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Published: August 4th 2006
I got to sleep in today, as we do not have class until the afternoon and I needed the rest to help fight a cold I have been battling all week. Class was fine, then afterwards I went with Diana to meet up with her friend from London that was visiting Beijing. We met up with her friend in Wangfujing, where we saw live scorpions on a kabob ready to be fried. I don't think I could manage crunching one of those up, I would be too afraid they would pinch me! Then we went to HoHai for dinner with some of her other friends and her father, who was very nice to pay for a huge meal for people he had just met.
I really enjoy meeting Diana's friends because they are so multicultural. Present at dinner were eight of us, with at least five countries being represented in some way. Diana's friend, her friend's father, and her friend's three friends are all from Hong Kong originally. However, Diana's friend's three friends live in Canada and Diana's friend's boyfriend is English.
After dinner we walked around HoHai enjoying the lake and the nightlife. Living here has made me realize that nice cities involve things to do after business hours too, whereas everywhere I have lived before people depend too much on driving their own cars everywhere and cannot just jump in a taxi and go wherever you like no matter what the time.
During the evening I also had some interesting language discussions. One of the Hong Kongian Canadians was asking me if I had heard the saying "Don't be a stranger". He said in Canada they do not have this phrase and wasn't sure what it meant. The second discussion involved Diana with a conversation about visa laws and I said she had been "grandfathered in" and she replied back with "but it was my father". The English language does have its peculiarities.
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Lisa D
non-member comment
Don't Be A Stranger
Hi Tekla, still enjoying your blogs, so keep up the good work. It's so funny that you mentioned sayings, as I actually used the 'don't be a stranger' to my friend yesterday!! I have to admit though, I haven't heard of the 'grandfathered in' saying...... I've used the sayings 'moot point' and 'watch this space' to my friend and cousin, and they didn't know what they meant..!! Cheers.