Joyce's Hong Kong Blog #11

Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2009 Yes, I know, I usually begin with Thursday but I forgot to tell you about my journey to my women's group. I had taken the bus to the Macau Ferry Terminal with the plan of walking through the MTR tunnels to exit E1 which was near my meeting. Well, after walking underground a few blocks, I realized that I would have to pay to ride the subway in order to get to E1, so I took the last exit I found before actually having to pay. That meant that I wasn't sure where I was when I came out of the subway. So, I got out my trusty map and figured out where I was and where I needed to go, which was about 3 blocks away. Unfortunately, I wasn't sure which direction I needed to go since I didn't know which way was North. I whipped out my trusty compass, turned my body to face North, which was looking back down the stairs into the subway, and figured out which way to begin walking. About that time, a very nice young woman came up to me and asked me where I was going. Now what do you suppose made her think I might need help?? I gave her the name of a store near my destination, and she pointed me in the direction I had decided to go. I thanked her kindly and headed EASTWARD down the street. The Lord keeps sending His angels to look out for me. Thursday, Sept. 23 As I left for my Daniel Bible study, I decided to walk a different direction to catch the bus at the 2nd bus stop right before Ap Lei Chau bridge. That gives me an extra minute or two in case I "just barely miss the bus" at the first bus stop. This walk took me by the Baptist pre-school as kids were arriving. They were SO CUTE. They were wearing bright orange shorts, white shirts and orange backpacks. As the bus wound around Lei Tung we passed other little kids in bright yellow shorts, white shirts, and yellow backpacks. Next we passed kids in light blue shorts with white and blue tops that had extra wide collars so they looked like little sailors. Of course, they had their parents in tow. They were so cute. The Chinese are big on uniforms, both at school and in the work place. The Daniel Study at Island Evangelical Community Church with Beth Moore was interesting. She is challenging us to have RESOLVE, like Daniel and his friends, to not defile ourselves in the midst of a pagan world that tries to pull us into an ungodly lifestyle. Afterwards, I decided to try to find Sunita's jewelry shop in Central, so hopped on the MTR and headed that way on the Island Line. (The MTR is "safer" than the bus because it has a little flashing arrow on a wall map that shows where you are and the direction you are going. It's more difficult to get lost, as long as you know which exit to go out.) Once up to street level, I asked a lady where Queen's road was, which she knew, and if she knew where a restroom was located. She told me that there was a very nice one across the street in The Landmark Mall at the 360 grocery store. Ernest and I had been to the store before, so I thought it would be nice to see it again since it has food items we can't buy near us. Well, the mall is much larger than I remembered, and I couldn't find 360. As I was looking around, Janet, from our Thursday evening small group, appeared. She was just getting off the escalator near me! She couldn't find the 360 either, but she asked someone in Cantonese and got me headed in the right direction. I was so amazed to see someone I knew - and just when I needed directions. Unlike in Canon City, I rarely see anyone I know in Hong Kong while walking around. By the way, the restroom was quite nice. Some are great, and some are awful!! The best 2 were at the 5 and 6 star hotels that Kathryn took me to where attendants in uniforms brought paper towels over for us as we were washing up. The worst were at a McDonald's downtown, at the sports field, and in an older market. The first one was filthy and the last two only had "squatty potties." The nicer ones have toilet paper in the stalls, but many of them have the toilet paper on the wall as you come into the restroom, or toilet, as they call it here. I rarely think to look for it until too late. That's where the trusty "Tempo" tissues come in. Everyone carries the packets here. I wound my way up the hill with the map Ernest had drawn for me. Sure enough, after a few blocks I found the right building. Unfortunately, no one was there! Sunita told me later that she is usually in the store during lunch while her workers go out to eat. However, today she had been invited to see a fashion show of Indian clothing at a restaurant, so she had gone out for lunch. Since I was there, I decided to wander around. There were small streets, many closed to traffic, and a myriad of restaurants, bars, and fancy shops. I rode the MTR to Causeway Bay where I met Lucy at the XanGo office. She doesn't have much energy, so was investigating the mangosteen. I headed home and had two hours before leaving for our small group. During dinner we had an animated discussion about domestic helpers. Rajiv and Sunita have 3 helpers from India in their 3500 sq. ft. house. Shirley, our Aussie friend, declared she could never give up her privacy but would consider having someone come in to help clean or cook during the day. Most of us agreed with her. Rajiv laughed and said that, even though he understood how some people don't want to give up walking around the house without a shirt on or other privacy issues, he LOVES having his tea brought to him in the morning and that's worth giving up his privacy. We discussed how hiring domestic workers is a social obligation for rich people in a poor society. In India, there is quite a hierarchy for helpers. Cooks are usually from the Brahman class, which is the highest caste in India. Rajiv and Sunita are from the next caste down, ///////////////// Drivers can also be Brahman, but don't have to be. Maids who are not from the lowest class can't clean toilets or take care of the floors, so Rajiv hires another lady to come to the house to do that work. Their live-in maid wasn't trained as a maid, so Sunita had to train her. However, she was the daughter of their former driver who had to quit for health reasons. He asked if they could help her out, so they hired her. That's part of the social obligation and relationships in their society. Their workers go home once per year. Their driver's wife, who lives in India , is having a second child soon.

