[mobespierre]

hi all...

i am an american teacher, and will be moving to hong kong in mid june. i'm terrifically excited about it, but i am a little nervous about meeting people. i'm very friendly, but i am going to be living with my sponsoring family for a while (they are helping me start up a violin school- living with them to keep costs to a minimum).
1. what activities do you recommend for a mid 20something to get to know people? i wish there were some sort of big meeting for all new expats to get to know each other... does such a thing exist?

2. does anyone have any information about music education in hk? i'd like to get an idea of what private instruction is available to children, but i have not been able to find anything yet.

3. where do people go for wintersport activities? people must go somewhere to ski...

4. i'll be learning some form of chinese- do you recommend mandarin or cantonese?

thanks in advance!

-jennifer

[jimbo]

Jennifer

Welcome to the boards.

Theres always something going on here socially and we're all a very sociable bunch of people and most of the people are around your age so you'll fit in fine.

As regards to language skills well Cantonese will be the best bet to start with for now.

[HKChigger]

1. what activities do you recommend for a mid 20something to get to know people? i wish there were some sort of big meeting for all new expats to get to know each other... does such a thing exist?
As for getting to know people I would suggest coming to Geo Expats happy hours and other events. We do so many activies and all the people are great. That is more than enough for me, if u wanna meet even more if you play sports or take lessons in something that may be suitable.

2. does anyone have any information about music education in hk? i'd like to get an idea of what private instruction is available to children, but i have not been able to find anything yet.
I think music education in Hong Kong could be improved on. I know it excists but not on any kind of huge level by what I can see.

3. where do people go for wintersport activities? people must go somewhere to ski...
Ummm I am trying to think what country u would need to go to... I think if u went to like way north in China u could find some snowy places, Japan, Russia...uhh....ya it would be a journey and lots of money I think to find snow.

4. i'll be learning some form of chinese- do you recommend mandarin or cantonese?
Nobody here (except for Chinese Immigrants) speak Mandarin. Most HK people speak it very little, some can speak well. But unless u plan on any business in China forget mandarin

thanks in advance!

-jennifer

[lowlight]

Skiiing and Snowboarding in Japan. Costs like $2000 HKD for a ticket

[PDLM]

If they can afford it people tend to go to Whistler in Canada or South Island New Zealand for wintersports (depending on the time of year). Sapporo in Japan also has direct flights.

[mobespierre]

excellent- thank you!

how frequently do you guys all get together? it's so comforting to read through these posts and see so many people who were in my position before...

does anyone posting here ski/snowboard?

[PDLM]

Originally Posted by HKChigger

Nobody here (except for Chinese Immigrants) speak Mandarin. Most HK people speak it very little, some can speak well.

Bollocks. Have a look at the job pages of the South China Morning Post some day and see how many posts require Mandarin. I hear quite a lot of it spoken by my colleagues in the office in the course of their business. Most "professional" locals speak it at least to some extent, and many speak it fluently (albeit perhaps with an accent). It is far easier these days in most places to find a shop assistant that speaks Mandarin than one who speaks English.

[Bobbybo]

Originally Posted by PDLM

It is far easier these days in most places to find a shop assistant that speaks Mandarin than one who speaks English.

I agree 100% with above comment.
Up to now the only categories I found not answering in Mandarin but English are cops, MTR customer service people and taxi drivers.
And speaking Mandarin (if you don't know Cantonese) will help you a lot in you daily life in HK.

[smelly]

So is HK moving towards mandarin and away from cantonese? Is there a movement to make mandarin the official language?

I assume this would be terribly upsetting for cantonese speakers to lose their language or will this never happen?

[jayinhongkong]

cantonese will never be lost, but mandarin is getting more popular i need to get better at both...yikes....i have to get on that.