Articles
China Elevator Stories
“Are Foreigners And Chinese The Same?”
I take the subway in Shenzhen.
11/02/2013
Ruth Silbermayr-Song
Author
A 4-year-old girl is sitting right next to me on the subway. She looks at me and asks her mother: “Mum, are foreigners and Chinese the same?”
I reply, instead of her mother: “Almost.”
She looks at me surprised and asks her mother again: “Mum, why can she speak Chinese?”
I tell her: “I’ve studied it for a long time.”
The little girl then looks curiously at my phone. I had been on my phone, writing a text message in English.
I ask her: “Do you understand what I’m writing?”
She replies: “No!”
Have you ever had a similar experience?