What??? Like there isn't anything out there in the whole wide world where you just stare and stare and think What The Freak Is Going On?
Rockstar starts playing tag with a boy we meet in a shopping center after an Oral Putonghua class sometime back.
Unknown Mummy: Hi, nice to meet you. Oh, you go there for Putonghua? <Shaking head gravely> Is not good, that place.
Me: Oh really, do you know it?
Unknown Mummy: Yes, I know. I tell you, not good, not good. You should go <someplace I have never heard of, nor do I have any idea where it is>
Me: Umm, this is very convenient for us and I just happened to walk in… My son likes to hang with the kids in his class so I’m taking it as a “paid” Putonghua playdate. And I have no idea where the other place you mentioned is.
Unknown Mummy: You should go to the other place. This one is really not good, not good <shaking head>
Me: How do you know that?
Unknown Mummy: <conspiratorially> I tell you, they are not good. Really not good.
Me: Yes, so you said, but why do you say that?
Unknown Mummy: <finally> Because they are very new. Just opened only.
Me: Really?
Unknown Mummy: Yes, they have only been here a few years. So not good. I was a Chinese teacher in the States. I tell you, they are really not good. You should go elsewhere.
Me: Umm, did you have any experience with them specifically?
Unknown Mummy: I tell you. They are definitely not good. You should go to the other place.
(Then after finding out our boys are in the same year in school)
Unknown Mummy: So where are you applying for Primary school next year?
Me: Well, <unnecessarily indicating Rockstar still running around with her boy because as usual I’ve put him in the ESF cardi which is the spare I’ve bunched up in my bag> he’s at an ESF Kindy, so naturally our first choice –
Unknown Mummy: Yes, yes, where else? <I hardly get one school name out> I tell you, it is not good, not good.
Me: Oh really, why?
Unknown Mummy: I tell you, they are not good. Really not good <shaking head>
Me: How do you know that?
Unknown Mummy: Because they are not good. Really not good.
Me: Umm… Did you know anyone who attended there?
Unknown Mummy: I tell you, they are really not good.
Repeat chorus.
This doesn’t irritate me because I’m kinda just zoning out while Rockstar does laps round the empty-ish mall with this other boy and it’ll still save me some work tiring him out later, but –
What the freak just happened here??? It’s like at the end of the day you still don’t know what the conversation was about. You recognize some of the words as English, but……….
ZZZ.
I think she can’t express what she wanted to say in English so she kept repeating herself. Rockstar looks so sweet in the photo above!
Oh I hadnt thought of that cos she said she was from the States n btw her boy was mixed, but of course that doesn’t mean her other half speaks English fluently rather than some European or Latin American language I guess..
I m biased, but I think they always look so sweet when they’re asleep ie not swinging from the ceiling lights 😀
Lovely photo of the sleeping Rockstar! As I was reading the post, I had the same thoughts as zmun2 to explain all the repetition. I’ve met far too many people in HK who over-exaggerate themselves and tell half-truths to make themselves sound/ look better than just local HK. I’ve known people who claim to be Australian/ Canadian/ American when in fact they were born in HK, grew up here and only went to that particular country for a couple of years of studies.
That’s interesting. I kind of do feel it a bit (for eg when my half British friend told me a very local Hongkie mum would repeatedly tell the teacher their kids are good friends who always hang together – maybe cos its an english school) but would not have been able to express it as succinctly as you did. Firstly why does living abroad necessarily mean (to them anyway) “better than just” local Hongkie, is it because the appearance of being more Anglicized/ having better command of English is that important among local Hongkies here?
I ask because from what I can tell local Hk schools can actually be very high quality and competitive in terms of academics, the only rather obvious lack is strong command of English?
There are a few things but I think the main point is to do with appearance and not just the physical. Having studied overseas meant you had money & that your qualification is generally more “valuable” than one fom HK. Having lived abroad means that you have money too and that you aren’t just average and that you are somehow more superior than those who have never lived elsewhere.
Getting your education from an international school would mean that your standard of English (spoken anyway) would be to a native English speaker or at least a near-native standard and it’s quite a valuable commodity to own when going up against others when fighting for a job.
Thank you so much for this CA. Greatly appreciated, as I recall you’ve been 14, 15 years here from the UK right…