u/Troophead

Yep, that's why I used France as the example.

It's aspirational, it doesn't have to be literal. It's like a Frenchman in 1940 watching the Nazis roll in, saying the French have been a peace loving people for centuries. (Substitute Imperial Japan here.) You could argue history with him or laugh at him, but it's a wish that things get better. Think what a Parisian might be thinking about his joyful, peace-loving country, and his sense of grief and loss. So I don't really find it that lol-worthy.

I really enjoy volunteering with CEI. Highly recommend. Besides Freetown Farm near Atholton, they also run a second site in Fulton, the Green Farmacy Garden, a teaching garden for medicinal plants which OP might be interested in volunteering at.

Hi, I'm getting a Qamaria too! But I live in Maryland, not Michigan.

I'm always delighted to see Ezio at the Renn Faire, personally. Which is why I was saying to the first commenter that I thought the character fits in quite well.

The rest of my comment was more a bit of a discussion on the difference between a costume and historical clothes, and what you're going for will change the look. (And obviously money; since it's true we're not actual Italian noblemen with personal tailors, haha.) So it's going to be a personal choice how to simplify, whether you want zippers, what fabrics to choose, etc.

Plenty of people love going in historical clothing not from the renaissance, like Viking or even Aztec, Persian and Mongolian, which is fun to see, while on the other side of the coin, there's plenty of grand fantasy costumes as well. Neither approach is wrong.

So like in my imagination, an Ezio wearing historical clothes will look different than a fun Ezio costume, and that's okay. I was wondering out loud (er, in text) what that might look like.

For a historical fiction series like Assassin's Creed, I think there's definitely ways to make good period garb inspired by Ezio Auditore. He's literally from 16th century Florence. Whether it ends up looking more like garb or cosplay is up to execution.

Zippers and synthetic fabric end up giving OP's outfit more of a costume feel, like you said, though I think it's cool. But a proper gray, white and red striped Italian doublet with a small cape and gloves, maybe even paired with hose, would be excellent for Faire. Basically, approaching the outfit as Renaissance clothing first, video game costume second.

Ah, I have a lot more to say about this as the thread blew up, and I've read more of your comments here. (I've got to head out soon but I'll say a little.)

First, just take things slow. Keep learning Cantonese yourself, that's already a good start. Don't get discouraged because of this thread. (Though you'll also learn a little more, as you progress, why this thread is getting some flak.) Maybe reevaluate your thoughts on this in 6 months or a year or two, as your language level progresses and also the relationship with your girlfriend and the potential in-laws of course. If you two are dating, not yet married, don't yet have children, just keep working on your own Canto skills for now. You'll naturally learn more, and more opportunities and deeper conversations will open up to guide you.

I disagree that not reading Chinese as an overseas Cantonese speaker is comparable to someone from the mountains of Georgia being unable to read English. I used the hypothetical example of an American scientist of Coptic Egyptian heritage who speaks Coptic, who can't read ancient Egyptian hieroglyph, as an example for this reason. Like nobody expects someone in that situation to read hieroglyphs. However, it's absolutely true that while traveling in modern China, you absolutely do need to be able to read Standard Chinese. (Do you need to read written Cantonese? Not necessarily. Key fact, those two are somewhat different. Fun!) Standard Chinese is gonna feel like learning Latin for your kids. It will suck, because it won't be the written version of the language they actually speak. So it sucks that the difficulty is so high compared to a kid from Georgia learning English, but yes, the skill is vital. But that's like a whole other topic. I can explain my reasoning further when I have time.

More practical advice:

Should you raise your hypothetical children to speak Cantonese? Absolutely, it's a gift to be bilingual. Look into OPOL, or One Parent One Language. (There are many forums for that.) You can support her efforts, but OPOL doesn't require you to be the primary teacher at all. Have her be the one to speak Cantonese to the kids from birth- don't feel the need to wait for the kids to be "old enough" to enroll them in a formal class or Chinese school. Obviously, have the grandparents speak Cantonese with the kids as often as possible.

If you have the financial means, travel to a Cantonese speaking region in China for summer vacation at least once when they're very young. It's much more effective than years of formal courses as teens or adults.

This comment got too long, but happy learning! I'd be happy to elaborate on anything else.

You asking about whether to learn to read in Cantonese yourself? Or is this question whether you ought to push your girlfriend to learn to read? Because that latter is presumptuous if she hasn't expressed any interest in it. A more supportive approach is to mention that you're trying to learn to read, and see if she's interested in taking classes together to help you, and/or to improve together.

However, you should know that it's not going to be as easy as learning the alphabet, and that not knowing how to read Chinese doesn't make her an especially uneducated person, any more than say, an average American (or Canadian, etc) who can speak colloquial Coptic with family, went to grad school in Arabic, but can't read hieroglyphics. A bit of an exaggeration, but you get my point. That's still a really damn well-educated person.

Not knowing a classical pictographic script that takes years of formal study, and is quite different from her home spoken language, doesn't make her any less of a cultured, educated, witty, and intellectually curious person. If she wants to pursue that, wonderful. If not, she's not somehow lacking for that either.

No, pretty sure it's vitreous enamel, which is fused powdered glass.

I don't know why in English we also use the same word for the outer coating of teeth.

A more recent AP article is saying that 108 have been rescued, so another 11 survivors have been found since the previous comment.

You're thinking of fireflies. This thread's about the invasive planthopper pest species, spotted lanternfly.

If you watch the video, that was such an insanely small air pocket they rescued her from. It's crazy how she was trapped there in her own house, stuck in quicksand, for ten days. And the same day they rescued a worker from a tunnel too!

A horrifying situation, but gives some hope that there still might be more Nepali flood survivors.

It probably looked better by candlelight too.

Also the complete lack of eye contact or passion of any kind in their facial expressions, IMO

Or a couple of hot-crossed buns! :D

ANGRY UPVOTE ಠ_ಠ

Here it is. The arriving officers shot him, not the homeowner.

"Upper Pottsgrove Township Police responded to a 911 call for a possible attempted break-in at a residence on Snyder Road. The police arrived to find a male, Glenwood Pysher IV, in the rear of the residence. An encounter ensued and police fired at Pysher, fatally striking him," [District Attorney] Steele said.

I'm a fan of Mucha's art nouveau posters, but I never knew he'd also done medieval paintings in this style. Nice find, thanks for sharing!

".... if you need one of those." :P

It's not gelatin, it's a Brazilian dish made of corn meal and toppings/fillings. So think more like Brazilian shrimp and grits, not weird 1970s American Christmas jellos.

Isn't this just a style of Brazilian couscous? People are getting freaked out by the shape, but it's not like it's jello or fruitcake. It's just corn meal with fun toppings.

Y'all don't ever eat cornbread, corn mush, or shrimp and grits?

I'm always impressed with how these old artists depict fabric. Makes me want to reach out and touch the velvet.

Or Oakenmist, if you still want something in Maryland, but somewhat smaller. It's in Westminster this year.

I also read that, besides those seven, other employees also went back inside to evacuate cats from the cat cafe and were caught off guard by the explosion. But It sounds like thankfully those employees survived, managed to get themselves out, and the cats were all rescued later.

I really like this color combination for some reason.