Yeah, taxi drivers are great to talk to.

There are always those that will not understand what you’re saying at first. All it seems that can be done is speak up, look people straight in the eye, and not hesitate. That way at least most people switch their thought processes quick enough to listen.

ps – nice to see you again

Or, if my Chinese is not perfect–like if I am using words that are new to me–they do not even make the tiniest attempt at trying to derive my meaning.

However, I have found that taxi drivers are some of the greatest people to practice my Chinese on. They are surprisingly patient if you try to strike up a conversation.

I once had a driver that actually defended me. We hadn’t spoken much and were about halfway through the ride when a car pulled up beside us. They had loud crappy techno playing, and without looking, I could seriously feel several pairs of eyes buring a hole in me. Without looking up I muttered something like ‘boring assholes’ in Chinese.

Well, the driver heard me and was apparently amused. He started repeating what I was saying to the guys in the car. He quite liked that I knew enough to lay out a string of insults to the gawkers. He even went so far as to lose the car.

We had quite a nice little conversation after that, and he was very forgiving of my broken Chinese.