I’ve really enjoyed my last full week here!  We’ve had perfect weather for our off-days the entire time…until Tuesday!  Mindy, Anna, and I had plans to go to Lamma Island on Tuesday, but when we got to the ferry pier, we learned that a Typhoon 3 Signal was posted — low enough that the ferries to Lamma were still running, but too high for us to risk going.  After all, we’d wanted to walk around Lamma, and that clearly wouldn’t be possible as the downpour had already begun, and there was talk of a Typhoon 8 Signal by that evening (meaning that we would potentially be stranded on Lamma Island with no way of getting back to Holf by the next morning!).  So we just hung around Central/Mid-Levels and had an excellent day anyways!  We headed back towards Holf in the afternoon just in case the Typhoon 8 signal went up (pretty much all transport shuts down) and decided to go all the way down the Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR ) past our Sheung Shui Station to the last station before China…Lo Wu.  We’d been to every station south of Sheung Shui, but hadn’t been to the border of mainland China (though we can see mainland China from Holf).  Who knew that one had to go through customs to get into Lo Wu?  So we got off, walked around the station, took a peek at Shenzhen, China, and realized that the only exit was through customs!  We also realized that people got onto the train on the right side, and off on the left side (at other stations people get on and off on the same side), but the only way to get to the right side was to exit…through customs!  So, when the next train got in, we stood in the flow of people coming off the train and tried to stay out of sight of the security officer, then snuck back onto the train on the left side before the doors closed.  The train reversed and we headed back to Sheung Shui without getting thrown out of the country.  We’ve certainly had our share of adventures on this trip!  I don’t have room on the blog to write all of them (and you don’t have time to read them all), but I decided to share this one!

Friday was my other day off, so I volunteered that morning with Vacation Bible School at the church I’ve been attending here.  It was the last day and I was nervous that the children would be shy and unreceptive since I was coming in on the last day, but I was pleasantly surprised that we got along very well from the very beginning and they weren’t the least bit shy!  VBS was so much fun, and the kids in my crew were fantastic.  And they were all really cute.  It was great just to be in that VBS atmosphere!  Mindy left Friday to join a group going to teach English in China for a week (the group she went with last summer, also), so the three of us went to lunch in Sheung Shui on Anna’s break, and then I went with Mindy to the ferry terminal to see her off.  It’s odd not having her here!  And so sad!  We were told Thursday night over our special farewell dinner that everyone really admired how we got along so well — it’s easy in a group of three for one to be left out, but we all get along so well together and can’t stand for anyone to be missing from anything!  It’s been a huge blessing to travel with these two amazing girls and to have the opportunity to get to know each other so well.  After Mindy’s departure, I went to the HK Science Museum, which was really cool (though I like to read and absorb every sign and exhibit, so it would have taken me a week to go through the entire museum).  It was very hands-on, which I liked!

The week has been filled with the usual — musical instruments, play-doh, coloring, legos, blocks, playing on the playground (I’ve been working on teaching one of the children to swing, and he’s almost gotten it!), etc.  One of the children has been at camp all week so I’ve missed her, but it’s good to know that she’s having a really good time!  We took the children to the mall on Wednesday afternoon to buy their school shoes, and we walked to the market nearby for vegetables on Thursday afternoon, so they’ve been able to get out some.  The pool got fixed and cleaned yesterday and looks 100% better, so they’ll get to use it this week.  It had gotten gross — the water was green.  But the children enjoyed the “paddling pools” (kiddie pools) a few days this week; they’re pretty much happy as long as they’re wet, regardless of the amount of water.  It was great fun to watch them!

I’ll post my “testimony” from this trip in the next few days. 

Today was a 17th birthday party, which was great fun; several were able to come from the big unit and from the Lower Ark, which was nice.  We made no-bake cookies (“preacher cookies”) yesterday afternoon for the party, and she had a lovely butterfly cake and butterfly cupcakes which she helped her mother make. 

Unfortunately, our swimming pool has been closed for a week due to a broken pump, and the necessary parts won’t come in from China until next week.  The swimming pool is such a blessing to our residents, so pray that the parts will come and it will get fixed quickly!  Meanwhile, we’re still playing on the playground, which is also great fun.  Mostly the kids like the swings (I think Timothy mostly likes it because it requires minimal effort on his part, haha…he doesn’t like climbing up to go down the slide).  I’m getting great arm muscles from pushing the swings.  I really love pushing kids on swings though, so it works out for everyone involved.

