ERP Question 3b

“ Excuse me, may I know the way to the Marriott? “ I approached a passerby. This was my first encounter with a person since I was separated from my parents. However, this was not spoken in English, instead it was in Chinese...

It was the June holidays, my father has been posted to Shanghai to work and I went with my mother and sister to visit him. The company rented an apartment for him at the Marriott and it was the place we are putting up. The Marriott is a luxurious hotel at the same time, so it was really worth it to be able to stay there. During our stay, we were brought around by my father to visit tourist attractions. Unfortunately, I was separated from them at one of the attractions.

It all happened while we were passing through a tourist group, I was swept away with the tourist group and when i managed to break free my family was no where in sight. I was frantic and began circling round the area searching for my family to no avail. As i began to despair, i remembered what my mother said, “Should you be lost or separated from us, stay where you are and we will go find you, or you may choose to return to the apartment first.” I waited for 10 minutes but no one came, then i decided to go back myself. However, as it was my first time in Shanghai, I do not know the roads very well and had no clue how to go back to the apartment. Thankfully, I was able to converse in Chinese and was able to ask for directions. I began to walk to the apartment which was about 5 streets away from what i heard from a passerby. Along the way, I met a couple of helpful souls and they guided me to the Marriott.

After what seemed like ages, I managed to find my way back to the apartment. I waited at the lobby for about 30 minutes before I saw my parents enter the lobby looking panicky. I waved to them and there was a huge sign of relief on their faces.

I have never really liked the subject Chinese, but it was my Mother Tongue, Chinese, which saved me during my short visit to China where almost everyone speaks Chinese. I then realised that it is always good to know more then one language as you never know when it may come in handy.