I just went on a business trip with my Chinese colleague to Korea. Neither of us speak Korean. However, as we went to restaurants she would often forget she was not in China and would speak to the waiter in Chinese. I asked her why that was and she said it was exactly like being in China that you forget momentarily you are not at home.
Have you ever ended up speaking the wrong language just because everything seemed so familiar you forgot you were not “on your home turf” as it were?
Rarely. But this reminds me of getting out of the airport in Toronto once, and I saw a Chinese middle-age woman, just arrived, approaching a Caucasian Airport staff and asked him a question in pure Mandarin.
The guy reacted calmly, and replied, “Sorry, I don’t speak Chinese.”
ha ha - that is a good one. I am surprised he knew she was speaking Chinese and not Korean 