Overbearing and Awkward?

So tonight, Tina, Emily and I were on our way home from a lovely Relief Society General Conference Rebroadcast at a sister’s house in our ward. It was late, we were tired and we were on the completely opposite side of Beijing from where we live, so we opted to take a taxi home, rather then endure a long subway ride. We flagged down a taxi, I hopped in the front and told the guy where we wanted to go. He was a nice guy and had a really strong Beijing accent. We drove through an area where there are a lot of embassies. Earlier that day, a friend had told me that the Russian embassy looks like some sort of mansion/castle. We passed a gated palace looking place that matched my friend’s description, so I asked our taxi driver if it was the Russian embassy. He said yes and then in turn asked if we were Russian. When we told him that we were American…that’s when the conversation got interesting…

He responded kind of differently to the fact that we were American’s. I asked him what he thought of America, and he replied, “America is WAY too “ba dao!” We had no idea what “ba dao” was. I told him I didn’t know the meaning of that word and so I was trying to get him to explain. Meanwhile, Tina’s in the back seat, looking it up on her I touch, and starts laughing. Unable to tell me through her laughter, she hands it to me so I can read it’s meaning,

“Rule by force, overbearing, high handed, unreasonable”

So, I asked this guy if he had met many American’s through his taxi driving years and if he thought that American’s were overbearing. Then I asked him why he thinks they are overbearing? (At this point, based on my questions, Tina’s in the back and can see why he thinks American’s are overbearing)

He told us that it was because we go into Iraq, get into other people’s business, and he went on about other stuff. He asked us why we were even studying Chinese, and why Americans and foreigners even come to China. I think he is just against foreigners in general coming into his country, and trying to learn the language.

Anyway, even though we didn’t understand everything he was slamming American’s for, it was an interesting political chat, and we had a good laugh over his bluntness. So Chinese.

Oh yeah, then the last 5 minutes of the taxi ride were the most awkward. So, lately in China, we have been looking for a place to eat dog. Adam and Josh are especially dying to try it. So, I asked our taxi driver,

Me: Have you ever eaten dog before?

Taxi Driver: Dog?

Me: Yeah. Dog.

Taxi Driver: Yes. I have.

Emily: Who’s dog was it?

Taxi Driver: Huh?

……..

Haha, yep. We couldn’t believe that had just come from Emily. The American’s laughed a bit and the last couple minutes upon arriving back at the school, were really quiet.

很尴尬.对不对? 美国人很霸道吗?