www.andrewstrauss.net - my adventrues in Shijiazhuang, China 2005, 2006

April 25, 2006

Chinese kids are sooooo cute!

Filed under: China,Chinese,Shijiazhuang,申琦 — andrewstrauss @ 5:37 am

This afternoon, my girlfriend shenqi and I were standing in front of my house talking when a little girl who must have been about 10 walked by in a dead on stare. This was not your typical Chinese “I’m curious about a foreigner” stare but felt more like an “If I look at you really deeply I might be able to melt through your eyes and skull to incinerate your brain stare”. The girl got about 20 feet past us and then doubled back and stood three feet in front of us stareing at us as we spoke. Shenqi could tell this was bothering me a bit and asked the girl what she was doing:

Shenqi: “What are you looking at?”

Chinese Girl: “Can he speak Chinese?

Me (In Chinese): “Of course I can speak Chinese!”

Chinese Girl: “Are you an American or a foreigner?”

Me: “Americans are all foreigners.”

Chinese Girl: “Are you able to speak a foreign language?”

Me: “Yes.”

Chinese Girl: “Are you able to speak a foreign language?”

Me: “Yes.”

Chinese Girl now quite angry: “Are you able to speak a foreign language?”

Me: “YES! I am able to speak a foreign language!”

Chinese Girl: “Say something!”

Me: “What do you want me to say? Give me a sentence.”

Chinese Girl: “What is your name?”

Me: “‘What is your name?’ is English, ‘qual’ e il tuo nome’ is Italian, and ‘como te llamas’ is Spanish.”

Chinese Girl: “you sdfksjflsfjslfksjlfjsk?”

The Chinese girl said something that neither me nor my girlfriend could understand and marched off in a huff. Me and my girlfriend began laughing hysterically as she repeatedly asked me “Are you an American or a foreigner?”

Chinese kids are always approaching me wanting to say hello, but few actually expect me to be able to respond in Chinese. When I do, they are shocked and instantly fear me (Mwuhahaha!!). We usually then have a conversation similar to the one above, or something along the lines of “Why are you soooo tall? Are all foreigners that tall?” I have no idea why Chinese kids are so inclined to randomly approach strangers from other countries, but I love it. It is soooo frickin cute…..I don’t ever think I will get enough of it!

You can find a Chinese version of this post here.


9 Responses to “Chinese kids are sooooo cute!”

  1. Elijah Says:

    That was definitely a better translation compared to what Google Chinese (beta) did for me! You have to try to post some new pics of you and your girlfriend around town or something. Glad to hear that things are going well for you!

  2. andrewstrauss Says:

    Thanks Elijah…..Google Chinese is pretty good for a free tool, but still sucks!!!

  3. Glen Says:

    AJ- glad to see you back posting again. Quite an education you’re getting over there.

  4. rachel Says:

    Hahaha…love your take on everything. yay fun

  5. John (el viejo) Says:

    Esta es una de las escrituras que mas me han gustado de todas. Me recuerda mucho de cuando yo estuve en Viet Nam y tuve una experiencia similar con una nina como de 8 anos pero ella no fue tan agresiva y me dejo tomar su foto en frente de su casa y esa es una foto que guardo como una reliquia. Parece que te estas involucrando completamente en la cultura china – que bueno que ya te puedes comunicar con la gente y al mismo tiempo estas gozando de la vida alla. Parece que tienes todo lo que necesitas alla para vivir una vida feliz, entonces me pregunto si en realidad vas a volver aca o vas a hacer como la gente que iba a conocer las islas exoticas del Caribe y Polynesia y terminaron quedandose alla de por vida. Avisame si todavia entiendes mi escritura en Espanol para que lo practiques, si no, entonces te escribo en Ingles. Hasta la vista!

  6. Jerome Strauss Says:

    Good to see you enjoying yourself. You seem to have a great relationship with Shenqi. All kids are cute, regarless of nationality or color.

    .

  7. Andrew Strauss Says:

    Glen…..yeah…I am learning a TON!

    Rachel…..glad I can make you laugh. I really hope you can come visit as I know we would have a blast out here!

    El Viejo….te entiendo e me gusto mucho leer Espanol….gracias. Mi parece que seria muy bueno vivir aqui. Estoy penando que puedo vivir aqui porque mi vida aqui es tan feliz, pero ahora no conozco se puedo…..voy a ver

    Jerome. Thanks…….i do have a good thing going with Shenqi

  8. Cousin Summer Says:

    So glad to hear you are doing well and so proud of your language skills. Really I am just glowing with joy to know you are able to communicate in so many different languages. I tell my friends that you are in China, and they always ask, “what is he doing there?” “Learning Chinese of course. He already knows Italian and Spanish so decided to learn another language.” Really I am so proud of you. Keep having fun and loved the pic Shenqi. I will be back in the states in May if you are around let me know! So much love!

  9. Andrew Strauss Says:

    Summer….that is such a sweet message. Glad you liked the picture of Shenqi and me. Love ya too

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