[交流] Do you still remember the first time when you talk to a foreigner

Folks, do you still remember the first time when you talk to a foreigner? How about the most impressive experience?

The first foreigner I spoke to is a blond who interviewed me at that time. When I was a senior student in the college, I was looking for some part time job opportunities. Fortunately, I noticed an advertisement of recruiting teaching assistant for an English education agency. After three days, I had a brief on-site interview and was sent to the interviewee’s office where I spoke English more than 3 minutes without any preparation first time. The young female interviewee just kept asking questions and marking something even without looking at me. I only remember the last question, “Do you have a girl friend?”. I said “no”. She was surprised, turned up the head with a doubtful look. I was a mentally and physically healthy male, but I didn’t have the girl friend. Maybe it is not understandable somehow, but it’s true.

The most impressive experience happened in the train when I was traveling from Beijing to Shenzhen several years ago. A group of foreign boys and girls were close to me quietly. I thought it was a good chance to practice my English, which turned out to be a bad idea. “How are you doing? Where are you from? My name is myIDname.” I talked to a boy. He stared at me for couple of seconds and said “你好，我来自俄罗斯，只会说俄语和部分中文”. Yes, in Chinese. How embarrassed!

Then we just had a quick conversation in Chinese, which was actually a good chance for him to practice his Chinese!!! The lesson I learn from this is that before talking to a foreigner, figure out what language you are going to use. To be safe, starting with Chinese might be a good idea.

Looking forward to your story and experience.

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