“Mama, I’d like some Happy Kids Grow Taller and Taller.” “Sure, dear.” That’s a literal translation of a conversation that could happen within a Chinese family. Happy Kids Grow Taller and Taller is a roundabout explanation of the Chinese name for a Spanish brand of chocolate powder. 高樂高 (pronounced gao le gao) is the product’s Chinese […]
I wrote this a few months back, right when the restaurant opened. A delicious side of modern China-Chile relations! Madam Tusan, a Chinese-Peruvian restaurant, opened a few months ago at Parque Arauco, an upscale mall that looks like it could be in Southern California. We visited the restaurant after reading this tempting review in the […]
If 2010 was the year I spent thinking about Chile from China, 2011 has been the year I took action on this vision. It has been a crazy year, and I am so happy about where I am right now, in the final days of 2011. The last day of 2010 was my last day […]
Last night I spoke at the Meetup in Viña del Mar. The event was excellent! Here is the blurb we used to advertise it: Leslie Forman, a California native who spent four years working in China, will speak about the new frontier of connections between California, China, and Chile (EN ESPAÑOL.) She is the daughter […]
This week I learned a bunch of new vocabulary in Chinese! 挖土机 [wātǔjī] = bulldozer 港口[gǎngkǒu] = port 皮卡 [píkǎ] = pick-up truck 地形 [dìxíng] = landscape, topography Why did I need these words? I’ve recently started doing some Chinese-Spanish translation work for mining companies. In China I worked in many different industries, but mining […]
September 2, 2011
Several well-intentioned people have suggested names for my hypothetical future China-Chile translation and consultancy business.
The convenience store I frequent inconveniently did not have what I was looking for, but it did have something even more inspiring: pañuelos desechables (disposable handkerchiefs). Why did these inspire me? Let me count the ways… 夏 (xia), the character in the center of this side of the tissue box, means “summer.” And 音 (yin), the character […]
Yesterday, Brent and I strolled through Bellavista (Santiago’s quasi-bohemian bar district) and stopped to play on these: These practical and well-maintained pieces of exercise equipment are in just about every park and every apartment complex in China. I think the lottery funds them. Fun for kids aged 1-81 101! Edited 8/1/11 following an astute comment […]
I ate this Chilean apple in the taxi on the way to the airport, as I left Beijing. It cost 7 RMB (slightly more than one dollar). It tasted decent — not amazingly crisp and juicy, but also not too mealy and gross. I probably should have peeled it. This is just one of the […]