h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Welcome to hootoo Angela ,

I was just browsing and saw you are a new comer to the site, as am I. Thought I would just say hello and hope to speak to you some time.

Cheers

Clip_per

OH,HELLO,Clip_er,i just saw your message today,cause i seldom use it.Thank you.As I know you are a father of 10 year old girl,that's good.I am a single girl now,and you may know I am from China,but I donot how many you know about my country,anyway,I like it,it is amazing.Now,I am in Japan as a student,I am studying in a university,well,Japan is also a beautiful country.Well,I am glad to meet you here,hope we can talk sometime,see you!And best wishs to your family.byebye...

Hi Angela

I’ve just read your message, please accept my apologies for the delay , but It is really great to hear from you. I have limited access to the net; my computer at home is off line due to work on the telephone system, which has been ongoing for weeks now so I can only use the net at work during my supper breaks .

I know very little about China, except for the stories I hear on the television. China is a very, very large country with a huge population, which mainly live on the coastal regions of China; I understand the interior is sparsely populated, with wild and wonderful scenes. Two of the most famous things I know about China, are the Great Wall of China and the wonderful Terracotta Army. A lady friend of mine visited China last year; she walked the Great Wall for a cancer charity, she said China was the most amazing place she has ever visited. If you are able, and have the time I would like to learn more about China and its people.

So you are now in Japan as a student, you must miss your family if you are alone there. Try not to be too homesick, a young lady like you, with the courage to leave home to study in a foreign country, shows great strength of character. I am sure your family is giving you a great deal of support, and you will soon make lots of new and interesting friends.

The main reason I joined the h2g2 community is so that I can learn more of the world and the cultures of other counties and people. So may I ask where in China are you from and what was life like for you in your home town? Did you and your family live in a city or in the countryside? What subjects are you studying at university? I am eager to learn as much as I can about your country, so anything you can tell me would be of great interest to me.

Is anything you would like to know about my country, and where I live? If there is anything you would like to know, please do not hesitate to ask. If you would like a friend just to chat with I would like that very much.

Well my supper break is over now (it is 0340 hours over here), so I will have to go . Again thank you for replying to my message and I look forward to talking with you again.

Cheers

Clip_per

hello,Clip
wo~~~I will check my email everyday,but it is definite that I havenot made a habit of checking h2g2 everyday,sorry,hahaha,,,or I should reply your email much erailier...how is everything going recently?
Thank you for your words about of my country,cause I like my country,so I like the person who likes my counry.
I am happy that you know Great wall and Terracotta ,they are some knid of mysterious things for me,I am always thinking about thousands years ago,what China was....^^
And I live in southern China,northern China is contiguous to Russia.so it is colder than the place I live in China,southern China should have much green than nouthern China.Do you know China's captial BeiJing,in northern China,actually it is farhtern than Japan from my hometown,very strange right?cause China is toooooo huge...
I am studying Japanese in Japan now. And next year April if I could pass the entrance exam,I will enter into a university to get a masters degree(I have finished my university study),and recently I am busy in reviewing ....
If you like,you can tell me something about the city you live,or something interesting in your life,I would like to hear...
I like my life in Japan,I have been here more than one year,but of course I like my country best,you should never been to China,right?Maybe you should go to China at least one time in your life,It is still a developing country ,not as rich as developed countries,but it worths you to visit it....trust me~~



ok,I should say goodby to you and wish to see you next time
have a nice weekend

Hi Angela

I have been trying to reply to your message for the last three or four hours, but I keep getting cut off; would appear to be trouble with either the site, or more likely the telephone lines at this end We have been experiencing trouble with our system all week.

My system is not responding to most of my commands, I will try again early tomorrow morning; the gremlins may have been chastised by then.

Please forgive me I will have to sign off see you tomorrow, hopefully.



Clip

hi,Clip
I am glad to see you.Never mind,I will be waiting and see you tomorrow.

