Wednesday, November 27, 2002
TWO FUNNY STORIES FROM CHINA
1. Now, everybody knows that my Mandarin isn't the greatest, but it's enough to get by. But while we were in Beijing, Karena put my Chinese to the test ... and I failed miserably. She wanted to buy candy and asked what all these different flavors of candies were. So, there I was, asking, but not understanding most of the answers. I mean, who knows how to say "strawberry rings" or "apricot" or "mint gummy bears?" But I survived that part. But it only got worse. Karena then wanted me to tell them that she wanted 100 grams of this certain candy, 100 grams of that certain candy, 50 grams of another, and just a few of still another candy. I didn't know how to say grams, so I just pointed and said, "100, 100, 50, a few." They must have been laughing at me.
2. During a five-hour bus ride through the heart of China to Wuhan, our tour guide Davis felt the need to keep us entertained so he bought us a $1 bootleg VCD of the movie "Barber Shop." I thought it was pretty funny to be watching a "black" movie like that while in China. That's like dropping 30 Americans into the heart of Africa to watch "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon!"
On second thought, these stories aren't all that funny. Oh well. Maybe you had to be there.
1. Now, everybody knows that my Mandarin isn't the greatest, but it's enough to get by. But while we were in Beijing, Karena put my Chinese to the test ... and I failed miserably. She wanted to buy candy and asked what all these different flavors of candies were. So, there I was, asking, but not understanding most of the answers. I mean, who knows how to say "strawberry rings" or "apricot" or "mint gummy bears?" But I survived that part. But it only got worse. Karena then wanted me to tell them that she wanted 100 grams of this certain candy, 100 grams of that certain candy, 50 grams of another, and just a few of still another candy. I didn't know how to say grams, so I just pointed and said, "100, 100, 50, a few." They must have been laughing at me.
2. During a five-hour bus ride through the heart of China to Wuhan, our tour guide Davis felt the need to keep us entertained so he bought us a $1 bootleg VCD of the movie "Barber Shop." I thought it was pretty funny to be watching a "black" movie like that while in China. That's like dropping 30 Americans into the heart of Africa to watch "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon!"
On second thought, these stories aren't all that funny. Oh well. Maybe you had to be there.
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