I went to a club on Thursday night, since Friday was a holiday so it was a time that many people had time. It was a really fun experience we danced for over two hours and just in our group of friends. It was nice to do that and it didn’t matter if we looked silly. We got there early enough that no one else was there and we could establish a spot on the dance floor for the whole time we were there.
But on the way home we had to wait about fifteen minutes for the train home, due to the fact it was late at night. There were two men who plopped themselves down next to us on the bench waiting and they began to talk to me.
They started off by just saying hello to me in Chinese, over and over again. I chose not to respond to them, to which my partner had to step in and speak for me. Long story short there was just a bunch of exchanges about how I don’t speak Chinese, yes I do speak English, etc. I was really glad he was there because when I’m alone I never know how to deal with this.
I am always concerned that if I don’t respond in some way, even noncommitally, that the people, usually men, will get more aggressive. Especially when they are drunk, which they were last night. I don’t really have any great tactics, but I am really apprehensive of someone doing that. I don’t want to seem like I do want to talk, so I usually just say something noncommitally or just nod my head.