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問我anything with roddy


oceancalligraphy

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We're continuing our 問我anything series with one of our admins, roddy.
 
If anyone is  interested in participating in or would like to nominate someone for 問我anything, please PM me!
 
Alright, here are a couple of questions for roddy:
 
Do you have a favorite Chinese song? If so, what is it?
 
Do you have a favorite Chinese movie? If so, what is it?

 

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Hmmm, those are actually kind of tricky, I tend not to maintain mental list of favourites. 

 

With songs I tend to keep coming back to those I listened to in the early 2000s, when I was acquiring enough Chinese to kind of understand lyrics, Stuff by 许巍 such as 完美生活, I had 姜昕 and 与非门 on repeat as well. For songs that I've really kept listening to, I'd actually turn to Faye Wong. Maybe her version of 但愿人长久? I can definitely remember a couple of times I've been out and about doing stuff and that gets thrown up on random and I stop to actually listen to it. Fairly sure she didn't write the lyrics though. 

 

Movies. Can I say So Close? It's kind of a guilty pleasure, although without the guilt. Otherwise I'll go for In the Mood for Love, which I've watched I don't know how many times and I love it each time. 

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What do you do to relax when not doing something to do with Chinese?

 

Do you have a favourite bit of Chinese software?

 

I was going to ask what you thought of Scotland but I see your location is still London so it may not be relevant.

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How about a little forum history? Why did you start Chinese-forums, and where did you recruit the first members?

 

Also, I'd like to send this one back your way: "If China and the Chinese language disappeared tomorrow, what would you fill your time with?"

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Non-Chinese pursuits would be...

 

I read a ton, divided between fiction and non-fiction. As mentioned elsewhere I devoured a bunch of John Le Carre novels recently. I have this and this lined up, have just finished this. I'll usually have a couple of books on the go. 

 

Over the last couple of years I've been working on the classical guitar, on and off. I'm currently in an 'on' phase and trying to do an hour of practice a day. Joined a classical guitar group recently, which is very new but quite motivating. I'm nowhere near as disciplined or good as I want to be. 

 

Also do a lot of hill-walking. Took the scenic route up Ben Nevis with my girlfriend late last month, and this weekend just gone I had a solo jaunt through the Cairngorms, with two wild camps. I'll add a couple of photos. 

 

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This was almost at the summit of Ben Nevis, via the CMD arete for those who know it. The RAF train around here, and we'd already seen one fighter jet whizz past at close range. This one we heard coming and were able to get the phones out for a quick snapshot. This was the third time I'd been up the Ben, and the first time it wasn't covered in cloud. 

 

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Top of Glen Tilt, running north-eastish from Blair Atholl. Didn't go up any hills this trip, just did a relatively leisurely 40 miles or so over three days (one day and two half-days really). Lovely mix of cloud, wind and sun kept the light shifting. Hardly got any rain, and when I did I got rainbows afterwards. 

 

I do not have a favourite piece of Chinese software that I can think of. Google Pinyin, maybe. 

 

I'm currently in Edinburgh, must update my location. Was in London roughly late 2011 to August just gone. Scotland is far superior - cheaper, friendlier, cleaner. London was fun for a couple of years, but I don't miss it. And I love being closer to the Highlands. The tent is going to get plenty of use. 

 

Forum history: We started up in May 2003. I'd been a regular on the Lonely Planet's Thorntree forum for years, and we used to see the same old 'where to teach/study in China' questions come up over and over again, and there were plenty of people on there who didn't fall into the backpacker demographic. I'd been messing about with websites during a period of SARS-enforced underemployment and ended up setting this site up, originally on phpBB. A few regulars from the Thorntree joined up - notably Skylee, and also people we don't see any more: wix, channamasala, tokyo_girl, Tsunku. It grew from there. 

 

Without Chinese? Online community stuff in some other context, quite possibly. I could go back to teaching English without too many tears. I've also looked lately at doing qualifications for hill-walk guiding, that kind of thing. An enforced change of career might make that a bit more serious. At the moment I'm happier having the mountains to myself though. 

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There can be only 16,000!

 

I did, yes. I was a yes vote, although it was a close-run thing for me and I don't think independence would have gone half as smoothly as people seemed to be hoping it would. If (and it's a big if) the promised further devolution comes through I'd regard that as a decent result.

