You have been here for how long? Four months now?
Yeah, about.
Do you know Chinese better now?
Oh, definitely. I remember, when I first arrived in Guangzhou, my girlfriend was haggling with a sales clerk over the price of a mobile phone.
Oh, yeah. Many Chinese like to bargain. It happens almost everywhere.
I mean, I understand that. But the speed of the conversation got faster and faster, until it seemed to me that they would fight. My perception of the tone was that it was a violent shouting match. The truth was that it was a perfectly normal conversation.
A shouting match? You ' re so funny. You must be exaggerating. I don ' t believe it.
I am not exaggerating at all. I ' m telling you the truth. That was how I felt at that time.
Yes, perhaps. Chinese usually don ' t notice that sort of thing. Maybe it ' s quite natural to us.
Yes, absolutely true.