Hope your computer will be ok soon




Angela

Hello Angela

I'm afraid the gremlins are still in the system, the little , so I will not be able to talk for long as I will be leaving work to go home shortly.

I am on holiday for the next seven days, but back at work on Christmas Day (Monday 25 December), I shall then give you more details of my country and where I live.

Please accept my apologies for the brevity of this letter, I dislike keeping a lady waiting.

I know you do not celebrate Christmas as we do, nevertheless, may I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy and prosperous New Year from this side of our small planet.

Regards

Clip

Hi Clip

Thank you!!
Of course,it is a pity that I can not read your long letter,but never mind,it is not your fault.Yes ,we Chinese do not celebrate Christmas,we celebrate the lunar new year.But you know i live in Tokyo now,and the town i live are full of foreigenres,so on Christmas day here should be bustling with activity.

You are on holiday now,so have a nice holiday!And I am looking forward to hearing from you!!

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year~~^^^^^^



Angela

Hi Angela ,

You have asked about the place I live, well I assure you it is not as big as china .

I was born and brought up in a large fishing port known as Kingston-up-on-Hull; at the time it was the Uks largest fishing port, but over the years the fishing industry fell in to decline, mainly due to over-fishing or so we were told. As a child my father used to take me to the fishing docks, these places were crammed with fishing vessels of all shapes and sizes. It was very busy with hundreds of people working there.

A few years after I married my wife and I moved away from Hull to the area we now live in. It is totally different to the City. We live in the countryside and only have two neighbours, a farmer and his wife and of course lots of and . It is so tranquil, with very little traffic or people passing by. We have a large garden for our daughter (and her friends who visit her) to play in safety, also the farmer allows her to play in his large farmyard, which adjoins our property. If we where living in the city we would only have a small garden and it would not be safe to allow our daughter to play in the streets.

Of course, living rurally does have some draw-backs, for instance I have to travel to work by car (there are no buses) which extends my working day, but I don’t care about that so long as my family is happy then so am I. I work a permanent night shift, seven days at work (my working day is eleven hours) then seven days rest, so I get to spend a lot of time with my family the week I am off.

For holidays we have an odd week here and there in the UK, but we also like to go to Spain as much as we can; not just for the good weather, we really like the Spanish culture and the Spanish people are very nice. A few weeks ago we went to the Canary Island of Tenerife (these islands are in the Atlantic ocean, just off the coast of Africa), and stayed at a resort called Los Cristianos. It was an enjoyable break from our normal routine.

I think that is enough about me and my family, I don’t want to bore-you-to-death .
I would like to know more about China and the Chinese way of life; what is your village like? When you first went to Japan did you find the language/cultural differences overwhelming? Is the language of Japan in any way similar to Chinese?

Well, my break is over and I have to get back to work. Thank you for your reply I enjoy speaking with you.

Regards and

Clip

Hi A
Just a quick question I forgot to put in the last letter. How would I type Hello and Goodbye in Chinese?



clip

hi,Clip
glad to see you again~~
Thank you for telling me so much about you,your life.thank you.
You should have a nice childhood,at least i think so,with fish and you could see the sea everyday.but maybe the air should be a bit of salty???^^
the palce you are living now really sounds great,also just two neighbours ,but your are a nice husband and father,in oreder to give your dauther and family a safe and comfortable home,you have to travel to work by car.you do made sacrificesyour job sounds interesting but that shall leave you enough time to stay with your family when you are off work...
I grow up in a village,thare are mountains and rivers ,I still remember when I was in my primary school,there is a time (general in April) that the flowers are in full bloom on the mountains.then on weekend,I would go to and pick flowers,there were red ,purple,white,yellow...flowers...then we would sit on the bank of the river,I still remember the water of river was so clean...
But as I grow up,I never do it again,because I and my friends went to different places to study.I miss this period of time in my life.
And 3 monthes after I graduated from my university I came to Japan.Actually,my family didnot want me to come to Japan.The reasons were,they have two children ,my elder brother and I,my brother is in Japan too,so they really hoped me to stay beside them,or they felt so lonely.and I am a girl,as in Chinese mind,a girl's life is find a good job,marry a nice person,and stay at home,do not need to go far.Of course,they allowed me.