When we’re not outdoors, we play with a variety of things; the musical instruments are my personal favorite, and all three children enjoy them also.  We also like the blocks and legos (though taking them apart seems to be the prefered game…)  Play-doh is another favorite.  The favorite toy recently is the ball.  The first few weeks, we played with it on occasion, but now it’s all they wants to do.  Even when other toys are out, I find myself getting hit with a ball and see a child standing there, arms out to catch it, waiting expectantly for me to throw it back.  So I’ve spent a lot of time throwing and catching lately.

As to days off this past week…Monday the three of us were off together (yay!) so we went to the tiny island of Cheung Chau.  It was fantastic; no cars are allowed on the island aside from the miniture fire trucks and ambulances, and while many people live on the island, it’s very quiet and peaceful.  Many people fish for a living, and the harbour is packed with fishing boats.  We rented bikes — it was less than $5 for the whole day — and biked around the island — bikes are the primary mode of transportation there.  It was fantastic; we explored an old pirate’s cave (thankfully I’d taken a flashlight…thanks Dad!) and climbed the rocks beside the sea.  The towns were peaceful and we enjoyed exploring via bicycle.  The island was lovely.  I was off by myself on Thursday, and I began the day by exploring Ping Kong Walled Village, a tiny village — you guessed it — surrounded by a wall.  It took all of 10 minutes to see the entire village, but it was very interesting.  I also walked around the surrounding farmland.  Then I went to the Fung Yuen Butterfly Reserve in Tai Po, which is home to nearly 170 species of butterfly.  I LOVED it!  I spent 3 hours hiking around the reserve completely surrounded by the most gorgeous butterflies I’d ever seen, and I got some fantastic pictures.  From there I went to MongKok to see the Flower Market and Bird Garden.  The Flower Market could be found by smell alone, with stall after stall of gorgeous flowers.  Likewise, the Bird Garden could be found by sound…bird cages everywhere, filled with songbirds for sale.  From there I headed to Tsim Sha Tsui and walked around before catching the Star Ferry to Central to ride the restored Chinese fishing junk called the Duk Ling.  (The HK Tourism Board offers hour-long rides to visitors on Thursdays and Saturdays).  Then I spent some time on Victoria’s Peak, overlooking Central, the harbor, and TST – it’s a gorgeous view, and the lights at night are amazing.  On my way back to Holf, I stopped by Mongkok Ladies Market for just a few minutes to buy Mom’s souvenir from HK (you’ll be glad to know, Mom, that it was a successful trip!).  So I had a great — and safe — day off alone (though I did miss Anna and Mindy!).  Even on days off with one other person, we really miss the third one!

Cheung Chau Harbor, full of fishing boats

Yesterday we spent the morning playing on the playground while a church group painted our kitchen and corridor.  Swings are definately the favorite activity each time we visit the playground!  My arms are getting quite strong.  We spent the afternoon in the swimming pool, as we spend many afternoons.  It never gets old!  It was quite the pool party, as the Lower Ark joined us. I speak often of the children of our unit, but I have also really enjoyed getting to spend a little time with the other residents, particularly those of the Lower Ark since we frequently go on outings together or spend time on the playground together.  They all have such wonderful, unique personalities.  Mindy works with this group.

Anna and I went to a traditional Chinese BBQ Saturday evening at the home of one of the cooks here at Holf.  It was a little awkward at first because everyone else spoke Cantonese, but it was very fun and it was a great cultural experience to visit someone’s home and family.  A Chinese BBQ is similar to an American hot dog and marshmellow roast, but with more stuff.  Everyone cooks their own meat over a fire — sausage, beef, fish balls, etc.  Then honey is painted on…it’s really delicious.  Eventually, a couple of the young people started talking to us — apparently they’d been to English schools, but were very self-conscious of their English and extremely shy to use it in front of Americans.  But it wasn’t too bad, and we were able to communicate pretty well and really enjoyed talking to them.  And the parents – who were very hospitable and very excited that we’d come –  also enjoyed telling us stories via the young people.  It went from Cantonese to Mandarin to English, and we all managed to understand, haha.  We left quite full due to their hospitality — they kept giving us meat, fruit, and tea!

