learning as I go

Today was another day of explorations and learning as I go. I thought I’d share a few things that happened along the way.

• A woman walked outside of a nice store, hocked a loogie – not caring that her nasty spit landed RIGHT in front of my foot, and walked back inside in a rush. Maybe we have different definitions of “lady-like.”
• 15 seconds later, I saw a group of men sitting around a table, one of them lifted his shirt and began picking fuzz… or, something… out of his belly button. No one seemed to think it was odd, except for me.
• I needed to buy a thumb drive. I found one, but it was locked inside of a glass case. I stood there for a while, hoping someone would notice and come help me. They did not. I walked up to a salesperson and decided to try out my language non-skills. I said hello and then motioned for her to follow me. Then I said the words that, I think, mean “I want buy” and pointed at the thumb drive. She walked away and grabbed a receipt looking paper and wrote on it. She handed it to me, with a carbon copy and a card with a UPC on it. I had no idea what I was supposed to do next. I stood there, waiting for instructions but not knowing how I would understand them. She waved me in a direction. I walked that way, wondering where I was going. I stopped at one counter and showed the girl what I had been given. She shook her head at me. This was not the right place. I looked at her, confused. She said in English, “you need pay money?” I nodded. Sometimes I forget how to speak. She pointed. I started walking. I saw a line, so I thought maybe this was the place and I joined the others waiting. Phew. Good guess. I payed money and the lady gave me back the card and the carbon copy. I figured I probably needed to go back to where I started and pick up the item I had paid for. I was right. I found another sales person. They’d already retrieved it from the case. I gave him the paper and card and he gave me my thumb drive. I felt victorious. I figured it out!!! I might have looked like a dumb foreigner, but I left with what I needed.
• Waiguoren is a word I hear a lot. I am one. A foreigner. I look different, sound different, and speak a different language… People stare, point, their jaws drop, they follow me and smile when I turn around to see that they are still there… and today when I was standing in line to buy a drink a man called his son over and excitedly said a lot of words I didn’t understand, but then I heard it… waiguoren. I laughed a little and shrugged again saying, “Dui” (correct). The dad then PUSHED his son, who was probably about 8 years old, toward me and though I didn’t understand the words he said I knew that he was saying: “Son, talk to her!” (Parents push their children to me a lot. It’s really kind of… weird.) The boy didn’t want to but he said, “Hello.” I was shocked, he had NO accent. He really didn’t know what to say to me, but his English is amazing! I learned that he has spent time in Vancouver. I think he probably lived there for a while after a couple of minutes of him being forced to converse with me, he ran away and his dad smiled and said goodbye. When I left, I passed them again. They said, “Goodbye!” I said, “Zaijian!” The father said, “Ohhhh beautiful!” (Ha. Really?! All I said was goodbye!) I smiled, said thank you, waved, and walked on.

I’ve experienced a lot of this kind of thing in the past, but it was different when I had a plane ticket back to my “normal.” It’s a little hard sometimes… or maybe just weird… to stick out like a sore thumb and not know how to do the simplest of things, but figuring them out always feels good. I haven’t really decided how I feel about all the attention I get for being white and, as far as they are all concerned, blond. But, it’s my life now… so I guess rather than figuring out how I feel about it, I might as well just roll with it. I do love it here. I love learning how to get around. I love the people. And I’m learning, SO much!