The other day I took the first step towards getting my Chinese driving licence – I went to a translation agency to get an official translation of my current one. Simples! you might say. Well, mostly.
The first thing they asked me to do is to write down my Chinese name. “I don’t have one.” I said. They looked at me as if I were crazy . “But you have to have a Chinese name…” I didn’t mention it, but it hasn’t been an issue before, what with living in Pennsylvania and bits of Western Europe.
Unfortunately there was no getting round it. Fortunately they had a reference book. A weighty tome with many thousands of names and their translations. Except mine of course.They did have my Surname, or near enough but no first name.
So after some discussion they came up with one. I have no idea what it means. Names are a BIG DEAL in China. There is a huge amount of superstition tied up with the number of characters involved and how many strokes they comprise even before you get to the meaning of the characters. I know that people have spent ages helping foreigners create appropriate Chinese names. Well I had some girl at the translation agency sort something out for me in about 30 secs. Great.
I haven’t dared look up what my new name means yet. I really hope it isn’t something like “Giant Horse’s Arse”. Still, it’s unlikely to be as completely bonkers as some of the names the Chinese give themselves. Maybe I should just ask for “Teapot Chambers” or something like that. That actually has a nice ring to it…