We eventually got to talking about languages, and Nick asked about the more popular languages in the area David was from.
David: Most of the people speak Cantonese, but there are a few regional dialects. The older people can all speak Japanese as well.
Toshi: Japanese? Really? How come?
David: Mostly as a result of what the Japanese did to China during World War II.
Toshi: Oh yeah. Heh. Sorry about that...
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Mmmmm. My cousin spent much of her preschool years in The Philippines in Santo Tomas as a result of WWII. No remunernations.
If that was me I would have said "Oh yeah. That was awesome." (When people stick around long enough to become friends with me they are used to that kind of jerkery.)
When I worked phone lines for INS, I overheard a co-worker saying, "No, you're Israeli. Palestine isn't a real country." I've never seen a supervisor run that fast to intercept a call in my life.
That's hilarious. So what kung fu movie did you guys watch that night? Ip Man?
From what I understand the Japanese textbooks aren't very... informative when it comes to WWII. I talked with a couple Japanese businessmen I met a while ago and asked them what they were taught about WWII. They said that the Chinese started it.
kawaika
The Chinese aggressed against the Japanese by indignantly possessing land the Emperor coveted.
So what kung fu movie did you guys watch that night? Ip Man?
If I had my choice, it would have been "The Guy With Secret Kung-Fu." But actually we spent most of the evening talking about home schooling. It blew both of their minds that the first time my older kids walked into a classroom, it was for college. Such a thing is pretty much unheard of in Asia.
I'm here in Taiwan and the locals say that Cantonese is "Guang Dong Hua," and they only use it for a few things. Mostly they speak "Guo Yu," also known as Mandarin, and "Tai Yu" also known as Taiwanese.
And the old people speak Japanese, but they say it's because Japan colonized Taiwan from 1895, not from World War II.
So ... you might ask David to clarify all that.
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