So Close, and yet So Far

Margie and I are discussing marriage.

Margie: My husband words for Shanxi TV.
Me: I'm going to be a guest on the talk show, Hello Ni Hao.
Margie: Oh, so maybe you'll meet him!
Me:  Maybe I can spy on him for you.
Margie: No, that would be a waste of time.  I never worry about what he's up to when I am not around.  My husband is too old, fat and ugly to have a mattress.
Me: A mattress?
Margie: Oh, I meant a mistress.  Basically the same thing, though.


Discussing America with Jackie.

Jackie: I've heard that America has a lot of terrorist cities--
Me: What?
Jackie: --places where people go to relax, see famous places--
Me: Oh, you mean tourist cities.
Jackie: Yeah, terrorist cities.
Me: Yeah, we need to work on your pronunciation.


Getting to know you.

Me: Have you ever won an award?
Tina: Yes.
Me: What kind of award did you win?
Tina: I won an award for an English competition.
Me: very cool.
Tina: I also won an award for playing the piano...every year for the last six years.  I won two awards for chemistry, one for math, one for and English speech competition--
Me: Dang, Gina!
Tina: What?  What does that mean?
Me: Um, I meant to say, you're very talented.
Tina: So, "Dang, Gina!" means I am talented?
Me: More or less.

Back from Hiatus

Been on a sort of a hiatus, because of the summer rush at my school.  However, I'm back now!  The following conversation occurred after Peter and I watched the movie Eagle Eye.  Usually after we watch a movie I go to IMDB and look it up.

Me: Oh, look, Steven Spielberg was the original director of this movie.
Peter: Who?
Me: Steven Spielberg.
Peter: I don't know.
Me: you don't KNOW?
Peter: What else has he done?
Me: Um, Jaws, Hook, Indiana Jones, ET...
Peter: Oh.
Me:...Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, Animaniacs, Schindler's List...
Peter: Ok.
Me:...The Terminal, Minority Report, AI, Batteries Not Included, Catch Me If You Can, Goonies...
Peter: Yeah, ok, that's good enough.
Me: So, you know?
Peter: Sure.
Me: Here's a picture of him.
Peter: Hmm.  Looks like Harry Potter.


Daisy and I are discussing movies.  This post is the reason I don't try harder to clear this up.

 Daisy: My favorite movie is Twilight.  I think it's so romantic.  I really like the girl, Kris...Kris...
Me: Kristen Stewart.
Daisy: Yeah, Kristen Stewart.  I think she's a really good actress.  She can play so many different kinds of people.  She's also really good in Harry Potter.
Me: I'm sorry, what?
Daisy: She's good in Harry Potter.
Me: So the girl in Twilight is the same girl that plays Hermione in Harry Potter?
Daisy: Of course.  Didn't you realize that?
Me: Um, I can't say that I did.  So, what's your favorite sport?


Poor Seven comes from China, but she's going to college in Italy.  Her Italian university has an exchange program to the US, so she's refreshing her English after several years of studying Italian.  This can sometimes be problematic.  Here, our class is playing Catchphrase.

Trinana: Okay, this word is a food.  It's white or yellow, and we put it on top of a pizza.
Seven: Fromaggio...dammit!