Cultured -- Part 2

I have a talent and it's only Jesus: I can have an entire and highly-interactive conversation with someone without them saying a word of English and me saying a word of Mandarin or Taiwanese or anything else they might understand. Provided the other party is agreeable.

-Old man at train station: He babbled on and on and berated me (this much I got quite clearly!) for not being able to speak Chinese and communicate when his other foreign friend (whom he proceeded to show me pictures of, on his phone) could communicate very well.--And he continued jabbering. Then I was rescued (my hero!!).

-Charlton's (my student) grandmother: We agreed that Charlton's swimming (which we briefly watched a recording of) was good, I informed her that he was progressing well with his English-learning (and she beamed with pride) and we concluded that we should all dance together, because Charlton is currently into dancing and she thinks I might like to dance (and I know SHE would like to).

-Lady at Carrefour (please pronounce that the way I do, thankyouverymuch): Well, she thought I meant nail polish, which they, surprisingly, only had one brand of, but I ended up finding the nail polish remover right beside it, which is what I was after, so we did communicate, after all.

-Old lady on plane: --grin-grin-- --more grins-- --friendly babblings in Mandarin-- --one strong squeeze of bum and thigh as Ange stands up to exit plane and briefly has her back turned to said lady-- (This, my friends, I will have you know, is communication of the highest form.)