Those Sneaky Canadians!
Two stories:
R. went to Beijing last week with some visiting American family and friends. They were on a bus going to the Great Wall, discussing China, Chinese culture etc. They were also jockeying for new seats and started talking about an empty seat next to a Chinese guy sitting in front of them.
R. to her sister, in English: "Do you think that seat is available?"
Chinese guy, in English: "Yeah, this seat is available."
R., in her head: "Oh crap, he just understood everything we've been saying about China!"
R., to the Chinese guy, in English: "Your English is really good! Which [Chinese] province are you from?"
Chinese guy: "Ontario."
Hahahaha, this still makes me laugh! And it reminded me of the time last year when N. and I were checking into our hotel room and having trouble with the card key. These two kids, and their mom, were opening the door to their hotel room across the hall at the same time we were struggling. The two kids (about 9 and 10) came over and helped us with our key, and told us in English how to insert it and jiggle it around etc. Nicole told their mom, in Chinese if I recall, "Your children speak English really well." The mom: "They're Canadian."
I was thinking the exact same thing as N., she just said it first. D'oh! Lesson learned: watch out for sneaky Canadians! Just teasing, I love you guys. Real lesson learned: always wear clean shoes, you never know when you'll be putting your foot in your mouth!
R. went to Beijing last week with some visiting American family and friends. They were on a bus going to the Great Wall, discussing China, Chinese culture etc. They were also jockeying for new seats and started talking about an empty seat next to a Chinese guy sitting in front of them.
R. to her sister, in English: "Do you think that seat is available?"
Chinese guy, in English: "Yeah, this seat is available."
R., in her head: "Oh crap, he just understood everything we've been saying about China!"
R., to the Chinese guy, in English: "Your English is really good! Which [Chinese] province are you from?"
Chinese guy: "Ontario."
Hahahaha, this still makes me laugh! And it reminded me of the time last year when N. and I were checking into our hotel room and having trouble with the card key. These two kids, and their mom, were opening the door to their hotel room across the hall at the same time we were struggling. The two kids (about 9 and 10) came over and helped us with our key, and told us in English how to insert it and jiggle it around etc. Nicole told their mom, in Chinese if I recall, "Your children speak English really well." The mom: "They're Canadian."
I was thinking the exact same thing as N., she just said it first. D'oh! Lesson learned: watch out for sneaky Canadians! Just teasing, I love you guys. Real lesson learned: always wear clean shoes, you never know when you'll be putting your foot in your mouth!
Comments
We're sneaky, us Canadians :)
Little fish, I love that reference. That movie cracked me up.
Ily, I have had that happen a few times here with people assuming I can't understand Chinese. We tell them in Chinese, you have bad manners (which is a big insult here) and it shuts them right up. Priceless, indeed!
Glad you all laughed, I did too.