Lugishi brought up a valid question pertaining to my last post. He quite rightly pointed out what seems like a contradiction. So, if there are any grammar buffs out there I thought we could turn this into a grammar question. Here are the questions:

1. Can the two following statements be harmonized so as not to contradict each other? In other words can both statements be true?

2. Can you spot the ..er...ahem! deliberate mistake in the second statement that can lead to some people believing that the two statements contradict themselves?

3. What do you think Yingwen was TRYING to say?

4. How could the second statement be written better so as to be less ambiguous?

5. Are you still awake?

If you're interested send your answers on a postcard to this addr...oops sorry, forget that. Just post replies on the forum. It might be better for the sake of context if you first read the letter posted by 'thinkingaboutchina' titled 'Black teachers in China:appearance'. Here are the two statements. As you can probably see the problem lies with the second statement:

First statement:

Ironically, I'm less conscious of my black skin in China than I was of it back in my home country, England.

Second statement:

As a native-speaking black American, I don't think you will have many problems here.