0808060800 A visit from the Ormsbys

Our good friends from Australia, the Ormsbys, came to see us last week. The whole project was kept a closely guarded secret so that Karen could spring the surprise on Whitney. In one of those things that is beyond coincidence, Whitney met one of Rachel Ruby’s friends in America. They were both at the same summer camp and went to the same summer camp activity, and ate at the same summer camp activity lunch table and, according to the story, almost, but not quite, talked about one of Rachel’s friends from Australia coming to visit, but it’s a secret so don’t tell anyone. Rachel Ruby had talked about Whitney coming to visit secure in the knowledge that her friends from opposite sides of the earth would “probably” never meet. That whole six degrees of separation thing is halved if you go to church.

With the Ormsbys here, we decided to become tourists in our own hometown and went with them to all the markets that seem to be so popular. It doesn’t take long to recognise the same things for sale in thousands of small stalls set up by the roadside in various parts of the city. The good people of Hong Kong have learned that a decent living can be had by buying a box of stuff from China and selling it to one of the thirteen million visiting tourists.

Copy watch? I asked one of the copy watch vendors if he had a watch that said “Made in China”. I told him that I wanted a Chinese watch – but not an ordinary Chinese watch – I wanted a genuine Chinese watch. He looked at me as if I was mad. “Why do you want a Chinese watch? – this is better” he said while pointing at a picture of a Rolex.

We all went to Ocean Park on what turned out to be the hottest and most polluted day in the history of Hong Kong. We had a great time. The temperature was such that it made the place inhospitable and unable to support human life so there was a general trend towards the exits at midday. Drinks were being sold at twenty-five Hong Kong dollars – that is about three dollars Australian – that is also three times their normal price. Alvan and I stayed for a while to go on some of the rides – it was well worth it. They have a ride called the Abyss – it's the same idea as the Giant Drop. It was during that part of the ride where it goes up, slowly, with anticipation that I had the vaguest, almost perceptible feeling that I was going to lose control of my bladder. It dropped, it bounced, it stopped. Alvan summed the entire experience up - “That bought a smile to your face.”

Having our friends from Australia stay with us has made our Hong Kong flat a bit more like home. It was if Australia is not all that far away due to the fact that our friends can just pop in for a visit. After living in Hong Kong for a year, Carolyn and I feel slightly but immeasurably more “settled in”. “Settled in” is a strange Australian term that roughly means “Are you comfortable in your new home” which is a feeling that I can only look back on and say that I feel more or less comfortable in the past than I feel now. We are now settled in to the point of getting a cat and taking on the challenge of registering vehicles with the Hong Kong Traffic Authority.

Groucho Marx said “House guests, like fish, start to smell after a few days” – Groucho obviously never had friends like the Orsmbys that looked after themselves. They have had house guests themselves and know exactly what behavior to avoid. We were sad to see them go.

Some of the unexpected behavior of house guests I have been shocked and amazed to see from invited guests:

Shouting at children because they were talking when the TV was on.

Leaving cotton buds in the pot plants.

Pooing on the lawn.