Fuddland
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“
I hear them whisper it everywhere I go: “Foreigner!”
Benxi is a city of a million and a half people, of which fewer than a hundred are non-Chinese, so as you might imagine, despite our best efforts to blend in, we are noticed wherever we go. It’s initially quite disconcerting to have people stop and stare at you as you walk past, but I’ve almost gotten used to it now, and have even started to smile at children as they point in wonder at me [until their parents tell them to stop]. Every now and then, though, I want to shout, “What are you looking at?!?” at the sweet old granny across the street.
Slightly more [consistently] annoying are the people, usually youngsters, who mumble or shout “Hello!” at me, then run off giggling with their friends when I return the greeting [in English or Chinese, depending on my mood], although admittedly sometimes it’s somewhat like being a [very] minor celebrity—the sort that people tend to recognise but aren’t quite sure what their name is or even why they might be famous. I sometimes wonder if, should I listen more carefully to what they mutter as I walk past, I might learn the Mandarin for, “Hey look, it’s the one with the curly hair!”
Pronunciation guide
In addition to using the previously described tones, here is a very rough guide to pronouncing the above phrases:
- wài guó rén
- why guwah ren
- [simplified] Chinese characters:
外国人 - literal meaning: outside country person
- lǎo wài
- low why [where “ow” is as in “ow that hurts!”]
- [simplified] Chinese characters:
老 外 - literal meaning: old outside [not sure why this has come to mean “foreigner”, and neither is my teacher]
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