Luoyang and Yan-yan

I've finished my research (well, I've finished collecting data anyway--the real work begins when I get home), and we've begun our grand tour of the country! We left Shanghai Thursday afternoon on a sleeper train for Luoyang. We were waiting in the station in Shanghai when I noticed a woman and her son walking over. They weren't close enough for me to hear what they were saying, but from the mom's glances and gestures and the son's face, I imagined the conversation went something like this:

Chinese mom: "Look! Waiguoren! You should go over and talk to them!"
Son: "Mom, no!"
Chinese mom: "Come on! You know you're English is bad, and you really need to improve it--here's an opportunity!! Go talk to them!"
Son: "Mom, no! We shouldn't bother them! Besides, if my English is as bad as you say it will be too hard to communicate."
Chinese mom: "That doesn't matter. You should work hard to improve. Come on, there's an open couch next to where they're sitting."
Son: **sighing** "Mom, you're killing me."

At about this point, I caught Chinese mom's eye and smiled. Delighted, she dragged her son to the open couch, sat him down closest to me, poked him, and told him to ask where we were from. He asked me in Chinese. Chinese mom immediately scolded him, and told him to ask me in English--"you need to practice! Besides, she probably doesn't understand Chinese." I smiled, and waited for the question in English.

Son: "What country are you?"
Me: "United States."

He leaned back and looked at Chinese mom, like "Are you satisfied?"

Oh no, she was not.

Chinese mom: "Ask her if she is a student!"
Son: **rolls eyes at Chinese mom**, then to me, "Are you a student?"
Me: "Yes. What about you?"
Son: "Uh, I'm sorry, my English is very bad. Please say again?"
Me: "Are you a student?"
Son: "Oh, yes."

Chinese mom was smiling. I asked the son if they were traveling for fun in Shanghai, and after rephrasing the question once or twice, discerned that he had just graduated from high school in Luoyang, and he and his mother were in Shanghai looking at colleges. I asked him which one he wanted to go to, and he told me that a top university would be best of course, but that he was not very successful at his studies and would not get into to those universities, so he was looking at a vocational college. I asked him when he would find out the results of his college entrance examination. He didn't understand the question, even after a rephrasing or two, so finally I asked him in Chinese. I was gratified by a surprised laugh from both of them, then waited while he struggled to find the words to answer me in English.

Son: "I'm sorry, I don't know how to say it in English. What month is it now?"
Me: "June."
Son: "Yes, June. June......twenty...twenty five."
Me: "You should say, June twenty fifth."

And so began a day and a half of Chinglish mutual tutoring. Chinese mom discovered to her delight that we were on the same train car, and sent Son (whose name is Guo Peng Yan and who goes by Yan-yan) to our car to talk a couple of times during the ride. She was really very nice, thanking us profusely and apologizing for her son's bad English. I assured her I was in no position to say anyone else's language-learning efforts were not up to par. Yan-Yan, Daniel, nad I talked about movies, which was complicated because neither Yan-yan nor I knew how to say the titles of the movies in the other's language; music was a little easier, as he gave us a translation of the (awful) Chinese pop being piped throughout the train, and we gave him a translation a Guns and Roses song that he had on his phone.

He came to talk again the next morning, about an hour or so before we arrived in Luoyang. "My mom told me ask you to with you play in Luoyang--I can help you if you need help--my mom wants me to practice my English." Yes, I'd gathered as much. I told him we'd love to have him along.

We had a good day of touring Luoyang. Yan-yan took us to lunch at a delightful hole-in-the-wall noodle shop (my favorite!) where all three of us ate for about a dollar, and then we spent most of the day at the Longmen Buddha Caves, a major historical and cultural site (tourist attraction) about 10 miles from town. We pretty much only spoke English, or Chinglish I should say; a lot of the time I had to translate for Daniel when Yan-yan didn't get the phrasing or pronunciation quite right. But I have to say he was a quick learner. I usually only had to tell him a word once or twice before he had it and used it in further conversation. And he helped me as well--if he asked for a word that I didn't know in Chinese I'd ask him to give me the Chinese word and check my pronunciation. We must have looked pretty ridiculous--he with his electronic dictionary and me with my trusty yellow pocket dictionary, checking to make sure we were talking about the same concept.

After the caves, we went to a market in downtown Luoyang, and then Yan-yan took us to his "study room." He explained that it was not his home, but because his school was an hour from his home, he had "how-do-you-say..not-buy...pay-money...yes!yes!.RENT" this room to live in and study, because he should study very hard for the college exam. The little flat was dark and run-down, like millions of other similar flats in this country. It had a little kitchen, but the bathroom was shared with the flat next door. Really not a bad set up, but really a slum by American standards. It reminded me of many of the homes I went in last summer, except of course not nearly as lived in. Maybe a cross between a typical cheap Chinese flat and a college dorm room. Anyway, I was happy that Daniel got to see how many people live in this country.

We had dinner at a traditional Luoyang "water food" restaurant. Yan-yan ordered, and did an excellent job--we enjoyed all of the dishes. He insisted on ordering beer (Yan-yan said the drinking age here is 18, but the waitress laughed and told him she didn't care when he showed her his ID) because "you know, it's traditional to have how-do-you-say-"keren"..yes! GUESTS drink at dinners."

Well, after a little alcohol, 5'6'' 105-ish Yan-yan turned out to be an English speaking monster. He'd come a long way from the hesitant English-practicer we'd met in the train station--I have to say I was a little proud. And a little annoyed, I have to admit although it's ungrateful of me, that he insisted on accompanying us to the train station, and to the platform, and on the train--asking for directions, fretting that we were comfortable, getting our email addresses, etc., the whole time. We were a little worried that we might actually miss our train. But we made it on time, told Yan-yan thank you, and wished him well.

We arrived in Xi'an this morning, checked into our hotel, showered (after 2 days of trains and touring in the sun, we both needed it badly) and then headed off to Xi'an's major tourist attraction--the Terracotta Warriors. Daniel was a bit whiny--neither of us had had much sleep, and he was less than thrilled at the prospect of another tourist stop--and a museum at that, but even he was impressed with the place. The Chinese government has put a lot of money and effort into making it a big tourist attraction, and it shows. A couple of hours there, and we were ready to get back to the hotel for a nap. I think our grand tour is going to be a bit of a shock to our systems--we've been used to a leisurely pace and plenty of sleep, but Xi'an is city two of six in two weeks. It's going to be fun.