I am the only foreigner in my district in Beijing. I say this for no reason but to emphasize that I can’t exactly blend in, and that making a good first impression is of high importance. Below is a story of something that happened not long after I moved in, and I even heard people talking about it at the neighborhood barbershop the very next day.
When I moved into my neighborhood, it became clear that I would stick out, or be a little 显眼(eye-catching) so to speak. One late night in China, I put in my 耳塞(earplugs) for the very first time and went to sleep. It was not long before I heard a faint knocking somewhere off in the distance as well as some yelling. I shifted in my bed and tried to get back to sleep. The knocking continued, and I finally got up to investigate. There was yelling, and an audibly livid 邻居(neighbor) was 敲门(knocking [at the door]) with a vengeance. I opened the door and was slammed with a barrage of Chinese coming at me a mile a minute. I pick up a few things, such as “我这次原谅你”(I forgive you this time) “下次不成“(it’s not gonna be all right next time!), 漏水(leaking water), and that was about all I could parse in my half-awake, terrified state. Looking at the trail of water going down the stairs, I pieced together that my 洗衣机(washing machine) which was 提供(provide[d]) by my landlord had indeed 漏水. Needless to say, the next day I had a 修理人员(repairperson) come by to fix it, but not before I wrote a profoundly apologetic note to the neighbor and attached it to a bottle of 白酒 to demonstrate my contrition. Perhaps also needless to say is I never wear earplugs to sleep anymore either.
显眼 xian2yan3 – eye-catching
耳塞 er2sai4 – earplugs
邻居 lin2ju1 – neighbor
敲门 qiao1men2 – knock (at the door)
原谅 yuan2liang4 – forgive
不成 bu4cheng2 (bu4xing2) – not all right
漏水 lou4shui3 – leak water
白酒 bai2jiu3 “spirits” – sorghum-based alcohol which can be as high as 65% alcohol by volume. Proceed with caution.
洗衣机 xi3yi1ji1- washing machine
提供 ti2gong4 – provide
修理人员xiu1li3ren2yuan2 – repairperson
