Hong Kong Blog # 13

Hey friends,

I'm back in Hong Kong!!

I had a wonderful trip to The States. I left Hong Kong on Oct 13th and spent several days in Colorado Springs recouperating from the trip. In Canon City I spent hours pulling weeds and dead flowers with the help of Ernest's father and a neighbor, trying to get it ready for the renter who hadn't seen it yet. Yes, we rented our home, Praise the Lord, with an option to own. We're very pleased to have a bit of an income rather than such a large outgo, and since we have a property manager, we don't have to worry about it. I also helped with a going away party for my XanGo sponsors, Stan and Adele Mingus, who are moving to Houston.

A friend and I drove to Lake City Oct. 21 for the XanGo Convention. The trip over Monarch was harrowing since it was snowing and icy, but that was the only snow I had to drive in the entire trip, thank the Lord, and once we hit Monarch, the trip down the mountain was clear. It was wonderful to have a friend with me to share the fun. XanGo has been exploding, and it was great to hear about their new products and to be involved with a business that appears to be recession proof. Driving again was wonderful. And the clear, huge sky made me feel like I'd been living in a tunnel in Hong Kong.

I enjoyed time with Ernest's Dad and his wife in Canon City, was able to attend our Evangelical Free Church again and see many friends there. I also visited with many friends throughout the week. My frustration was that I couldn't see everyone nor spend much time with those I saw. I also shared some of my Hong Kong experiences with the McKinley fifth graders who are my pen pals.

I flew to Phoenix and spent two wonderful weeks with my parents, where I also got to see my sister and brother. We had an active party with my cousins and their families. I was on a winning team for the bean bag toss. It was good to have time for napping there since I came down with a mild case of pneumonia.

After flying back to Colorado, I picked up my car and drove to Tulsa. Listening to books on tape kept me awake and intrigued. It was great to see Nathan again, then I headed for Siloam Springs and spent a week with the girls at John Brown University. Laura shares a house with 4 friends and her roommate, Sarah, graciously gave up her bed for me. Laura is a senior and Amelia is a freshman. Laura is considering teaching English as a Second Language in Korea upon graduation, but she is keeping her options open. Her major is English.

I drove the girls back to Nathan's for Thanksgiving. It was quite interesting to help Nathan get set up for our meal. We shopped for a card table with chairs, knives, pots, pans, pyrex, cutting boards, etc. Laura made homemade cranberry sauce and an apple pie, Amelia made the bean casserole and the pumpkin pie, Nathan fixed mashed potatoes, and I handled the turkey, stuffing, and the yams. YUM!!!

On Friday, after participating a bit in Black Friday, we joined my Uncle Carl's (my Dad's brother) clan, my 8 cousins and their families, for a noon meal. It's the first time I was able to join their annual gathering and with 45 present, it was a great time of reconnecting. Uncle Carl went home to be with the Lord this year, and my cousin Bruce has been home in heaven for longer, and we did miss them. That night Nathan and I drove the girls back to JBU where we had to say good-bye. Nathan and I spent Saturday running errands and purchasing items for my "take back to Hong Kong" list.

My drive back to Canon City was uneventful, and I was grateful that I kept missing the snowstorms. I had some good but short times with friends for a day, parked my car at Bob's house, then Renate picked me up and I spent the night in Colorado Springs with her--closer to the airport. Packing and repacking took hours since I was substantially overweight. I put most of the weight in my rolling carry-on, left some stuff at Renate's, caught 2 hours of sleep, then Dee drove me to the airport at 4 AM on Dec 3. The temperature was 7 degrees fahrenheit and they de-iced the plane for 30 minutes, which made me very nervous, but we made it safely to Denver.

In Newark, NJ. I sat near to a young woman from Argentina's whose English was quite good. We couldn't believe our good fortune when they said they had closed the doors and no one had sat in the middle seat between us. That made for a much more comfortable flight, but I did feel bad for whoever missed the plane.

Ernest met me at the airport Friday night, Dec. 4, and it is great to be with him and to be "home" again. I thought I would have a slow first week back in Hong Kong, but it proved to be quite active. That was great: it kept me from yearning to be back in the states!!

On Sunday after church we were waiting at the bus stop when a family from church stopped and offered us a ride. They ended up taking us out for lunch in Ap Lei Chau at the fish market. We never eat there because I don't have a clue what to chose. Lena took me around while she chose the food. Then we took the food upstairs where there are several small kitchens that cook the fish. Each table has an assigned kitchen.

Here's a view of the community center from our bedroom. It's a block away from our apartment. It not only houses the wet market where they sell fish and some meat plus the cafeteria, but it also has a sports center and a library.

