There are some words I have learned though, with the most important phrases being "Ni huishuo yingwen ma?" (do you speak English?) and "Wo budong Zhongwen" (I don't understand Chinese). Being Asian, saying the latter phrase usually results in getting a look of incredulity. Sometimes they'll continue to speak chinese, just a little slower, like I'm stupid. I guess that's what English speakers do to foreigners and I'm on the other side of that now.
The Asian advantage is that it is easy is to blend in if I want to, and I rarely get hassled in the streets. When I see some food I like, I just point to it (or a picture of it) and say "zhe ge" (sounds more like tzu-ga) for "this one". If I don't see a price I just hand a bill that I know would be larger than the cost and I would end up surprised as to how cheap it is. On the street a hearty steamed bun filled with meat or beans usually go for Y1, about 15 cents, and a couple is enough for a light lunch. Sometimes I go to the local fast food joints with pictures of meal sets and "La yige ba" means "I'd like this dish please". If I"m completely lost my last resort is "Youmeiyou yingwen cai dan?" -- not sure if this correct but I think it means "do you have an English menu?" and it works when they have a translated copy on hand. "Shi" (pronounced like the begining of sure) means yes, "bushi" means no, literally, not yes.
The Chinese can be really curious and nosy. I've witnessed public arguments in which passing strangers stick around and wade in. One taxi I was in was involved in a small fender bender with another car and the two drivers got out and entered into a very loud shouting match. Soon there were about six people in the discussion while I sat waiting inside the taxi. I have no idea how it was resolved.
As I was blog writing in the Xi'an train station waiting for the train to Chongqing, a girl looks over my shoulder at what I am writing. She sees it is in English and she actually sits beside me and looks really close at the screen and starts to attempt to read it. I was a bit taken aback and embarrassed but it opened up a conversation. I had arrived at the station three hours in advance, and she was leaving for her hometown even on a later train, so we chatted to fill the time since she seemed keen on practicing her English. Armed with my notebook and iPod for the difficult words, it was a lot of fun to get to know a local. She wrote her name in my note book in Chinese and Pinyin: Xiaoning. As I show her pictures on my computer and iPod I could see others around were sneeking a peek, too.
I tell her of my difficulties with Chinese characters and she gives me a quick lesson on how to write the names of cities I had visited, teaching me which chops to put down first, as it seems the order is important to the meaning of the character, like telling a story. What looks like a square to me is three strokes: the left vertical first, then an upside-down "L" and then the bottom horizontal. Interesting.
A couple hours later, a large crowd starts gather at my departure gate so I say farewell to Xiaoning. As the mass of humanity moves forward I once again regret taking the bike. We turn a corner and I discover we have to climb about three storeys worth of stairs with no elevator or escalator in sight. How I got to the top with thousands of others pushing as I'm lugging my backpack and the bike in a suitcase was pure hell. Then it was down another set to get to the track. I was drenched in sweat when I finally found my spot on the train.
At least I'm on the home stretch on this trip. From Chongqing I hope to catch a boat down the Yangtze, and then one last train ride back to Shanghai. I will survive.
No comments:
Post a Comment