In China, you can't drink the tap water. You can boil it, then drink, and we do that for hot drinks, but it is nice to have some drinking water on hand.
In Qufu, about all we had to do to order water was call and say, "I'm a foreign teacher" in Chinese, and the guy knew how much water to bring and where to bring it. We would leave the money and empty jugs outside our door, and we would open the door later to find full jugs. It was really simple.
When we moved into our apartment in Changchun we had a little water, but after a few days here, we needed to order more. I got the phone number and some language tips from a teacher, and made the call. It was a disaster. They asked me all sorts of questions which I didn't understand, they wanted to come at a time that we wouldn't be home (which, as it turns out, you have to be home when they bring your water here in Changchun), and all I could really say in Chinese was, "I don't understand. I'm sorry." I hung up and cried.
Then a Chinese friend came to help us with the call. She apologized to the water service and said next time I would be able to do it on my own (high expectations, in my opinion). She said the water would arrive after noon the next day.
Chip and I hurried back from class the next day to be home when the water arrived. Five hours later, it came. (Delaying, of course, any other plans we had for our day).
Today I needed to order water again. I've been dreading it. My tutor helped me with the phrase, "Can you please come between 3:30 and 5:30pm?" The water lady said yes. It was simple. And the water came according to plan. Language success!
Other language successes:
- Talking to neighbor kids in our apartment complex
- A half hour (broken) conversation in Chinese with my tutor about our weekends
- Buying postcards (Well, semi-success. They have cartoons on them and Korean writing, but they are postcards).
- Chip told his tutor "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy birthday"
- Neighbor telling me about her cat [mao]
and me thinking the whole time that she was talking about the former chairman of China [mao zedong].
I feel stressed just thinking about this water issue. I'm so impressed that you accomplished such a feat! Way to go!
ReplyDeleteCandace
way to go mal...i know exactly how nerve wracking and frustrating those "second language that i don't really speak yet" phone calls can be...and its always worse when its something you really need to do, but can't...glad you got your water :)
ReplyDeleteOh, this blog produced lots of emotions from "aww...that's a bummer and so hard, I'm sorry" to "way to go!" to "hahahahaha!"
ReplyDeleteYou Wiley's are amazing! Keep up the good work in China!
LOVE the language failures and successes stories. (although of course, the failures make funnier stories. :)) glad you were able to get the water successfully! that has to feel good to know you're making that kind of progress.
ReplyDeleteOh honey, I had a language failure yesterday myself. I started singing praise songs in my head during the walk home to avoid crying on the street and really freaking the people out. And pretty sure we've called some cats Mao Zedong ourselves. You're awesome!
ReplyDeletePlease keep stories like these coming! I find them fascinating being a language teacher :) And I liked the campus pictures! So pretty!
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