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你好,歡迎收聽隨行漢語。 Welcome to Takeaway Chinese.
I'm Niang Honglin with Steve in the studio.
Hello, Steve.
How's it going this time?
Having a lot of fun.
After doing the research for our previous episode and, to be honest, this one, I realized there are so many things in life that I can do, I can enjoy, and young people out there are really creative and they invent almost these different things I get to do.
我们的兴趣爱好非常广泛而有趣。 We mentioned 兴趣爱好 being hobbies, and 广泛 is like various kind of hobbies, very wide.
And 有趣, I think these hobbies are very, very fun.
If you missed part one of Hobbies on Takeaway Chinese, go back and listen to that episode.
Yes, please.
Today will be part two.
After having our chat last time and thinking about the chat that we will have today, I was thinking about the hobbies that I had when I was younger and the various hobbies that I've maybe attempted to take up as an adult.
And I kind of regret not having a broader portfolio.
Because everything I did when I was young was related to sports.
And we talked about sports in the first episode.
And even sports today are definitely very much different from when we were playing soccer or playing rope jumping.
They can, for sure.
But I was thinking about it and I do have some regrets about things that I didn't get involved in.
I remember when I was in high school.
Again, I played sports all the time.
So in my high school years.
You were either like an athlete or you were in the drama, theater, music side.
Do you have any hobbies like those?
No, and that's what I'm talking about.
I regret not getting into that.
I had a friend who was in the drama club in high school and that same friend did it in university.
And he had a tremendous experience there.
And he didn't go on to be an actor or a singer or anything like that.
He wasn't particularly talented, I don't think.
But he did it because he liked it.
And at that time, I had an interest in it, too.
But I thought, oh, I'm a hockey player and I play baseball.
You have to choose sides.
Right.
That wouldn't be cool, you know, if I joined the drama club or the theater club or took singing lessons or something like that, or music lessons.
And I really kind of regret that now.
Well, that is something you can make up for in this day and age here in China.
Because yes, when we're in college, there are all these different types of 兴趣小组 or 社团 clubs, these kind of 社团 that you can join.
So those school clubs are called 社团.
社团.
兴趣社团, or simply just 社团, you can join.
And the kind of, for example, drama club you talked about, the theater...
In the theater, you play, you have a stage and everything very serious.
You remember all the lines and you put on a performance for one hour or even two hours.
That is really serious commitment, even for the college kids.
But after graduating you kind of feel like you do not have that kind of time or you don't really want to work as an actor, a stage actor.
And what young people today do, regardless of whether or not they're a member of 话剧社 in college.
话剧, by the way, is drama 话剧.
Yes, and 话 carries the meaning of 说话 or 语言, it's language.
So 话剧 is the stage play focuses on performing with your words instead of singing or dancing.
So that's 话剧.
So for those who are interested in 话剧, yet are not that committed to be a player or to be in a real two-hour, three-hours play, what they do is they join a 即兴话剧 kind of club.
即兴话剧 Yes, 即兴话剧 would be improv comedy.
Ah, okay.
So you start with yes and.
Starting from there, you know what yes and is?
Is when you join the club, you start exercising.
And no matter what your partner says, you have to answer with yes and.
For example, I say.
Okay, let's play.
I feel like a cat today.
Yes, and?
You have to finish your end sentence and I will react to your end sentence.
Oh, so you say I feel like a cat today and then I say yes and something.
Yes.
Okay, go again.
Okay.
My life is empty.
Are you okay?
Okay.
Sorry, you caught me off guard with that.
I thought you were going to do the cat one again.
You start with a yes and exercise.
So, no matter how ridiculous your partner is asking you to do or set the story background as you have to say yes immediately and you finish the sentence starting with the end and continue the story.
Okay.
So, for example Steve, you always look so smart, but today I feel like you are really against me.
I feel like you have beef with me.
Yes, and I'm glad that you recognized that feeling coming from me, because I have been desiring steak recently.
Yes.
And, as a great chef, I understand that you are having this feeling, because I've been offering steak for everybody instead of you in the office.
And that's because I thought you're allergic to beef.
Yes, I am.
And I have other allergies.
You see, you see, you start with something and then you... It's not yes, but it has to be yes, and.
It has to be yes, and.
And, to be honest, I don't think our little practice is fun enough or serious enough, but it showcases how people play with it.
That is, instead of being yourself being serious in a workplace, using logic to react to everything, you let the guard down and you immerse yourself into a group of probably strangers.
Yeah.
And you let yourself be imaginative enough, be improvising enough.
It was one of my favorite TV shows when I was a kid.
It was called Whose Line Is It Anyway?
And it was an improv show.
And they had these wonderfully talented people on the show.
And the audience members would shout out A scenario or a situation.
And then the actors would just go with it.