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Roddy, please let me ask some questions :-)   I love these forums and I have gained so much from them.

 

What do you think the audience of Chinese Forums is?

 

What do you view as success of Chinese Forums?

 

What have you gained from Chinese Forums over the years?

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Hi Roddy,

With Hong Kong in a precarious state, an ongoing corruption drive on the mainland, and various geopolitical obstacles to overcome in the near future, what are your hopes for China over the next few years?

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Audience -  it's a broad church, I think. I'd welcome anyone with an interest in discussing China and its language. That could cover the newly-arrived TEFL teacher, the long-term expat, those in university programs outside of China, the hobbyist, the actual Chinese people from all over that participate. I guess the core membership is made up of people who, much like myself, studied the language more or less independently and are now making their way in China-related careers. But then people like Gato, Skylee, Kenny, might not fall under that definition.

 

The success of the site? Well, it's still here, and for any site such as this one to go for over a decade is pretty rare. One of the things I get a big kick out of is seeing people who are flailing somewhat - maybe they're in the middle of nowhere trying to self-study Chinese, or are trying to negotiate the CSC application process - come along and get help from people who maybe just six months ago were in the same situation. I don't think there's much doubt that there are people out there who've achieved Chinese study goals, or made it to China, or done something else that, without this site, would have been much harder or perhaps simply impossible.

 

For me personally - like I say, I get a kick out of the above and it's great to see. I'm always keen to point out that only a fraction of the assistance offered on the site comes from me personally, but at the same time I have always been very closely involved with the site (probably too involved) and I do admit to taking a certain amount of pride in it. Although at the same time, if I was doing it again, I'd do things quite differently. There's also a financial aspect to it - I'm not buying any yachts, but a hobby which provides any income is a wonderful thing.

 

Grawrt, old-timers will regard this as a change back to my true, rightful avatar, which I used for years (minus the umbrella). Hopefully Hong Kong will get its way and I can move on to different icons.

 

Gato, probably, but I'm not sure they're very different from the changes anyone in their late 30s would try and make if they could send a letter to their early 20s self. I could have worked or studied harder, could have taken this or that more seriously, could have planned better for whatever. An extended, rigorous, period of doing stuff in Chinese would have been very good for me - maybe an MA in something, or a stint at one of the premium Mandarin programs, or a job that actually stretched me. I'd probably also cut down on time spent in Beijing and either do more provincial time, or just leave earlier.

 

With regards to the site - we could easily have been running relatively large events, doing Chinese courses for members in cooperation with schools, who knows. There's probably a lot of wasted opportunity there. Or opportunity costs, at least.

 

Thinking about it...I was wondering if I should go back to my very first year and teach in a university rather than in an elementary school. But I don't think I'd have the Chinese I do now if I did that. I should definitely put a year or two teaching English at a university into my English teaching time though.

 

Hopes for China over the next few years - peace and harmony? The situation in Hong Kong is saddening, but my guess is that it'll be a long-festering ulcer rather than a sudden spasm. Either the protestors go back to holidays and weekends, or the students push it a bit too far and the police clear the streets until next time. It's hard to see the mainland going anywhere good on political reform or general freedoms under Xi. Probably the best we can hope for is progress on a fairer society, a better environment. Those aren't small things either, but I suspect we'll only see as much of them as the Party deems in its own interests.

 

For my Chinese voice, I'd go for someone like 董行佶 and I'd make a living being China's most famous foreign story-teller. Might need a decade or two to grow into it though. And it would be proudly, unabashedly...bloody hell, this Starbucks has just started playing 姜昕...ah,  it's sampled in another song...anyway....yeah, my voice would be Beijing. Full of warmth and coal dust.

 

Annoying members? I'd have to say Tianjin42 for asking the question, and Oneeye for voting him up for it. More seriously, there honestly isn't anyone who stands out. There are people who will occassionally do something that irks, or who have their pet issues that they keep coming back to, but if anyone is consistently problematic we'll have a word, and if that gets ignored either chuck 'em out or keep them around as a kind of tolerated 'mad relative'. Which is probably how some of you think of me...

 

Chopsticks? Of course, but my technique leaves a little to be desired.

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