Well ,as your questiones,I found there is too much to say,I think I would better tell you next time.ok??


So,does you or your family feel lonely in the place you are living now??It sholud be unconvenient for your daughter's friends to visit her I think!!!

Anyway,there are two sides of a coin!!!

Wish you have a nice day



Angela

Hello Angela ,

Your village, surrounded with mountains and clear running rivers, sounds so beautiful, I envy you such a fantastic location; it must have been difficult to leave such a nice place. You say that you miss those times with your friends, well they will come again if you want them to; if not you will always carry in your heart those fantastic memories, no matter how far you may travel from your home. Also, you will meet many new friends on you journey through life, make the most of them and enjoy them for who they are. As your brother is also in Japan, do you see him often? Is he also in Tokyo? At least you were not entirely alone when you first went to Japan.

I understand you when you say girls were expected to stay at home, marry, have children and cook!!! This attitude was prevalent in my country, but over the last 20 years attitudes have changed, and now women take up all forms of occupation; this is a good thing. Your parents must be forward-looking in allowing you to travel and be educated in a foreign country; they must love you a great deal and be very proud of you.

Through hootoo I also speak with a Canadian student who, like you, left home to study medicine. She also was raised in a land like yours. Although you are both a world apart from each other, you are very similar. I think you would find you both have a lot in common.

My family does not feel lonely where we live, mainly because all the people around us live in similar situations. My daughter’s school only has about 45 pupils and most live in rural locations. It is the long suffering parents who have to taxi the children to each others homes. Also, our daughter is involved in a number of extra school activities, so she is kept fairly busy; one of the things she enjoys the most is playing the flute , she is in a local band and really enjoys it, though the practicing at home can be a little hard on our ears but we encourage her.

You are correct when you say there is much to talk about; it takes time, so not too much at once. Nevertheless, I enjoy speaking with you very much.

Angela, there is no need to reply to my letters as soon as you receive them, I appreciate you are a busy young lady with much studying and lots of other things to do, so take your time and enjoy yourself.

Time for a nice cup of .Take care, I look forward to speaking to again.


Clip

Hi,Clip
I am relly happy to read your message^^

I like talking to friends,I made a lot of new friends here,from different countries,south Korea,Spain,Swden,Switzerland,Hungary,although most of them have been back to their countries ,but we keep in touch on internet.There is a boy who is from Barcelona ,Spain,I really enjoy in talking with him ,cause he is always very knid to tell me a lot of things about his countriy and even Europe.

From your words,I can see you are really a nice dad,in my mind ,you love your daughter and your family so much,and your daughter should be a lovely girl,^^
she is lucky,say hello to herI am now imaging a girl who is palying flute in my mind,really like a beautiful oil painting~~~I wish her enjoys in the local band .So may I ask you,as about education of your daughter,will you leave her to choos by herself or by your(you and your wife) hopes??I live with my uncle now,he has two younge boys,9 year old and 7 year old,they have piano class evey Saturday,Sometime i asked myself if my younger brothers like piano or not?^^

My brother lives in another city with his wife,a bit of countryside but really close to his wife's university(a lot of Japanese universities and colleges are located in the countryside,because Japan is too small to give enough space for the campus).So we can not see each other very often,but we change messages by cellphone frequently.I love him,cause he loves me very much,and of course I love my parents too.although we quarreled a lot ago.haha,,,,I am not a good daughter...

As your questions,we say means byebye also means see you.^^ means thank you,and means hello,most of Japanese around me can say these simply chinese,I donot know if you have ever seen Chinese characters ,they may interesting and strange for western people^^hahaha.....



I enjoy talking to you,thank you for your ,and wish to speak to you ,

Have a nice day

PS what about the weather in your place now,Tokyo is becoming colder,so you too,take care...

