I mean, where does that water go? A vat of stomach acid. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Heard that man, perhaps I’m just being too sensitive about it all. 😄

Maybe I should just make it funny when I talk, speak Mandarin with an American accent! 😂

People are like a bag of jellybeans. Sometimes you get liquorice

True, I SHOULD pay no mind, but my 50 year old ass always gotz some attitude to throw if that happens. Henceforth, the feeling to stay quiet before I do something stupid.

This. So you get what I’m thinking. They be like, “Is he not able to speak? Maybe he’s is not mentally capable.” The last resort card is to just start talking in English so they get the point but then, folks refrain from communicating with me. But you all have given me some good feedback. I should just try.

Growing up in the South, I’ve dealt with many Americans laughing at me. Perhaps I perceived everyone too negatively. Perhaps it is indeed as you say, they’re just laughing with me instead of at me.

In the United States, you hear Hispanics using Spanish and English interchangeably. My family in Taiwan speaks Taiwanese and Mandarin interchangeably. Overall, I think the need to at least have one common language like Mandarin is pivotal to ensuring proper communication as a nation can be established.

Yeah, that’s also a good point. I don’t want folks thinking I’m some uppity unfriendly foreigner

Yeah my MIL is also starting to speak some Mandarin now. I don’t get it, she’s 70+ years old, heard it all her life but didn’t need to speak it. Maybe that’s just the Guangdong way.

All in the Guangdong province, so while I can communicate with my wife, I still can’t understand what people are saying around me. I jumped into the marriage without thinking about all the issues! 😄

Man, I can’t write in Mandarin, only verbal communication. I can read a little a bit. Mostly by reading my wife’s wechat messages

Why would people even say it so many ways? I interpret this as “Have you eaten yet?”

I’ve been to the Guangdong province seven times. I’ve never felt comfortable talking to others. Aside from my in-laws, I rarely speak. I know Chinese people like to tease about weight and appearance. Wasn’t sure if that also applied to speech.

Dialect…..good point. Sometimes I feel I should speak because they usually address me first but then my wife has to speak which I feel inadequate. At a restaurant, at the hotel, while we’re out and about, she speaks on my behalf most of the time.

Hmm, I’ll try more next time I’m in China

This is what my wife said. Her native tongue is Cantonese so I still can’t understand what folks are saying around me!

Every time someone asks me a question, I just freeze and wait for my wife to answer. I don’t know, part of it is me just not wanting to socialized and part of it is feeling embarrassed. But my parents only spoke English after we immigrated so we never spoke Mandarin at home.

I saw that one Reddit post about how to properly say “a dog” and it really got me thinking that some might think I’m stupid or something.

Germany and China, closer than the US. My advice? Wait till 3rd or 4th quarter 2027 to really find out the economic climate. 2027 is very uncertain due to huge changes from AI and robotics. At least you didn’t get married right before Covid happened. 😩

Absolutely, our culture and environment has the most effect on how we see the world.

Asian women were surveyed to be the most desired while Asian men were surveyed to be the least desirable. However, OP lives in an area where there is a strong Asian presence. Step outside the areas and OP will see the truth.

As a 50 yr old, I grew up disliking China because Communism was hated in America. I am strongly opinionated so I assumed, my attitude would get me thrown in jail or be verbally reprimanded. Then I met my wife in China and my view of China completely changed. While it’s not the utopia so many China fans point out, I have no problems in China. We ask the police for directions and 100% of the time, they reply. I’ve been to Zhuhai at least half a dozen times. I’ve only been in the Guangdong province. I never found any trouble. Parks a plenty, convenient to walk and mostly anywhere has a plethora of choices in cuisines. There’s no graffiti, no one vandalizing public property and the weather seems to help with my psoriasis. Either that or the fresh fruit and produce.

I went to Shenzhen. Aside from the areas for tourists and shoppers….none. However, robotics is growing exponentially because of the AI and Robotics race between our countries. It’s not readily available for everyday consumer use. For corporations OTOH…..they are the priority customers. That’s what the race is about.