05.09.08
Nator’s Smooth Interview
This morning I was interviewed by two students at the Jiaodaokou intersection in Beijing. I had just crossed the street when a guy came up from behind me and asked in broken English if he could talk about “traffic” in Beijing. There was also a young woman operating a small camera, which was already on and filming me. Here’s a rough summary of our conversation:
me: [annoyed] What do you want?
him: Do you…ahhh…uhh..what do you…
me: [interrupting, switching to Chinese] do you speak Chinese?
This can be an insulting thing for a foreigner to say to a Chinese person in China. He didn’t seem to take offense.
him: You speak Chinese, great! We are journalists doing some interviews on traffic in Beijing.
me: You’re journalists?
him: Yes
me: From which publication?
him: Actually, we’re students doing some research.
me: Oh, so now you’re students. Can I see your ID?
They show me their student IDs from the Central Academy of Drama, which is right around the corner.
me: So you want to interview me?
him: Yes
me: In Chinese?
him: Yes
me: Uh, OK.
him: Great. So what do you think about traffic in Beijing?
Actually he rolled off a long and complex question having to do with traffic. By the time he finished the question, I wasn’t sure what he was asking.
me: uhhh, I don’t understand what you just said. Were you asking about traffic in Beijing?
him: Yes. Let me rephrase. Are you satisfied with the condition of traffic in Beijing?
me: Of course not. It’s bad. All big cities have bad traffic.
him: what things about Beijing’s traffic are you dissatisfied with? That is to say, how does it affect your life?
me: It’s dangerous. It wastes my time.
her: Did you realize that you just crossed the street when the light was red?
me: Yes.
her: Do you do that all the time?
me: I do it when there aren’t any cars around.
her: Do you do that in your home country?
me: Yes, when there aren’t any cars around.
her: Don’t you think that’s dangerous?
me: Not if there aren’t any cars around. I follow the local customs. If everyone here didn’t do that, I wouldn’t either. But everyone
does, so I do, too.
him: If you’re worried that traffic is unsafe, don’t you think you would be better off if you obeyed the traffic rules and didn’t cross the street when the light was red?
me: Yes, possibly. But sometimes the cars don’t obey the rules either.
him: Well, Beijing’s traffic regulations are very complex and strict.
me: [not following] What?
him: I think that Beijing’s traffic regulations are relatively strict towards cars, so…
me: [interrupting] Relative to what? Have you visited many countries?
him: No, but I think that the rules are rather complete and strict, so that if everyone obeys, it should work okay.
me: Ummm….
her: Do you like Beijing?
me: [stare at the camera for 5 seconds] Uh, yes. Do you like America?
her: ….
me: What kind of question is that? I’m just like you. I like some things, I don’t like others.
him: So do you think it’s a good idea not to cross the street when the light is red?
me: If there aren’t any cars, I’ll cross the street. And the cars sometimes don’t obey the rules. Just last week my friend in Shanghai was hit by a car when he was walking down a narrow alley. From behind! And the car wasn’t even going fast!
him: Ummm, yes, but….
me: The car saw him! It was during the daytime! The car honked for him to get out of the way, but he couldn’t because it was a narrow alley. So the car hit him!! On purpose!!!
him: Umm…. OK, but that is a very rare situation, and of course no one wants things like that to happen.
me: [steaming mad]….
her: Okay, I guess that’s enough. Thanks for this…
me: Are you guys trying to teach me a lesson?
her: No, no, we’re just doing interviews. Thank you.
me: Okay, bye.
These two students and their classmates are the only ones who will get to enjoy the full scene. I was annoyed the entire time and I’m sure it showed on my face. My Chinese was worse than usual–I babbled several incoherent lines and forgot how to say such words as “pedestrians” and “sidewalk”. I looked away at times and stared, annoyed, right into the camera. I probably shrugged and sighed dramatically several times to express my frustration. If you’re at the Central Academy of Drama, try to get your hands on a copy.
SH Tig adds:
1. First and most importantly, to you students, RMB 500 to you if you send me a copy of that tape of nator and his “natorage”. Contact me through this site.
2. Nator - if that played out as well as you described, don’t think that the students won’t find a better use for it. Angry laowai video could surface on the net.
3. I am curious as to whether they were trying to make a point with you as a foreigner breaking the rules. Would have been interesting to see if they were “interviewing” Chinese people as well, and very interesting to see how the Chinese reacted. My guess the reactions would be curt and either: (i) quick appology followed by ignoring, (ii) anger/denial followed by ignoring, (iii) total ignoring — but no dialogue about right and wrong.
NATOR REPLIES: I was wondering the same things. If I didn’t have so much work to do, I would have grabbed a camera and gone back out to record them recording others. I can also imagine that the conversation would have gone a lot differently if I had kept it in English–I don’t think they knew how to ask those kind of questions in English.
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