It sure is interesting to have a small group where people come from 6 different countries!

Friday, Sept. 25

I rode the minibus to South Horizons. Ernest did some research and found that there are almost 400 non-Asians living in South Horizons and only 35 in Aberdeen. Therefore, we figure we can find more food items we want at the large grocery store in South Horizons. The massage chairs were still in the mall, but I was in a hurry so kept going. I found everything I needed for a three bean salad except the wax beans. While I was choosing the beans off the shelf, a bag in the cart next to me moved. No one was nearby, so I kept watching the bag. Pretty soon it began moving again. I finally figured out that the bag held a live fish. Ugh! Back at the bus stop I found a Filipina who agreed that the 37A was the right minibus for Ap Lei Chau, so I rode straight home rather than wandering throughout the Island on the 37.

Made up the 3 bean salad for the bar-b-que tomorrow night, then headed for the bus stop to tutor Arnold and Bruno. As happened last week, the 90B bus didn't come. Ernest had told me that I could also take the 91, so I hopped on it when it finally arrived but found out it has a longer route. A young lady, BoBo, sat with me and we had a delightful chat. She is attending university to get her early childhood education teaching degree. (The Chinese don't usually use the article "the" in front of the word, university.) She works at a Montessori School during the day and works with some British and American ladies, so her English speaking ability has been improving. The universities in Hong Kong teach in English, so students have to know how to read and write English, but speaking it clearly is often difficult for them. She was a half an hour late for her class and I was late for tutoring , so we were both frustrated, but we enjoyed the ride together.

Saturday, Sept. 26

Ernest and I decided to ride the tram up Victoria Peak and walk down. After getting off the bus, we walked through Hong Kong Park. It was impressive. The pathway meandered up the hill. Several photographers were out snapping pictures of butterflies. There was a manmade "waterfall" coming down a "mushroom" top; it had a small mote and a path over it so you could walk around under (behind) the waterfall. The office for the Registration of Marriages is in the park so we saw several wedding groups in their finery. It's a beautiful place for wedding pictures. After signing the paperwork the wedding couples generally also have a ceremony and a banquet. It's generally a very expensive affair.

After a 20 min. walk we arrived at the tram. It's a 2 car tram ride that takes about 10 min. to the top of The Peak, as everyone refers to it. The views of the city and bay were awesome. There was a mall and many restaurants. Ernest had remembered to bring his Hagen Daas ice cream coupons. :>) He sighted Aberdeen and we headed down the street in that direction. After walking about 6 blocks we came across the path through the trees which came out in Aberdeen. The shade was wonderful! There were two small parks, or sitting out areas, as they are called, next to the path. The first one we came to had two people there who looked like they were camping. They had tree fungus drying on a picnic table. There was a "foot massage" area. It was made of medium size rocks partially embedded in cement with poles in the center to hold onto as you walked in a elongated circle. I didn't try it because it was in the hot sun. After an hour of walking downhill we arrived in Aberdeen then hopped the ferry home.

After a two hour rest at home, we headed for Mailing's bar-b-que which was in the New Territories. We rode a bus to the N end of HK Island, then caught another bus take us across Victoria Harbor. Unfortunately, the bus passed our turn-off and kept going--we had hoppped the wrong bus. We got off as soon as we could, walked aways, then stopped to look at our map. A few minutes later a lady followed us from the bus stop and asked if she could help. She told us which bus to get on in order to get where we were going. We never would have figured it out ourselves. Another angel!!