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.  :-)

Shan left last Tuesday morning for her new foster family in Beijing, and we’re told that she’s doing well and has had her first speech therapy session.  The next few years will involve intense speech therapy, so don’t stop praying for this precious little girl!  The other three are keeping me plenty busy, though!  We’ve begun to paint their rooms, which is quite a project but I’ve really enjoyed it.  That will probably keep me busy for the next couple of weeks.  When their school is in session, they don’t have much time to go on outings, so we’re trying to take advantage of their time off and get them out as much as possible.  So yesterday we took them to Stanley beach, where we ate a nice lunch and played in the sand and waves.  They loved it!  They liked playing in the sand (and beating down the sandcastles) and they’re always happy if water is involved.  We also took them to a BBQ last week, where they could play on the playground and eat food cooked over an open flame (it was quite delicious…even the octopus, chicken kidney, and cuttlefish!).  Tomorrow, we’re going to make no-bake cookies.  It’s going to be a wonderful mess.    Holf has a small, above-ground pool that many of the residents — even those in the severely disabled unit — are able to enjoy, and we take our unit quite frequently.  I’ll try to update a little sooner next time

My apologies for taking so long to update this — these past two weeks have flown by!  And I’ve spent my little computer time on planning the adventures for our days off (particularly how to get from point A to point B via public transportation!).  We’ve really packed our days off full — those of you who know me well are not surprised by this.  Mindy and I were off together last Wednesday and we visited the Temple of Ten Thousand Buddhas, where I had gone with Anna the previous week.  From there, we hiked down to Wing Wo Bee Farm, which was really cool.  The guy gave us samples and showed us the bees and everything (he didn’t speak English, so it was a lot of pointing!)  Seriously…it was the best honey I’ve ever tasted.  From there, we visited the Hong Kong Heritage Museum (free admission on Wednesdays!) and saw some amazing artifacts dating from BC times.  And we re-visited the monkeys, since Mindy hadn’t seen them yet and I’m always willing to visit the monkeys.  And who knew that monkeys like to dive into rivers from trees and swim?  Yep, they do.  We were all off together on Friday, and then again this past Monday.  Amazing how 2 days a week off add up!  So Friday we went to Lantau.  Among other things, we rode the cable car, saw the biggest outdoor bronze Buddha in the world (random, I know), visited Tai O fishing village, rode a little boat out to see pink dolphins, walked around Pui O and saw the feral water buffalo, and did a hard-core hike up Nam Shan Old Village path.  Monday we hiked again — the Dragon’sBack trail from Big Wave Bay to Shek O on Hong Kong Island.  The views looked like they came from a travel magazine (Tai O was like National Geographic).  We spent some time on Shek O and had a wonderful Thai lunch, then checked out Stanley Market.  It’s famous as a tourist market, so the prices were significantly greater than the other markets, but it was cool to check it out.  We also went to the nightly light show in Tsim Sha Tsui and walked along the Avenue of the Stars.  I’ll have to update you on life here at Holf next time!

This has been an amazing week! It is really hard to believe that we’ve only been here at Holf a week – it feels like I’ve lived here forever. I’ve had two days off this week, as I will every week, and have definitely made the most of both of them. Anna and I were off-duty together on Tuesday, and started the morning off by going to Shatin to the Temple of Ten Thousand Buddhas. It was a great hike up, and very interesting. From there, we got on a bus to go to Lion Rock Country Park to see the wild monkeys that roam there, but no one was standing at the bus stop, so the bus driver didn’t stop there! We should have yelled “Yau Loc!” to make him stop, but we decided that we had time so we’d just be flexible. We wound up on Hong Kong Island, roamed around Causeway Bay, then went to Mid-levels to the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens which was lots of fun. Then we went to Kam Shan Country Park where there were tons of monkeys. I almost got attacked a couple times…they wanted my juice box and camera! They were so cool! We hiked around there and around the neighboring Lion Rock Country Park before returning to Shatin. Yesterday, all three of us were off together, so we took the hour-long ferry ride to Macau. Once again, it was an adventure! Macau is a very interesting place; ruled by the Portuguese for a really long time (a few hundred years, I think…but I forget), it is a mixture of Portugal and China. All the signs are in Portuguese and Cantonese, and many include English. The architecture is also interesting, demonstrating the blend of these two unique cultures. From Macau, we traveled by bus across the bridge through Taipa Island and then across another bridge to Coloane Island, where we visited Hac Sa Beach, known for its black sand. We had never seen black sand before, and it was amazing! So pretty. We also toured the ruins of St. Paul’s Cathedral (built by the Jesuits in 1582 as a residence, mission, and seminary – the first Western-style college in Asia), Mount Fortress (built in 1617 by the Portuguese, now the home of the Museum of Macau), Garden of Vasco de Gama, a really interesting cemetery, the very old St. Domingo’s Cathedral, and a very old mansion built in the Qing Dynasty style. Simply walking the streets of Macau was terrific – the culture is so intriguing and the style of each building and street is beautiful. Macau has more casinos than Los Vegas, but we didn’t go (obviously).  Mindy went on a trip to China for a couple weeks last summer with a group from Macau, and we met them at 5:30. They were wonderfully hospitable, and took us for supper and on a tour of Macau and their church. It was such a blessing to meet and fellowship with them! They were so much fun, and we shared lots of laughter and wonderful Chinese food!

