Myles

Aloha from Hawaii, The United Kingdom and the United States of America are two great nations that are separated by a common language. Add Canada, Australia and New Zealand into the mix and it can get very confusing. When you have this mix of " English " instructors you need about a week for the students to adjust to the instructor's english. Don't feel too bad. The street language in Hawaii is mostly english with japanese, cantonese, tagalog, lilocano, hawaiian, korean and vietnamese words thrown into the mix. Myles aka Annakuen'GG

Aloha from Hawaii, I suggest South Park as something to watch. It is not proper english but it enjoyable and will prepare your students for a lower level of communication. Myles aka Annakuen'GG

Aloha from Hawaii, I can speak for Beijing. Yes the minimum fare is 10RMB. However, how far you can go for 10RMB is based on time an milage. Yes, you can negotiate the fare. Also the fare rate is marked on the rear quarter window of the taxi and they are not all the same. There is also a mini bus line to take you off of the main bus lines. Speed only becomes a factor if there is space on the road. Most of the time the traffic is too heavy to get any real speed. The bad part is at the intersections where a green light really means enter with caution and red means enter with more caution. People, bicycles, motocycles, cars. turcks and buses ignore red lights. Myles aka Annakuen'GG

Aloha from Hawaii, Congrats and I hope you broke the log jam for the rest of us. Myles aka Annakuen'GG

Aloha from Hawaii, The same lack of action can be attributed to our US Congress Critters. This is where a strong President makes a difference. Great Presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt who completed the Panama Canal without the support of public opinion. Myles aka Annakuen'GG

Aloha from Hawaii, A wedding is double happines. You have triple happines. Congrats Myles aka Annakuen'GG

Aloha from Hawaii, I hope the nonessential workers are the ones who are the dead wood in the office. If so then the real workers might become a little more effective in getting the work done. Myles aka Annakuen'GG

Aloha from Hawaii, The problem is not the deadly effect of SARS but the lack of trust in the Chinese government. Because of the under reporting the actual death rate is unknown. The supression of information made it spread faster. The fact that it spread rapidly to health care workers, who practice avoidance on infection, puts everyone at risk. The government is not doing enough to contain the problem and you are on your own. You have to protect yourself. Myles aka Annakuen'GG

Aloha from Hawaii, It is correct that a virus is not a good weapon because it is unpredictable in it's spread and it does mutate. It is not the choice of a sane person. How about an insane person with lots of money. A person who believes that only the unbelievers will be infected. On the bright side mutations are weaker than the original virus. A virus that kills the host will not spread very far. A weaker virus will have a host that will live longer and the virus will also live longer. Myles aka Annakuen'GG

Aloha from Hawaii, Yesterday, in my third day of quarantine I got a fever ang the runs. It is not SARS. My gut feeling is that it was something else. I am fine today. It did make the point that is a good idea to stay at home for a few days. Myles aka Annakuen,GG

Aloha from Hawaii, Good choice for a trip. A very biased opinion. Let me know when you will be in town. I enjoyed your posts and would like to do some little thing for you. Myles aka Annakuen'GG

Aloha from Hawaii, I am also at home for ten days after getting back from Beijing. The flight from Beijing to Tokyo was almost empty ( 20% occupancy ). However, the 747 to Honolulu from Tokyo was packed. The 10 day extended holidays are recommeded by the CDC. I saw health check stations in the airports in Beijing International, Narita and Honolulu International. CDC hand outs were given to all arrivals from Asia at Honolulu. Nine more days of vacation at home. Myles aka Annakuen'GG

Aloha from Hawaii, I agree with Brian. Open discussions are important to our American way of life. It is very important to me because my wife was at Tienanmien on June 1989. Thousands of Chinese died in one night for what we consider to be a god given right. As a moderator you should set the rules for discussion not the topics. Myles aka Annakuen'GG

Aloha from Hawaii, The term Chinese Communism is an oxymoron. You see small business everywhere. In the evening the street vendors come out. Private enterprise is everywhere in China. Myles aka Annakuen'GG

Aloha from Hawaii, Fat City ii Honolulu, You will see many women in the 300 pound plus class. Men in the 400 pound plus. I like to say Hawaiian sizes have an L in it. L is small and XL is a medium as an example. In the shop that I work in we have men's trousers that go up to 5XL ( 55" to 59" waist ). Chad Rowan, a grand champion sumo wrestler from Hawaii, was over 500 pounds. Myles aka Annakuen'GG

Aloha from Hawaii, Blame the cold snap on Global Warming. Myles aka Annakuen'GG

Aloha fom Hawaii, My choice is the 8th Hawaiian Island, Las Vegas. Myles aka Annakuen'GG

Aloha from Hawaii, High fives for all of the members who got god news. Myles aka Annakuen'GG

Aloha Tony. The salty fatty pork is Kalua Pork. It is a kind of baked pork. The traditional method is to bake a whole pig in an underground oven. A modern short cut is to foil wrap a pork butt with salt and smoke seasoning and bake it in an oven. You go a chance to taste the tourist stuff. The really good stuff are raw fish, raw crab and raw liver. Myles aka Annakuen'GG

Aloha Tony, You sound like a high speed eater. You need to Hawaiian style with a racing spoon. In polite company a table spoon is used. Tea spoons are too small. For real high speed eating use an army mess kit spoon which is a little larger than a table spoon. To eat poi ( a starch that looks like gray wall paper paste ) you use fingers or a spoon. A spoon is faster. Myles aka Annakuen'GG

Aloha from Hawaii, Eating spare ribs with chop sticks is not as hard as is seems. First you pick the rib up with the chop sticks and eat all of the meat off of one end. Then grab that end with your fingers and finish the rest. Myles aka Annakuen'GG

Aloha from Hawaii, I will arrive in Beijing on friday night from Honolulu without a cold weather outfit and a large empty suitcase. If I do not freeze to death, I will leave a month later with two large full bags. Yep, she is moving her stuff with me as the mule. Keep the comic relief going guys. It makes this forum fun as well as informative. Myles aka Annakuen'GG

Aloha from Hawaii, Congrats Owen. I am still waiting for her P4 so it may be a while. I will be in Beijing on friday night. What is the outrside temp like in your neck of the woods. In Honolulu we complain about the cold at 66F. Myles aka Annakuen'GG

Aloha from Hawaii, Congrats Snow Beast. There is hope for the rest of us. Myles aka Annakuen'GG

Aloha from Hawaii, On my birthday mother in law bought lunch at the best restaurant in Hanzhou. It is out on an island in West Lake. Proper dining means you do not touch food with your hands. An exception is made for finger food such as crab and snails. There I had a real challenge with 8 inch long barbequed spare ribs. That is not finger food so it had to be eaten with chop sticks. Myles aka Annakuen'GG