An Inconvenient Truth

Laos, Vientiane

Not to worry - this won't become a pseudo-political rant. It's more an embarrassing truth about myself that I've come to realise today.
In the street in Vientiane two old local gentlemen, seeing that I'm a foreigner, began talking to me. They didn't use English, Lao or maybe Chinese but French. I guess that's not entirely surprising since Laos used to be French protectorate until only fairly recently being granted full sovereignty in 1953. So, while young people now furiously learn English (even in tiny villages I found people that spoke some English) old people often speak French. No, what took me by surprise was that I found that I could understand what they were saying but was unable to respond. It took a long while before I managed to utter a simple sentence like, "I'm not French, I'm German." The first thing that automatically came to mind was actually the Chinese equivalent. Force of habit after being in China for a year, I guess, but I think certain family members will not be entirely happy reading this, not after we spent years practicing French for school. Hehe...
Truth be told, French was a choice that my school and German education system made for me. I know it's an important language globally and all but I've never enjoyed it all that much. Chinese is now the language I've chosen to learn. I've loved learning, Chinese is a beautiful, intriguing language and I'm keen to carry on when I get back home. There, I've said it although I'm sure I haven't heard the end of it yet...