And they were so funny and so talented.
And I don't think I have the talent level necessary to be in that type of thing.
即兴话剧
They have those types of things here in China, like those improv groups that you can join?
Yes.
That's awesome.
You can join, you can play, you can also enjoy the kind of more professional shows like you mentioned.
We have the audience shouting out as well, and what happens is that they set a scenario.
The players would set a scenario and they start playing, and then they leave a blank in the sentence and they let audience shout out a word to fill the blank, And the word can be any word.
It can also be ridiculous.
But, like you said, they use the ridiculous word to continue the play and make it really funny and really enjoyable for our viewers.
Yes, and if you are really good when you're practicing, you feel like this is really your thing.
You can also join a 开放麦.
Yes, 开放麦 is open mic.
You can be a performer on an open mic night.
Yeah.
Have you ever done that before?
No, but I really wanted to.
I need to prepare for it, prepare my performance.
But I always see I'm not losing it up enough.
I want it to be good enough. before I really go and perform.
Yeah, that's the thing that's holding you back.
Yes, yes, it is.
But the younger generation nowadays here in China, they are enjoying this a lot.
And some of them are really good.
Some of them are not.
But even those who are not good enough are enjoying it.
I watched a podcast.
It was a video podcast that had comedians on it, and they were talking about the power of failing.
And one comedian was saying, I've never gotten over the fear of failing.
I've never been able to release that anxiety from my body before I go on a stage.
And the senior comedian, who is much older than him, says you have to embrace failing.
You have to be comfortable with the fact that not every joke you tell is going to be funny and not everyone in the room is going to laugh at you.
And once you embrace that as not just a possibility but a reality, then you start to find comfort and confidence in yourself.
And you're Totally okay if you bomb, which every comedian apparently goes through, that where you just have a terrible performance, nobody laughs.
But I found that to be a fascinating conversation.
And the reason I thought of that is because that's what you said, right?
Just being afraid, like you want to be perfect before you even try.
But I think the concept of everyone can be a comedian for five minutes.
Everyone, as long as you're in your 20s or in your 30s, you've lived long enough.
You don't even need to be in your 30s, even if you're a teenager.
There are definitely enough jokes in your life that you can talk about and laugh about.
And with that material you cannot be a professional comedian, but you can have the stage for five minutes.
Oh, sure.
Yeah.
But what you said, though, it kind of defeats the purpose of a fun hobby, though.
Doesn't it?
Because, if you're thinking well, I want to be perfect, though that type of thing is what we'd usually apply to our professional lives.
But for a hobby, shouldn't it be like, I don't care if I'm good at it or not.
I'm just going to try it out for fun.
I think more people are having the I'm going to try it out for fun kind of attitude.
I admire that.
Yes, I do too.
And that's why they are joining these 开放卖.
They are going onto the stage sharing a little bit of their comments about things or their life experience.
And if people echo with that concept and laugh, great.
If not, it's still okay.
They are letting the stress out.
They are having fun.
And that's good enough.
Still, I think my problem is that I still see it as part of my profession instead of a hobby.
But one thing I can do it's in the middle of acting and playing and socializing is the kind of script murder mystery activity.
Oh, I've never done one of those.
You should do that.
It's really fun.
I bet it's that you have a story and you as the player would be given an identity.
You have your background story.
You have your information and you do not know who is the murderer unless you are the murderer.
And what you need to do is as a group, you tell your stories, but at the same time, you debate a little bit and you detect who is the real murderer and you try to convince other people To agree with you and you vote and you discover the story layer by layer and you act a little you find out a little and You have a lot of fun.
My sisters used to do those, so I know all about them.
But they took it a step further the dinner murder mystery.
So what they would do is they email out.
I guess it was through email or text or whatever the character information.
So when the person shows up to the house...
They're already in character.
They're in character already.
So it's not like they're all in the house together and they say, okay, let's start the game.
No, it's not like that.
They show up in character.
Wow.
And my sisters would cook and prepare food and people would bring side dishes and stuff.
And they would start the game by having dinner together.
Wow.
And the dinner part would be part of the game because you're getting to know the other characters.
Yeah, they loved it.
I was too young to take part, but I've always wanted to do that.
Right?
By the way, in Chinese, it's called 剧本杀.
Ju Ben Sha.
Ju Ben is the script, and Sha is murder.
Okay.
Literally.
So Ju Ben Sha is like, yes, it's a killing-related thing, but it's not real killing.
Of course, of course.
Yes, it's a game.
It's a script killing.
So Ju Ben Sha.
I love that young people are using these types of things to show... Another side of themselves.
These aspects of their personality.
Yeah, exactly.
Because we hear so often about how Gen Z they don't like to answer the phone because it gives them anxiety.
They grew up with screens, so they don't like conversation.
