Short lived..

Next week our exams begin and I thought I need to relax a little before I have to endure hours of speaking and writing Chinese characters next week. Why I’m stressing about this is beyond me? I’m not finishing the course due to the length of time it takes to get this degree, and chances are that I will probably forget most of what I learned here since the opportunity of using China in North America will be slim.

So I decide that I deserve a well needed Chinese foot massage. This afternoon I met up with Edlin and we proceeded to have the famous Chinese foot massage to ease my tensions. As we posted earlier, the massage generally lasts 100 minutes and includes your back, legs and arms. I could feel every knot as my masseuse continuously kneaded every knot that I had in my back. Ouch it hurt, but this time we had a nice bottle of wine to help enhance our experience and take some of the pain away. Yes, Em, we did think of you.

After a relaxing massage, we proceeded to our little place around the corner to get a pedicure to top off our day. After chitchatting, one of the gals asked us a question in Chinese and this is where my dreams of becoming a Chinese interrupter come to an end. Okay, so I never really had that dream but…

I was explaining to the two young ladies that I was Xiamen University, learning Chinese. I said it maybe 4 or 5 times. They had no idea what the heck I was talking about. That’s odd I remark to Edlin, everyone including my teacher understands me. Edlin replies I understand you, but we couldn’t get the two gals to understand. I finally wrote down and they finally understood.

Here’s my issue at the moment. My teacher understands me, but the locals don’t and if I speak the way the locals do, than my teacher corrects me.

Now you know why I’m stressed.