Speaking Chinese

Lest the title of this entry give you the completely false impression that I (Amy) can, in fact, speak Chinese, let me explain more. Since about month two of living here, my vocabulary hasn't really increased too much. I know what is necessary to shop, travel and eat. Beyond that, I speak so much time speaking English that there's just not much time for expanding my Chinese vocabulary.

However, I have become quite good at making people think that I speak Chinese. Today, for example, I wandered into a cosmetic store. I really just wanted to browse, but the sales people here are unbelievably good at sales pitches. Normally, I just say "I'm just looking" or "I don't speak Chinese" and they leave me alone... Not this lady, not today.

After finally convincing her that I was just looking, I made the mistake of asking the price of something. She told me the price, and then proceeded to tell me why I didn't want this brand anyway, but another more expensive brand. I should have told her that I don't speak Chinese. But I didn't. So she continued to talk and talk and talk. For 10 minutes, she spoke to me in Chinese. At first, I tried to get out of it, but after about 2 minutes, I realized that there may not be a way out without completely embarrassing her (very bad China manners).

Amazingly, she had no idea that I was only understanding, maybe, 1% of what she was saying to me. So, each time she paused, I gave an answer to her question, and apparently, it made sense to her because she would nod her head and continue. I think she was trying to sell me a facial or a makeover. Either way, when it seemed that she had finished, I reminded her that I was just looking. And I left the shop feeling pretty proud of my ability to fake Chinese.