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You're speaking my language.

One really cool thing about the Korean language (m

One really cool thing about the Korean language (my friends have heard this so many times already) is that it conjugates for truth. You can say “it is raining” more than a dozen different ways, changing the verb to indicate how truthful that statement is: whether you saw the rain with your own eyes, whether someone told you it is raining, whether the rain was unexpected, and so on.

I’ve been to Korea a few times in the last year, but this was the first time it truly felt…habitual. When I went at the end of 2022 it felt momentous in that it was one of my first trips outside of China in two years. The next trip was the first time without restrictions. And this trip: the first time everything truly feels normal, and I can just hang out with friends, get good cocktails, do some tough hikes, and write in my favorite cafes. Missed you, Korea 🇰🇷

“That love, The pulse of the whole world, Myster

“That love,
The pulse of the whole world,
Mysterious, unattainable,
The torment and delight of my heart.
It's madness! It's empty delirium!
A poor, lonely woman
Abandoned in this teeming desert
They call Paris!
What can I hope? What should I do?
Enjoy myself! Plunge into the vortex
Of pleasure and drown there!

Enjoy myself!
Free and aimless I must flutter
From pleasure to pleasure,
Skimming the surface
Of life's primrose path.
As each day dawns,
As each day dies,
Gaily I turn to the new delights
That make my spirit soar.”

- La Traviata

“I'm also just dying to dance
Today is the best day ever!
Every night is girls night, forever and ever!
I've only ever wanted everything to stay exactly as it is!”

- Barbie

Did you know there is a Russian-Chinese pidgin lan

Did you know there is a Russian-Chinese pidgin language? In Russian it is known as Кяхтинский язык (Kjachtinskij jazyk; "Kyakhtian language") and in Chinese it is called 中俄混合語.

It is highly endangered, and I didn't ever hear it on the streets of Harbin, but sometimes just knowing that it is out there makes me happy.

One thing that makes this dialect particularly "cute" in my mind: Many words exist exclusively in the diminutive form (as if instead of saying "dog" you would only ever say "doggy".

For example the word женушеки (zhenusheki, "woman") comes from Russian женушка (zhenushka), the diminutive form of жена (zhena, "wife").
The word беленеки (beleneki, "white") comes from Russian беленький (belenkii), the diminutive form of белый (bieli).

I spent a couple days in Harbin this week, a city that was once overwhelmingly populated by Russians. You can still see the influence today: I drank lots of kvas, ate caviar and pickles, and found Russian on street signs and menus. I never get tired of China's border regions: it is fascinating to see how cultures clash and coincide and mix and re-emerge as something completely new.

To paraphrase Hemingway, I was a fool to go away..

To paraphrase Hemingway, I was a fool to go away... one's an a** to leave Beijing.

I’m back in China, with parents in tow! My mother started learning Mandarin as a pandemic project. She is a cellist, and with performances and rehearsals on hold, she bought herself an HSK 1 textbook and started spending her early mornings writing out characters and sending me sentences for correction.

My mom's best language learning trait is that she is fearless. Within a few weeks she was trying out Chinese sentences with Chinese American friends, and within a few months she was texting me in Chinese characters. At first this was, for me, a source of great mirth - she was attempting advanced communication with only basic knowledge, and the results could be hilarious disjointed. But soon her messages became shocking coherent. And then...freakishly proficient.

Four years later, with border restrictions lifted, she is finally here in China, chatting up anyone who will listen: fruit vendors, didi drivers, people that stare at her in the park. No matter that her tones aren't perfect, she keeps trying until she has completed her transaction or made a friend. Usually both.

It is an excellent reminder that in order to get good at something - you first have to be bad at it. Your abilities won't develop in a vacuum, waiting for the day you finally deign to use them. Get out there. Get started.

How about you? Are you bad at something that you will soon be good at?

“The truth is that we don't know what we desire;

“The truth is that we don't know what we desire; that we always deceive ourselves by the desire we set alongside the desired thing." - My Brilliant Friend

I've now read Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan novels twice through, in English translation. What a shame to not be able to read it in Italian, especially since the novels are peppered with Napulitano, the local dialect. It must be like watching The Wire in Chinese - you'd miss out on all the searing and feisty nuances of Baltimore’s English variants.

My brilliant friend @eve_ontheroad read the Neapolitan novels in Chinese translation. One of the first times we met, we bonded over how much the books had resonated with us, and we recalled our favorite parts. It was great to see how effective both translations were, that we both had such similar reading experiences.

Just a few months later, our love for Ferrante inspired a trip to Naples and the nearby Amalfi coast. What an experience, to finally see the city where the books were based!

France is not just French! It is full of other lan

France is not just French! It is full of other languages and variants, such as Niçard.

Niçard is spoken in Nice (as well as Monaco), and is part of the same family as Provençal and Occitan. When you walk around Nice you'll catch little glimpses of the language here and there, on signs and on restaurant menus. While there are very few people left who speak Niçard fluently, there is a recent effort to revive the language.

Here are a couple Nicard phrases I learned...what do you think they really mean?

Enfan e can counouissoun qu ben li fan: Children and dogs recognize who loves them.

Au nemic qu’escap noun li course darie: If your enemy escapes, don’t run after him.

I had such a nice time exploring Paris, Nice, and Lyon. I'm heading back to Beijing now, but something tells me I'll be back very soon.

If I'm your enemy, please don't chase me.

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