After 2 hours, we arrived at the bar-b-que. People move out to the New Territories so that they can have more space. Mailing lives with her daughter's family which includes 2 yr. old twin boys. The grounds of their apartment complex were beautiful with lots of space for her grandkids to run. There were several parties utilizing the bar-b-q pits. The food was abundant and our 3 bean salad went over well. We caught the 10 P.M. shuttle from their complex which took us to the MTR, then we rode that to HK Island where we caught a bus home. We were home before midnight! Oh to have a car... (Not really, I wouldn't drive here.)

Sunday, Sept. 27

Church, a visit to some stores in Aberdeen, a walk around Ap Lei Chau Park, and we called it a pleasant day.

Monday, Sept 28

Nok and Juliet, both are Ernest's co-workers, came over for dinner. We had a great time together. I fixed bar-b-que chicken, potatoe casserole (sans the cheese since we didn't think Nok would like it,) tossed salad with the HK version of Ranch dressing, and corn on the cob. I had made brownies from a mix for dessert, a real treat. Unfortunately, they had to work late so didn't arrive until 8 P.M. Nok was leaving for a vacation back to Thailand in the morning and Juliet had an hour and 15 min. bus ride/boat ride home, so we didn't get to teach them how to play the card game, Flinch.

Wednesday, Sept. 30

Attended the ladies' group today. We break up into groups of 4 to 7, and I really like the ladies in my English speaking group. The other groups all speak Cantonese. I was gone for 5 hours to attend the 2 hour study.

Dawn brought the boys to our house tonight for tutoring. They were SO WOUND UP and excited to be in my house. Plus, tomorrow is a holiday, the 60th Anniv. of the People's Republic of China, so they were excited to have a holiday coming up. AND, they were tired from a long day at school. But, we did get some learning accomplished.

Joyce's Hong Kong Blog #8

Joyce’s Hong Kong Blog #8

Here's a picture of our apartment building. Ours in right in the middle, to the right of the red Chinese writing, and to the left of the light green building. There are 23 floors, so if you count down from the top to 18, you'll be looking at our bedroom windows!

Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009

“What??!! You’ve never been to the Peninsula Hotel?” Kathryn had exclaimed into the phone. “Well, tell Ernest you have a date and I’ll take you there.” So there we were, sitting in a beautiful restaurant in an elegant, historical, six-star hotel. Up on the balcony, a quartet was playing: a flute, a violin, a cello and a string bass. Later a soft jazz quartet played. The extra tall ceilings, columns and arches, ornate wooden tables, and formally dressed waiters created a wonderful ambience. Kathryn and I shared a plate of raisin scones and drank iced coffee—served with sugar syrup and cream. Of course, we had driven up to the front door and our car was parked by a valet.

Afterwards, Kathryn drove us to Bible study. The driving here always amazes me. There are so many entrances and exits to the roads. Drivers are constantly changing lanes, usually with only inches in between vehicles. But there is a rhythm to it, and they alternately force their way into traffic and then allow others to cut in on them. There is some horn honking, but not as much as I’ve heard in other big cities.

At Bible Study, Rajiv had invited LT, a man from the Ravi Zacharias’ organization, to help us with a very difficult Bible passage, Hebrews 6. There are several different interpretations, which LT explained, and then we discussed the passage.

Friday, Sept. 4

Buses are a blessing and a bane! There are huge and noisy and abundant!! As soon as the last passenger has scanned his Octopus card, the bus lurches forward. Many times I’ve ended up running down the aisle as I’ve tried to catch my balance. Trying to climb the twisty stairs while the bus is in motion is quite difficult and I have many bruises to prove it. One day I was holding onto a pole by the exit waiting for my stop when the bus jerked. Two ladies lost their balance and fell into me and we would have all landed on the floor had I not been holding onto the pole so tightly!

At one bus stop in Causeway Bay, the line was long and I was back where the next bus stop began. Our line doubled up beside the other bus lines for at least 4 bus lengths. Of course, this was on a crowded sidewalk so people were still trying to walk past the double lines. When the bus finally arrived, I found I was the 16th person in line and they allowed 81 people on the already partially full bus before closing the door on the last 5 potential passengers. We stopped at two more stops and added more people until the aisle was stuffed full.

