January 22, 2005
piano man
The only other gweilo at the festival besides me, heh.
I rarely see white people and when I do it is in the tourist sections of HK. I've been thinking a lot about why that is and I think it's because work visas are hard to come by in Hong Kong, due to the economy here- 6% are unemployed. There are very few teaching English jobs here in HK, I guess because the British were here before and enough Hong Kong people learned English proficently to be able to teach it. So really the only white people who work here, as far as I can tell, are business men who make tons and tons of money and hang out in places I couldn't afford to go.
I'm fine with being the minority as it does have its advantages at times. First of all, I don't have to be around white people- haha, just kidding ;-)
Anyway, people always recognize and remember my name, especially the instructors at the gym. I get treated in a friendly way, I guess because I am such a novelty to them. They also like to show off or practice English with me. It's like being a semi celebrity :-) I'm sure I get overcharged for stuff at times but probably I get allowances for other things I am not aware of, as it's assumed I don't know any better. Generally, I don't stand out too much so I don't get stared or laughed at. And I am polite, respectful and open minded so I like to think I am on a goodwill mission to show them that not all Americans are bad ;-) Most people are surprised to learn I am from the states.