language

I did not come to China with the intention of studying Chinese, but after a few months of frustration with the language barrier, I decided to start lessons. Out of desperation, really.

Lucky for me, I have the best teacher in the world, and as it turns out, I really love learning this crazy, crazy language. One day, I will write a whole post about my beautiful teacher, Lavender, who I adore. But not today. Today I want to brag a little. Ha!

I find that nothing helps you learn Chinese like riding in taxis. The drivers are usually very chatty, and none of them speak a lick of English. If you don’t understand Chinese, they will usually just repeat the question or comment over and over (and louder and louder) until you understand or just jump out the window. I love it! They are relentless, but I get plenty of practice.

I have officially been here for 6 months, but I have only been studying Chinese (regularly) for 3. I can definitely understand WAY more than I can say, but sometimes I find myself having a real conversation and I admit… it makes me giddy. 

Tonight I got into the car of a very boisterous taxi driver (Shi Fu: pronounced like sure-foo). He was VERY excited to give this foreign girl a ride home, and he talked my ear off for the full 10 minutes. Here is the conversation (all in Chinese):

Shi Fu: Hello!!!!!!!!!

Me: Hello!!!!!!

Shi Fu: Where do you want to go?

Me: Jin Hai Guang Chang, next to the Olympic Sailing Center.

Shi Fu: Where are you from?

Me: America

Shi Fu: (making gesture towards his face) You are beautiful!!

Me: Thank you, sir.

Shi Fu: America is very big.

Me: China is also very big.

Shi Fu: I like America.

Me: I like China.

Shi Fu: Yes, but I like to sing American music.

Me: Do you like Karaoke?

Shi Fu: I like to sing, but my voice is very bad. (and then he demonstrates this)

Me: (pointing to my favorite Karaoke place on the left) That is the Karaoke place that I like.

Shi Fu: Do you want to go there now? (starts to turn the steering wheel)

Me: No! Turn right up ahead!

Shi Fu: Do you live there? (pointing to an apartment building that is not mine)

Me: No! Go straight, then turn left… Okay, stop here.

Shi Fu: 8 kuai (this is the amount of money I owe). You go home now. 

Me: Thank you. Bye!

Shi Fu: Bye!

You know that saying, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?” Well, I am living proof of that little adage. I started my Chinese language lessons a couple of weeks ago and it is REALLY difficult. First of all, the language uses sounds that never come out of our mouths in English and my tongue is really confused. Second, the language uses “tones” for each syllable. So depending on how you “sing” the syllable, it can have up to five meanings. (The word ‘ma’ can mean mother or horse. oops!) And lastly, I’m just old…and you know, new tricks and all…

So in order not to go crazy and throw my Chinese book off the balcony, I have learned to appreciate small victories when it comes to this new challenge.

We moved into our new apartment recently (more on that later), and for weeks, I have been trying to tell the taxi driver how to take me home (in Mandarin). Every time I attempted the 4 character name of my complex, the driver would look at me with a huge question mark above his head, and I would resort to plan B…pointing.

Not wanting to let the language win, I continued with this routine day after day. Always trying, always failing…until this week. I jumped into the cab and said Jin Hai Guang Chang (with appropriate tonage, of course), and held my breath waiting for the quizzical stare. But alas! He just gave me a quick nod, and drove me straight home! Woohoo!!

Now, on to perfecting “where’s the bathroom.”

Yesterday morning, as I was preparing to call my family on Skype, I heard a soft knock at my condo door.

I cracked the door and peeked out to see a woman in a suit. Part of my building management, no doubt, armed with a clip-board.

So I opened the door a bit wider and raised my eyebrows to indicate “yeeeeeessss???” At which time she started speaking Mandarin about a mile a minute. I just stood there not comprehending anything. 

So, I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head and said “I don’t understand” and hoped she understood. But she didn’t.

I opened the door even wider, asking her if she needed to come in. But she just reached through the door and placed her hand on my light switch. She turned my lights of…blah blah blah…then she turned them back on…blah blah blah…then off again. I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head and said “I don’t understand.” She finally gave up and left.

I closed the door, sat down with my laptop, and called home. When my mom picked up, I told her about the strange scenario…”She just kept turning my lights on and off and I couldn’t understand a word she was saying…”

And in that instant, my computer screen went blank and all of my power went out.

You can’t say she didn’t warn me.