Friendly orange encounter
“Hello,” said the little girl. I guessed her age to be less than 10-years old as I looked up from my dinner.
Sitting alone in a quiet corner of CBC Chicken I smiled as I replied: “hello.”
“What is your favourite colour,” she asked after a slight pause. Obviously curious about the bearded foreigner, she felt confident enough to practice her English while never taking her eyes away from mine. As I answered, I asked her for her favourite colour. “Orange,” was her reply.
“That’s a very nice colour,” I said. She paused again. Perhaps she took a moment to comprehend my words. Maybe she felt unsure about asking another question, or what question she could ask. I just grinned long after she disappeared beyond by view to tell her mother about her experience. When their food came, they took it to go, but the little girl popped into my view one more time. “Goodbye,” she said.
“Bub-bye,” I answered waving to her. Mom didn’t peek around the corner as they exited the restaurant; however, I noticed a familiar face peeking through the store windows. Partially hidden by posters on the window, she peered in with her mom before escaping into the brisk night of Nanchang city.
December 2nd, 2006 at 9:05 am
Nice short story you should publish it.
December 2nd, 2006 at 9:53 pm
That CBC webpage is really creepy. I think it’s the music.
December 2nd, 2006 at 11:08 pm
I haven’t looked at their webpage since I arrived in Nanchang and discovered CBC. Yeah, the music is horrible! And the animation is so pathetically slow that it looks like the designer forgot about this part of the webpage while the annoying music repeats endlessly. Yikes! But I have to tell you that their french fries are fantastic.
December 3rd, 2006 at 1:04 am
It is a very interesting story!
The girl is very brave, she has the courage to talk to a foreinger stranger. There are many chinese children who taught by their parents not to talk to strangers when alone. I like that girl! If i encounter you oneday, i will also talk to you and ask some caucual quentions,too.
March 21st, 2007 at 8:26 pm
Thanks for publishing your story. I can identify with it totally, having just spent a day in Nanchang. I am one of 6 foreign teaching at ECIT in Fuzhou, Jangxi province. Please drop me a note. I am sure that I will be back in Nanchang in the future. Just walking around the city is a cultural experience with all of the different looks one gets. My friend from New Zealand and I had the pleasure of talking with one of the coaches of the Chinese Canoe Team-the coach of a past gold medal team at that. His well-spoken english was delightful and a real contrast to the well-intended but simple “hello” that was not uncommon.
Best of luck to you and keep the good work.
Ross