Never, Ever Leave Your Wingman

Today Amanda had plans with one of our friends so I was left to myself all day. Back in the States, that would not have been a problem but here it is different. Since we arrived, Amanda and I have been together, or I have been with a friend. Either way, I have not had to go it alone, until now. Amanda went with her friend and my friend was busy. Now you may be thinking that Amanda and I began learning Chinese at the same time, and that we arrived in China together, so we should speak Chinese about the same. You are right except for one thing, Amanda is like the Rainman of learning languages (def, definitely Wapner) and I am like the kid who was 15 and still in the 6th grade. She just seems to get it. Now, what I have to say next is going to sound harsh but as I say this I want you to know that I am extremely proud of her and slightly in awe: She makes me sick. As we have been looking at apartments, she has always been the one doing most of the talking. Even when I would talk, they would just smile smarmily and then look at Amanda for clarification. That’s ok, I can do this. Today I will fly without my wingman.



Now the first thing I had to do today was go see our realtor and make sure he understood what we want. Well, he was expecting us and when he saw that it was just me, he had a look on his face that was part surprise, part horror. He says “shi yi ge ren?”, or is it just you? Wouldn’t you know it? I don’t get much else but when I get it, I am being slighted. Well, when I answered correctly, I think I surprised him. I think I also gave him false hope, because he proceeded to run off a long, fast sentence that I was not even close to understanding. Where is my wingman? (“Talk to me Goose”.) Well, I pulled out my handy, dandy Pleco dictionary, and somehow we got through it. He wanted to know what furniture we wanted in our apartment. I think I told him that we wanted two beds, a refrigerator, a washer, a wardrobe, a table and a sofa. Let’s just hope I got everything right. If we end up with 2 tables, a chair, a desk, and a fish tank that what happens when you leave your wingman.

Later, I went to do some studying at KFC. Ok, before all of the obvious jokes start, it is a very popular place where I can meet many interesting people. On top of that, they have really nice restrooms (somehow it always comes back to that). Anyway, I am sitting there studying my Hanyu (Chinese characters) when all of a sudden the staff turns the music up really loud, pours into the lobby, and lines up. What happens next is kind of unbelievable. They start line dancing. How did they get there? How do you go from "would you like original or extra crispy" to line dancing? Now one of the complaints that many Americans have about musicals is that they are unrealistic. They say that in real life, groups of people don’t spontaneously just start singing and dancing. Well, they are going to have to remove dancing from their list of complaints. I have seen it and I have the video to prove it.






It has been a really interesting day. I have been able to communicate with quite a few people. With my dictionary, patience, and determination I have been able to communicate at the level of a slow 3 year old. Oh well. They call them baby steps for a reason. – Frank

A gem is not polished without rubbing, nor a man perfected without trials.
Chinese Proverb