Eric's Beijing Diary

I don't know what's more fun, the Forbidden City, or going to McDonald's. Leander and I took the subway to Tiananmen to go to the Forbidden City, but we decided to stop for lunch at McDonald's I was trying to figure out how to tell them that I wanted a Big Mac (without the Coke and fries) plus a shake and coffee. First I had to explain to Leander what a shake was. And of course all the signs were written in Chinese, which I couldn't read. I got my dictionary out, but Leander said it wouldn't help. Presumably many of the names are phonetic, so the meaning is irrelevant. Well, we were getting there slowly, but we were taking so long that we were losing our place in line. Like a gift from heaven, a young lady from another part of the counter stepped up to me and said to me in perfect English, "Would you like a Big Mac?" I said, "Yes, and a shake." She said, "What kind, chocolate or strawberry?" I thought to myself, "Boy, I bet they keep her real busy." These young kids who are native speakers of English and native speakers of Mandarin are riding high in the "New China." Or perhaps I should say, "New, new China." China was "new" before once. There is a very high demand for young people who can live and move easily in both cultures. Anyway, we got our hamburgers...it was a bit awkward, but I learned something from the experience: I know how to say "ketchup" in Mandarin.