Taxicab Chinese

The story of how I became fluent in Chinese sitting in the passenger seat

Photo by Drew Willson on Unsplash

I rustled into the back seat of the taxi as the door clicked shut behind me. It was dark and well past midnight. My driver was still outside chucking luggage in the boot. Glancing through the window, I saw the cigarette in his mouth flare orange as he took a heavy drag. A thick cloud of smoke evaporated into the…