The weekend before I was trying to stand under a thick-leafed tree, thinking that it might be enough to keep up the drops and that most likely it will stop raining within a few minutes anyways… it did not, and the leafs held up the rain for maybe 2min, and then the rain became that heavy that I ended up completely soaked. Good side of it: I could practice a little bit of my Mandarin, as I was sharing the ‘shelter-tree’ with a Chinese man with the same hope. We did not converse a lot, I must say. I really need to focus on my Mandarin learning, it has not been very successful so far. Other example: I was buying a subway card the other day, and even if I understood that the woman was telling me “twenty”, we would not come to an understanding of what this means, as I wanted to give her 20 RMB, but that was apparently not enough money. She finally charged me 40 RMB, and I ended up understanding that the card costs 20 RMB, and I have 20 RMB of charge on it to use the subway. The sales-woman was definitely more stressed-out about the situation than myself: She kept on yelling to the long line-up behind me to know if anyone speaks English, to help her communicate with me. It was hilarious. 🙂
I do understand different words in day-to-day situations, but definitely: I need to learn now for real. The other night I have met a Chinese teacher who has been recommended to me by other foreigners. Want to start learning with her in September, once I get back from my business trip, probably twice a week. To be continued…