Almost in Hong Kong ...

I got to have a cross-cultural this evening at Shelton's congratulations for graduating dinner - between Gail's family and extended family and Shelton's family and godmother, I was the only non-Cantonese speaking fool in the place. Everybody was so nice, and the food was delicious, and Gail put in an ooooollllddd Jet Li movie with English subtitles (Lord of the Wu Tang) - ah, the power of the Chi. Gail's father and I talked gardening as we always do (it's amazing what he can do in that backyard!), and I heard Alice's tales of life in Hong Kong (excellent English! And a very hip, cool godmother indeed!).

Someday when I learn Chinese (though I'd probably go with Mandarin - those Cantonese 7 tones scare me!), I will thank Gail's and Shelton's families ... and Jet Li!

If somebody could promise me that all my time in China would be so pleasant, I would be getting my plane tickets to there right now. Gail wouldn't tell me what everything was I was eating, but that's ok - very delicious!

It's funny - I was never really that interested in Asia before a few years ago. But Gail has gotten me very interested in China (and just wrote on her blog I'm a "reverse twinkie" haha), and a former Korean friend got me interested in Korea (when he said I didn't understand anything about the culture, it inspired me [or ticked me off enough] to learn something- and I'm not really sure which word the "former" is modifying, honestly), and Raci this summer from Cambodia, and ... well, now the list goes on. Everyday people really are ambassadors of cultural understanding. And I do love southern California for opportunities to meet so many different kinds of people.