Eavesdropping

I'm often asked the question of whether or not my husband and I eavesdrop on Chinese conversations. I'll have to admit that we do. It's not like we purposefully walk around trying to find someone speaking Chinese, but when we do hear them, our ears tune in. There have been many people talking near us, or about us, who had no clue that we could understand them.

Today I was walking the dog when an older chinese couple pushing strollers came walking around the corner. As I passed, the grandmother said to the kids, "Do you think that dog is good looking?" The kids didn't respond. Then she said, "It's a sheep/dog". :D

I can remember many times when we lived in china when I would be in an elevator, and the people around me started talking about me. The conversation often went something like this,
"She's an American."
"Yea, she has a big nose"
"She's so skinny!"
"Americans are like that.."

Not wanting them to get embarrassed, I usually didn't say anything, but pretended I didn't understand. However, there were times when, as we all exited the elevator on the main floor, the Hotel security greeted me in Chinese, and I answered them with the people from the elevator looking on...