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16 years ago
Saturday, September 13, 2008
It's hard not to stare
I'm mesmerized by white people who speak flawless Mandarin. In a recent poll, folks across China named the most famous foreign celebrity. The honor went to Dashan, a goofy Canadian dude who's real name is Mark Rowswell. Dashan, which means "big mountain," has been around for a while on TV, in film, and as an all-around cultural ambassador. I think he's a role model for all white expat men: he's rich, has a hot Chinese wife, and is admired by nearly 1.3 billion people. Whenever my Canadian colleague tells people where she's from, eyes light up and she's invariably asked, "Do you know Dashan?!"
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5 comments:
Years ago, we had a roommate who had spent a few years in China. While his Mandarin wasn't flawless, it wasy WAY better than any other skinny white guy's. I went into our local video rental store one day, and the couple who ran it asked me "Did you konw your roommate speaks Chinese?" in such a way that you could have easily substitued "speaks Chinese" with "has a third arm".
Cheers, Terri
He has the unfortunate Beijing accent, which makes me think of balding old men in dark suits.
very useful. i mean, really, how many times during the day does one need to say 'courtyard house'? keep 'em coming. -vin
This guy beat out Rob Gifford from NPR?
I just want to know how someone's Chinese gets that good?
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