I was recently talking with my parents via skype and I gave them a quick Chinese lesson. That was when I first realized that my Chinese is getting pretty darn good. I am far from fluent but I can get around by myslef now. Not that it helps much. The thing is that in China they speak many dialects while outside of China they generally speak what is known as Putong Hua, proper Mandarin that I am learning. That means that when I was in Malaysia I could understand and speak much more than I can in Liuyang. Here are two of my favorate stories concerning language and China:
I went to the bank in Changsha because I had to exchange my remaining Thai money to Chinese RMB. I walked up to a counter with a bunch of blank forms on it and said, "I have Thai money and I want Chinese money. What paper do I need?" The girl did not understand me so I pulled out my Thai money and repeated myself, and I am certain I was saying it correctly. She said she couldn't speak to me. It had been a long day so I asked her, "Ni hui shuo zhung wen ma? Ni hui ma?" This means "Can you speak Chinese? Can you?" Her response was "Bu hui." I incrediously said, "You can't speak Chinese?" and she affirmed that I had heard her correctly. The problem is that in China the assumption is that if you are foreign you are stupid and unable to say anything other than Ni hao in Chinese. I was furious, although I was ultimately able to change my money.
The other funny story occured when I was on my way home from Changsha. We have found a car company that drives regularly from Liuyang to Changsha. It is a bit more expensive but I would guess that I use it every other time I make the trip. I was sitting in the front seat and three young girls were int he back seat. The aforementioned assumption was about to come into play. I knew that they were talking about me, although this is nothing new and I didn't say anything. The conversation took a different turn when two of the girls agreed that I was very handsome. One even went as far to say that it was a shame I couldn't speak Chinese... again noone had asked me whether I was able to or not. The third girl was shocked that they thought I was attractive. She said, "No, no. He has a gigantic nose, and his ears are so big. Also he is too tall." I couldn't resist anymore. I turned around and said simply, "Wo ting dong ni men" meaning, I understand you. None spoke in Chinese or English for the rest of the ride. You could feel the akwardness in the air.
