Michelle Attends U.S. State Dinner for China President Hu Jintao | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Michelle Attends U.S. State Dinner for China President Hu Jintao

Joined
Jun 21, 2003
He's only eighty-seven.

All joking aside, how long was he Secretary of State?

I believe he was National Security Advisor in President Nixon's first term and Secretary of State in the Nixon/Ford term following. He is famous mostly for how well he handled the Vietnam War(?) He won a Nobel Peace Prize for it... much as President Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize solely for possessing the virtue of not being George Bush. :cool:

Anyway, here are a couple of quotes from the Wall Street Journal coverage:

Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan made Mr. Hu laugh when she told him that at age 30, she was too old to compete.

For Ms. Kwan, whose parents are both ethnically Chinese and who is now studying public policy, the dinner was a gee-whiz opportunity to gaze at celebrities like former President Jimmy Carter and Henry Kissinger, the former secretary of state. She made it a point to say hello to Mr. Carter, who once awarded her a Goodwill Games medal. “I was like stunned, stunned that he remembered me,” she said.

(That would have been during the Clinton presidency.)
 
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Tonichelle

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Jun 27, 2003
"I was like stunned..."

apparently we need to take a few more speech courses to get rid of that stupid irrelevant "like" habit.
 

MKFSfan

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Mar 15, 2006
Aw, Michelle! She looks absolutely fantastic! Yes, the dress is a stunner and not conservative, but it's not as if her boobs are hanging out or the dress is too short. I think she looks classy, sophisticated and very chic. I feel like a proud mom! We really have watched this little, jumping bean grow up into the beautiful, inside and out, woman Michelle is today. As much as I (selfishly) want her to be on tour with SOI or to create some other tour, I am in awe of what she has accomplished and how she continues to grow as a person, one we can all be inspired by. She truly has transcended the sport and is a terrific role model for people of all walks of life.
 

OS

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Mar 23, 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qUfXSg2KYM

Michelle appeared at 0.43

Yes definitely the best dress of the day! Also the much needed burst of glamour and youthful vibrancy as well.

Michelle is easily amongst the best rep of American/Chinese success in the world scene, lots of ops for her in diplomatic relations if she put her heart to it. (making President Hu laugh works in her favour already, doubt even Obama could do that)

Surprised how loud the heckling were from the white house.
 
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Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Aw, Michelle! She looks absolutely fantastic! Yes, the dress is a stunner and not conservative, but it's not as if her boobs are hanging out or the dress is too short. I think she looks classy, sophisticated and very chic. I feel like a proud mom! We really have watched this little, jumping bean grow up into the beautiful, inside and out, woman Michelle is today. As much as I (selfishly) want her to be on tour with SOI or to create some other tour, I am in awe of what she has accomplished and how she continues to grow as a person, one we can all be inspired by. She truly has transcended the sport and is a terrific role model for people of all walks of life.

That's how I feel too, which, knowing your screen name, doesn't surprise me. I would love to see her skating regularly in a pro situation, so she could push the artistic envelope without worrying about the limitations imposed by CoP. But I'm thrilled with what she has chosen to do instead. (And we even get to see her skate from time to time!) She's making a beautiful place for herself out in the world. It's so wonderful to realize that even as stellar a skating career as hers was only a first act.

As for "like," I use it often myself, usually when I want to downplay something. I've noticed that people sometimes use it when they are trying not to appear to take themselves too seriously. It may be a habit in Kwan that originated from that kind of intention. Just a thought!
 
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Phil Cohen

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May 20, 2009
When hosting a foreign dignitary, it is common for the President to invite famous Americans from that dignitary's country. So, when the Japanese premier was hosted, Kristi Yamaguchi and Rena Inoue went to the State dinner. Michelle first went to a state dinner hosted by then Pres. Clinton for the Chinese premier; then, she went to a state lunch hosted by then Pres. Bush, Jr. for Chinese president Hu. At that luncheon, she spoke with Condi Rice ... that led to Michelle's public diplomacy envoy job.

Actually, Kristi Yamaguchi is from San Francisco, California. In the 1980's, when she was an unknown teenage skater making her first television appearances, she was so shy back then, that no one other than her family members and skating coach had ever heard her speak. but when she started to appear on television, she had no choice but to speak for interviews. After one of her first interviews, an executive from one of the television networks came up to Kristi and said, "Kristi, your English is GREAT!!!", to which she responded ,"I'm a third generation Japanese-American."
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Actually, Kristi Yamaguchi is from San Francisco, California. In the 1980's, when she was an unknown teenage skater making her first television appearances, she was so shy back then, that no one other than her family members and skating coach had ever heard her speak. but when she started to appear on television, she had no choice but to speak for interviews. After one of her first interviews, an executive from one of the television networks came up to Kristi and said, "Kristi, your English is GREAT!!!", to which she responded ,"I'm a third generation Japanese-American."

