English, please!

We spent Memorial Day weekend in Shekou, China with Greg's sister, Tracy. She came twice to India to visit, but the 10+ hour plane ride with connections at awkward times with two young boys, deterred us from visiting from HYD. Manila made the trip easy - a quick 1.5 hour flight to Hong Kong, and then either a ferry or taxi across the bay.

We weren't really expecting to "see China." The goal was to spend time with Tracy, who just happened to be in China - which we did accomplish while also experiencing a bit of the Middle Country. Shekou is actually smack in the middle of the Shenzen SEZ, so it's not very "China-ish," especially the area where she lives which specifically caters to expats.

Even so, the lack of English surprised me. India and the Philippines, being ex-British and American colonies, of course have a strong English sentiment. Japanese people, while sometimes hesitant to speak English, can usually read and understand what you are trying to communicate (and all the plastic food items make ordering easy!). In Europe, of course, with similar alphabets, a small about of familiarity and a good amount of extrapolation can help an English-only tourist understand the basics. Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi and Dubai all had enough English (signs or speakers) to at least enable us to comfortably move about.

I would have been confined to Starbucks and McDonald's in Shekou, had Tracy not been with us.

Well, that's a slight exageration. I could have used the metro. But a taxi was out. Ordering food at any restaurant not specifically meant for foreigners - also out. Even with my recognition of a few common characters with Japanese, I felt excluded, illiterate, and a bit helpless.

We pushed Tracy's language ability to the max, taking her shopping for tea (I'm so picky!). And after those three days, I've decided that if I ever get assigned to China, I'll do my hardest to make sure I get some language training!