I was counting "yī èr sān sì wǔ" in my mind as I was heading to class. I had my mind focused on it until the bus I was on got stuck on the highway. I observed the commotion that was happening with the passengers. I was also ready to get off if the driver couldn't make the bus start. I don't know how, but the driver managed to start the bus and keep the passengers in their seats.
"Start!" I muttered in a low voice, irritated. I wanted to arrive early. “Thank goodness,” I added as I watched the driver start the big bus, but with difficulty.
It screeched and didn't stop groaning in pain, that machine needed a skilled mechanic. But it wouldn't be at that moment, so it continued its path slowly.
I counted "yī èr sān sì wǔ" again and tried to remember how the sequence continued.
I arrived in Caracas right at 12:45 p.m., so I had to think quickly for a solution. I had half an hour left, and I was right in front of Fermín Toro High School, in the whole Silencio area. So, I decided to take a Ridery. At least that way I would arrive a few minutes late instead of being an hour delayed by taking multiple buses.
While riding on the motorcycle towards the university, I counted again to remember.
"yī èr sān sì wǔ"
I didn't want to say it out loud because I felt embarrassed. I only whispered it and blushed.
When I arrived at the university entrance, I stopped thinking about the numbers and focused on the characters. I preferred writing it, before it used to annoy me, especially as a task, but now I found it fascinating. It was writing.
一 二 三 四 五
I knew it, I had practiced it several times at home and kept remembering. It was difficult for me to remember the following numbers. I confused six with nine, and when I arrived in class, I knew that the nerves had made it worse for me.
The teacher approached with the book in hand and stood next to me.
"Er shi er" was all she said. But she had already done it with several students. The exercise was to guess which number she said.
I got nervous and without thinking, I said the first thing that came to my mind.
"33?" I said.
"No," Lǎoshī replied. "Er shi er," she said it quickly.
I tried to remember, I had practiced it as much as possible.
"32," I said this time, sure of my answer.
Then the whole class laughed and I realized.
"Is it 22, right?"
Lǎoshī nodded, also laughing.
The most surprising thing was that I was able to guess the numbers she said to my classmates, but when it was my turn, my brain froze. The most difficult part was distinguishing between six and nine, as they sounded similar.
"Liu shi jiu," Lǎoshī said and waited for a classmate's response.
It was 69, and after hearing the question several times, I knew it. I also got confused when she said 44 (si shi si), as the sounds were similar too, or when she said 77 (qi shi qi). It was crazy.
The characters were easier, if I practiced them several times in my calligraphy notebook, I could identify them. What I found more difficult was the pronunciation. While Lǎoshī went through it with everyone, I wrote the characters from the book in my notebook and went over them.
Four years ago, I tried to learn Mandarin, but I gave up out of apathy. The pandemic had also erupted, making things even more complicated. At that time, I also had my mind focused on finishing my degree, so I didn't give it the necessary attention. Now, my friend Wolfgang was making good money as a translator for Chinese businessmen. He traveled all around the world and made secret deals that he didn't tell me about, but he was amassing wealth.
I didn't regret my choice. Everyone has their timing, but while waiting for the boarding, it wouldn't hurt to learn something new.
This time, Lǎoshī was a petite and tender Chinese girl, she seemed like an innocent child. She barely knew Spanish. They taught us Chinese, and in return, they learned Spanish. She was fluent in English, but they surely had their reasons for wanting to master Spanish.
"Well, guys, you... well, you must re-fle-xi-on... I don't know how to explain it," she said, hesitating and bursting into laughter.
"Relax," said another classmate, who was only making things more confusing.
"Relaz," Lǎoshī repeated.
"No. Re-la-x," three gentlemen said simultaneously.
We faced the same issue when trying to pronounce difficult words. I still preferred writing. If there were to be another poetry or short story contest, I would participate and make an effort to learn how to say it. The prizes were worth it. I remember once a person won a 1 Terabyte hard drive, and at that time it was something surprising. Powerful laptops were even given as prizes in those competitions.
"Teacher, a question?" said a girl who seemed to be in her first semester. I hoped the teacher would pay attention and let her finish her question. "How do you differentiate what singers say? How do you know what they are saying? Do you understand me?"
What a question, I thought, laughing. They've grown up in their world of Chinese tones and characters.
"Do not understand," Lǎoshī replied. "Also, cannot explain."
And the girl repeated the question, not changing much from her initial inquiry.
"Well, we grew up listening to music... It's not difficult... It's like... They don't get confused with their songs," Lǎoshī said, smiling childishly.
"That's true," another classmate said. "We already grew up listening to them."
Lǎoshī nodded, seeing that they understood her point.
At that moment, I logged into my Hive blog and saw the challenge of the week. A non-fiction story using the words "nuts" and "screw." The first thing that came to my mind was how these words would be in Mandarin characters. I wanted to ask Lǎoshī, but if I asked her, I would also have to ask her how to say "ship" and maritime terms. Of course, I had done some research, but I wanted to be sure.
However, the class then turned to singing a children's song in Mandarin.
liǎng zhī lǎohǔ, liǎng zhī lǎohǔ,
pǎo dé kuài, pǎo dé kuài,
yī zhī méi yǒu yǎn jīng,
yī zhī méi yǒu wěi bā,
zhēn qí guài, zhēn qí guài.
Lǎoshī wrote on the blackboard and then wrote down the characters.
两只老虎，两只老虎，
跑得快，跑得快，
一只没有眼睛，
一只没有尾巴，
真奇怪，真奇怪。
And soon we all found ourselves singing together and then individually. She started teaching us some basic characters, and then we sang again. I had to sing even when I felt embarrassed.
After that, I forgot to ask the teacher my questions. Maybe next time.
Cover and Banner made in Canva; Image generated in Canva by AI, Separators made in photoshop