Often times in China, our inability to speak/write the Chinese language make it extremely difficult to do everyday tasks. When we are here we are basically illiterate and dumb. We can speak a few words and phrases, but they can only carry us so far. For example, when we try to order food at a restaurant, we only know how to say the following things in Chinese: rice, noodles, eggplant, cauliflower, no peppers, tofu, potato, chicken, beef, pork, chopsticks, "do you have," and "thank you." These few phrases have sustained our diet for the last 10 months.
However, last night we went out to eat at a restaurant where we couldn't order these simple things; the entire menu was written in Chinese, and we had to mark which dish we wanted. As the waitress and other customers stared at us we were facing an overwhelming task. After a brief moment of panic we decided it was time to buckle down and use the best tool we had-- our iPhones. 15 minutes and 1 Pleco app later, I was successfully able to translate the menu and order us dinner! Technology is a great thing!
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