Although I have managed to get around just fine using hand gestures and taxi cards, I figured it was finally time to start some Mandarin lessons. I have now completed about twenty hours of lessons and have a basic understanding of the tones and language structure, can communicate to a taxi driver how to get to our apartment and (of course) I can shop .
I am finding that my basic Chinese is earning me some credit. The other day I announced 'Tai Re Le' in the playroom after an Ayi turned the heat up too high. She smiled and said 'Oh' and then turned the heat off. Getting home in a taxi is so much easier now that I can tell them that we live close to the Shangri-la (versus telling them to go to the Shangri-la and then pointing them in the right direction from there).
Hopefully these new language skills will continue to make my life in China easier and easier!!
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