Hello, Hallo, Heller, Helllluurrrrrrrrrrrrr

Hello! Hallo! Hellarr! Helllllllllluuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!! The many pronunciations of Hello in China.

As any foreigner can tell you, when you live in China you will be constantly bombarded with the word hello. You might see this and think, wow many people speak English here. Don't be fooled. This is just one of the ways that Chinese people who don't speak English will try to interact with you.

I haven't been able to figure out a better way to explain it so I'll give you the same explanation an English teaching alumna gave me. "People will feel the need to talk to you, it's kinda the way people feel the need to mooo at cows. We know that mooing means something to cows but we don't know what it means, we only know that they say it. So when you see a cow you moo at it. People know that "hello" is what we say, some know what it means, most don't; but they say it to you the same way you would moo at a cow, because you can." Definitely not a direct quote but it's the wisdom that has kept me sane on bad China days, as I call them. 

I had a very bad day the other day. I just wanted to curl up in a ball and forget about all 1.3 billion people in this country. However I find that when I have bad days in China as much as I want to crawl into a ball and lay in bed this is the worst possible thing I can do. So I reluctantly dragged myself out of my bed and went to meet a friend at our favorite coffee shop. Along the way I heard five hellos. I know the people saying them weren't trying to make me feel bad but it just reminded me how bad I am at speaking Chinese, because past a few basic questions I can't have a conversation with them.

As my friend and I were shopping for a flash drive something awesome happened. A random act of kindness reminded me why I love this country, why I'll always miss it. As we were looking through a store I found something I thought my parents would love. Using my Chinese translator, my broken Chinese, and his broken English the store owner helped we figure out what exactly I was holding. After I decided not to purchase it he showed me some of the art he made on his computer and I told him it was very good (in Chinese!). As my friend purchased what she wanted the man took the art he showed me and gave it to me and then put it in her bag without accepting any money for it.

These random acts of kindness remind me how lucky I am to be living and working here. I'll always treasure this gift. 

He made it by drawing on his computer and then printing it out on to canvas.