That is unless you speak Cantonese.
Unbelievable how long I waited in vain for a tank of gas.
I spent the entire afternoon waiting for the gas tank that never arrived! Due to a miscommunication, I had missed the gas delivery guy when I popped out to get lunch. Despite checking with the service operator before I went out if they would give me a call before delivery and being told they would, I was still obviously the one in the wrong when she called me to scold me for not being at home.
When I apologised and asked if she might have the guy re-deliver, she let off a string of Cantonese that pretty much sounded like another mini lecture at me before saying that she wasn't sure if the guy would re-deliver. Then, she told me to go home and wait immediately. And silly me, I dropped the half of the dumpling I was biting into and told the waitress at the restaurant to 'tah pow' it for me. I practically ran all the way home only to be found waiting for the rest of the sunny afternoon in my cold home.
I highly suspect that it was my pathetic Putonghua and my inability to speak Cantonese that got me into such a scrape, again.
How else do you explain how gas got delivered within 15 minutes of my Cantonese-speaking husband calling the woman and asking for it?
This does it. I am so going to master the language so that I will never again be subject to such abuse.
Another new mental note: Speak English. If they cannot comprehend it, roll eyeballs and shrug before speaking Cantonese. Even it is incomprehensible. The effort might help me earn some brownie points with the locals. Leave Putonghua as the last language option. I think Putonghua conjures a negative reaction whenever I speak it. I secretly wonder if it is due to an unspoken prejudice against anyone from 'mainland' China.
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2 comments:
hi gal! i was reading your update & my advice is pick up cantonese & u CAN DO IT! :) when i move over to hk in 2005, i also realise that if i dont speak cantonese & speak mandarin instead, my customers will treat me like a weirdo & super cold treatment... after 1mth +, i can started to learn & speak pieces of cantonese by watching the tv dramas every nite from & i started to survive well there! so cheer up & have fun!! :)
Hi babe! Gosh... settling in is such a big adventure.. and i have full faith that you will be able to do it - with increasing joy and ever greater revelations... Glad you're nurturing the word in your heart to write write write! Jia you! er.. gambate! er... hmm... my cantonese is zilch.. so dun even know what jia you is in cantonese... take care babe.. will be cheking your blog! Tracy
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