州工作的，因为广州有好多“恐怖故事”，都是关于绑架、人口贩卖等等。不过我觉得在中国还是挺安全的，虽然有好多地方有小偷小摸，但是没有杀人那么恐怖。我记得上次去迈阿密，一个当地人对我说：if you go that way, you are dead.吓得我再也没敢去那个地方。在中国，当地人顶多说：if you go that way, you will be stolen. :-)
Gail天堂的声音
said on October 1, 2013
@jessica.d.moyer,我也这么觉得。但是我并没有觉得美国人很危险。作为中国的女性，我觉得最恐怖的是美国人有好多人会吸毒，醉驾，和可以使用枪支。而且，美国好多城市都有比较危险的街区，这个在中国是没有的。当然，中国人和美国人交流最大的困难还是文化不同。中国人可以说很好的英语，美国人也可以说很好的汉语，可是真在一起工作却常常有很大的问题。原因是中国人和美国人的价值观和处理事情的方法很不一样。这些不同还是需要到中国来，特别是到中国北方和西部来，才能够真正体会。
jessica.d.moyer
said on October 1, 2013
Gail，你上面说的“虽然有小偷小摸，但是没有杀人那么恐怖”真让我想到我住在美国康州纽黑文的那段时间。很多美国人一听到“纽黑文”这三个字就说，“好危险！你要好好小心吧！” 其实，虽然在纽黑文枪击比较多，但是遇害者大部分是黑人（顺便说，这就是Echo和Amber在博客里谈到的种族歧视问题的反面。起码在纽黑文，不但大部分暴力犯罪者是非裔美国人，而且，大多数暴力犯罪遇害者也是！种族歧视情况在美国复杂而多元。。。) 所以，我作为白种女性，总知道虽然很可能会被偷东西，但是不怕会遇到性侵、杀人那种的事儿。地方虽然危险，熟悉具体的情况之后，人还可以适应。当然，游客或者外国人到美国来，人生地不熟，就不行了。所以我同意，美国人在中国旅游比中国人在美国旅游安全的多呀，对这个情况我作为美国人有一点。。。嗯，不知道怎么表示，“惭愧”太过分了，“不好意思”吧！。
hikarikame
said on October 22, 2013
Hi Echo and Amber, I'm not going to write this in Chinese, but I want to explain something to you as an ABC.1. The employees at airports are unfortunately not very nice because the people they have to deal with normally are not very nice. They try to get away with not following the rules, or complaining, and it makes their jobs much harder. 2. That homeless person was targeting you because you looked like you didn't know what you were doing, so just be careful next time you come back to the US. Love your podcasts!
Echo
said on October 23, 2013
@bbcraffles,Thanks for your explanation! America is a nice country in many ways that we may not have mentioned in the podcast. I especially like those beautiful small towns. I don't mind people asking money from me on the street, but maybe not inside a cafe while I'm working on my computer, and acting kind of aggressively. I'm not a big fan of their begging strategy either: ask for money if that's what you want, don't ask for food and refuse it when people give it to you, then ask for money. Just be honest.--Echo
philarcher0615
said on January 1, 2014
Dear Echo and Amber,Greetings from Anshan, Liaoning! 我很喜欢你们的Popup Chinese podcasts。你们的教学方法真好! 可是我觉得"Impressions Of America" 有一些缺点。第一个问题就是你们只提到了美国大城市纽约,旧金山和洛杉矶而已。这三个城市不能代表全美国。好多去过美国的中国人,只会去看看洛杉矶,旧金山和纽约那样的地方。但是没有去看美国的内部和小镇(in American English we call it "The Heartland").你们的播课也没有提到这样的地区。在这样的地区和小镇,美国人民是比较亲切,热情招待客人。第二个问题就是你们只提到了 美国的坏处, 而且不管你们说过了什么,都是 对美国黑人的种族歧视。我不是一个美国黑人,可是我就是觉得你们的说法不公平。Basically, if I was a black-American, I might not want to listen to you any more. However, the bottom line is that you guys are really good at what you do. Therefore, it would be a pity to let any perceived broadcast shortcomings or mistakes get in the way of the great learning potential you are offering people. I just pointed out those things which I feel could have made this particular lesson better. I know that Popup Chinese is continuing to develop. We all are. I appreciate you guys very much and look forward to your future lessons in the new year. All the best!
nakajima_kitty
said on November 7, 2015
我刚刚听到了你们这个播客，可是当作一个学汉语的黑妹（加拿大的），我同意@Philarcher0615的看法。听你们这样讲你们跟黑人的社交就令我感到很难过。我知好像Echo跟Amber说的一样，不好的经历会留下一个比较深刻的印象。很可惜你没提到那些跟Amber读书的黑族学生。我家几代都是读书人，但是还得客服人的这种刻板印象。我认为你们都挺心胸开阔，所以你不要让人觉得你们也是"painting everyone with the same broad stroke".其实，我不要你们误会，我特喜欢你们的泡泡中文。我会继续听你们的 ;)P.S: I also hate it when westerners visit China and all they remember are the麻风病人， the spitting and the smog... Stereotypes are so bad!
dukes.adam
said on July 13, 2016
This is embarrassingly racist. Well said @nakajima_kitty
ashleigh.braggs
said on July 25, 2016
Yes, very well said. I'm glad to read so many people found listening to this podcast as unpleasant as I did. I'm very surprised and disappointed at how ignorant they both sound.
