[stuck_in_chuk]

I have a colleague who is second-generation Canadian of Chinese descent. She looks Chinese and has a distinctly Chinese name. However, she can't speak more than a few words of Chinese, and those words are slow and heavily Canadian-accented.

She recently traveled to China, and had lots of trouble with the Chinese customs officials because she couldn't speak the language. Meanwhile, all the whiteys on the plane had no problems without knowing a word of Chinese.

Have any of the Chinese posters here ever experienced that (or known anyone who has)?

What is the deal with superstitions based on numbers? Why am I more likely to sell a house to a Chinese person if the street address is, say, 88 than if it is 44?

My wife used to work in an office with a lot of Chinese people in it. She had low seniority, but got a nice office with a window because there was a cemetery a little ways down the street. Her Chinese coworkers avoided the window office because of spirits from the cemetery or something? Does that sound familiar?