"What do you mean you don't understand?" I only gave a blank look as she repeated the price of the postage for the letter. "Just because you're from Guangdong province doesn't mean you should not understand PuTongHua." I paid for my postage, quickly grabbed the stamps, and mailed off the letter. (Are all postal workers like this worldwide?)

This Chinese face of mine does me some good, I must admit, but sometimes they look at me strange when something foreign comes out of my mouth.

My "cloaking device" (what the other teachers have named my Chinese looks and appearance) has done some wonders for me. First off, people don't stare at me like the other teachers. Everyone assumes I'm a local person. When I walk around with the others, they grab all the stares and I kind of just slip by. Thankfully, the staring isn't too bad in this city.

Second, people do not know I speak English. Last week at English Corner, there were not too many people and I was just walking about the little plaza. Apparently, there were some girls there who were intending to speak to a foreigner, but no foreigner was in site. Aha! Little did they know a tried-and-true Maple Leaf was wafting about. A local teacher was there and they ended up talking to him. I got very interested in their conversation mainly because there was a young girl, about 11 years old or so, who spoke English amazingly well. Plus, I thought I heard the word Canada being batted about. So there I was, just standing there and listening to them. Nobody said a word to me. It's only when people recognize me from class or from previous encounters do they come up and talk to me.

Also, although I haven't proven it yet, I may get cheaper prices at certain places because I am Chinese. However, from what I've heard, some Wuhu vendors will charge extra for any out-of-towner, including other Chinese. Truth or fiction? I have no idea.

Then there are my frustrations with the language. I know I've mentioned this before, but let me vent a little. I really wish I could have a real conversation with people on the street, but my Mandarin is not at that level. I'm in desperate need of a tutor, but I've been trying to figure out who to ask. Someone give me guidance!

Just yesterday, I went down to the Foreign Languages Bookstore to pick up some books that Beth had ordered. I thought it would be easy enough. Just show them the book and ask for the teacher's edition. "Now, how do I say 'teacher's edition'?" When I got there, I showed them the book and then the lady passed me onto another lady. I tried to communicate to her that a foreign teacher named BaiXueFei (Beth's Chinese name) had ordered the books last month. Do you have them? What actually came out of my mouth was probably more like garbaliguke. She made a phone call to the warehouse or someone to see if they had the book, but then I realized she thought I was talking about the student book. I tried explaining again. She said in Mandarin that she did not understand and asked another lady to see if she would understand. I didn't want to try to repeat what I had said. So I asked if she spoke English or Cantonese. No luck, but I thought it was worth a try. So in the end, there was no teacher's books in the store and I left with a frustrated brain and a dry mouth.

Do I need help or what? I'm gonna stop thinking about this language problem before it frustrates me further. Later.