Communication: Activity of conveying meaningful information. The communication process is complete once the receiver has understood the sender.

My communication however isn't understood by the receiver nor myself, the sender.
I tend to convey my questions or answers through smiling, laughing or a simple nod of the head. This is usually understood by the sender and the receiver. For me, it's a polite way of saying 'I don't have a clue what you're saying!' and they respond in a similar way by smiling, which means 'I don't know what she wants but if I point at something maybe she'll nod again!'
I'm sure when I go to the fruit shop or a restaurant they get just as frustrated with me as a customer as I do with myself trying to order. When I try to buy or order things, I'll start with a few Chinese words, then I'll point to something similar and if they're face is still blank then I go onto actions, wild exaggerated hand and body gestures. Can you imagine how awkward it is to go to a pharmacy for diarrhoea tablets anyway, let alone having to put on a little performance about what kind of tablets you need! Luckily that dramatic display was done by a friend of mine and not myself! Happily, I've only had to act out animals so I could eat in a restaurant.

Mary ushers me towards her and we sit on the floor in her bedroom and she begins to read, Little Red Riding Hood, in Chinese.
I only understand; 'hóng sè - red and nǎinǎi - Grandmother but luckily I know the story so can gasp at what I hope is the correct parts in the story. "Emma" Mary looks up from the book at me and asks me something in Chinese. "Oh yeah" I say and look back at the book, waiting for her to continue reading. Guess that wasn't the correct answer! But she reads on.

Whenever Mary speaks to me I always wait a second to see her facial expressions. If she tells me a sentence and laughs, I giggle too or if her face is straight and serious I reply with, 'oohh'

9pm comes and it's time to put 8 year old Mary to bed. She wants to read to me again and so we pick a book to go to sleep to.
We both get into bed and pull the cover over our legs, so the little mosquitoes don't nibble on our toes and she begins to tell me the story of a beautiful Princess and Prince in a castle. A page in and Mary stops, stuck on a word. "Méi guān xi" (nevermind) I tell her and we continue.

I've never been to a country by myself where English isn't commonly used and sometimes this barrier I have between myself and locals can be daunting and frustrating at times but when I sit and 'talk' with Mary, I don't worry about this language obstacle that stops us from putting across what we would really love to say. And this makes me think about travelling alone to other non-English speaking countries. It will be hard, no doubt about that, but just knowing a handful of local words and simply smiling, it changes the whole outlook of another intimidating culture.

I talk to Mary about this and that and Mary talks to me about something and something else. Both of us perhaps understanding one word in each other's language. Sometimes if I'm lucky I understand two! A young girl, living this simple life for now. She reminds me of what I was like when I was young and how I behaved at school. I would love to just chat with her, but for now I'll continue to just pull faces and tickle her, it's easier that way… x