One night Ernest and I were running for a bus at the bus terminus, as were 2 other people. Since no one was standing at the bus stop with an arm out, the bus didn’t stop and we all missed the bus. Even if people are standing at the bus stop, the buses don’t generally stop unless someone has an arm out. You have to get your arm out with the elbow straight—like hitchhiking only without the thumb sticking out. That means you have to pay attention to every bus that comes by and watch for its number. No dozing while waiting!

On the way to the Macau Ferry, my Friday night trip, the buses pass the Belcher high rises where Ernest used to catch the bus from his old apartment. As the hill slopes down, the road becomes an overpass that varies from 2 to 6 stories up in the air. It winds its way through the high rises then ends in a steep curve as it reaches the bay. Although the buses tend to slow down, I always feel like I’m on a rollercoaster ride with the bay looming straight ahead for any buses that miss the last curve. When I arrived at the Macau Ferry to tutor Arnold and Bruno, I was able to duck into the subway and walk under the street and come up almost exactly where I needed to be for our meeting place. Ernest figured that out for me. Before this we walked about 6 blocks to get over the street and around to the right office building. I took an elevator but it deposited me on the 10th floor and I couldn’t seem to get to the 15th floor from there. I finally went back to ground level and the security guard pointed me to a different elevator whose first stop was the 15th floor. Bruno and his Grandfather were already there when I arrived. With true Chinese hospitality, Grandfather poured a cup of hot water for me. This is the beverage of choice for most traditional Chinese. Since I was hot, I would have loved to be offered a glass of ice water, but that is not the norm here. Sat., Sept. 5 Erica came over for conversation and brought Lychee fruit. I haven’t tried it before because I wasn’t sure what it was. I actually thought it was a vegetable since the outside is green and bumpy. She told us to wait 2 days to eat it because it wasn’t quite ripe yet. We walked with Erica to South Horizons at noon where her mother lives, then Ernest and I continued walking another 15 min. to the far side of Ap Lei Chau Island where we’ve never been before. There’s an outlet mall and a Ferrari car dealership there. En route we passed a drivers’ training school. The mall had many furniture, clothing and accessory stores. Although it was an outlet mall, it was quite high end and even at half price, the prices were outrageous. They did have a great English bookstore with lots of children’s books. I purchased Chinese Cinderella after reading a page or two. Even though, in typical Chinese style, I used my umbrella to shield my head from the sun, I was still on the verge of heat stroke (well, it felt like it…) by time we reached the mall back in South Horizons. There is a large Park ‘n Shop in the mall so we were able to find some Ranch dressing and a few other illusive food items. Plus, the mall had COOL air! It was a great break from the sun before our 15 min. walk home from there. We fixed shrimp, sausage, and eggplant Jambalaya for dinner, tossed salad with Ranch dressing, and a cauliflower/broccoli dish. Sesame cookies and Neapolitan ice cream finished out our meal. Flora, Ernest’s co-worker who helped him find our flat, and her husband and son joined us for dinner. They all speak English, which was helpful. She specifically ordered an American dinner. We explained that Creole food is regional from my place of birth, Louisiana, and that it isn’t necessarily typically American. The 13 yr. old picked at his food, but the adults seemed to enjoy it. We played the game, Flinch, for a couple of hours. Sunday, Sept. 6 After church we rode a couple of buses up to Kowloon on the mainland where we walked (and walked and walked) around an area of street markets that are mainly filled with tools and electronics. There were booths with thousands of carabineers, some with hundreds of clocks and watches, others with cell phones, and some with tools. Ernest found a few wire channels, which was a blessing. He’s been looking for weeks. It’ll be great to get our t.v. cable off the floor and onto