Job Discussion Forums

[hubei_canuk]

[hubei_canuk]

[bluey]

...and we want them here, and we want them now."

Decent - even great - beer can be made with mediocre ingredients, pretty much anywhere, in a few weeks by a novice with a couple of pages of instructions and a big bucket.

It can take a few years, on the other hand, to get a vine mature enough to yield decent fruit and it takes a fair bit of of skill and experience to make even a passable wine out of the grapes.

That's why you get excellent beers and excrable wines in so many places where Europeans have been sticking their oar in. Including China.

It's a good reason to stick to the pi jiu. (Incidentally, is the "pi" in "pi jiu" derived from the German "bier"?)

As far as the alcohol content goes (previous posts), most countries / regions that export have standard minimum levels. 6 percent is very low. Only the Germans get away with calling 6 percent cloying muck "Kwalitatswein" (last time I looked).

Also, most (all?) countries with an established wine trade have standards that prevent fruit juice or syrup with alcohol added later being called wine. The alcohol has to be "natural".

But then this is China. Fair play to MO for trying out some local wines and passing on his recommendation. I'm off to see if I can dig up a bottle of Imperial Court.

Oh and re the original post - whether or not you can survive on what you're being offered, it's almost certain (depending on your hours, experience, quals etc) that you should ask for more. It's the lowest pay I've seen on this forum or heard of from other teachers in China.

[Minhang Oz]

Yes HC, English teacher to the core, and not ashamed. Its interesting that on an EFL/ESL site, occupied mainly by teachers doing this for their daily rice [or miantiao in your case], people get damn edgy when their inexact use of the language is questioned. I said EXACTLY what I meant in my first post- and you did quote it all;just have a look! However, you're on your third try, and just get further in sh*t each time. As for your use of "century", probably Roger didn't have the time or patience to pursue that one. By your reasoning, The Atlanta Games were held a century ago because, well, they happened last century, didn't they? HC, this isn't an attack on you, or any kind of vendetta. I'm just criticising what you say. The forum needs you- its getting dull.
M. Oz
Teaching English since 1972 [ps, aren't you "one of us"?]
PPS Sunaru, Subaru, or whatever. You have an identical stle to someone who used to post here. And since when's a forum topic related to what we actually talk about? Don't insult me, or you'll get kicked off again.

[chinasyndrome]

Does that mean I'm not 2 centuries old? What a relief!

And wasn't the original post about cost and survival? Well, *beep* me if I'm wrong, but aren't wine and beer central to survival in China?

Chinese wine can taste okay but I think they use a lot of preservatives. Even if I drink a little (6 or 7 bottles) I get a massive headache the next day.

Cheers!

[hubei_canuk]

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[chinasyndrome]

[quote="arioch36"]

[hubei_canuk]

[hubei_canuk]

[hubei_canuk]

[Minhang Oz]

Wow HC, you're under attack from all sides; don't know why. Add this- its VERY easy to "edit" your own postings on this site- I think you know how. "The Commies" you so despise rewrite history to make it look good. I could have gone back and done my typos too, but figure reasonable readers will bear with one or two a posting. Who's going to edit /translate your collected works? So, a cunning stunt, as the Rev. Dr. Spooner used to say. To use one of your tags, enjoy your beer.

[hubei_canuk]

[chinasyndrome]

What ho, chaps!

HC. Seriously, there is a lot of preservative put into the wine - at least the ones we can buy in this part of town. Open a bottle and truly, 2 weeks later it will still be 'drinkable', if you know what I mean. Although not a drinker, I had a glass of wine last year that gave me a thumping headache. I asked a Chinese guy who sells as an agent, and after a bit of digging around he told me that preservative is definitely added. His reasons were interesting:

The wine industry (foreign wine styles) is relatively young and unknown to the Chinese. They know old wine tastes nicer but I'm told the technology or technique for long-term bottling isn't quite there yet, so they add to the vat so it keeps longer.

They believe it improves the flavour. True, he said that. I'm honestly wondering if it's the MSG thing applied to booze.

I asked him about the young wines we see on the shelves and he had this to say. Some people buy it for 'pose' value and don't really intend to drink it now. It's a stand-by that needs to last and look good for a long time. The preservative 'improves' the flavour of young wine. Seems to be the first answer rolled into the second. Also, it helps the wine last longer when the bottle is opened.

My impression was that he was answering honestly. I don't think it occurred to him that there might be another way to keep wine, and he genuinely didn't seem to be hiding info.

'A little hard on the stomach' might come from the Chinese idea of 'heat'. I know here in Shantou a lot of people eat bags of MSG (the food is very lightly flavoured) and doctors are always going on about 'too much heat in the stomach'. I wonder if the wine preservative causes the same thing. I'll try to find out.

Thanks for correcting the 'century' thing. Sometimes I feel 100 years old.

[arioch36]

dear Mr. Drone..uh sorry, I mean Drome (rhymes with chrome..chrome head...bald...now I understand)

You are only as old as you look, or at least, you are only as old as your students say you look. Where is your avatar? Com'on, tell me, my new avatar rocks. Come on Roger, stop being an old fuddy-duddy, get an avatar. Be part of Dave's commie regime. "That wat knucle can rant and rave against us all burning bodies and other fun stuff.

My students are now becoming well-trained. America-take note...corpareal punishment does work. I showed them a picture of me today on the computer. I asked "Shuige? (accuse my Chinese) which means, handsome cool boytoy....they almost all said, Shi da, shuige. Now that i am knowledgable about china, I will fail all of those students, so if I teach at the college next year, I can have them again.

Uh oh, sorry, back to the real threat...no I meant wine and bread, about the only two things the French can do right, the Chinese, for all their five thousand years of history, butcher. But it won't kill you. Their breath,,,that's another thing. Maybe that is why they made bai jiu so bad. Girls won't puke when they kiss bai jiu breath, only faint

Uh, if you want such luxuries as wine that doesn't make you sick, ask for a raise.

Seriously, for the original poster, if he hasn't given up...Seriously, if you have any qualifications as a teacher, ask for 1300 more. You should get at least a 1,000 more after the 3rd e-mail.

This is China; bargain bargain bargain

[chinasyndrome]

[quote="arioch36"]