I know I have told you that we don't have any outlets in the bathrooms but I think I failed to mention that, just as inconvenient, there are very few outlets in the whole house. We have two in our room. The kids each have only one in their rooms. The living and dining room (which is one long narrow room) has 3, and my kitchen is a galley/hallway style and it has one on each side.

And these are not double plug outlets like in the USA. I am talking ONE socket. Single plug. Doesn't that just make it a hundred times worse to hear that?

So I went to a mall yesterday to pick up some power strips at a store called Fortress which is similar to Best Buy. B took some pity on me and kicked me out of the house for some alone time since I have been spending so much time solo with the kids.

This weekend was a holiday over here. Don't ask me what. I have no idea. I do know in two weeks my kids have a 5 day weekend in honor of Buddha's birthday but that has nothing to do with this story. For those of you who have been following my adventures since the beginning you may remember that we were over here in February during Chinese New Year which is the mother of all Chinese holidays.

Places get SO crowded. The mall was packed. Every (authentic) restaurant had a line of people waiting to go in and eat dim sum. Even Pizza Hut was packed. Pizza Hut over here is truly a fine dining establishment by the way. Glass wine goblets and cloth linens. B says the one in Guangzhou is like a Denny's/Cheesecake Factory but with all kinds of Asian food. Thai, Pho, Chinese, Indian... and pizza. Weird.

So the mall was loud and crowded just as I expected it to be. And really I was one of very few non-Asians around. I don't get looked at though. My hair is too dark and I'm petite enough that I blend in at a glance. I know my tall/blond friends sometimes feel like they get stared at. Not me, thank god.

And everyone speaks English. And I swear they get such a kick out of speaking English to me. Either they get a kick out of it or it makes them really nervous if they think their English is bad. SO different than Europe. Completely opposite. The funny thing is that even when someone's English isn't great it's still fully usable. I know zero Chinese. I am just awed all these people know English. It's amazing.

It's not like anyone is fully fluent and conversational in English though. You can't chat or have too much small talk with anyone. Small words. Short sentences. Easy grammar. No use of contractions. And you'll be fine. I mean you will be fine.

But there are still communication issues. I was checking out at a housewares store yesterday and expected my total to be around $120hkd. The cashier said "one ninety". I ask if a certain item rang up clearance. She said yes. I was stumped and I was feeling kind of flustered because I wasn't sure if my math was wrong or what. She immediately turned her screen so I could see it too and then I saw the total: one nineteen. Not one ninety. I just pointed to my ear and said "so sorry my fault" but she was nervous laughing and apologizing up and down for mispronouncing something so I didn't understand. She was obviously embarrassed. Which is crazy. I was embarrassed. That's something that could have been misheard in the USA. And here she is a cashier at a housewares store fully functional in a second, completely different, language and she's apologizing because she thinks she's not good enough at it.

When you pay for something by credit card (or when you give someone your business card) you are supposed to present the card with both hands so it's facing so the person can read it when you present it. I have such a hard time remembering to have both hands free when I pay with credit card so that I can use them both to hand it over. The cashier will take the card with both hands too. It seems very formal but it's just what you do.

A few weeks ago I was out and about in a fairly touristy area. There were hoards of high school kids all in uniform. I was guessing a field trip but it seemed odd. Then I was approached by two girls and quickly understood what their class was doing there. Practicing English. They had a clipboard with a list of about 10 questions and, of course, the first one was to ask if they could have a few minutes of my time. Their English was a little rough but I could totally talk with them well enough. I answered their questions which were mostly about my nationality, my home country, my favorite places in Hong Kong and things like that. They were probably sophomores or juniors in high school. Somehow I used the phrase "west coast" and they had never heard that term before. I was asked to spell it. And then I described it like north, south, east and west... and went on to tell them that people in the USA regularly use the terms East Coast and West Coast and what states they usually mean. I helped them write it all down. And I helped them with their pronunciation when they needed it. It was so cool to think I taught them something. And I was so impressed with these kids all out in the city to practice their English. How great for them that they have access to that!