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China Elevator Stories
“Do You Speak Foreignish?”
I chat with a little girl at a supermarket in Shenzhen.
04/05/2013
Ruth Silbermayr-Song
Author
I’m at a supermarket in Shenzhen. A little girl not older than 5 is playing with the cup that’s usually being used for putting rice into a plastic bag.
I ask her: “Can I borrow this for a moment?”
She answers: “Sure.”
And then, after looking into my face: “Wow. Are you a foreigner?”
“I am.”
“Do you speak foreignish?”
“I do. I speak German.”
She then asks: “Where’s your home?”
“My home is in Austria, where’s yours?”
“In Shaanxi. Did you come here on a plane?”
“I did.”
“Why would you want to come to China?”
“I like it here.”
Were you ever surprised at the questions of a little child?