Stepping on egg shells

I've been here for just about a week and so far I've had mixed feelings about the whole affair.

I quite like this little island. Walking though the little alley ways past the merchants selling dried salty fish and hearing the clacking of mahjong tiles in the apartments above is like walking into the past. This is where my father grew up; he played and swam at the same beach that I frequent almost everyday. This is where my grandfather, whom I never knew, made Chinese poker cards to support his family of nine. Though I feel this strong connection to this island, I also feel I simply don't belong.

I'm living with Uncle Nai (He is not my uncle. It is in Chinese culture to call older family friends "Uncle" or "Auntie") and his wife. As I mentioned before, the first night was an absolute disaster. I remember Uncle Nai saying that night right before I went to bed, "I want you to be happy here, OK! (He often shouts "Okay" like the way you would say "Boo!") I was anything but. The next day, I didn't see him at all. Actually, he didn't come home for two days. So I simply wandered about the island not really knowing what to do next. The next time I saw him was at the dinner table on Tuesday night. He didn't say a word to me about where he was so I didn't say much to him, not really knowing if I should say anything. The next day was pretty much the same thing. In the morning we all went out to have dim sum at the Warwick Hotel. Brenda had poured me tea several times and I said, "Thank you" but there was one time I failed to say it. Perhaps I wasn't paying attention. What did I hear next?

"Linda, when somebody does something for you, you have to say 'Thank you.'"
"Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you, Brenda." Why do I feel like I'm 6 years old?

After dim sum, everybody goes their separate ways and he tells me to be back for lunch before 12:30. I repeat the time 12:30 and say good-bye. I go to the library to use the internet and head back at 12:10. I get there at 12:25 and everybody is at the table.
"Linda, I told you to be back at 12 o'clock!"
"No, you said 12:30."
"Yes, it's 12:30 now. I said 12:00" Everyone else agrees with him that he said 12:00. With that last word, he finishes his rice and leaves the table to retreat upstairs."
Again, he never lets me have a say.

That night I mention to him that I walked past a school on the island and had an interview.
He says, "Linda, you should not work for that school. They cannot provide you with a working visa."
"But, the manager said that they do provide working visas."
"You really don't understand, do you? You can't trust everybody."
"But then why -"
"This manager is taking you for a fool."
I'm wondering why she would even take the time to explain that I can't start working for the school until the working visa is processed, about 4 weeks. I tell him that I'm going to do a practice teaching the next day.
"Ha! That means she doesn't trust you."
"I thought that was standard practice in this business."
"Linda, I've worked in administration for many years. I know when someone is a good teacher by seeing them." He goes on about how he knows everything about people because he used to be headmaster of a school.

It was either that night or the next, I can't remember, when he went off on me about how I had a bad attitude. I wished I had a tape recorder with me at the time because I had never been faced with such blatant insults in my life. These are some of the things he said to me and it wasn't just what he said, it was how he talked to me. It was in such a threatening manner all the while I couldn't get a word in because he likes to be the one talking not listening.

"There's something wrong with you."
"You are so rude."
"You don't know how to get along with people."
"I don't know why your father taught you like this."
"Even Uncle Leung said there was something wrong with you."
"I don't know why, even you're a university graduate and you act like this."
"You don't have good manners."
"You should say 'Good Morning Uncle' with a smile."
"You are weird."
"You are so immature."
"You have so many things to learn."
"You are too proud."
"Are you offended? Maybe you are but I'm telling you this for your own good I want you to be happy and successful."

I cried that night. Partly because of what he said was hurtful but mostly it was because before this I wondered why my father had not become rich and successful like Uncle Nai and Uncle Leung. I now know that my father is a hundred times a better man that the two of them put together. They've let their money gone to their heads and think that because they have a lot of money, they are never wrong.

This island is called Cheung Chau

I'm finally here, after the headaches with the Taipei Tax Office, the anxiety of getting all the money I was owed from my previous employer (details later), the endless packing - you never know how much crap you have until you've got to move it all, the farewell lunches and dinners, the good luck hugs, the exhaustion of hauling one huge 32 kg suitcase, my PC, a guitar, and my important documents, 5 pieces of luggage in all through the airport to the MTR to the ferry to the pink house on the hill with two dogs containing one servant from the Philippines named Brenda, a woman in her 60's, I call her Auntie Nai, and last but not least her husband (also her cousin once removed) who also happens to be my Dad's long time friend from when they were schoolmates in elementary school and hence the reason why I am here.

The first night, Sunday, was to put it lightly, not so good. There was a bit of a misunderstanding. I thought I was to give them a call from the ferry pier on Cheung Chau which I did once I got there so Brenda could help me with my luggage. When he answered the phone, a man picked up with a stern voice.

"Wei."
"Hi, this is Linda."
"Where are you?"
"I'm at the ferry."
"Which side?In Hong Kong or on Cheung Chau?"
"On Cheung Chau."
"Why didn't you call us from the airport? We have been waiting so long for you!"
"Oh, I thought I had to call from the ferry so the servant could help me carry my luggage."
"No! I told you to call from the airport with free phones there."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I don't remember you telling me that."
"Your father has told me you have traveled to many places and you don't know this?!"
"I'm sorry, I thought -"
"Anyway, do you still remember the way to our house?"
"Uh, yea I think so. I thought someone could help me with my bags because I have a lot."
"Well, our servant has gone to sleep already."
"Oh, I see..."
"... Well, maybe I can wake her up. She goes to sleep early because she gets up early."
"... Okay, thanks. So I'll just wait here?"
"You know Sunday is her day off."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"Okay you wait there."

Not that I'm complaining because he is offering room and board for no cost whatsoever but is it just me or do you also think it was strange that he did not offer to help with my bags as well? Brenda and I were both drenched in sweat after hauling the bags up to the house. And it's not like they were waiting at the airport for me with nothing to do; they were in the comfort of their own home. They could have simply watched a movie while they were waiting for me. So when I got there, he called up my father and yet again berated me scoldings.
"You made everybody so upset. You should know these things." Yada Yada Yada

So I took a shower and went to bed but didn't sleep a wink that night.

The next morning I got up with, perhaps, the worst migraine headache I'd ever had. The migraine lasted two days but subsided the second. I suspect the major reason is that I was getting over a stomach bug but the above could have had something to do with it.

I got up around 9 am and no one was around. I searched the fridge for something to eat but only found raw meat, Chinese vegetables, lots of processed sliced cheese, some cake, ice cream and well nothing suitable for breakfast, not even any milk. I found a cold fried egg and a piece of ham in a dish near the stove so I scarfed that down thinking nobody was around. Then Auntie Nai appeared.
"You get up early!"
"Oh, sorry. I didn't think anyone was -"
"Where is Brenda?! She has been gone for over an hour."
"Um, I don't know..."
"Do you want some (white) bread?"
"Oh, no thank you."
...
"You should have some bread."
"Oh, that's okay, I'm fine."
"Why not!?"
"I'm full already."

I didn't see Uncle Nai at all that first day on the island so I spend most of the day taking short cat naps and walking around the bustling little fishing village.