We hear these types of stories all the time.
But that's not true.
True.
That's not for everyone.
And also, I don't think it's the mainstream trend.
Those things can be true, but also it doesn't mean that they are different types of humans.
That's true.
Right?
It's just they grew up with different circumstances.
But yeah, it's awesome to hear that these things are really popular in China.
They are really popular.
And because they're popular among the younger generation.
The industry is also taking off in different ways.
They develop different types of stories.
It can be a really serious murder case you need to solve.
It can also be the kind of stories that is a romantic story, if you are the main character, female character, and you develop a relationship with the main male character and you have to perform out your relationship.
And some people are really good they cry and they tell each other how much they love each other, even though they do not know each other.
Good performing as well.
So a lot of different types of fun.
And those are the more socializing kind of games you play with strangers.
People say it's more for extrovert.
For introvert, it's more like sitting in a room having a meeting with strangers for hours, which is something they do not enjoy.
That can be anxiety-inducing, depending on you, yeah.
And that is why there are other hobbies as well, the kind of hobby.
Have you ever heard of this concept?
In China, we see more and more young people saying they wanted a 书出行爱好.
We know 爱好 is hobby, and 输出 is output.
Output hobby.
And 型 is type.
So, for example, if you like to read...
That is the hobby that you read and you enjoy it and you're putting information inward.
But if you like reading and then writing reviews and or even recording a short video of your idea, your comment about the book and recommending the book, this would be your outputting ideas.
Yes.
So it's an output hobby for introverts.
Output hobby for introvert or for extrovert.
It does not really matter about the personalities, more about the fact that more people are enjoying the kind of hobbies that have a result, something concrete for you to later on reveal, to see that oh, you're getting better at the hobby.
Yeah.
And there's some sort of audience interaction aspect to some kind of those.
Yeah.
For certain types of output hobbies, if we call them that.
For example, one definitely output type of hobby would be weaving.
How is that?
We call it 编织 or even we have a name for those who enjoy weaving in China.
We call them 织女.
Zhī nü.
Zhī means to weave, and nü is a girl.
But it's not because only girls are allowed to play with the rope and putting beautiful things together.
It's because Zhī nü is also a very famous mythical character in a traditional Chinese folktale story.
So she is well known.
So people are naming the people who are weaving after her.
Weaving, you mean, are you talking about knitting?
Yes.
Knitting can be one.
Weave literally can be one.
Or as long as you're using rope-related fabric to create something, you can call yourself a 织女.
Okay.
I've never learned how to weave or knit.
I used to sit with my grandmother.
She would knit fabric winter scarves, winter hats sweaters, sometimes for her grandchildren.
But I never learned how to do it myself.
Well, nowadays the thing is weaving.
In my opinion was, or previously in my opinion was, something that are popular among my parents' generation.
Yeah.
But they do it for a practical purpose.
Like you said, they knit a sweater for their kid.
Right.
Or basket weaving.
Yes, yes.
You can create bowls or buckets or what have you.
Or something you put as a cover for your TV.
I don't know if it's this thing.
It's called crocheted, is it?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
For your sofa.
Again, that's a grandma kind of thing.
And it really is kind of actually.
But for today's young Chinese people, they learn the basic techniques know-how to be able to create something.
But the color they use, the kind of pattern they create And the kind of real, actual product they create, they can create a coaster.
It's the easy one.
But they also even would weave a cloth for bicycles, if you know what I mean.
I do not.
They cover the areas of the bicycle that can be covered without compromising the functionality of the bicycle.
Oh, so the purpose is for...
Is have fun.
Okay.
Just decorate it.
Decorating.
And they would even knit some quote unquote clothes for trees.
Yes.
Not only for humans.
I've seen that.
It's actually very cute.
It's really adorable.
It's just done for fun.
As far as I know, I don't think it has any scientific benefits.
No, I don't think so either, but it's for fun.
It's still pretty cool to look at.
They're making the community a bit childish in a cool way, in a way that makes you feel aww.
I understand the hobby.
I've never gotten into it myself, but it's, I assume, very cathartic because it's very repetitive.
Even though you're creating something quite artistic, the action itself is quite repetitive.
That's true.
So very meditative in a sense, I would guess.
And I think that resonates with another hobby people have, young people have here in China, pindou.
Pindou.
Oh, I know this one.
Oh.
Go ahead.
So these are the plastic beads, right?
And you take these plastic beads and you have a template that you can put the beads into.
That template will be like a plate with a design in it, as far as I know.
And you put the beads in there and the beads come in different colors and different shapes.
Maybe you put a piece of paper kind of paper, heat resistant paper I suppose on top of those beads and then you iron it.
You literally iron it.
Heat it up.
And then you iron the paper, and then the beads melt and stick together.
