Wei?

One night in Suzhou, China, I was sound asleep in bed. The phone rang, and in my half conscious state, I picked it up and said, "Wei?", which is how you answer the phone in Mandarin. Don't ask me why I did this. I have no clue. The lady on the other end started talking to me in Mandarin, until I said, "Wo bu dong" (I don't understand). I'm pretty sure it was someone in the front lobby of the hotel, because she answered, "Oh, so sorry" and hung up. The next morning I was laughing at myself for answering the phone in Chinese instead of English. Tim asked my why I did this. In his mind it was logical that if I answer the phone in Chinese that the other person would think that I knew Chinese, which is exactly what happened. But as I said, I was only half-conscious. Please don't expect reasonable behavior if you wake me in the middle of the night. It isn't going to happen.

BTW, for some reason, I have recently been answering the phone with ni hao (hello) here at home. I think I am secretly hoping that I will completely throw off a telemarketer or election campaigner. So don't be confused when you call. It is just me being completely ridiculous. When you spend your day with preschoolers, you have to get your laughs somewhere.