Okay, have a good laugh with me (or at me, as the case may be!).
Yesterday I went with an American and a Mongolian, to visit several Mongolian schools to encourage their English teachers (who are Mongolian) to consider attending a free workshop we are offering this week, as well as a test to allow them entrance into our 2-year course which begins in September. We were meeting with Directors (much like our American schools' principals) and English teachers.
As we arrived at each school, our Mongolian friend would escort us right into the Directors' offices, even when they were discussing something with another person. I felt intrusive, but apparently, this is the normal way to get a meeting with a Director of a school...just walk right in, unannounced, no appointment, and in the middle of any current meeting. Within seconds, the person speaking with the Director would leave and our Mongolian friend would introduce us and the reason we were there.
At one office, we were given seats at a large conference table and a bowl of candies was brought out of hiding to show us hospitality. Since it is rude to not accept hospitality, I obliged and chose two chocolates (oh, so difficult! Ha!).
In another office, we sat at a large meeting table and listened to our Mongolian friend tell of our purpose for being there. The Directors usually only speak Mongolian. This second office was filled with beautiful plants, most of them flowering. The Director paid us a compliment, and we bowed our heads and smiled. I returned a comment in the conversation. She looked at the Mongolian friend we had with us, and then back to me, and then smiled with no comment. I found out later that I had said, "You are a beautiful flower," rather than what I intended: "You have beautiful flowers." Oh, well! I learned something today about how to structure my sentences. Thankfully we weren't at this lady's office to tell her we were teaching Mongolian! After all, we ARE English teachers, right?!
2 comments:
When I a high schooler on a student exchange in Mexico we were served a juice type beverage at almost every meal. There were several different types of juice and we usually were told what kind it was when we sat down. One day at lunch we weren't told. One of the gals in our group asked what kind it was. Or at least she thought she asked. What she really (and repeatedly with more insistence each time) said was, "I smell bad!" :)
At least you didn't insult the director!
Tara: Yes, I had the thought that perhaps she thought that was an American idiom, to tell someone that they are a beautiful flower. I'm sure she'll send ALL of her English teachers to our program because she was so honored!
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