Thursday 13 August 2009

Chinese puzzle

So there I was, sitting in a bar on the final night of my holiday. I was sprawled out on some sofas with two of the gay lads (when I say 'sprawled out', I mean on separate sofas). Suddenly a couple of young Chinese girls who had been perched on bar stools when we arrived, asked if the could join us because it was 'uncomfortable' where they were sitting (but the sofas had been free when we entered the bar).

We invited them to sit down (the only space was next to me) and one of them said that the British accent was 'so sexy'. She started telling us that she was studying in the Netherlands, but she had interrupted an important conversation, so the three of us were soon back to chatting among ourselves.

A few minutes later, the lads decided that they were going to bed. As I still had most of a pint left (and anyone who has drunk with me knows that can take a couple of hours to imbibe), they said they would 'leave me to it'.
Immediately, the girl next to me, who introduced herself as Sarah, started chatting away (I once saw a sub-editor go into a rant for people using the world 'girl' for females over the age of 16 - but this was a close call).

Sarah did all the talking because her friend, who was studying journalism, didn't speak any English. It wasn't a particularly interesting conversation. There was no flirting or chemistry between us (the cultural and language barriers, as well as an age difference of two decades, saw to that) and Sarah didn't have a very endearing personality. Her friend was a lot sweeter (well, she looked sweeter) and more attractive.

After about 30 minutes, when the conversation had ground to a halt and I had begun looking around at a couple of western women, Sarah declared that they were going to their hotel - and what was I doing. Now if someone with English as a first language said that to me, I would take that as an invitation to join them.

But in such a situation, I was far more circumspect. Were these two Chinese women, who were 22 at most, really inviting me back to their hotel room? Would it be wise to go with them, particularly as one didn't speak any English? What if I got into a situation I couldn't handle - 24 hours before flying home?

Perhaps I'm getting old and unwilling to take a gamble (although reading a single entry of A Change For The Bettor should soon dispel that theory), but I decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and said I was staying where I was. I know that I moan continually about not getting any attention from women. But when I do, it's either ambiguous or unappealing.

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