the top of the trim—hidden within the wire channel. Unfortunately, they didn’t have enough, but some is better than none! We walked a few blocks away and there were stores with hardware for the garment industry: buckles, clips, buttons, trim, ribbons, scarves, lace, etc. Several stores had thousands of types of beads, all neatly arranged in large, see-through jars and tiny, clear bins stacked floor to ceiling as well as in the exceedingly small aisles. The variety and amount of products was overwhelming. We didn’t get home until about 6 P.M. It was a long day. Monday, Sept 7 Laundry day, again. Oh how I miss having a dryer. The Chinese Cinderella book by Adeline Yen Mah is fascinating. Didn’t accomplish much today because I couldn’t put the book down. Unfortunately, it’s a true story and very, very sad. It showed how little value is placed on girls in Chinese culture, although that has changed somewhat recently. Rode the bus downtown in the afternoon to buy some more XanGo for Sunita. She’s having an exclusive Indian jewelry show (jewelry from India) this week and was very busy preparing for it, so I told her I’d handle this for her. Her helper met me so now he knows where the office is. While there I headed back to Ikea for a few more household items: another octopus for drying socks, some hot pads, and a couple of mugs. I was sorely tempted to buy their Italian meatballs, but a medium size bag was $75 HK, equal to almost $10 US, which seemed quite expensive. Guess we’ll stick with Ern’s concoction of Tulip canned luncheon meat to add to the spaghetti sauce. Tuesday, Sept 8 We attended an English Speaking Union poetry forum at The Art Center this evening. The venue was annoying. We were seated on folding chairs in a small circle near the elevators on the first floor (we would call it the second floor) stairway mezzanine. We could hear the people talking on the ground floor, and people walked up and down the stairs, talking of course, throughout the evening. But we persevered and the presentation turned out to be interesting. The author was from New Zealand and has written 2 series of four books each on teaching English as a second language through poetry. The books were quite well laid out. He has a third series coming out with poems which focus on Hong Kong and it has been approved for use in the high schools. The purpose of the ESU is to promote worldwide understanding through the learning of English. Wednesday, Sept 9 I noticed that the local temple had erected a tall canopy in the temple plaza. Today a large figure, approximately 12 ft. tall, appeared under the canopy. From my window, it looked like a cow sitting on its haunches. However, Ernest and I walked by and decided it was just a very large figure. They’ve also put up several lower canopies covering dozens of small altars with incense and candles in front of them. I wanted to take some pictures, but wasn’t sure if that would be appropriate. This is a continuation of the Yu Lan Festival, or the Serving of Food to the Hungry Ghosts with Praying ceremony which I mentioned last week. It is hosted by Taoist priests to get ancestors out of hades. “Hades” money is burned for the deceased, and joss paper (like thick tissue paper) is burned on the streets for the “hungry ghost.” The Festival also encourages charity and thanksgiving so they collect and donate rice to the poor. We rode the bus to Quarry Bay this evening to look at a loveseat. It’s sure been difficult to find a sofa that is 50 inches wide or less. This one will do and it fits our budget. The back, arms, and seat are white leather, but the rest is plastic and the whites aren’t the same shade. Their apartment was approximately 100 sq. ft. larger than our 366 sq. ft. Ours feels more spacious because when you walk in the front door, the livingroom/diningroom is open. In their apartment, you enter into a small hallway that goes past the kitchen and then opens into the livingroom/diningroom which is smaller than ours. They are moving because their daughter graduated from a university in Australia with a design degree. She designed an apartment in a new building for them. Hong Kong only has 8 universities and it’s very difficult to get in since there are more applicants than openings, so many students attend a university in a different country.

