Encounter.

Something funny happened today.

After my second trip from Block C to buy some bread to ease my hunger, I was happily munching my bread while seated at one of the table in Block A when one China girl came over to my table and asks whether she can sit there with me.

Reflexively I replied yes in Mandarin to her while wondering that there are many empty table around me. She started talking Mandarin and I replied back in English that I don't understand. She looked blurred for a moment there and I explained that I am a Malaysian. She got one reaction.

"You are not Chinese?You are not from China?"

"No, I am not China Chinese."

Maybe next time I should put some neon light on my forehead that says "I am not from China...". So we started a conversation with her trying very hard to talk to me in English and I am waiting patiently for her to finish her sentence. She is trying hard, I am impressed. So we started a short conversation and somehow ended with me asking question so that it wouldn't be awkward. Me, stupidly mistaken her as a student asked what is she studying here and she ended up replying me something that doesn't make sense to me until my brain started kicking.

(not exactly the same, but the main point is there)

Me: What are you studying?
CL: Father and mother...pastor, church...sent me.
Me:Oh what church are you from?
CL: ...(no idea what is she talking about) send me here to talk about Jesus.
Me: You are not a student?
CL: No. *silence* Do you only speak English? Malayzi (apparently she says Malaysia or Malay as Malayzi)
Me: I speak Cantonese too.
CL: ....
Me: I know how to speak Cantonese (in Mandarin)
CL: Oh Cantonese (Mandarin) You know how to hear ...(Mandarin)
Me: A little (Mandarin)
CL: You are...from here?
Me: Yes here KL. I am Malaysian.
CL: Your father and mother?
Me: Here too.
CL: Your grandfather and grandmother?
Me: They are not here. They are dead.
CL: Korean?
Me: Ah no.
CL: Japan...?
Me: Ah no. I am pure Malaysian.
CL: Oh! Malayzi?

And the conversation goes on. She told me her name is Juth, which I kept on hearing as Juice. Please don't laugh. She repeated so many times and so did I. I said my name, she told me she is 23 and I told her I am 19. Apparently I must have not look like a 19 because she seems skeptical. How depressing! Then I commented that she look young and she say yes and told me she need to continue working. And I with too much enthusiasm said bye bye.

The funny thing is I thought I established the fact that I am a Malaysian from the very beginning. Maybe she didn't understand what I was saying but I must say I never expected that she doubted my ethnicity. I thought she wanted to know whether I and my parents are from KL or not. When she asked the part about my grandparents I couldn't help wondering why my grandparents too and I guess she didn't hear the part that my grandparents are dead which I repeated twice (not in the convo above).

I was taken aback when she said the word Korean and Japanese which I then finally understood what is she trying to ask. She is trying to figure out where did I get my non-local Chinese face (which is not true. I looked very local-ish!) come from by asking whether my grandparents are Korean or Japanese.

Ahh. I guess its around 10 minutes or more we chatted.