Angela

Hi,Clip

just onething I forgot,
yes,I like my village very much,but I think I can not go back to it for a long long long time..Nowadays,most of Chinese woulde prefer to live in the city,it has even became somenoe's life goal who is living in the countryside now.I really fell depressed about this trend,In fact ,village life is more peaceful,tranquil...there are too much desires in city...


ok,,zai jian,,

Best wishs

Angela

Hello Angela,

I've just read your letter quickly, I am very busy at the moment hurrying to finish certain things before my relief comes in and takes over. Then I can go home.

It is 0600 hours here in England, what time is it there?

Speak with you tonight.

Take care



Clip

hi,Clip
never mind,i am wathcing TV now,and it is 16:50 here now in Japan,



see you

Angela

Ni hao Angela ,

Xie xie for your letter, I enjoy speaking with you also.

I am very pleased for you, making all those new friends from all over the world. I have been to Barcelona on two or three occasions; it is a large and beautiful city. Two things Barcelona is famous for is a large avenue/street called the Ramblas, full of shops and cafes, also the Cathedral which was begun in the 19th century and has not yet been completed; it was designed by the artist/architect called Gaudi. It is a large busy city, a nice place to visit but I would not wish to live there.

We do not know what our daughter wishes to be, though she does say she would like to go to university, but is not sure just what she wants to study; she is only 10 years old so there is plenty of time for her to make her mind up. We will allow our daughter the freedom to choose for herself, she must follow her own path in life, but we hope she will listen and heed our words of advice; but the choice will be hers.

I am glad you can speak with your brother (mobile-phones are a great invention), and that you get to see him now and then.

When ever you have mentioned your parents you have done so with love and respect; I do not believe you are a bad daughter, just the opposite you are a good daughter. It is natural for young people to argue with their parents, I did on many occasions; it is all part of the growing process.

When I was a child one of my hobbies was collecting stamps, I had a large collection of Chinese stamps. It was difficult for a westerner to differentiate between the two written languages. But I discovered a way, in the Chinese language there is one character that does not appear in the Japanese language; it is a box shape (almost), but with the sides squashed in and a vertical line passing through the top to the bottom, it was on every Chinese stamp. I consider these languages, when written down, to be very beautiful, the true art of calligraphy.

I have always wondered, are Japanese and Chinese languages similar, or are they entirely different?

The weather is cold in England. It is very wet and we are now starting to get frost in the early mornings and late at night. Soon the snow will arrive…brrrr, I don’t like the snow, but it does look pretty when the land is covered with its white blanket.

I do like a cup of tea , can you suggest a nice Chinese tea to try?

Well I will have to go now, but look forward to talking with you again.

Zai jian & take care



C lip

hi,Clip
ni hao~~
your chinese ishaha,,,
Actually I know few things about Barcelona,when the first time I saw him(he came to Japan for about one month and study in my school when I was still in the Japanese language school)and be told that he comes from this city,I was so excited because one of my favourite football player is in Barcelona club.^^

Yes,there are a lot of commons between Chinese and Japanese.Japanese characters can be divided into to two parts,one is characters borrowed from Chinese(but there are sure small differences between Chinese characters and Japanese characters) ,another part is borrowed from English(they use their own characters which are completely different from Chinese characters to express these English,the pronunciation should be the same to English,but in fact,the pronunciation is very strange between English and and another one the Japanese invented by themselves,and this has been became the explaination why Japanese is not very good at English pronunciation )haha...

However,Japanese grammar is different from Chinese,but the same to Korean,so the Korean is always good at examination,but pronunciation is a bit of poorer than Chinese that close to Japanese person.Of course ,not everyone,there are sure Korean whose pronunciation is perfect


About tea,ont thing I gonna to tell you is my city is a famous place in China for planting tea.I still remember when I was a small girl,my family had a small area on the mountain(well,in fact ,those mountains in my village are not very high,this is why I can climb on them)to plant tea,but I am not quite sure if it is still there nowadays.)One famous teas in China is ,and in my city the famous is .Anji is the name of my city,actually a town,that is why my English name is Angela,they have close pronunciation.


