Day 4 (retroactive)

Today we accomplished more than we have in the past three days put together, but I am more tired and discouraged than ever.

It took five hours to retranslate our survey. Five hours!

We sat first in New Magazine Cafe, then in a restaurant, shoveling down food, trying to keep our energy up, and then in Skyways, all trying to get closer to the conclusion of our survey.

There was so much confusion. So much. Most of it on my part.

Our translator greeted me first. We met at the gates of Nanshida (Nanjing Normal University). She seemed happy to meet me, but her Chinese was so fast as to be nearly unintelligible. I struggled to understand, but after an hour of listening to her and Andy parry translation questions back and forth, I gave up and relegated myself to nodding politely at lulls in the conversation.

This was, perhaps, a good idea. Poor Andy felt even more tired than I did at the end of the translation, and had to withstand a volley of uncomfortable questions as the two made "small talk" during lunch.

What do you think of the Japanese?
What do you think of Jews? (I figured this one out, because she was talking about big noses)
What do you think about Taiwan? Is it part of China?
Do you agree with Bush? Iraq?
Why do Americans forgive the Japanese when they continue to do evil things? (like visiting the Yasukuni war shines)

and worst:

How far, in years, do you think China is behind America?

It was like she was a spy! She kept at it for nearly an hour as we ate, especially persistent with her last and most vile question. I pretended complete ignorance and watched a television screen blankly, as poor Andy floundered for a polite non-response time and again.

Most Chinese people avoid ever discussing these subjects, lest they offend their American friend. The exception is Iraq, which every taxi driver longs to discuss with the waiguo, going so far as to pantomime bomb explosions to me when I pretended sudden Chinese Language Skill Vaporization (CLSV).

After the painful translation was finally over, we bought coffee, took a nap, made notes in our journal and went to bed.