Culture Shock

Moving to a new country is funny. From day to day the same routines go on around you, but for me at least, the things that make China so unique and cool are the exact same things that seem to irritate the crap out of me on any given moment. And it's not because there's anything wrong with the way things happen here! Culture shock decides when I like it and when I don't, seemingly.

The biggest cultural burier in any given country is the language. No matter if you like the food, the clothes, the people (that speak your language), the scenery, whatever, if you don't know the language, life can be pretty frustrating sometimes! When we first came to China, our favorite words were "Wo ting bu dong." meaning "I don't have a clue what you're saying." Apparently this is hilarious to anyone who talks to us... I guess it would be hilarious to me too if I had just had an entire one-sided conversation with someone and then realized they didn't understand a thing I just said! This is the one thing that when I'm tired and just want to go home, I just don't want to deal with! Haha, poor sweet-polite-people-who-actually-make-an-effort! By the time the last word has left your lips, I've already blurted out "Ting Bu Dong" and ended THAT friendly conversation!

For the last month we have been in intense language study. This has been extremely good for me and extremely painful to my brain! By the time we leave that classroom I don't want to speak in ANY language! Our teacher is absolutely incredible... so patient and so encouraging!  I'm not sure how she perseveres through our bumbling attempts to speak and our frustrations when we discover the word we THOUGHT we were saying actually has four other meanings, and we used the wrong one!

I was having one of those turn-off-my-brain-and-walk-home-without-looking-anyone-in-the-eye evenings a couple weeks ago when a girl interrupted my trance and said, "excuse me," in Chinese... I immediately responded with "Ting Bu-dong" even though I at least understood the two words she had just spoken. That didn't stop her and she immediately went into a stream of words in that annoying, unknown language. For some reason I didn't just repeat myself and walk away. I stuttered in Chinese, "What?" She repeated herself again, two more times. Suddenly it clicked! She was hungry and didn't have any money to buy dinner! Could I spare ten kuai (equivalent to a dollar fifty)? I picked up my purse and handed her ten kuai without second-guessing myself. "Thank you very much!" She exclaimed in Chinese, "What is your name?" I knew this one too! "My name is Deanna." "Deanna?" "Yes, Deanna." I replied, with a giant smile on my face. She thanked me again and walked away. 

I walked on air the entire distance back to my apartment, completely unconcerned with the fact that my first conversation in Chinese was with someone asking me for money. Someone else caught me in the elevator and started speaking. I didn't have a clue what she was saying. I gave her a giant smile, and responded in perfect Chinese, "Wo ting bu dong!"