We meet at the train station on campus at around 6:30pm. Accompanying Joanne were two new Rotaract members Gabriel, and Kate. The meeting was at the Sheraton Hotel all the way down in Kowloon. This was a very high end hotel. When we walked into the conference room where the meeting was held there was a round table of old Chinese business men having a serious conversation. It was the board meeting for the chapter and to me it fit the stereotype of intense, powerful Asians conducting business. The rest of us took a seat at on of the other table while we waiting for the general meeting to begin. I have been to Rotary meetings in Wooster and Fairfield, but this was very different. It was a lot smaller and extremely formal. There were only two rows of tables and at the front was the podium flanked by seats reserved for officers. Behind the podium were the all the major banners for the club (Rotary International, the Four Way Test, etc) which then had all the banners that were exchanged. I saw banners from Singapore, Philippines, Texas, California, and Taiwan. The tables were decorated for a formal affair. Even the chairs had, what I guess you would call a chaircloth. Waiters would bring you snacks (still really fancy food) and drinks. The snack was a dumpling (vegetables and maybe prawn? Didn't really taste like sea food) and what I think was some sort of fried fish. The meeting started on time but was all in Cantonese. Fortunately Joanne tried to translate most of it for me as it was happening. This was also done in a very formal manner. The president had worn some sort of ceremonial piece that went over his shoulders. It looked like it had a bunch of name plates on it, perhaps past presidents. His name was Dr. Peter Pang (pronounced Pan) and was a plastic surgeon for Hong Kong celebrities. The two other Rotaract members gave a short presentation on a fund raiser they recently had (they made over HK$11,000) and then it was my turn. I just gave a short explanation of where I came from and why I was there. I mentioned that I was not officially in Rotary but have been working closely with the Fairfield chapter to bring their Ethical Business Guide to the Internet. I then gave the Fairfield Rotary's banner to the president while he gave me one of theirs.
The guest speaker for that night was Dr. Rebecca Lee who described herself as a scientist, adventurer, and Earth fighter. She talked a lot about her trips to the North and South Poles and what she saw as the effects of global warming. It was all in Cantonese but Joanne again translated. It was a bit awkward because Dr. Lee would tell a joke, everyone would laugh but me, and then Joanne would translate, and I would find it funny after a delayed period of time from the original joke. In any case, she had lots of interesting pictures of what it is like to live in these places for an extended period of time. Then right before the meeting ended we sang Happy Birthday to the president-elect in both English and Cantonese.
After the meeting was over, there was a dinner. I was told this would cost HK$300 and the Rotaract members were interested in getting home since it was late on a Monday night. However, the other member insisted that we stay and waved the fee for us. We all sat at a round table and helped ourselves to the various dishes. There were all kinds of food. One dish was a whole fish with the head, fins, and everything. People would just scoop up the part they wanted. There was also a dish that looked like fried chicken but after biting into it I am really not sure what it was, but it definitely was not chicken. The one thing I found interesting from dinner was how much Joanne was going out of her way to make sure I was fine. She kept moving my plates and glasses around when ever it looked like I might bump them or get sauce from another dish onto another (the way they serve food invites a mess, and I believe to some extent it is a sign of a meal enjoyed). Back home I probably would have gotten annoyed quickly but in China serving the guest is very important so I did not interfere. I did not get back to my room until about 10:30pm.
The Rotary meeting was defiantly a lesson in the culture of Chinese business. Right before I had told Joanne that I was going to follow her lead since I was unsure of what I should do. Her response was that she did not know either. She said that these meetings are very intimidating for the Rotaract members. She mentioned that she does not plan on joining Rotary when she graduates because it is so intense. They are also very strict about who can get in. They only let a very small number (2-3) in each year and have limits on certain professions. For example, the club can only have five doctors for every fifty members. Everything is so formal and positions are important. In fact my presences apparently caused some controversy. I was pretty comfortable and relaxed most of the meeting and I thought they seemed to enjoy having me. However, Joanne later explained that this was not quite what really happened. Originally, the president-elect was suppose to introduce me but then he became concerned when he found out my position. He asked Joanne (in Cantonese so I did not know this at the time) whether I am either a Rotaract or Rotary member. When Joanne answered that I was neither, his response was "Well then how am I suppose to introduce him?" and ended up not introducing me at all. Joanne also said that she had never seen Rotary so unfriendly before. To me they seemed fine, granted they did not really talk to me at dinner but I just assumed that was because they were discussing things in Cantonese that related to the club (they were as Joanne translated part of the conversation) and did think I was interested in the conversation. Apparently some of the member were suspicious of me because I was not an official member. I just took it as a lesson that it takes a lot of effort and experience to get a have decent read on what Chinese are really thinking. I am glad I went and look forward to presenting the New Territories banner to the Fairfield Rotary.
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