I was walking around the university today (actually, looking for the computer shop on campus so I could buy software which my brother needed) when I was intercepted by two chinese women (one young, one old) handing out fliers. I didn’t really know what it was about but I thought I’d take a flier and then be done with it, but they greeted me in Chinese, asking me whether I was Chinese. This led to an odd thought. What if I hadn’t been Chinese? What if I’d been Korean or something else? Just because I am Asian doesn’t mean I am Chinese. Well, anyway, that’s going off on a complete tangent. The exchange went something like this.
Them: “Are you Chinese?”
Me: “Yes I am.”
Them: “Oh, then you must take this [hands me sheets printed in Chinese] and this newspaper [hands me newspaper in Chinese].”
Me: “Um, I can’t read Chinese.”
Them: “Oh. [hands me English flier]“
Them: “Read that. It’s very very important.”
Me: “Um, okay.” Read the rest of this entry »
