Much of what I have learned in SZ, I have learned because I make mistakes when speaking Chinese. These mistakes are not minor; according to my calligraphy teacher, Chang Hongcai every character is a universe. The following posts constitute meditations on the connotations of some SZ keywords and why attentive translation matters. Clicking exegesis brings up over 90 scenes of cultural breakdown.

爱 (ài) or thoughts on love.

八卦 (bā guà) gossip!

变通 (biàn tong) accommodating change to get things done.

赶 (gǎn) and the cultural value of getting things done in a timely fashion.

管 (guǎn) introduces Sino-American differences in the cultural politics of social control.

荒地 (huāng dì) posits the social function of wilderness, where it animates Chinese tradition, and how we might find it in SZ.

活该 (huó gāi) or how I learned what serves me right.

农民 (nóng mín) contextualizes the meaning of being peasant in SZ.

品味 (pǐn wèi) speculates on the rising social capital of good taste.

偷懒 (tōu lǎn) because not everyone is lazy in the same way.

整齐 (zhěng qí) or the value of social tidiness.