Running Buddies and Language Barriers

I run at least once each week with two Chinese friends. Each time, there are funny moments of misunderstanding. The language barrier makes for awkward silences, but they are improving their English while teaching me some new Chinese words. This past week was particularly funny. While waiting for Z* to arrive, Sharon* and I walked around the school track. Suddenly, Sharon was holding her lower abdomen, saying, "How to say...?"  I didn't know what she was talking about, and tried to guess:  abdominals? stomach? small intestines? uterus? bladder? All of these were incorrect guesses, but when the walked by the bathrooms, Sharon ran in, saying "I ate last night, Shao Kao!" Ohhhh. Now I realized the word she was searching for was lower intestines... These delicious barbecue restaurants, known as Shao Kao, cook the skewers of vegetables and meats of your choice, covering them with Sichuan spices that sometimes upset foreigners' stomachs and apparently affect some Chinese people.

After waiting for what seemed like 5 or 10 minutes (probably only 5 minutes), Sharon was still in the bathroom, and I was a little worried. Then Z arrived and started stretching and getting ready to run. I told her that maybe we should walk because my stomach had been sick from some kind of virus this week, and Sharon also had an upset stomach. Z didn't quite understand, so when Sharon walked about of the bathroom, she took off running. "I guess we're running, then," I thought. Thank goodness my stomach wasn't hurting anymore! Sharon tried to keep up for about one lap but finally told us that she couldn't run and had to use the restroom again. I'm guessing she regrets going to Shao Kao the night before!

I decided to continue running with Z to get to know her better, and we had a great conversation about hiking and nearby mountains that we want to explore. We made a plan to hike together the first weekend of November, and I also found out the name and number of a man who sells unpasteurized milk at the school gate. So despite the language differences, we had a great morning run, all before 6:30.

Through all of this language learning and struggle to communicate, I appreciate my students and coworkers even more. I'm so proud of them for tackling the difficult English language, and I'm even more in awe of how well they are able to get their point across to me when talking to me in class or in the lunchroom. As new friendships begin, I can't wait to see these relationships grow.

~Sara

P.S. I love teaching! My students shout "Mrs. Teel!!!" every single time they see me outside of class :)