It is a kind of tea that the tea leaf are in color of white,very strange,right??haha,,,I may go home next summer holiday,If you like,I would send you some...mm~~~~


You said the character on stamps is the first character of China in Chinese characters.

I donot know if you are interested in Chinese movies or other things you know about China?such as peking opera,etc.I am sure the more you get to know about Chinese culture ,the better you will be interested in it^^Sorry for my praise,Just because I myself is interested in Chinese culture,and other countries' culture...


Ok,I gonna to say zai jian to you,and a cup of for you^^

nice day

Angela

Hi Angela

Ni hao ma? Well, I hope.

You have cleared up a long standing question for me about the relationship with your language and Japanese. I understand that the use of tones is a very important part of learning Chinese. At first glance, your language, does look very complicated to a western eye. The most important thing about learning a foreign language is practice, practice and then more practice. I admire your courage and tenacity in your studies, brave girl

Hangzhou Longjing and Anji white tea will be difficult to get I think, I will have to wait until I next visit a large city. One tea I do know is Lap Sou shong (?) forgive my spelling, but it is not widely available, only from specialist shops. I have visited a Chinese grocery shop not far from where I live; I’ll go after the holidays.

Anji, the name of the tea, your village and now you have adopted the Anglicized version for your hootoo name. In English the abbreviated version of the name Angela is Angie, pronounced Anji...! So your choice of name is very appropriate.

I have never seen white tea before; I would love to try it. I always drink tea without sugar or milk or cream, sometimes I add a splash of lemon juice just for a change; but I like the taste of the tea without additives.

Usually the type of Chinese films I have seen over here are the Kung Foo kind, lots of fighting and violence, which I do not like. I believe there are much better ones than those! I have seen a little bit of Peking Opera; every now and then it is televised, usually to coincide with the Chinese New Year. Next time it is on the TV I will watch it.

Don’t apologise for praising your homeland, China is a vast and varied country, with a history that goes back thousands of years. China was a thriving civilization when the western world was still in the Dark Ages.

It is good to be interested in the culture of other countries, that’s the reason I became a Hootoovian. The electronic conversations between people of other nations is a good thing, it brings us all closer together and gives us a better understanding of each other; hopefully in this way we may be able to stop all the wars in the world and learn to live together more peacefully. Well that is what I hope. I detest war it never settles anything and only sows the seeds of mistrust and hatred. Dark thoughts, I’ll change the subject.

So, you may to be going home next summer holidays that would be nice for you and your parents, never forget your roots. You would be able to walk in those beautiful mountains, bathe your feet in cool streams, take deep breaths of clean mountain air and have time to think, time for yourself.

Well have to dash my break is over and the boss is watching


So I will say zai jian and take care.


Clip

ni hao,Clip
How are you recently?
My new year holiday has been finished,and I have to work from today
But actually working is not a bad thing,right?What about your winter holiday?

I was surprised that there is Chinese grocery shop near your home,^^what do you fell it,is it cheap?Most of Chinese grocery shops here in Tokyo are not always as good as some Japanese grocery shops,(I should tell your the truth) ,i mean the decor.So I seldom go there,but there are sure a lot of Chinese food.delicious food.Have you ever been to(been or gone?I forgot the meanings between the two) Chinese restaurant?Are there some Chinese restaurants in your city?

There are some Chinese restaurants near my house.I have been(or gone)to one ,it is very popular in my city and really delicious.

In China ,and in Japan,we drink tea without nothing,no milk,no sugar,no cream,that is our custom,but I think western countries like to drink with them,right?but there are beverage on grocery shelfs mix tea with them.always sweet in flavour,not the real flavour of tea,you canot fell the spirit of tea in these beverage.^^I like green tea,!!!~~~

Have a nice day,see you ,zai jian~~~



Angela