“We’ll Have What They’re Having”

"We'll Have What They're Having"

HADLEY VOGEL (art history) writes:
When we are without the luxury of having Elena or Xhingyu translating for us, we all instinctively end up playing charades, waving our arms around and speaking louder. But after a few days of this approach, Sara and I discovered an English phrase that seemed to work very well when we were in a pinch without a phrase book.

The other night there were six of us trying to squeeze into a cab after dinner to go to a bar in an area we hadn’t been to before. We showed the driver an article in a magazine about the place we wanted to go to, and the cab driver appeared to understand. Unfortunately, not all six of us could fit into this cab and two of us had to take a different cab.

We hopped into the next cab we saw and frantically gestured to the cab in front of us and jokingly said, “Follow that cab!” It actually worked, and we successfully ended up at the shadiest bar in all of Shanghai. Needless to say it was an experience, and we danced to music we hadn’t heard since junior high, played pool, and I surprised myself by getting a few bull's eyes on the dartboard.

Getting dinner is also an interesting time to be without a translator. A couple of us ate at a restaurant around the corner from our motel and somehow ended up being seated with a Chinese woman named Terry who could speak English. After getting a few suspicious-looking dishes she had ordered for us, we regretted not ordering what she had.

So, in addition to “Follow that cab,” we have also added “We’ll have what they’re having” when out to dinner.

Hadley Vogel is a junior majoring in art history.

Comments

Seriously, we really should've avoided the runny tofu and went with what Terry was having. Shrimp vs. runny tofu... the battle rages on in my stomach even now when I think about it.