I am the only foreigner in my district in Beijing.\u00a0 I say this for no reason but to emphasize that I can’t exactly blend in, and that making a good first impression is of high importance.\u00a0 Below is a story of something that happened not long after I moved in, and I even heard people talking about it at the neighborhood barbershop the very next day.<\/p>\n
When I moved into my neighborhood, it became clear that I would stick out, or be a little \u663e\u773c<\/strong>(eye-catching) so to speak.\u00a0 One late night in China, I put in my \u8033\u585e<\/strong>(earplugs) for the very first time and went to sleep.\u00a0 It was not long before I heard a faint knocking somewhere off in the distance as well as some yelling.\u00a0 I shifted in my bed and tried to get back to sleep.\u00a0 The knocking continued, and I finally got up to investigate.\u00a0 There was yelling, and an audibly livid \u90bb\u5c45<\/strong>(neighbor) was \u6572\u95e8<\/strong>(knocking [at the door]) with a vengeance.\u00a0 I opened the door and was slammed with a barrage of Chinese coming at me a mile a minute.\u00a0 I pick up a few things, such as “\u6211\u8fd9\u6b21\u539f\u8c05<\/strong>\u4f60”(I forgive you this time)\u00a0 “\u4e0b\u6b21\u4e0d\u6210<\/strong>“(it’s not gonna be all right next time!),\u00a0 \u6f0f\u6c34<\/strong>(leaking water), and that was about all I could parse in my half-awake, terrified state.\u00a0 Looking at the trail of water going down the stairs, I pieced together that my\u00a0 \u6d17\u8863\u673a<\/strong>(washing machine) which was \u63d0\u4f9b<\/strong>(provide[d]) by my landlord had indeed \u6f0f\u6c34<\/strong>.\u00a0 Needless to say, the next day I had a \u4fee\u7406\u4eba\u5458<\/strong>(repairperson) come by to fix it, but not before I wrote a profoundly apologetic note to the neighbor and attached it to a bottle of \u767d\u9152<\/strong> to demonstrate my contrition.\u00a0 Perhaps also needless to say is I never wear earplugs to sleep anymore either.<\/p>\n \u663e\u773c xian2yan3 – eye-catching I am the only foreigner in my district in Beijing.\u00a0 I say this for no reason but to emphasize that I can’t exactly blend in, and that making a good first impression is of high importance.\u00a0 Below is a story of something that happened not long after I moved in, and I even heard people…<\/p>\n
\n\u8033\u585e\u00a0 er2sai4 – earplugs
\n\u90bb\u5c45 lin2ju1 – neighbor
\n\u6572\u95e8 qiao1men2 – knock (at the door)
\n\u539f\u8c05 yuan2liang4 – forgive
\n\u4e0d\u6210 bu4cheng2 (bu4xing2) – not all right
\n\u6f0f\u6c34 lou4shui3 – leak water
\n\u767d\u9152 bai2jiu3 “spirits” – sorghum-based alcohol which can be as high as 65% alcohol by volume.\u00a0 Proceed with caution.
\n\u6d17\u8863\u673a xi3yi1ji1- washing machine
\n\u63d0\u4f9b ti2gong4 – provide
\n\u4fee\u7406\u4eba\u5458xiu1li3ren2yuan2 – repairperson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"