Yes, I studied Chinese before I got here but I also hadn't spoken it in a long time before I got here and I was also very bad at it. So I was extremely shocked to be told - multiple times by multiple people - that my Chinese was very good. When I told them "no it's not" I didn't mean it as an act of modesty, I just meant it! So when I was told by a Chinese national that my 普通话 (literal translation is common tongue, means Mandarin) was better than there's you can imagine my surprise. I thought the people in China were just ridiculously nice - which they are - but the crazy thing is that she meant it! Here in China there are more languages than one could imagine. Hundreds of languages in fact. Not to mention the various dialects and accents used in each region. Many Chinese people grow up learning their own local language before ever learning even a variety of Mandarin. She was telling me that my Mandarin is better than hers because that's the only version of Chinese I know. Actually a lot of people are intimidated by my Mandarin, though I never would have understood that if it weren't for this girl. It makes sense, pure Mandarin tied with education and money. People who speak it are well educated and well educated people have money.
So even though I have stared at many a Chinese person already with a wide mouthed gaze, not understanding half of what they're saying, they don't see me as stupid, they just recognize that I don't speak their local Chinese. Often they'll translate a word and I'll know a different word for it. Sometimes it's just the accent that throws me, or even just the speed or... the fact that I'm being spoken at in Chinese - that is also very intimidating.
Yesterday I spent time in the Grade three building (seniors) - the students were excited to help me in every way. Among themselves they planned a trip to bring me to the mall and get me a cell phone, which they informed me of shortly after. I told them that my prerequisites for a phone are that it must have both a navigation system and a translator ap. The kids (and teacher) laughed, telling me I didn't need either because "I spoke Chinese" but I told them I'd be much more reassured if I had them.
The other lie I've heard in China is that I'm "slim." In China the average woman weighs like one-hundred pounds, so yeah right! But again, they mean it. They're not comparing me to them, they're comparing me to white people. They know the stereotype that Americans are fat so they see me as skinny. I mean, I won't fight that. I'm glad I'm not being called fat like the men!
Want to learn more about Qinhuangdao? Checkout this website my friends made. (There are even some pictures of me on there!) http://qhdconnect.spruz.com/
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