I'm sure Attyfan meant people whose heritage is of the country in question. Michelle Kwan and Vera Wang weren't born in China, any more than Kristi was born in Japan. And YoYo Ma was born I think in Paris--at any rate, somewhere not in either China or in the U.S.

Isn't it amazing that people in the 1990s would assume she was born somewhere else, especially with a first name like Kristi? But people will always surprise you.
 

attyfan

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Mar 1, 2004
I'm sure Attyfan meant people whose heritage is of the country in question. Michelle Kwan and Vera Wang weren't born in China, any more than Kristi was born in Japan. And YoYo Ma was born I think in Paris--at any rate, somewhere not in either China or in the U.S.

Isn't it amazing that people in the 1990s would assume she was born somewhere else, especially with a first name like Kristi? But people will always surprise you.

Thanks, Olympia ... that is exactly what I meant! After the 2002 headline, though of "American defeats Kwan", I'm not surprised that, in the 1990s, some people would not realize that Kristi Y is American, but instead, would think that she was foreign-born.
 

Bluebonnet

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Aug 18, 2010
"I was like stunned..."

apparently we need to take a few more speech courses to get rid of that stupid irrelevant "like" habit.

I don't like "like" in this way either. It's like a teenager way of talking.;) And I agree with Olympia's explanation. Maybe she was just down playing her comment.

Maybe the English is evolving in this way. 50 years ago, people definitely talked differently. 50 years from now, people will be surprised that how big a change the language has made too.
 

ImaginaryPogue

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Jun 3, 2009
I'm sure Attyfan meant people whose heritage is of the country in question. Michelle Kwan and Vera Wang weren't born in China, any more than Kristi was born in Japan. And YoYo Ma was born I think in Paris--at any rate, somewhere not in either China or in the U.S.

Isn't it amazing that people in the 1990s would assume she was born somewhere else, especially with a first name like Kristi? But people will always surprise you.

My family is from East Africa, and for the most part, you can tell who was born there and who was born "here" (England/Canada/USA) by their first names. Except my brother and myself. We live in a world where first and last names are on a collision course (thanks Ms. Smith).
 

Tonichelle

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Jun 27, 2003
I don't like "like" in this way either. It's like a teenager way of talking.;) And I agree with Olympia's explanation. Maybe she was just down playing her comment.

Maybe the English is evolving in this way. 50 years ago, people definitely talked differently. 50 years from now, people will be surprised that how big a change the language has made too.

Oh my generation has definitely forced an evolution in the American English language. We've really butchered it. "Like" is high on my pet peeve list.
 

aftertherain

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Jan 15, 2010
Oh my generation has definitely forced an evolution in the American English language. We've really butchered it. "Like" is high on my pet peeve list.

You can add "not using commas" to the list. I kid, I kid.:p

People a hundred years ago talked differently compared to people fifty years ago. Who's to say they weren't disappointed in those changes as well?

Oh well. It probably has to do with our education system at any rate.

But we're not here to speak about education, jargon, lingo, slang words, etc, are we?
 
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Tonichelle

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Jun 27, 2003
You can add "not using commas" to the list. I kid, I kid.:p

Typically, I do. However, sometimes I just type to get it all out. ;) I'm not, however, being interviewed for the world to see/hear. She's a public figure, I'm not, I can critique little miss perfect all I want, she has flaws, just like the rest of us. It's not something to be defensive about. I'm not the only out there who cringes when someone uses "like" incorrectly, or says "um" several times during a speech. I would hope that Michelle doesn't over use "like" and that she was caught offguard with the interview or something, considering she is a diplomat of sorts now. Let's represent the States right!
 

aftertherain

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Jan 15, 2010
Typically, I do. However, sometimes I just type to get it all out. ;) I'm not, however, being interviewed for the world to see/hear. She's a public figure, I'm not, I can critique little miss perfect all I want, she has flaws, just like the rest of us. It's not something to be defensive about. I'm not the only out there who cringes when someone uses "like" incorrectly, or says "um" several times during a speech. I would hope that Michelle doesn't over use "like" and that she was caught offguard with the interview or something, considering she is a diplomat of sorts now. Let's represent the States right!

Pbbbfht. Girl, I was kidding. I think I said that twice, actually.
 
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