Chinese Curses at People's Square

The mainland Chinese certainly display a healthy sense of curiousity. Faced with an unprecedented event, rather than glance surreptitiously like everyone else the meddlesome locals here will stalk right up to stare quite openly. With eyes wide open.

Well as much as our slit-eyes can open :)

Even the sounds we make when we speak in a foreign tongue are enough to arouse their curiousity. So during our frequent rides in the Shanghai underground, we've gotten used to the inquisitive stares aimed our way from the other folks in the carriage. Goggling curiously at us like we were freakshows in an carnivale. Looks Chinese. Feels Chinese. And yet speakee in foreign devil-tongue like laowai!


Look closer. They might not be whispering sweet nothings.
So much so that Lissome Lorelei and I joked that we could talk absolute rubbish without them understanding a word. Since we had an appreciative audience, we might as well play up to them.

Paul : Good God. Your bloody second aunt fucked a donkey in a filthy back alley?
Lorelei : And after that barbecued the donkey for dinner to serve to her husband.
Paul : You know something. We should just learn some swear words in Chinese. Could come in handy.
Lorelei : Intersperse the words into our conversation!
Paul : So Calvin?
Calvin : 我认识你吗？ ( Do I know you two? )

That didn't stop us though. After tying him down and tickle-torturing the fellow, he finally conceded to our insistent demands and offered to teach us some words. That we then used liberally to pepper into our conversation.

Paul : 臭婊子! ( Smelly bitch! ) 狐狸精 ( Slut! )
Lorelei : 混蛋! 混球! 混账! ( Bastard! )
Calvin : 我认识你吗？ ( Do I know you two? )

Is it any wonder that Charming Calvin stood several feet away from us on the platform trying his best not to glance our way?

And I haven't even talked about the time I got mistaken for a Frenchman in Huaihai Lu. Parlez-vous français? Thought I was French-Vietnamese perhaps?