Lena was showing me how to eat the prawns or shrimp. First you rip off the head, then the legs, then the tail, then you eat the meat. Well, when I popped off the first head, this green goop squirted on Ernest's sleeve. So, I tried to be more careful with the second prawn. As I ripped its head off, the green goop squirted all over my blouse. Yuk! But they tasted good. We also had clams and oysters. When they brought out the fish, Lena whipped out her scissors and cut the fish into pieces--bones and all. The women in HK must all carry these fish cutting scissors because I've seen this before! Anyway, we enjoyed the meal and the company.

Mailing attends our small group; her daughter is Lena and her son-in-law is Stanley. They have twin 5 year old boys who are very active! On our way out, Lena had someone chop up some meat for us so that I can make meatloaf. Ground beef isn't very common here and we didn't know how to ask to have it made.

Monday, Dec 7, I recouperated and unpacked from the trip. Unpacking took forever. In order to put things away, I had to completely empty 3 shelves, reorganize and consolidate, so that I could fit everything on the shelves.

On Tuesday, Dec 8, Sunitat invited me out for lunch with 4 other ladies so we could plan for our church's Christmas Eve carol sing and potluck. She took us to a brand new, 10 day old restaurant run by 3 young men from New York City. One of them was her former neighbor in Montrose, CO, and had baked for her there. Since they knew her, they kept bringing out dishes that weren't on the menu. The beet greens salad was amazing. We had 3 salads, 2 pasta dishes, then the main chicken dish and dessert and lattes. Wow! The food was outstanding. It's a completely organic, locally grown ingredients restaurant. We had so much fun eating that we didn't do any party planning. The restaurant was fairly noisy and everyone's cell phones kept ringing, so it was a noisy luncheon!

Afterwards, Sunita, Christine, Katherine and I went to a Christmas bazaar. It was fun being out "with the girls" and getting in the Christmas spirit. I purchased a cute, 10" snowman with a bright red jacket, a green "jester's" hat, and a carrot nose. He's sitting on our tv and reminds me that Christmas is coming--even if we don't have room for a Christmas tree.

After the bazaar, Christine and I went to Sunita's clubhouse with her to help plan the party. Yes, we finally did get to the party-planning part. I had left home at 11 AM and didn't get home until after 8 PM. It was a fun day.

Wednesday, Dec. 9, was the Christmas dinner for the "Ladies' Oasis" Bible study group. There were 50 ladies there and I knew about a dozen of them. I got there early and began drinking tea. It seemed a bit strong. When the other ladies arrived, they filled their cups only half full of tea, then they added water from a different pot. Live and learn!

We began eating, and since there were only chopsticks, I had to quickly relearn my chopstick skills--which were never great in the first place. The food was abundant and the servers continued to bring out dishes, even after we were all stuffed, they were still bringing out more food! Welcome back to Hong Kong.

Thursday morning was my final Island Evangelical Community Church Bible study on Daniel with Beth Moore. Unfortunately, I missed most the lessons on DVD, but I have continued to do my homework in the workbook. Afterwards we helped the children's leaders decorate for a "Night in Bethleham" program they were preparing for the kids, then 6 of us went to Ruby Tuesdays for lunch. One of the ladies, Beverly, raises money for a mission to refugees in Cambodia, so I bought two of her necklaces which have Christian words in Chinese.

That night was our small group at Sunita's and Rajiv's. It was good to enjoy the Indian meal and the fellowship again. They began a new study on the life of Joseph while I was gone. A new lady (whose husband suddenly died last month) and her two children also attended. The kids were amazingly mature and friendly: she is 12 and he is 14.

Friday night, Dec. 11, I began tutoring Arnold and Bruno again, and a friend, Sophia, joined them. This time Tony, the dad, picked me up at 4:30 and we drove to their house in Kowloon which is across Victoria Harbor from the north end of Hong Kong Island. We live in Ap Lei Chau, an island just south of the south end of Hong Kong Island. Dawn really wants me to continue tutoring, and their house is a much nicer venue than the office we were using, but it is so far away. If I ride the buses and the MTR, it's an hour and a half each way. I began tutoring at 5:30, finished at 7:00; Tony walked me the 10 min. to the MTR afterwards. I sure hope I can find my way back next week.

I met Ernest in Causeway Bay at about 8 PM. Once again I was shocked at how many people were rushing around in the evening. It sure isn't like Canon City at night!! We went to Ikea and purchased a full size comforter and cover. We had been using a twin size comforter, so we couldn't make it through the night without "stealing" the cover from each other. The Europeans (Ikea is a Swedish store) use the comforter in place of a top sheet, so the cover is washed often. We still use a top sheet, though, because it is easier than pulling the cover on and off the comforter each time it needs to be washed.

Well, that's it for now. Ernest and I purchased a Wii as our Christmas gift to each other. Time to go bowling!!

Joyce

P.S. My very first try I got a strike. I think I'll like this game. It's the perfect activity for us in our tiny home.