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.