Monday, December 06, 2010

Chinese Horror

So I had this horrifying moment last week. Horrifying in that I felt like the life I'd led until now was useless and wasted.
I was at Ten Ren Tea getting my mango bubble tea and the lady behind the counter said "Thank you" in Mandarin to me. (No, I have no idea why she decided to say that in Mandarin. I think she just likes to do that even though she speaks English.)
And I had no idea how to say "You're welcome."
Two years of Chinese in High School and a semester in what I laughingly call my "college half-year" and I have no freakin' idea how to say "You're welcome" in Mandarin.
So I looked it up on the Interwebs and it's all "Bu" something-or-other but I don't think you really use it in the situation in a store because when a storekeeper hands you change and your bubble tea and says thank you I suppose (just like in English) you should really say "good evening" or, more to the point in Chinese, "see you tomorrow" (which is also more relevant to me considering my Bubble Tea addiction.)
Still: egads.

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