I'll tell a bit about each of these people. Jeanne on the left I don't really know because she doesn't speak English. But I credit her with being a huge help to my learning how to count up to 40 in Cantonese. While we're doing repetitions and holds in class many people count out loud (me, too), and Jeanne with her drill sergeant's voice is the one I hear above everyone else! Shiva came from Nepal to Hong Kong about 20 years ago by way of Argentina and Chile, if I remember correctly. The eclectic menu in his tiny bar and restaurant includes lots of tapas (Spanish appetizers), a couple of French dishes, lots of Nepalese curries and even fish and chips. He's quite a genial fellow, and he had a delicious lunch ready for us today when we arrived: a flavorful chicken broth soup, grilled chicken with an herbed yogurt condiment, grilled fish (swordfish from Vietnam, he said), shrimp stirfried with sweet red and green peppers and onions, a lamb curry, a huge plate of steamed broccoli rabe garnished with sesame seeds, rice and wedges of pita. While the Cantonese conversation was flying unintelligibly over my head I could check out and enjoy every one of these dishes.
Mr. Lee is the leader of the exercise class that meets Monday-Saturday in the park that's a few minutes' walk from our apartment. He's got a teacher's demeanor and he's respected by all. "Hai!" he'll sort of bark at the beginning of class and other times to get people's attention--that's "yes." He'll pull all 5'4"of his frame up very straight when he's ready to start, and then he'll explain (in Cantonese, of course) a few of the key points about whatever exercise we're doing next, pointing and demonstrating. He'll walk around and frown and correct people's techniques, including mine, which I appreciate, and sometimes if he's in a light mood he'll rib certain people a little. I especially enjoy watching him patiently work with the older people who are a little confused. Someday I'll ask someone how old Mr. Lee is. I'm guessing he's at least in his late 70's.
Grace is the person who first invited me to join the class one morning 3 weeks ago when I was walking through the park and I stopped to watch this group. She's the one who invited me to lunch, too. Several people asked me today where I was living, and that gave me a chance to mention that we're looking for a different, less expensive apartment in the neighborhood. Our current one has a month-to-month lease and some housekeeping service is provided, which makes it relatively pricey. Grace heard me say this and called a friend of hers who has an apartment for rent a few blocks from us. The friend came over to the neighborhood after lunch and took me up to the 59th floor of a building right on the harbor to show me the apartment. It had nice views from that ear-popping height, but she was asking the same price as our current apartment. It was nice of Grace to try to help out both her friend and me. By the way, Grace mentioned today that she's 60 years old. She looks and acts 10-15 years younger!
Eva I just met for the first time today. She had the best English of anyone at the table. She came along because she's Elizabeth's sister-in-law. Elizabeth worked as a tailor for many years in Calgary. She's 68 and retired now. I'd originally understood that she'd come back to live in Hong Kong, but she's just been visiting her 92-year-old mother here for a couple months. Rose I met for the first time today. Her English is quite good and she gave me some cues about apartments. She said that she's Catholic (as is Elizabeth) and told me about the role the Catholic schools historically have had in educating (and feeding) poor children in Hong Kong. When walking around various parts of Hong Kong Island these last few weeks I've noticed a lot of church-affiliated schools. Skipping to the last person at the right side of the photo, this is Janey, one of the first people I met at the exercise group. She speaks little English, but she's been very warm toward me. And she tries to warm me up, too, literally. She'll often take my hands in hers, comment on how cold they are (in Cantonese) and rub them to get them warm.
Back to the second to the last woman on the right, this woman speaks no English, but she always has an eager smile when I watch her in class. I think Rose told me her name is Wah, so I googled W-a-h earlier tonight to see if I was spelling it right. The link that follows is the first piece that I opened up, quite an amazing and heartwarming story about a woman named Wah from Hong Kong who mails an American photographer a piece of equipment she thinks belongs to him. As an American here connecting with all of these kind and generous Hong Kong people at lunch today, I really enjoyed this anecdote. If you have time, check it out: http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2008/09/the-amazing-gif.html
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