Lingua Franca

There are a few obvious good things the British brought to Hong Kong. One is the western sense into things (though can be argued) and the other is their language. Though the locals commonly use Cantonese for their own affairs, English is very common even among lower educated people (38% of people in Hong Kong, according to Wikipedia, apt speakers). Even those who can't really speak the language, usually learn what is necessary for their profession (taxi, restaurants, etc.)

Having so many english-capable people around of course makes life a lot easier here. I don't really need to worry about a thing, in terms of language barriers - and especially with Chi around, language hasn't been a problem for the last 10 months or so.

Of course, it makes it much more challenging to learn the de facto language of the locals: Cantonese.

I haven't given up my relentless quest to learn the language. But it's slow. It's so damned slow. I suppose I should go to a proper course and have a weekly schedule for learning. Can't be arsed though. But I'm still learning.

Not being forced to use the language daily is a problem. Almost in any country you would at least have to face the language more often. Of course I hear it all the time but since it's not directed towards me, it's easily ignored. And since I look like gweilo, the locals automatically switch into english when talking with me.

Sometimes after purchasing something or paying for a bill, I say "thank you" (something like "mgoy") in Cantonese, and even from that I receive surprised glances and even smiles, or giggle - as if I've done something totally remarkable! "HOLY CRAP! The gweilo speaks our language!"

Chi is a good teacher, I'm a crappy student. Yet, I'm making slow progress with each week.

I am learning small things all the time and with time they're bound to sum up to something. However, I don't expect myself to be at all capable of speaking Cantonese until a year or two from now. The progress is simply too slow for anything sooner.

I'm more aware of the tones and other finer things concerning the language but they still pose me a serious problem. It's not once or twice that I've repeated the same word (or so I thought) to Chi, and she saying I got it right half the time, other half was wrong. I just don't understand how the people can hear any difference in the tones --- I mean something that would be so significant as to be a totally different word.

It's all kung-fu-talk. Damn it all! One day I'll be the master of it!
And then I can be an actor in kung-fu movies and kick ass! That'll be cool! With great language-skills comes great responsibility.