Language Lunch!

My brief post yesterday was cut short, as I had to leave the apartment to meet Brett and some co-workers for their weekly "Language Lunch."

I walked over to Brett's office to head to lunch with the group. Since I hadn't met any of Brett's colleagues yet, I assumed that they would all come down in a group. When I saw how many different people were coming down for lunch, though, I realized that they might plan to meet down on the street. At that very moment, a woman came up and asked "Are you Emily?"

This was Rita, the only other woman attending the lunch today, as Margaret, another usual, wasn't able to come. Rita explained that she thought I must be Emily, as she'd read in an email that I was joining in for the day! Then she said, "before we speak in English too much, I will apologize, because I'm not very good." (First of all, that sentence she'd just spoken was perfectly clear! And she was so polite about it, I felt like saying:

"I am the American in China. I am the one who should be apologizing for not knowing a thing about Cantonese- and yet, I am the one accepting her apology for "poor" English!" (I don't think so...)

Instead I said: "Rita, I should apologize to you! I'm working on a few Chinese characters, but I don't know the first thing about speaking Cantonese. I'm more than happy to help you with any English I can!"

The guys came downstairs and I met "Kay" and FINALLY MET PLATO!! (That's Brett's direct manager, and the one I've heard so much about since Brett's arrival here). And off we went. We chatted a little bit on the way over, and somehow my allergy to shellfish came up. While I tried to tell Plato that I was up for trying anything that was safe for me to eat, Brett explained the difference between "Shellfish" and "Selfish" to Kay. I hope he was clear that the shellfish were the problem, not selfishness...

We headed off to the restaurant, which turned out to have zero English. How happy was I to have new Chinese company! Rita ordered for the table, sensitive to both peanut and shellfish allergies... asking only what we might like to drink. We enjoyed a sweet and sour pork dish with peppers, an omelet style dish, which seemed to have some kind of ham or pork and bean sprouts, a dish of sauteed greens and mushrooms and a cashew chicken dish with chunks of ginger. (Brett didn't eat any cashews, of course- and had to make clear that his allergy is to all nuts- not just peanuts. Now they know...) That said, I thought the cashew chicken was fantastic!

At the table, Rita pulled out an email she'd been working on and was confused about the placement of the word "of" in a sentence about the "scheduling of an event." I helped her as I could and she seemed thrilled to be working on English. It took just a few more minutes before she asked me to look her up on Facebook. So now it's official- we are friends.

I decided to make dinner last night. I used Buckwheat noodles and the leftover mushroom and green beans from Easter. I added some watercress dumplings and served it with seasoned Beansprouts. Very tasty, we thought.

We headed out last night for a drink in a local bar. The beer wasn't bad, but the scene isn't what we're used to. Smoking is permitted in bars here, so it's hard not to feel overwhelmed by the smell and the smoke factor. Plus, the beer prices are very inflated in bars. We decided that having a beer at home would probably be more pleasant next time!

Last night we woke up to an intense thunderstorm in the middle of the night. Magnificent flashes of light and roaring thunder! What a show! We were both too tired to respond with any kind of "oohs" or "ahhs" though. This morning, there was little proof of such a storm. It's bright and sunny, though a little glarey (and likely humid) at 77 degrees. I'm off to search for a good cup of coffee somewhere.

Look for an update tomorrow about weekend plans. Brett and I are hoping that he can get Monday off and we'll make a trip over to Macau! For now, sorry for the lack of pictures. I'm getting back on top of that today!

By the way, we had Dragonfruit again this morning and I was reminded of your question about it's taste, Brenda. The fruit is really fleshy, like a soft melon. Sort of a soft texture which breaks apart without much resistance. The seeds give it the little crunch that is so interesting. With a light and sweet flavor, it actually goes nicely with any other fruits. Like this morning's banana and grapes!