So, last weekend, me, my wife, and a friend of ours from university visited a night market in Taipei. We passed by a stand selling tiramisu. It turned out we were in the mood for tiramisu, so I lined up to get one for the three of us to share.
While in line, I noticed that the people selling the tiramisu were a pair of Caucasian men, and they were speaking Italian to each other. Also, when they talked to customers, they could only do so in broken Mandarin Chinese. So I figured, "Oh, I've played lots of Assassin's Creed, I bet I could manage to come up with 'one tiramisu please' in Italian. I'm sure they'd appreciate a break from trying to listen to and speak Chinese."
I get to the head of the line and confidently say, "Uno tiramisu, per favore." The guy's face lights up and starts speaking rapid Italian at me. And then I watch his expression crumble as he sees the blank look on my face, and he points at a plastic bag, asking if I need one to transport my tiramisu. "Sachetto?"
"Umm... scusi?"
The remainder of the transaction was performed entirely in gestures, apart from me squeaking "Grazie" at the end before scurrying away.
