The Spinster

Several great and funny things have happened over the past week.

First and foremost, I was invited over to the home of Suzanne and Eric Chai who are across-the-street neighbors of one of our church members. Suzanne grew up in Hong Kong and had a bevy of information for me about what I should (and shouldn't) do in Hong Kong.  She recommended several cheap shopping areas for food and clothes, which I will definitely be checking out once I move.  The best part of the entire evening happened while she was telling me about one area in general, 女人街 (Nu Ren Jie, literally, women's street).  She and Eric were telling me about all the great finds to be had there when she stopped for a moment, studied me intently, then quickly scrawled "Please Bargain" on the paper.  To explain herself, she succinctly said, "They probably don't give you a good deal...because you're American!"  And that was the moment I decided I was a fan of Suzanne Chai.  The great news here is that she and Eric are coming to HK for a wedding in October and there is a possibility that we can meet up.  Hopefully that'll work out!

It was a great way to cap off the evening, I think.  Oh, and I also learned a very funny phrase in Mandarin... it goes like this... 对牛弹琴 (Dui Niu Tan Qin) It means, basically, playing guitar for cattle, or doing something that is utterly (udderly?) useless.

Spinster?

Early last week, I received my visa paperwork from the church.  It is about 15 pages long, mostly of explanations on how to fill out the two pages that require filling out, and all of the supporting documentation that has to go along with it.  The good news is that my visa does NOT have to be in my passport when I move.  I can come in the country as a tourist (no visa necessary) and once my working visa is approved, I'll have it inserted in my passport, I assume, and continue on my merry way.

In any case, one of the funny things about Chinese in general, is that there are oftentimes no good equivalents for Chinese words.  Add on top of all this the British cultural influences in Hong Kong, and there are bound to be some funny translations.  The first of many, I feel certain, is on the visa application. Apparently, my only choice of marital status is to check "spinster".  This is definitely a new category for me! I'm not sure that there's anywhere to go after this, so I'll leave with that.

 Til next time, The (spinsterly) Adventurer!