Recorded Thursday, July 16, 2020.
Journalist Chen Caiwei joins me today on the show to discuss everything from learning another language, dating and matching with people on Tinder (and how bad conversational techniques are used to learn a language), music and culture both in China and abroad, and life as a student overseas and a lot more!
I’ll let you read through the show notes to see some of the topics we cover and the conversation does get intense at times. It’s not just debate, Caiwei provides some perspectives on modern Chinese culture and good information for Chinese students who are living overseas who might be feeling a little bit alienated in their new surroundings.
1.00 – English teachers, speaking Chinese, and using Tinder to find sources
-you can’t just be an English teacher!
-how to pick up Chinese girls
-false friendships bad conversations for the sake of learning a language
12.23 – 0.46 – the standard questions and being identified based on looks or accent
-where are you from, what’s your name, what’s your job, etc.
-meeting a guy in MOMA
-the taxi driver
18.30 – how to defend yourself from these questions!
-white people speaking Chinese – is it just white people or is it people learning Chinese?
20.23 – identifying English teachers on Tinder
-they don’t have to learn Chinese to move to China, unlike foreign students who HAVE to learn Chinese to come to China to study (from Africa, the Middle East)
-Africans speak the best Chinese!
-guys from developed countries who have choices, often don’t speak the best Chinese
25.44 – meeting non-English teachers who are able to speak Chinese, especially colleagues
-how to learn Chinese
28.00 – what is a “foreign face” and saying “thank you” around the world in different languages
- xie xie, bu hao yi si = “thank you” in Chinese
- what if it was said in a different language?
36.42 – being an expat and learning another language
-JingA and other pubs in Beijing
-people who only learn the standard phrases
39.30 – visiting Chinatowns in other cities
-it’s a throwback to the past!
-eating dim sum and noodles – Steve thinks dim sum is too expensive
-they play music that isn’t representative of current, modern Chinese culture, 青藏高原 and 老鼠爱大米
45.54 – does music set the mood? Is it only a marketing gimic?
-fun fact about Taylor Swift in China… Steve knows… cause allllll students talk about her
-Is Taylor Swift country music?
51.08 – is it a bad thing to use music to set the mood? What music would Caiwei use if she ran a store?
-what is “music from all around the world”?
-Caiwei’s current playlist, binge listening
54.55 – Steve’s happy song – “Sympathy for the Devil” by Guns n Roses
-also Slipknot’s live album, 9.0, and “Snuff” off of Subliminal Verses
1.00.00 – listening to EDM is like binge listening to a style of music, rather than one song
-same with KPop – but now some of them are playing instruments themselves! That’s a big change for KPop!
1.05.58 – hearing a non-English group use English words into their music
-what is misappropriation?
1.06.25 – misappropriation comes down to power
-Western culture, what’s important in the US becomes globally important
-what is the rest of the world missing about China?
-the state of Chinese music and talent
-5,000 years of history
-the Cultural Revolution that “reset” Chinese culture
1.09.30 – How do Chinese cultural productions compare to Western movies?
-Hollywood has set the bar pretty high
-compare Mainstream to Mainstream
-why is Caiwei using Netflix if Chinese films are under-represented?
1.18.00 – nothing can be called a “global media”, the New York Times is still a New York publication
-social media
1.22.30 – filtering social media, both Western and Chinese
1.24.40 – enduring uncomfortable feelings shouldn’t be depressing
-there is always going to be someone better
-most people who revel in depression kill themselves (do they?)
1.26.35 – Caiwei’s response
-toxic social media, self-care
-“doomscrolling” – set up a time limit to prevent overconsumption
-is toxic social media just a Western phenomenon? Or is it also on Chinese social media channels?
1.32.00 – Caiwei’s inspirations came from Weibo
-life in Maryland, USA
-how Caiwei used Chinese social media to deal with depression while overseas
1.35.30 – Caiwei’s recommendations for Chinese students living overseas:
- Loud Murmurs 小声喧哗
- 周保松 林三土 纽约北大飞 all young scholars to follow
- B. Allen-Ebrahimian
- Alec Ash
- yangyang Cheng
- Kaiser Kuo
- Sinica (podcast)
1.38.00 – Caiwei’s website is up and running
1.40.28 – how to say Chen Caiwei’s name!
Find Caiwai at her website www.chencaiwei.net or follow her on Twitter @CaiweiC!
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And that’s it for this week!