A Social Breakthrough!

It's been oh, 8 months, and finally, I've had a social breakthrough with the local HK people. Yes! It hasn't been easy to get connected to the local folks. Sure, I enjoy great exchanges of smiles and hellos and have you eatens with my security guards (they're awesome), the people in the elevator, and I'm working on the folks at the wonton noodle shop down the road. I have short and sweet visits with the laundry mat people, the framers, the guy with the MP3 shop and the boys in the motorbike place. However, I have yet to walk into a local HKer's home, or eat out with the local people (which was routine when I was in China), until last night...

I had a little "tryout" with the tennis club in my area. In traditional HK style, they have too many people for too small a club, so they aren't really taking any new players. However, they were kind enough to "give me a look". Once I got over a bit of jitters and lost a game on double faults, I did okay, and had lot of fun. The ladies were much more experienced, and more skilled, but it was perfect for me because I was close enough to not destroy their game, but at the same time make gains from playing at a higher level.

Anyway, after they invited me out for supper, so finally I found myself eating real Chinese food in a real Chinese restaurant with real Chinese people. Awesome! It was fun. I also have a new taste experience to report. When it came out they were struggling to translate the name of the dish, so they decided it was the "airbag of a fish". Ha ha!!! Sounds tasty doesn't it? Why not?!! As I'm trying to chew the airbag, which was very chewy, but yet gooey, in the sort of gooey way that is somehow still chewy, they found the right translation: it's the thing that makes a fish float - the air bladder. I swallowed the chewy goo as fast as possible.

There you have it, after 8 months of living in Hong Kong, I finally ate with the locals.