Sam & Ash Abroad: October 2013

My level of speaking Mandarin has improved greatly in the past two and a half years but I still have a long way to go. Of course it doesn't help that my hearing isn't great and lots of people mumble here. I should also mention that many people speak Mandarin as a second language because in many provinces they have a local dialect . All this means that I will probably never run out of embarrassing stories of misunderstandings. Here's the most recent one.

The other day a friend and I were taking a short rest on a bench at one of the local college campuses. Across from us was a little grandma holding her grandbaby girl. We chatted with her for a bit but she was very difficult for me to understand. She not only had a soft voice but I didn't understand many words she used. She said she was from the Henan(河南) province and she mostly spoke a local dialect. She was pretty friendly though and when she found out I was American she asked many of the usual questions. She first asked if I was married. Then she asked how often I went back home and how much my plane ticket was. Then she mumbled something I couldn't make out clearly. This is what I heard :"blah blah blah, in China or in America?" I really should have asked her to repeat herself but instead I just guessed that she must be asking me if I bought my plane ticket in China or America. So I replied "I used the internet to buy" (我在网上买的）. As soon as the words came out of my mouth I knew I had guessed wrong. My friend next to me was laughing so hard she couldn't speak and the little old lady just looked at me with a puzzled expression. I asked my friend what I said wrong and she just said she'd tell me later. I felt uneasy the rest of the conversation but finally as we walked away I bugged my friend to tell me what I had missed. She said the lady had asked me where I had met my husband, in China or in America? And I had replied that I bought him on the internet!!

After having a good laugh I felt so embarrassed! What must that lady have thought? I also couldn't understand why my friend hadn't corrected me right away but I guess she was laughing too hard. Fortunately I ran into the lady again as we were leaving the campus and was able to explain the misunderstanding. I'm not sure if she totally believed me though. Oh well, since there are mail order brides there must also be mail order husbands. But, can you imagine how much my friend would have laughed if I had followed my reply by saying that I used the internet because its cheaper?

Phrase to remember:

wǒ méi tīng qīngchu（我没听清楚）= I didn’t hear clearly.

Lately the air quality has been really bad. Even people with no breathing problems have been complaining of burning lungs. Even so, in restaurants and on the street the usual smokers are still puffing away. I could complain forever about the air quality and smokers but this blog is about the one beautiful day in amongst all the crappy ones. Last Tuesday morning it rained pretty hard and cleaned up the air so on Wednesday it was perfect for a hike. And it just so happened to be the day we planned to go for one. Since last week was the National Holiday many locals had free time. If you went to any of the touristy spots it would have been crowded but the small mountain we hiked wasn't too bad. We had a really great time hiking the mountain and picnicking with friends. I think the pictures give you a good idea of the air quality.