Temple of Heaven Photo Shoot
We were hanging out at the Temple of Heaven when K. noticed a super tall athletic guy being followed by a group of Chinese tourists. We decided to follow him too. At the time, we were in one of three special attractions at the park for which we had paid an extra entrance fee. Since the athlete was leaving the area, the rest of the crowd stopped following him. K. noticed the door and asked if we should leave since we wouldn't get back. Guarding the entrance was a young Chinese woman. My previous experience in China told me we could convince her to let us come back. So I turned to her and pleaded, telling her we wanted to talk to that guy and we'd be right back. She looked skeptical. So I told her, she knew us and recognized us, couldn't she do us a favor? Still not convinced. Come on, please? She finally agreed, but the look on her face showed she nodded just so we wouldn't bother her anymore.
We ran to catch up with the athlete, but since K. is faster, he got there first. Luckily, I was close enough to hear the conversation that took place.
K: Are you from France? (He was wearing a jacket with France emblazoned on the back).
A: Yes.
K: Je m'appelle K.
A: Enchante.
K: Chante? Chante? Is that your name?
A: No, enchante, "Nice to meet you."
Hahahahahahaha! Poor K. Not that I fared much better later on. K. asked him if we could take a picture with him and he agreed. I posed by the athlete while K. went to take a picture. When he was done, we were about to switch places when the photographer following around the athlete pulled K. back by his backpack. Confused, K. tried to give the photographer his camera. The photographer made funny French noises and waved his hands in front of him, indicating no. K. then tried to change places with me again, but again was pulled back with French noises. Finally, the Chinese translator with the group asked if we could speak Chinese, and then used Chinese to explain that the photographer wanted to take a picture of K. taking a picture of me with the athlete. So K. continued to pose, and I stood awkwardly, trying to figure out if this was a good time for some conversation. Here were my attempts:
W: (pointing at myself) U.S.A
A: France
W: You're very tall!
A: (I don't remember because I was thinking only that that was a dumb thing to say. And I never know what to say when people say the same thing to me.)
Finally the photographer let K. go and took his camera for a picture. K. then asked the athlete if we could see the medals. He compiled and the photographer got really excited. He took a picture of the three of us with the medals draped over K's shoulder and then motioned for K. to return for his camera, pointing K. to where he was supposed to stand, and then pointing to me to remain there and look at the medals. The athlete this time attempted conversation, "Is this your first time in Beijing?" I responded with, "Am I allowed to look up?" That ended the spontaneous photo shoot (I was pretty confused during the entire length of it). As the group was departing, we tried to ask him some questions like, "What event are you in?" (It was clear he was a swimmer because of his height and build.) He responded, "100m freestyle." We gave him a pin, but the rest of his group was already walking away so he had to leave. In my head, I thought, the 100m freestyle is one of the biggest individual events in swimming -- he's got to be pretty good. We didn't get his name but we figured, we knew he swam in the 100m freestyle, he was French, and he had three medals, gold silver, and bronze, so it would be pretty easy to look him up. We looked him up later. Turns out he was Alain Bernard. He was the one who said the French 4x100 medley relay team would smash the Americans. He was very nice and patient with us though.
We ran to catch up with the athlete, but since K. is faster, he got there first. Luckily, I was close enough to hear the conversation that took place.
K: Are you from France? (He was wearing a jacket with France emblazoned on the back).
A: Yes.
K: Je m'appelle K.
A: Enchante.
K: Chante? Chante? Is that your name?
A: No, enchante, "Nice to meet you."
Hahahahahahaha! Poor K. Not that I fared much better later on. K. asked him if we could take a picture with him and he agreed. I posed by the athlete while K. went to take a picture. When he was done, we were about to switch places when the photographer following around the athlete pulled K. back by his backpack. Confused, K. tried to give the photographer his camera. The photographer made funny French noises and waved his hands in front of him, indicating no. K. then tried to change places with me again, but again was pulled back with French noises. Finally, the Chinese translator with the group asked if we could speak Chinese, and then used Chinese to explain that the photographer wanted to take a picture of K. taking a picture of me with the athlete. So K. continued to pose, and I stood awkwardly, trying to figure out if this was a good time for some conversation. Here were my attempts:
W: (pointing at myself) U.S.A
A: France
W: You're very tall!
A: (I don't remember because I was thinking only that that was a dumb thing to say. And I never know what to say when people say the same thing to me.)
Finally the photographer let K. go and took his camera for a picture. K. then asked the athlete if we could see the medals. He compiled and the photographer got really excited. He took a picture of the three of us with the medals draped over K's shoulder and then motioned for K. to return for his camera, pointing K. to where he was supposed to stand, and then pointing to me to remain there and look at the medals. The athlete this time attempted conversation, "Is this your first time in Beijing?" I responded with, "Am I allowed to look up?" That ended the spontaneous photo shoot (I was pretty confused during the entire length of it). As the group was departing, we tried to ask him some questions like, "What event are you in?" (It was clear he was a swimmer because of his height and build.) He responded, "100m freestyle." We gave him a pin, but the rest of his group was already walking away so he had to leave. In my head, I thought, the 100m freestyle is one of the biggest individual events in swimming -- he's got to be pretty good. We didn't get his name but we figured, we knew he swam in the 100m freestyle, he was French, and he had three medals, gold silver, and bronze, so it would be pretty easy to look him up. We looked him up later. Turns out he was Alain Bernard. He was the one who said the French 4x100 medley relay team would smash the Americans. He was very nice and patient with us though.
posted by wchien at 10:55 PM
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