And it sounds very basic, and it can be if you want it to be.
But you can also make these really cool 3D designs of different types of characters.
And I've seen some of them.
They're so intricate in their design, and they're so cool.
Yeah, this is a really popular hobby in the West, too, actually.
Yes, it is evolving so fast.
The last time I checked, it was exactly the way you described it.
You put things there in a two-dimensional kind of manner.
Yes, you heat it up, put them together and creating some pattern you like.
But apparently now you can add some gadgets and make it movable.
Yeah, yeah.
You can have... Add joints to them.
Yes, there are many different ways to make yours definitely an arty craft, not simply just a picture with plastics as its material.
So people are getting very creative.
It's not only with Pindou.
They are also making all kinds of handcraft work.
I don't know if it's popular here.
I think it is because I think I've seen shops for this.
But in Canada one of the things people like to do do you have bead shops here where you go and there's tons of different beads and then the vendor will give you like a leather rope.
Yes, yes, we do.
Yeah.
And then you choose your beads that it's fun for couples.
I think you choose your beads and you put them on the rope and it can be a necklace.
It can be a bracelet.
It can be an anklet or whatever.
And then you design that way, too.
And even personal journal or diary.
Previously, when you write your diary, you only write.
But here in China, we 写手帐.
写手帐.
Xie means to write shou zhang.
Shou is your hand, zhang is kind of like a zhang ben.
It's something you keep note, but it's not exactly a diary and also it's not exactly writing, even though xie means write in Chinese.
It's again, an art form.
It's designing your entire layout of your diary.
You buy a lot of different types of beautiful stickers and tapes.
And You draw on it, you write on it, and you have your very own style.
And the stickers you buy can be very traditional Chinese style, but it can also be very fashionable.
And it's a little like Photoshopping without the Photoshop.
I know what you mean.
Photoshop.
You are, you are the Photoshop, you are the Photoshop and everything is handmade.
It's also quite meditating.
Yeah, a diary maybe typically or traditionally, would just be a book with your thoughts in it, but nowadays people are decorating those pages and Not just around the thoughts that have been been written down, but sometimes they'll take concepts or things from throughout a day.
And I read a story about this before I read about it.
I thought, oh, this is a bit silly, isn't it?
And then I read about it and I realized, no, it's not it's not silly at all.
So you know how the example in the story that I read was.
You know how people will typically throw away like a receipt from the coffee that they bought.
Well, the people who decorate their diaries, they don't throw away those types of things.
They'll keep a receipt from their coffee and they'll put it maybe in the middle of the page, and then they'll find other coffee diaries.
Related things from other sources that they cut out and then they decorate a whole.
They make like a coffee page.
And then in the middle is the receipt from that day.
And it's not just about the design of the page.
It's meant to be a trigger, a positive trigger to trigger your memory of that particular day.
Yes, you're decorating around an element from your life.
Yeah, a particular day in your life.
Yes.
So, among all the hobbies we discussed, I think it reflects the fact that these hobbies are being more and more popular.
You see different types.
You see the ones for introvert.
You see the ones for extrovert.
You even see the one for introverts who are enjoying decorating your journals but you want to sit together in a bookshop So you can share the material the tape, the sticker and the kind of beautiful different types of pen that you have with those who have the same hobby.
So you would sit together, not talk to each other working on your own journal, but using the material together.
So it's.
So it's social, but yet it's not.
Yes.
And I think it's really cool that the society, the condition of our world, is providing everyone with the possibility of choosing whichever hobby you would enjoy with whatever, whichever one that you know, from whichever platform, or simply by yourself, with nobody.
And that is okay.
We make the mistake often, I think, that We assume other people like the things that we like.
Other people think the way that we think.
Other people have a personality similar to our own.
But the reality is, is that everybody is different.
Everyone has their own interests.
Everyone has their own outlets.
The ways that they want to express themselves and the things that we've discussed today.
It's just a great diverse list of different ways that people can do that.
And It's just a good way to show that there really is something for everyone.
So if you're listening and you're thinking oh, I don't have any hobbies, which I've heard so many people say, I don't have any hobbies because you feel like well, there's nothing out there for me.
That's not true.
There is.
There is.
It's just you haven't found it yet.
So keep looking and it'll come to you for sure.
It will.
And you will be able to enjoy it both online and offline.
You will be able to find the meditating element, the stress releasing element, the letting your another part of your personality out element.
And all that will help you to enjoy life and love yourself a little more.
So will we be seeing you at the Ji Xing Hua Zhu? think about it after I figure out the perfect joke.
And that brings us to the end of today's Takeaway Chinese.
Thank you so much for being with us.
Let us know what is your current favorite hobby and what is another hobby you might want to try after listening to today's Takeaway Chinese.
Thank you for listening.
See you next time.
