Recent content by IratePanda

New Jersey isn't so different, to be honest. There MUST be a Wawa on the route! 7-Eleven won't 'cut it.

https://americancup.com/2026/02/philippines-rounds-out-country-lineup-brazil-china-update-rosters-for-2026-american-cup/ The latest roster. Ke Qinqin has in fact replaced Qiu Qiyuan. Tian Zhuofan has also replaced Zhang Yihan. And Dongguan still isn't a province. It's a city! Tian Zhuofan...

It looks like Ke Qinqin will replace Qiu Qiuyuan, who's still recovering from a foot injury (and surgery?) earlier this winter.

I teach a lot of first-years, and I'm thankful that I don't have to deal with their parents. I can just imagine how much grief they'd give me for humbling their special snowflakes on a daily basis. ("But Dylan got straight As in all of his high school history classes!")

I don't mind her commentary, but I generally have a soft spot for her.

Yes, I think so. She enrolled in '22, so this year is the earliest she'd graduate.

https://people.com/laurie-hernandez-to-make-broadway-debut-in-and-juliet-11898198

Putting my irritation aside, that is a stellar Chinese team. They're taking this competition format very seriously in the run-up to LA '28. I wouldn't be suprised if Ke Qinqin ended up competing in Zhang Yihan's place. The coaches might want to make sure that Ke is 100% ready for her senior...

I'm clenching my teeth so hard that my jaw hurts. They also listed everyone's home province except Ke Qinqin's. Dongguan is a city in Guangdong province. It's not a province. It's not that hard to get things right, is it?

Interestingly, I've heard similar comments about Tan Sixin, who was Komova's main competitor at 2010 YOG. She was trained to be perfect--but she never learned how to fight or think on her feet. I think we could have a thread titled, "Gymnasts for whom perfect was the enemy of good."

I learned it all--characters alongside Pinyin, plus a sink-or-swim approach to conversation (lots of contact with native speakers and plenty of "dubuqi, wo tingbudong"). Chinese was my college major, and my doctorate is in a related field. I also lived in China on and off during the 90s and...

My dad (RIP) grew up in a house where the adults spoke Yiddish when they didn't want the kids to understand. He turned the tables on them by studying German for 20+ years.

I used to be fluent in Mandarin. Now it's serviceable, if rusty. I also understand French and Spanish quite well, but I'm hesitant to use either in conversation. I've dabbled in Khmer (Cambodian) and picked up enough to follow soap operas and old pop songs. I attempted to learn Japanese in grad...

Me as an innocent Jersey girl: It's just a game. Philly in-law: It's a life-or-death-matter. We have to win while eating our weight in low-quality bread, meat, and cheese. And shitty potato chips.

Yeah, if anyone here has ever seen or read Silver Linings Playbook, that's not even the tip of the iceberg.