Lost in Translation

So, the crazy part about Beijing is that you could be in big city Beijing and having fancy champagne at the Park Hyatt Hotel, and the next minute you could be walking down the street finding yourself lost in the crowds of the average local residents in authentic Beijing. This happened to me on Monday night when I has some time to spare after Tiananmen Square before we went to dinner. I thought I would just walk down the street to see what I could find. I walked and walked and walked and found myself Lost in Translation. I felt a little uncomfortable because no one could speak any English and everyone was staring. It wasn’t a bad stare, just a “is she lost?” kind of stare. I decided to enter into a local convenience market where there was a fresh fruit stand outside and many people gathered around. I went inside and wondered around a bit, just checking everything out. I was followed by a worker there and she instantly starting grabbing things from the shelves and showing them to me, asking me in Chinese of course, if I wanted to buy them. Hair bands? Jewelry? Tea cups? Toys? I knew I needed Toothpaste so I found that aisle and tried to pick one. Luckily I saw Crest on one of the boxes so thought that would be a safe choice. The price on the shelf said 3.5RMB. I picked it up and the woman (who was still following me) grabbed her calculator and typed 4 and showed it to me! Ha-ha. She must have thought I didn’t notice the price on the shelf. I love the calculator! More stories on that later! I paid my 4 RMB and headed down the street with toothpaste in hand. I was getting a bit thirsty so I thought I would stop into a local restaurant and order a beer. All of the restaurants at this time were packed with local diners and I felt a bit uncomfortable going in and ordering a beer with no food. Also, I would get stared at and didn’t know any Chinese. I settled for a hotel lounge/bar and entered into the first hotel I came across. I went inside and ordered a beer… no one knew what I was saying! Hands come in handy here. I’ve done a lot of pointing! It’s just so amazing that I am in a country where language is a huge barrier to communication. I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and have appreciated every second of my time here. Can you imagine being in the US and not knowing any English? I really should know another language!