So today was semi-typical. The title may be slightly misleading, but the events that happen happen quite often, and Mondays are always a surprise as to what's going to happen that day! :) Here's this Monday's adventure!
Today, I went to meet up with a girl that I had corresponded with via Facebook...a friend of a friend. We met up with each other at a hotel that I did not know the name of in Chinese. Being the not-so-punctual person that I am, I was running late, so I decided to take a taxi. Someone had told me that the taxi drivers normally know what Rio Hotel is in English, so I decided to try it out. I said, in English, "Rio Hotel", and he said, "hai bin doe?"(where?) I said, "Rio Hotel... le ji mm ji?"(do you know?). His reaction came in Chinese (which I missed because all of the above is Cantonese, but I am learning Mandarin.). I realized I was gonna have to work for it.
In Cantonese I told him a street that was near, and then I switched to Mandarin which is more comfortable. I told him. "wo bu yao qu 'ba king guy', wo yao qu 'rio hotel', dan shi wo bu zhi dao pu tong hua zhen me shuo" (I don't want to go to Beijing Street, I want to go to the Rio Hotel, but I don't know how to say it in Chinese.). His Mandarin was significantly better than mine (go figure) so I didn't understand all of the response, but he was still determined to get an exact location out of me. Our conversation continued like this, but eventually I said, "wo xia liang zham yao xia che" (I want to get off in 2 stops...and then I said in Cantonese..bus stop). (I'll stop writing the Chinese Pinyin...just know that this conversation was all in Mandarin).
He asked me if I wanted to turn after the bus stop, and I said no, no, go straight. He went straight, and I told him, TURN LEFT HERE! and then at the end of the road, I said, "This is the Rio Hotel. This is where I want to go. Turn right and I'll get out." He was like, "ohhhhh Rio Hotel" (slowly, as if trying to memorize it for next time). He said, "Your Mandarin is not bad!" I responded "I'm really sorry. It's very bad!" (It's not proper to say thanks for a compliment.) He then insisted that it was really good and easy to understand. I was flattered, but honestly, I felt overwhelmed at that point. I was just glad that I knew how to say left and right! :)
I ended up meeting the friend, and it was great. We went to a new Starbucks that I had no idea existed, and we enjoyed some lime and berry refreshers and a wonderful conversation! Earlier today I had also had lunch with a friend, and we officially became prayer partners and partners in evangelizing to our group of friends that has been forming recently. Now, I'm off to make a sweet potato and chili with a side of veggies, compliments of my mother who bought the chili for me, and taught me that sweet potatoes and chili are amazing together! Thank God for a great day :)
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