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- Avenue of the Stars, Tsim Sha Tsui — Hong Kong Island Central is across the harbor
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- Hong Kong at night as viewed from Victoria’s Peak
Hello, all!
I suppose that I could say “Jo Sun!” (that’s how it’s pronounced, not spelled) since back in TN it’s 7:36 AM. Speaking of Cantonese, no, I’m not learning it. I know enough to make the bus driver stop at Holf, say goodmorning, excuse me, thank you, and I can theoretically count to 99 except for anything involving 6 which I keep forgetting. And perhaps a few random other things. And I can recognize a few characters. But I realized within days of arriving in Hong Kong that I wasn’t going to pick up much of this language in a couple months; people who have lived here for many years still only know a few words, as it is one of the most difficult languages in the world. It has 9 different tones (basically meaning that every word can be 9 different words depending on how you say it). Fortunately, I would prefer to learn Mandarin, and it has only 4 tones. And if things work out with the lady I met last spring, I can begin learning this fall; we’ll just have to see. So it is frustrating to not be able to read things or understand people around you; even in Mexico I could understand bits of the Spanish and could take a good guess at most of the signs…at the very least I could recognize the letters! English and Cantonese are the two official languages here, so English is on most signs along with Cantonese and on HK Island many people speak it. We live in Sheung Shui in the New Territories and can see one of the buildings in mainland China from Holf, so it’s more difficult to find someone who speaks English (getting lost is not advised as it is virtually impossible to ask someone a question). There are many Chinese workers here at Holf who do not speak English at all, so there are definately language barriers, particularly in the severely disabled unit where Anna works because many of the other workers speak only Cantonese. So for those of you wondering if I’m fluent in Chinese yet…yeah…haha.
The kids are doing great! I am enjoying getting to know them better each day. The little girl who stayed here for 6 weeks is supposedly doing well in Beijing, according to our last update; she’s had her first speech therapy sessions and is settling in nicely. I love hearing the children giggle (except when they’re giggling over her misbehavior…) and I find it wonderful that one doesn’t have to hear in order to know how to laugh. We’re still in the process of painting bedrooms and they’re looking great. Today we played playdoh, drew with crayons (the little girl dumped the bucket of crayons…3 times…so she just picked up crayons and did little coloring, haha), played with cars, threw the ball for a long time, and played with the musical instruments. And went grocery shopping. It’s good for the kids to get out as much as possible, so we frequently take them to the market for vegetables or grocery shopping or something. Monday we walked into the nearby village of Ho Sheung Heung for ice-cream; it’s a good walk for the kids and they enjoy knowing that ice-cream cups are at the end! Bethany, the “nanny-dog” who lives with us, came along and enjoyed the walk — and the melted ice-cream from the bottoms of the cups — as much as the children.
The 3 of us had a wonderful day off yesterday. It was calling for scattered thunderstorms all day, but once again God answered prayer and it was lovely weather as it has been for each of our outings. We left out at 7:30 and went to the Kowloon Walled City Park. I’ve been reading a lot since coming here (they have an excellent library full of great missionary stories, and as soon as Pete, Sue, and Valerie found out about my calling to medical missions in China, they brought me a stack of “must-reads!). The past two books I read — before starting this one on David Livingstone — were on Jackie Pullinger’s work with drug addicts in Kowloon Walled City which used to be a lawless, filthy 6.5 acre slum ruled by gangs. Seriously, you should google this place, it’s history is incredible. The government stepped in, evacuated the place, and built a park in the early 1990s. It’s gorgeous and has won lots of awards. And on the way there we stopped by another temple from the 1730s (old temples are on every street corner around here…I don’t even know how many I’ve seen).
Then we went to Fa Yuen Street Market for a couple hours, then to the Avenue of the Stars. We’d been there last Monday night because it’s in Tsim Sha Tsui and has a great view of Central Hong Kong Island across the harbor. Then we took the Star Ferry over to HK Island and went to HK University’s Art Museum, which was really interesting. Gorgeous art dating from BC times to modern works. From there we returned to Central and walked to the beginning of the Mid-Levels Escalator, which links Central (where everyone works) to Mid-Levels (where everyone lives and generally hangs out). So in the morning, this Guinness Book of World Records escalator runs down to Central, then up in the afternoon. So we rode the longest escalator in the world. It seriously just kept going…and going…and then we’d think it was over, and we’d see the next section. It was awesome! Then we got on the Peak Tram and headed up Victoria’s Peak, the highest peak on the island. The views from the top are spectacular; it’s a 360 view of the island and harbor. While we were there, we went to the wax museum located on the top and had lots of fun seeing them and taking pictures! I now have my pictures with lots of celebrities. And that was just yesterday. :-)
