From Chi-town to China

Much like the movie, I was an American in Asia and spent many of my encounters early on in my four months there, lost in translation. I was very naive in thinking that I would be able to speak English on a daily basis in Beijing but my perception of the English influence in this international city was proven wrong the moment I stepped off the plane. Luckily for me, I was in a study abroad program which provided translators whom would travel with you to get you situated the first couple of days but I'll never forget the first day I set off into the city of 11.5 billion people by myself. I had an interview for an internship in the Wangfujing district and was told by my professor on how to get there. As a Chicagoan, I was used to taking public transportation and understood rush hour crowds but my first time using the datie opened my eyes to the sea of people that poured into the subway car. After arriving at my stop, I was feeling accomplished that I had made it to the district without getting lost. "This is easy" I thought to myself but then I stepped out of the subway station into the overcrowded streets of skyscrapers and street food carts. All of the street signs were in Chinese characters and that moment of being proven wrong came back. My interview was in two hours so I wasn't too stressed out at this point so I began to walk around to find someone who could point me in the right direction. I saw a Comfort Inn and thought "an American company! There must be an English speaker who could help me"-Strike one. I left the hotel, a little discouraged but still had plenty of time left. I wandered into Gap, Adidas, and even to a Citigroup bank, no one spoke english-Strike two. With an hour left I began to panic, I called the company and they couldn't understand my mispronunciations of the street names to know how to help me. Feeling helpless, I wandered into a Pacific Coffee Co. to try and utilize the wifi, but of course, I wasn't able to connect. Suddenly, I heard two people speaking English. I wandered up to the strangers, against everything my mother has taught me, and asked them for help. They, unfortunately couldn't help me but their secretary was native to the area and could tell me where to go. This was serendipity in my eyes, a true moment of fate. The friendly secretary wrote the directions for me in Mandarin to give to a cab driver and I made it to my interview with 5 mins to spare. This day was the most frustrating and rewarding days of my life.