It's Stupid at the Top II

Rather than leave an oversized (!) comment, I thought I'd respond here. Besides, that way I can use pictures to illustrate my points!

I am very happy when people laugh at my writing (and by extension at me). I usually write this stuff to entertain people; I always say that if my foibles entertain others, then they are worth the bother.

I don't know if HK people feel honored. They look shocked.

The person that took this picture for me wanted a picture with Shawn too. I have learned to simply say "Yat, yee, saam," when taking photos. Shawn looked at me with widened eyes and said "You speak Cantonese?"

"He's seen Playboy Cops. I feel stalked."

I say that not as some self-aggrandizing thing as much as an indictment of my fellow expatriates. It's extremely obvious that few expats (and even fewer leftover Brits) speak Cantonese or even bother to try. It shouldn't be a shock to a HK person if a gweilo can say 'thank you,' but it is. That bothers me.

And yes, people do usually assume (again, understandably) that if I or any other gweilo speaks Chinese, it will be Mandarin. I get telemarketers who do that all the time.

People aren't shocked I watch local movies. They think I'm stupid. Sammy wondered why I see his movies, as even he does not think much of them:

"Help. Please. Help me..."

Which is sad, since these people watch Hollywood movies I could easily say the same thing about.

But most people are kind of impressed that I do respect, or know about, local culture. Which again tells me that most expats live in a (booze-soaked) bubble.

Sadly, most Americans do indeed expect people to speak English. Although I once heard two Australians harassing a cashier in 7-11 because he couldn't speak English. This was in Mong Kok, mind you. In 2007. Besides, Australians have a lot of nerve expecting people to speak English when they won't even meet it themselves...

I think American tourists treat the people of the world the way that a lot of British and Australians treat HKers; unfair expectation and a grossly unfounded air of superiority.

In HK, there's a tie between English and education. Then again, it's the same in the US!

HKers can indeed suffer from solipsism. They think they know everything about the world, when in fact they don't. I'm not saying I do, but some people here are really... interestingin that way.

HK people aren't stupid. That guy in the toiletwas stupid, but not HK people in general.

"Every time a person stared at me, I think to myself ... ... forgive him, he is just jealous while he saw such a handsome guy!"

It's true, Sidney.

I see them do it all the time when I'm around you!

Peachey, I wonder why I'm so noticeable too. It doesn't make any sense. Especially since I'm not really 'tall' any more; I see a lot of people taller than me. But I do spend most of my time off the beaten gweilopath (which is not that wide a road), so maybe that's it.

The only other thing is that 98% of the people here are Chinese. As many 'others' as there appear to be, it's still a very small minority. Sidney remembers the time at Ocean Park that people wanted to take a picture with me for no other apparent reason than I was a tall foreigner.

It's not fun being so conspicuous. Whenever I am being snidely asked if I wished I was Chinese (which is never bya Chinese person, BTW), I realize that if I said yes, it would only be because I could be invisible. That would be nice.

The entire idea of that post (which I failed to emphasize) is that it is just tiresome always being an object of interest, especially because I'm an object and not a person. I am rather ambivalent about taking pictures with celebrities not just because I generally look like hell

"He's seen In Love with the Dead. I feel stalked."

but because I look so freakishly large next to them:

Celebrating my latest acquittal. Why else would I be in a suit?

I literally brushed past Emme Wong, who is very tall, and female, to get this photo. More evidence I am Fan Boy and not Fan Man...

I learned the hard way that touching Eason gets you the Thumb of Death.

With the actors, I think it may also have to do with gender. As I said, I am highly understanding of anyone, especially a woman,  who feels a bit uneasy about some overgrown fan boy quickly walking up and towering over them:

"I am smiling but I don't feel that way inside. This man is afreak . Security..."

"If he asks me one more question about Whispers and Moans I will kill him."

When I took this picture, Candy said "You are very tall." I should have said "You have a tattoo." That way we'd both be stating the obvious.

"What's wrong with his neck? It's probably from staring at my tattoo. What a freak..."

I got a picture with Annie Liu because I literally brushed past her 'security,' who were not very tall, and simply asked for a picture.

He: "Learning Mandarin might have its benefits." She: "If I lean away from him, I will not scream."

Photogenic, NOT photogenic:

She: "One picture was enough. Now I'm nervous. I should blog about this as a precautionary measure" He: "I'm next to a girl... hee hee hee..."

As you can see, the only person who treats me worse than staring locals or snide expats is me.

I don't think I'm ugly. I just think I photograph like sh*t. Usually because the photographer is shorter than me. But as always, my discomfort is worth your laughter.