Joyce's Hong Kong Blog #7

Thursday, August 27 Years ago I read 2 related series of books by Bodie & Brock Thoene, the Zion Covenant and the Zion Chronicles. They are historical fiction with emphasis on historical accuracy in the details, but the characters are fictitious. They are excellent writers and I’ve been enjoying reading 3 of the books in the “Director’s cut” version. The time frame is before and during WWII in Europe. Well worth reading. Friday, August 28 Twenty-four years ago we were blessed when our first child, Nathan, was born. We talked with him several times today since he was driving from Tulsa to Canon City after work today for Sam Stockton’s wedding, a 12 hour drive. He took part in a test with one of their “pigs” which clean out oil pipes. The experiment went badly and exploded and water went everywhere—fortunately they were testing the “pig” with water, not oil. Since he wasn’t in charge, that effectively ended his work day so he was able to leave early. Those in charge had to stay and fill out reports. Waited and waited and waited for a bus. Ernest called as he was catching a different bus headed to Central. I watched the 90B bus go by across the street which meant another 10 min. wait as it makes a loop around South Horizons. The 90B is supposed to come every 12-15 minutes; instead, 2 other 90B buses passed on the far side of the road as mine arrived. Since traffic is unpredictable, the bus stop signs don’t tell you the time the busses will arrive, they just tell you when they leave their beginning point and how often they are supposed to show up. Dawn had found an office near DeliFrance where I could tutor Arnold and his brother, Bruno, and after much persuasion, she agreed to meet during Ernest’s conversation group. So I said I would tutor them for 6 weeks, until I leave for the states, and then we’ll discuss it again later. They are cute kids and very sharp. The session went well, but Arnold at 7 yrs. old is doing 3rd grade work, which is more advanced than I had anticipated. I think Dawn wants me to help with his written homework more than with speaking and enunciation. Saturday, August 29 Erica was supposed to come over, but was delayed at the post office (can’t imagine) and so ended up not coming, so we just relaxed in the morning. We spent the afternoon exploring the English book stores in HK. Well, we had planned to, but only made it to three. We got off the bus at the Central Ferry Terminal, walked up a flyover, and amazingly, we walked for blocks without ever going down to street level. The first flyover was 2 blocks long and ended in a large mall which housed the first bookstore. Then we went out the back of the mall, down a corridor, out onto another flyover, across another large street, and into another mall. It amazes me that you can walk for blocks and blocks and never go down to street level. The flyovers in the downtown area are wide enough for 10 people to walk abreast, have high sides and large roofs, but are not completely enclosed. It’s like a maze, and fortunately, Ernest has already figured out how to get from one to the next without going down to street level. They don’t always have signs pointing the way. I spent a lot of time trying to find a suitable workbook for Arnold. The one I had looked at a few weeks ago and thought I wanted to purchase was disappointing upon future inspection. One exercise insisted that the words “good” and “pup” were pronounced the same as “look.” Well, perhaps the British pronounce “pup” differently than the Americans? So, I heard a man speaking “The Queen’s English” to his young girl, and I asked him how the British pronounce the word, “pup.” Lo and behold, they pronounce it the same as the Americans. The book was published in Singapore. Go figure. We went down to street level for the 3rd book store. After walking into a small entryway, there were stairs going up for the English books, and stairs going down for the Chinese books. I hunted around upstairs for awhile, and then was sent downstairs where all workbooks, English or Chinese, were located. It took a long time, but I finally found a workbook that is suitable. I just have to assume that “Cloze” means “Quiz” by its use. It also was published in Singapore. (That country came into existence in the early sixties. It had been a British colony and was part of Malaysia for two years, but the Malays wanted to be in charge of everything and have an institutionalized preference system. The Chinese majority in Singapore didn’t favor domination by the Malays, so became independent and made English the main official language of the country. Although there are 3 other official languages, all the signs are in English only. It’s a wealthy city/ state and in the top 10 of most expensive cities in the world for expats.) One of the malls contained a fancy grocery store called ThreeSixty. They had an awesome, freshly baked bread section that looked like it had been transported from Europe. We purchased Sundried Tomato Focaccio bread. Very tasty. I was also able to find several spices I need. If it were closer, I’d love to shop there. But then, our food bill is high enough, so it would just be a temptation. The store itself is in the shape of a “Z.” I’m not sure if that was planned, if it was just the space available, or if they started small and then expanded into available space. The HK people are experts at utilizing any space they can find, but that means interesting store lay-outs at times. Sunday, August 30 We headed out the door early because Ernest’s coworker, Juliet, had invited us for noon dinner. She lives in Discovery Bay on Lantau Island and encouraged us to attend church out there so we could eat soon afterwards. At 8 AM we walked up the hill to the bus stop and waited less than 5 min. for a bus. It was a 35 min. bus ride, then we walked 10 min. to the port, rode the ferry for 30 min., caught another bus (10 min. ride) that deposited us a 5 min. walk from the church. (I miss my car!) We attended an Evangelical Free Church that had about 80 in attendance and is held in a Christian College. They are presently searching for a pastor. The singing was led by a Filipina ladies group, which they indicated was not the usual group. The preacher told an interesting story