My new friend Kelly (who is 25, from New York, and very cool) invited me to go to a luncheon for the American Women's Association. I had never been to any activities with the AWA, and it was a very...um...interesting and devastating experience. If you have been reading my blog, you know that I have mixed feelings about British people. I like them well enough, but in general I feel like they have a tendency towards being extremely arrogant and snobby. But now that I have been to an AWA lunch, I think I had better reevaluate my position on that because the woman at this lunch outdid any British people I have met in the arrogance and snobbiness department. All they talked about were diamonds, how well they treat their servants (which probably means they don't treat them that well at all), boats, and luxurious spas around Asia. It wasn't so much the topic of the conversation, but it was the way they talked about it. One woman was particularly irritating to me. She needed to make it clear to every single person that SHE was from TEXAS. Texas came up in the conversation almost as much as diamonds, I am not sure why. She spoke with a very exaggerated Texas accent and said things like, "Girl, this ain't my first rodeo." She called diamonds "rocks" and said it like "rrrrrooocks" as if she thought she was the sassiest, most spunky cowgirl on the ranch. (See, people from other states can use wild west metaphors too!) Why do Texans feel so superior to other states? Why do they try to use cowboy and wild west lingo all the time? I just don't get it. This lady had lived in Boston for a few years before moving to Hong Kong, but she wanted everyone to know that she was NOT from Boston, as if that was the worst possible place to have grown up in.
Speaking of diamonds (oh, wait...rrrrrooocks), I have never seen such a huge display of jewelry in my life. I don't know how these women walk around being weighed down by so many carats. Maybe that is why they are so skinny and blonde.
I will quit my ranting now...I came home from the lunch feeling devastated, and I needed to vent. It made me feel like I will never find people in Hong Kong that I can relate to. Kelly assured me that most meetings aren't like that, so I will with hold my judgment on the AWA as much as possible.
3 comments:
I'm sorry it wasn't a good experience for you. You know, I've come across the same thing here, but it's more between the officer's wives and the non-officer's wives. Not quite the same calibur, but still, I totally understand how you feel.
Uhm... *caliber... But that still doesn't look right to me, oh well.
Well, Mark and Seamus are too cool for luncheons but I am not. How can I refuse an invitation to try something new?
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