Masking Frustration

I think that in general dealing with language barriers isn't a big deal. However, when I am frustrated and there is a language barrier between the person I am working with and me, it can definitely add to the frustration. But since the language barrier is blocking communication, it is also blocking my expression of frustration (if I'm already not saying much and speaking in short simple statements then there's not much change). So while I get more unhappy, I think I may actually come out of the situation better off. Since I'll calm down after awhile, but pissing someone else off could have a lasting impact.

Hm, if it is blocking me from expressing my thoughts, I guess it goes the other way too. I wonder what the other person would have been saying to me. Maybe I would have actually been even more frustrated if on top of everything else I knew what the other person was thinking about me.

On a semi-related note, I seriously regret learning the Chinese word for yes. Now instead of hearing coworkers say: blah blah blah blah, I hear: blah blah YES blah. Way more distracting. Thank goodness I haven't put in enough effort to learn more than one word. I just hope I never learn the Farsi word for yes or the distractions will come at me from all sides (by the way, happy Iranian New Years!).

I have started to enjoy walking in and out of a near by cube where coworkers sometimes gather and watching them go from Chinese to English as I step in the area and then back to Chinese as I leave. It's like the silly power rush when standing in a really long line at an amusement park and not moving for awhile after the people in front of you, knowing you have control over when all the people behind you step forward.

Quick Note: A lot of this post is sarcastic and all of it is silly, but at no point do I mean to be criticizing or complaining about the people who have learned another language so they can communicate in the one language I know.