Communication Breakdown

I have never spent so much time with British people in my entire life. Most of the expat women I have met are British or Australian, and they are very nice and welcoming. Everyone here insists that there are Americans everywhere and that the largest expat community is American, but I have yet to meet any of them. Not to say that I need to hang out with Americans, because I don't. It is interesting though, because I feel like I have more communication problems with British people rather than with Chinese people.

Today I went out to Dim Sum with two British women that I had met through the At Home Group and one of their friends. It was a very entertaining lunch and the food was excellent, but through most of the lunch I sat there trying to interpret what they were saying. It sounds ridiculous, but I felt like they were whispering rather than talking. They talk so quickly and quietly! I swear one girl was mouthing the words and no actual sound was coming out! I thought to myself, "Ok Meagan, we are all speaking the same language here. This should not be that difficult." I just could not hear them. Then I started to get a complex about my own voice. Am I extremely loud? Am I talking slow? Do I sound like a simpleton? And the way they speak seems so proper in comparison to the way I speak. Every thing is "quite lovely, isn't?" and it is "rather hot" and things are "a bit difficult." Even though they assured me that I was not a "loud American", and we all laughed about it, I was still sort of feeling loud and crude. But hey, if I am loud and crude, at least people can hear me, right? Maybe I am just used to Matt, who I think speaks very loudly, or the Cantonese people, who also speak very loudly. Our Cantonese teacher told us that Cantonese people find it rude if people are speaking quietly because it means that they are saying something that they don't want other people to hear.

Of course, it just occurred to me that my hearing problems might be due to my ear candling procedure yesterday...but I don't think so. I have been having trouble hearing the British for quite awhile now. It has just finally happened often enough that I decided to write about it.

It is funny cause I feel more accustomed to Chinese people. I think it is because my Dad's girlfriend Quinnie was Chinese by way of Malaysia, and alot of people here remind me of her. Quinnie is very friendly and open and so are most Chinese people I have met here. They make a huge effort to undertand you and to be understood by you, and they seem genuinely interested in your life and very excited to tell you about Chinese culture and just generally seem happy that you are in Hong Kong.