New freinds & a new language

New friends & a new language

I realized today that living over here I am going to learn a new language, well maybe not really new but different. No, it isn’t a variation of Chinese.

I attended a Corona Club meeting (not the beer, but the crown, as in the queen, as in Britain). This is the British women’s group that has branches all over the world. I have attended a few meetings in the past, but today I bit the bullet & actually joined. They are a really friendly & down to earth group of women. They meet once a week & usually have a speaker. Today one of the women who has lived here 38 years & is married to a Chinese man spoke about the traditions of the Chinese New Year.

After the meeting a few of us went out for lunch. It was funny because they wanted to go to Outback. They all thought it was an Australian restaurant (guess the marketing worked), but I told them I thought it was a US company as they’ve been in the US for years. They were all surprised. They like to go for the fish & chips. Who would have thought you’d go to Outback for fish? In listening to these ladies talk I realized that I only understood about 80% of what they were saying & it wasn’t just their accent. They were using words & expressions that I didn’t understand. One said something about kids going off to uni. (university) & getting legless (drunk). And one asked “did you need to use the wee?” (toilet). I thought they called it a loo. So I think I’m going to learn a new English being involved with this group, so forgive me if I come home speaking like a Brit instead of a Chinawoman!

I also met a couple on the shuttle bus who live 2 buildings down who are from Arizona. They seem very nice & she was wearing an LL Bean jacket & practical shoes, so I know we’ll get along. They moved here from Vietnam & also mentioned living in Beijing, India and Saudi Arabia, so I think I can get lots of travel info from them. I commented that my 2 friends in HK had just moved away, so I was feeling a bit lost. The husband said that Kathy (his wife) would be happy because she didn’t really know anyone here either, at least not out here. So we are having lunch together tomorrow.

So I’m feeling much better about living out here & being back in HK. John returns on Wednesday after 1.5 weeks in India. He was supposed to visit a printer in Sri Lanka, but the printer called him & said not to come, it wasn’t safe! That doesn’t sound good. It’ll be good to have him home!