dialogue 1
Wang Wei: pardon me. Could you please pass me the tissue?
对不起,请把纸巾传给我好吗?
Simon: sure, here you are.
好的,给你.
W: thanks, I didn't expect the dish to be so spicy. Are you ok?
谢谢你,真没想到这个菜这么辣,你还好吧?
S: yeah, I think the food is alright, it's not too spicy though it's a little salty for me. But you are Chinese, you should have known better.
恩,我觉得饭菜还可以,不太辣,就是有点咸.可是你是中国人啊,你应该知道的.
W: well, not every Chinese can handle spicy food in the way people from Sichuan and Cuizhou provinces can. Back where I come from, people don't eat a lot of pepers and chilies.
这个,不是所有的中国人都想四川人和贵州人那样能吃辣.在我的家乡,人们就很少吃麻辣口味的菜.
S: Oh, I see how this food can be really hard for you. I can sympathize with that. I stayed in Sichuan for a year. The food was difficult at the beginning. Every dish was so spicy. After a while, I got used to the taste, and now I won't consider anything a real dish if it isn't spicy.
哦,那吃这个菜你一定很难受了,我完全理解.我在四川待了一年,最开始很不适应当地的食物,每一道菜都那么辣.但是过了一阵之后,我开始习惯那个口味了,现在吃菜,要是没有辣味,就感觉不过瘾.
W: yeah, you can increase you tolerance for spicy food, but so far, I haven't had the need or the opportunity. Every timr I try spicy food, it is a total disaster for my nose and eyes.
是啊,吃辣是能培养出来的.但到现在我还没有机会也没有必要培养一下.所以,现在一吃辣菜,我的鼻子和眼睛就遭罪了.
S: I completely understand. I didn't intend on liking spicy food at first either, but when you have no other choicess, you've got to adapt.
我完全理解.刚开始我也没想要培养自己吃辣,不过当时真的是没有别的选择了,就不得不做出改变了.
W: yeah, I guess that's a typical example of "when in Rome, do as the Romans do."
我猜这就是典型的"入乡随俗"了吧.
S: exactly.
确实如此.
dialogue 2
E: Hey, Robert, that's a nice shirt you are wearing. Where did you get it?
嗨,罗伯特.你身上这件衬衫不错,在哪里买的?
R: thanks, I like it too. I bought it at the nearby department store.
谢谢,我也挺喜欢这件衬衫的,就在附近的商场里买的.
E: that's nice. Do you know you can get one at the wholesale market near the zoo for a much lower price?
挺好的.不过你知道要在动物园旁边的批发市场里买,还会便宜很多吗?
R: yeah, I know that. But at those places. the prices they ask you are ridiculously high, and if you don't bargain hard, you will get ripped-off.
是的,我知道.但是在那些地方,通常他们的要加都很高,要是你不还价的话,你就会被狠宰一顿.
E: true, learning how to haggle the price is one of the things people have to pick up when they come to China for the first time.
的确是,第一次来中国,人们最开始要学会的东西中有一样就是还价.
E: yeah, I have the same feeling. Also there is another thing that bothers me the quality. Things in a department store are usually quality-guaranteed. But at a wholesale market, you never know whether what you are buying are of good quality or not.
是啊,我也有同样的感觉.不过还有另一件事情让我觉得很烦,就是质量问题.在商场里买的东西,通常质量都会有保证,可是在批发市场,你就不知道你买的东西到底是质量好还是不好.
R: that's why I like department stores more. Shopping at a wholesale market like the locals is one of the few things I am unable to grow accustomd to.
这就是为什么我更喜欢在商场里没东西,我就总是做不到像当地人一样在批发市场里购物,真的不习惯.
E: I understand. While it's always good to follow the local customs, I guess there are exceptions.
我明白.尽管按照当地的习俗来做很好,可是我也觉得应该有例外的情况.