In the meantime, work here at Holf has also been amazing. I love getting to know the children better each day. We have a lot of fun. This past week, we took them into Tsim Sha Tsui for a walk (Valerie needed a ride there, anyways) and McDonald’s ice-cream. Thursday, we went swimming (Holf has a swimming pool!), which they loved. It’s so much fun to hear them giggle – and in some cases, shriek very loudly with laughter! They’re so full of joy…and often with a little mischief, as well. On Thursday morning, Sue took a child to an audiology appointment, leaving me with the other three for a few hours. While sitting on the toilet that morning, an entire roll of toilet paper managed to get unrolled by a certain child…haha! But besides that incident, things have gone well.   Shan leaves us Tuesday; pray for the family that will be fostering her for the next three years and for her speech therapist, also! (And us here at Holf…we’re going to miss her!)

Mom asked me what I’d been eating, so here goes. I’m eating very well. Lots of rice, and I’m glad I knew how to use chopsticks! I have toast every morning for breakfast with either coffee or tea, and rice with random vegetables, fresh fruit from our fruit trees (like mangoes and lychees), and some sort of meat (usually with eyes). Oh, yes, it’s authentic Chinese. Tonight I ate small squid. Whole. They were really quite delicious. I have also eaten, and enjoyed, jellyfish. Our fish also are put on the table whole, and we cut meat from them (eyes, head, tail, etc). But it’s all very good. In Sheung Shui the other day, I saw the market where the cook usually buys our meats because meat is cheaper in such markets. It’s very interesting; Chinese like their food fresh, so all of the fish are flopping in buckets of water and there are frogs and turtles in cages and such. And pig heads and intestines hanging everywhere (Chinese don’t believe in wasting anything)…it’s a great experience! So that’s about my food; I’m eating well and enjoying all of it.

Besides church, I am attending staff devotions each morning at 6:30, prior to going on-duty at 7:00.  Also, a church group is coming to fix the staff dinner and offer a service later this evening (different groups come each Sunday evening), which everyone is looking forward to.  So here’s my schedule, just to let you know what generally goes on in a day here.  I wake up at 6:00 to get ready, then devotions at 6:30.  I go to the Upper Ark at 7:00 to begin the morning routine: waking the children, getting their breakfast eaten, changing Hephzibah’s diaper and bathing her, teeth brushed, clothes on, etc…  It is really quite remarkable — this all takes only around 30-40 minutes.  Then it’s playtime!  Under normal circumstances (when swine flu isn’t terrorizing Hong Kong), Timothy, Hephzibah, and Nancy all attend special schools, but for now we just play educational things all day.  That is really the toughest part of the job — keeping them all entertained and learning for several hours.  But it’s fun!  I take a break for my own breakfast from 8:30ish-9:00, the children get a drink at 9:30 then use the toilet, their lunch is at 12:00 (and then toilet), staff lunch is 1:00-2:00, drink and toilet for the children at 2:30, and their dinner is at 5:00.  Bathtime begins around 4:30.  I’ve bathed the three younger children the past 2 nights and gotten them ready for bed (pajamas on, etc).  They all love bathtime, even though it’s very quick.  Timothy, in particular, loves water to a fault (and loves to turn on the shower at inopportune times, which gets him into trouble!).  Hephzibah just giggles the entire time; I can’t help but giggle along with her, it’s so funny.  I’m glad that I’ve been able to jump in and take on responsibilities with the children so quickly, and I’ve already learned so much, including how to put on Shan’s cochlear implant devices.  They go to bed at 7:00, though they usually play a little in their rooms before sleeping and often wake up before 7 in the morning to play quietly.  I go off duty at 6:00 and eat supper with the staff from 6-7:00.  I go to bed around 10:00.  So that’s my typical day here at Holf!

As I mentioned before, none of the children speak.  There’s plenty of giggling, Nancy and Timothy frequently make noises associated with Down’s syndrome, and Shan enjoys hearing herself make noise (and the more she wants attention, the louder she gets!).  We’re trying to get Timothy to say words, and he can say several words when prompted (say ‘shower’ Timothy! … ‘wower!’…’shhhhh! … ‘wower!’ — that was the word this evening).  Mostly we communicate by a type of British sign language called Makaton, in which the words are said (so that Timothy and Hepzibah can hear them — they understand most things) as well as signed (for the benefit of Nancy).  Shan also understands some signs, though she hasn’t yet fully grasped the concept of spoken language.  I’ve picked up several common signs already.  It’s quite fun.