可以嗎？

I'm a terrible blogger when I'm traveling. And, as this post will show, I'm also a terrible traveler.My mom and I are currently about to go to sleep at Traveler Hotel Taitung--by means of no small miracle of  friends' help and communication.

See, we were headed off to explore yesterday when I made our reservations, and today I completely forgot that all I knew about where we were going was that we had a reservation and its name in English. Which, obviously, is not enough.

On the train from Kaohsiung, somewhere around an hour in, I realized this. I also realized that the train (obviously) had no internet connection. In other words, we would be arriving in Taitung with no idea whatsoever about how to reach our destination.

So I texted Karina, asking her if she could find out how to say the hotel name in Chinese. And, though she wasn't near a computer, she’ｓ　ａｍａｚｉｎｇ　ａｎｄ　ｓｈｅ translateｄ--and I copied it down. When we got to Taitung, I pulled out my paper and went to talk to the first cab driver:

Me: 你 知道 "lu ke guan" 馬? (Do you know "lu ke guan?")

Driver: 我 不知道. (I　ｄｏｎ’ｔ。）

Me: O, 好...　（Ｏｈ，　ｏｋａｙ。。。）

And he drove away.

Ｓｏ　Ｉ　ｃａｌｌｅｄ　Ｒａｃｈｅｌ，　ａｎｄ　ａｓｋｅｄ　ｈｅｒ　ｉｆ　ｓｈｅ　ｃｏｕｌｄ　ｌｏｏｋ　ｕｐ　ｔｈｅ　ａｄｄｒｅｓｓ　ｆｏｒ　ｔｈｅ　ｈｏｔｅｌ，　ｗｈｉｃｈ　ｓｈｅ　ｇｒａｃｉｏｕｓｌｙ　ｄｉｄ　ｗｉｔｈｏｕｔ　ｔｈｅ　ａｌｌ－ｔｏｏ－ｅａｓｙ　ｊｏｋｅ　ａｔ　ｍｙ　ｅｘｐｅｎｓｅ　ｆｏｒ　ｍｙ　ｓｔｕｐｉｄｉｔｙ　ｉｎ　ｎｏｔ　ｐｌａｎｎｉｎｇ　ａｈｅａｄ。　Ｆｏｒｔｕｎａｔｅｌｙ，　ｔｈｅｒｅ　ｗｅｒｅ　ｓｔｉｌｌ　ｐｌｅｎｔｙ　ｏｆ　ｃａｂ　ｄｒｉｖｅｒｓ　ａｒｏｕｎｄ，　ｓｏ　Ｉ　ｗｅｎｔ　ｔｏ　ｔａｌｋ　ｔｏ　ｔｈｅ　ｎｅｗ　ｆｉｒｓｔ　ｃａｂ　ｄｒｉｖｅｒ　ｉｎ　ｌｉｎｅ。

Ｍｅ：　你好，　你　知道　＂ｌｕ　ｋｅ　ｇｕａｎ，＂　４２　安慶　馬？　（Ｈｅｌｌｏ，　ｄｏ　ｙｏｕ　ｋｎｏｗ　＂ｌｕ　ｋｅ　ｇｕａｎ，　４２　Ａｎ　Ｑｉｎｇ？＂

Ｄｒｉｖｅｒ：　安慶街　馬？　（Ａｎ　Ｑｉｎｇ　ｓｔｒｅｅｔ？）

Ｍｅ：隊。。。？ （Ｙｅｓ。。。？）

Ｄｒｉｖｅｒ　（ｌｏｏｋｉｎｇ　ａ　ｌｉｔｔｌｅ　ｃｏｎｆｕｓｅｄ）：　＂ｌｕ　ｋｅ　ｇｕａｎ＂？

Ｍｅ：　隊。 (Yes.)

Ｄｒｉｖｅｒ：　（ｓｏｍｅｔｈｉｎｇ　Ｉdon't understand)

Me: 我 聽不懂, 我的中文 不.好... (I don't understand, my Chinese is not good...)

Driver: (something else I don't understand)

Me: 可以馬? (Can you?)

Driver: 可以. (I can.)

Me: Oh, 好... (Oh, OK...)

So yes, through broken Chinese and a lot of help, we finally found our hotel/hostel. And it turns out to be perfect! Just a few blocks from the night market (my mom's first, where we enjoyed fried dough balls, fried chicken, kiwi-pineapple juice and noodles for dinner) and from Watson's, where we bought anti-motion sickness meds for the ferry to Green Island tomorrow.

Looks like my Chinese will be tested this trip. And, though I thoroughly suck, I say bring it on.