Marital bliss: 2 (London)

The pub customer with the Japanese wife reminds me of an engineer who came to repair the photocopying machine at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London) in the 80s when I was working there.

I was in the equipment room at the time, using the only Mac computer around at the time.  

He started asking me where I was from, then proceeded to tell me his wife was from Thailand, adding that as soon as they got married, he was not allowed to go out with his mates to the pub or the restaurants.

(London, late 1980s)

See also:

Marital bliss:  1 (https://piccola-chinita.blogspot.com/2018/02/marital-bliss-01-london.html)

Marital bliss:  3 (https://piccola-chinita.blogspot.com/2018/02/marital-bliss-03-london.html)

Marital bliss:  4 (https://piccola-chinita.blogspot.com/2018/02/marital-bliss-04-london.html)

Marital bliss:  5 (https://piccola-chinita.blogspot.com/2018/02/marital-bliss-05-london.html)

Marital bliss:  6 (https://piccola-chinita.blogspot.com/2018/03/marital-bliss-06-london.html)

Advice from a man:  https://piccola-chinita.blogspot.com/2019/09/advice-from-man-london.html 

Old school values (Singapore)

When I was ten years old, I’d read about British teenagers having a summer job or even a yearlong one, e.g., as a newspaper delivery boy/girl, earning some pocket money.  Being keen to be financially independent, I used to envy them, as this was not available to someone my age in Singapore.  

A couple of years later, about two weeks before the start of the new school year, my uncle, who ran a bookshop supplying schools with textbooks, asked me if I’d like to assist him for the fortnight at one of the schools.  I was really excited about it, and felt very grown-up, working and earning some money, even if it was only two weeks’ worth and really just pocket money.

When my uncle came to pick me up, he found me clad in flip flops, the standard tropical weather footwear.  “They are too casual for work!  Go and put on some proper shoes.”

Thirty-two years later, I was on a visit home.  My uncle said he’d like to take my mother and me out to dinner.  I was staying at my brother’s, so his son, Kaikai (aged 17), was included.  

While we were waiting for my uncle to arrive in his car, I noticed Kaikai was in flip flops.  As my uncle was treating us to a meal, I didn’t think it would be the more common casual Singapore style — at a roadside stall, or in a food court — but at a restaurant: air-conditioning, tablecloths, napkins, with waiters and waitresses standing to attention not far away.  I said to Kaikai, “Ooh, you’re going to get ticked off wearing flip flops,” and told him about my own experience more than three decades earlier, when I was a few years younger than he.

Sure enough, when my uncle arrived, the first thing he noticed were the objectionable footwear.  Kaikai was told to “go and put on some proper shoes”.

(Singapore, 1965 / 1997)

Ciao! (China)

A Hong Kong Chinese colleague in the film company was in Beijing in the early 80s.

In those days, restaurants and everything else shut around 8.30pm.  

She went to a restaurant, and there were some Italians at the next table who turned out to be able to speak English, so she joined them.

A jolly time was had by everyone, which was noted by the waiters and waitresses, hanging around waiting for them to leave.  (Ha!  That’s why they’re called waiters!!)

When they finally left, at 9pm, the staff were lined up on both sides of the main door to see them out like royalty, so eager they were to ensure the revellers did actually get off the premises.  

The Italians and the Hong Kong Chinese woman were going in different directions, so they waved and called out a loud ciao! to each other.  

This completely baffled the staff, because ciao in Italian sounds exactly like the f-word in Mandarin Chinese.  They couldn’t work out why a group of people who’d got on so well at the dinner table earlier should be taking leave of each other with the f-word.

(China, 1983)