The Quiet American

I've arrived in Hong Kong, though for at least the next few years I'll be starting every sentence with "When I was in 'Nam," and a haunted shudder. 

I arrived looking rougher than usual. My layered dresses, so polite in Laos, look country here. My bangs need trimming. I miss my mascara for the first time in a month. 

And how do you say, "thank you" again? Should I be learning it in mandarin or Cantonese? What's the story with Putonghua? There was an article about it in the free in-flight magazine. Hong kong's multilingual identity is political and personal.

I've decided that to avoid hurting anyone's feelings I will just say "THANK YOU" in English really loud.

title credit Graham Greene