Anni in Asia

Hong Kong is weird. Even beyond the whole driving-on-the-left thing.

I can’t understand a word anyone is saying, but I can mostly read signs. Because obviously the signs are in either English or Chinese, and everyone speaks Cantonese. This is weird, because it’s usually one way or the other—reading AND listening or neither. And usually with Chinese my reading comprehension is worse than my listening comprehension. People here do understand both Mandarin and English, but they speak Cantonese amongst themselves, so I can’t understand what’s going on around me. Even my relatives only speak Cantonese, so communication has been a bit troublesome. Pretty much I only speak when spoken to.

An uncle said during dinner yesterday that I was exactly the kind of girl men are looking for—passive and quiet. That got my American-born blood up. Even beyond the surface implication, the judgment was unfair because a) I couldn’t understand the conversation, so how could I possibly join in? and b) I pretty much hadn’t slept in 48 hours and am also jetlagged 12 hours off of my time zone. So I was annoyed, even though I admit I generally have a pretty passive personality.

I know it probably sounds like I’m pretty easily offended, but I was really hoping to get to know my relatives, since this is my first time meeting most of them. Language barriers are so frustrating.

Don’t get me wrong, I really like Hong Kong in general—the public transit is great and I love the urban feel. Plus affordable shopping. The beaches and seascapes are also lovely, even in this terrible grey weather. And my cousins are awesome. I really just wish I could understand Cantonese.

Why is cheese so terrible in Asia? I say this as a total cheese lover - I like fontina, mozzarella, mascarpone, feta, cheddar, Muenster, Stilton, you name it. Foreigners always say American cheese is gross, but I can’t imagine they’ve ever tried Asian cheese. It’s kind of like nacho cheese, but with an odd grainy texture. I realize a lot of Asians are lactose intolerant, but the problem is only with cheese - there’s good yogurt and milk (with fruit flavors!).

When in Rome: Completely ridiculous. Did it honestly not occur to Kristen Bell to say, “Hey, those guys are stalking me, but I really like you!”? Or “Did you drop this poker chip in the Fountain of Love?” What kind of relationship could they have with this total lack of communication? But whatever, still a cute romantic comedy.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief: The acting wasn’t great. I did get into the story though, although I hope the book has a fuller plot. The movie felt like it was missing important info sometimes.

EVA has a pretty good selection of movies/TV shows, both Asian and Western. Only problem is I watch too much TV in general, so I’d already seen the available episodes of all the shows I actually watch.

(I’m writing as I go, but I don’t always have Internet so I may put up several posts at once whenever I get access. This, for example, was written Wednesday night.)

Hopefully, we’ll be boarding soon. Any minute now. I’ve been sitting here for an hour. For about fifteen minutes we had the lovely background noise of an emergency alarm going off above our heads (security guard: this happens all the time—could last an hour and a half, two hours…). Now it’s turned into some sort of smooth jazz. Oh, and the sound of an NBA playoff game on TV (Suns at Lakers), which I just noticed now. I would go watch, except I can’t stand Steve Nash.

They’ve been paging the same passengers for at least half an hour. I don’t think they’re here.

People already beyond the security checkpoint shouldn’t have to repeatedly listen to announcements like “Only ticketed passengers may proceed beyond the security checkpoint” and “Please remove your laptop from its case at the security checkpoint” and “Only one carry-on bag is allowed past the security checkpoint”.

I’m leaving tonight for a trip around Chinese-speaking(ish) Asia: Hong Kong, Shanghai, QingDao, Beijing, and then Taiwan for 6 weeks.

I’ll be travel-blogging as I go, and once I settle in Taiwan, this will probably turn into observations about Taiwanese life and culture from an ABC perspective.

Enjoy!