about H.J. Ironside. He had been asked to speak at a street meeting in the park. While he was talking, a famous university professor challenged him to come to the university to debate agnosticism and Christianity. Ironside replied that he would be happy to with just one condition: the professor needed to find 2 or more people who would come to the debate and testify about how agnosticism had changed their lives for the better. Ironside would bring 50 Christians to testify to how Jesus had changed their lives for the better for every 1 agnostic the professor could find. The debate never took place because the professor couldn’t find even one person whose life had been changed for the better by being an agnostic. Everyone at church was friendly and we chatted for awhile with a couple who are missionaries with Christian Missionary Alliance. They are being transferred to Colorado Springs this week! It was about a 15 min. walk up the hill to get to Juliet’s apartment. The path to the street passed by a complex with a pond, a fountain, and 2 waterfalls with beautiful trees and benches. Juliet has a one bedroom apartment which is almost as large as ours even though ours is a 2 bedroom. It was very pleasant. Out her back window is a hill with greenery and a “waterfall” when it rains. In Chinese “water” and “money” are the same word, so it is considered “lucky” to be near water—it’s supposed to bring you wealth. Juliet fixed a lovely dinner of beef stew and rice, spring rolls and grapes with “Light” Coke, the HK version of Diet Coke. The beef had been marinaded overnight in soy sauce and black pepper, stir fried, then steamed in beer (1/10th a can) and water. She added sausage, chopped red and green peppers, onions, and green olives and cooked it an additional 1 ½ hours. Yummy! The spring rolls were likewise delicious, filled with vegetables and had oyster sauce for flavor. We dipped them in Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce. These recipes I’ll definitely try. After some good conversation, we walked down to the beach and along the walkway between the sand and the trees. Discovery Bay is beautiful and like living in a resort. (We don’t envy her the 1 hr 45 min. commute.) There were lots of college kids there, but it still wasn’t overly crowded. Juliet walked us past the 4 restaurants in town and then back to the ferry. By time we got home it was almost 6 PM. Monday, August 31, 2009 I was filling out a form on the computer to register for a Beth Moore seminar that will be at a large church in HK in Sept. It wouldn’t accept my birth date. How could I get that wrong? Then I realized that the day might need to be first with the month second. Sure enough, once I changed it the computer was happy. It’s a good thing the date of my birthday is higher than 12 or the computer would have accepted it and I would have forever had the wrong birthday recorded! Finished reading The Nazi Officer’s Wife, which is about a Jewish young lady who had been a slave laborer but manage to avoid being sent to Poland. Through acquiring a forged identity and by acting docile and ignorant, she was able to survive the war. A Nazi married her and at the very end of the war he was sent to the front and captured by the Russians. Tuesday, September 1 “Our “ four fishing trawlers are anchored in the middle of the bay and the busy sampans and motor boats scurry around them. A continuous stream of vehicles move over the bridge and on the road across the bay. The Ap Lei Chau (my side of the bay) and the Aberdeen (far side of the bay) high rises dominate the landscape, while the green hills peek out from behind them and, in some places, rise above them. I enjoy looking out the window while talking on the phone, although the tranquility is often interrupted. The clanging of metal security doors can often be heard in our hallway. (The sound reminds me of the high school locker room.) The front of our building, where we look out our bedroom windows, is directly above the street. We can’t see the street looking straight down, but can see it to either side. Our street isn’t very wide and delivery trucks and other vehicles often stop in the middle of the street to unload. When there is a traffic jam, many of the waiting vehicles honk their horns continually until the jam has cleared up—sometimes for several minutes at a time. This is generally my morning world while I talk on the phone and work on the computer. Ernest’s Thunderbird Alumnus association meeting was tonight. (Thunderbird is the nickname for The Graduate School of International Management.) They gather once per month and I attended with him tonight. They meet in the Night Entertainment District on Hong Kong Island, which is what some people believe is the most important part of HK. Many expats wander around the area in the evenings after work. Once again, I was astonished riding the elevators (up) and walking the stairs (down) and walking blocks and blocks up on the walkways on the second and third floor levels. Wednesday, Sept. 2 There is a festival going on that involves the burning of incense and papier-mache money and the offering of food to their ancestors. It’s called the Ghost Festival. Both Buddhists and Taoists celebrate this ceremony and it involves the idea of absolving the sufferings of the deceased. Everywhere we’ve walked in town this past week, especially toward evening, there are people on the sidewalks burning money and incense and other items. Just in front of our apartment is a large, rusty barrel with a lid that money is thrown into and burned. On the sidewalk near the barrel are smaller cans with incense sticks. One lady I passed on the sidewalk had a dead, plucked chicken sitting with its neck outstretched and something red and round in its beak before one of the little alters on the curb. She was burning paper money (not real currency) and incense and there were other food items like apples lined up neatly next to the chicken. It makes walking down the sidewalk a little nerve wracking since the sidewalks are narrow and the people are on the sidewalk burning these items on the curb or in the street. This happens daily, but much more so this past week. Today, Wed, is the main day of the festival so the burning should be much less from now on.