Trail of Ants

As I stuffed boxer shorts and guidebooks into my spotted handkerchief, I became consumed by the romance of floating through countries chatting with locals about their culture and perhaps exchanging ideas over a pot of peculiar tasting tea. In reality however, my ignorant approach to learning their language and omitting to carry even the simplest of phrasebook has left me in some unfamiliar, and at times frustrating territory. On reflection, my previous jaunts within our sphere have been to places that share at the very least a common alphabet. I can imagine your nonchalance towards my daily predicament, seeing a sign that says “最后外国人走在这里结束下在面条” is easy to translate, right? In reality that sign means “The last foreigner to walk down here ended up in the noodles”. Could you tell the difference between dog (狗) or chicken (鸡) on a menu, when they’re hidden with “Where’s Wally” expertise among the pepper (胡椒), rice (米) and other Chinese delicacies (威胁肚腑). This is my way of admitting, China is a hard hard country to “float through”, let alone order a pot of tea. Continue reading ‘Me and my Shadow(s)’