Hello, all!!!
So, we have been here in Hong Kong (hereafter referred to as HK) for 3 weeks now! We have been opening bank accounts, finding an apartment, furnishing the apartment, figuring out the public transport, signing up for classes, going to orientations…seeking out a church, occupied to the fullest. Thankfully, we are now beginning to feel settled. We now have the internet hooked up, and are very excited to have the capacity to communicate with family and friends—you guys!
Do we like it here? Well, it is definitely different from home, but we are acclimating. We were very excited to locate a Pizza Hut in a nearby ‘village’. We are learning a lot: where to make purchases, how to get around, and how to pay our bills in this foreign land. In short, we like it more some days than others; it is a nice place that will just take adjustment time as far as daily life goes.
The praise of our Arrival: God has been very good to us. Thank you so much for your prayers on our behalf! Ezri did very well on the trip over (about a 13 hour flight from California to Hong Kong – 22 hours total). She only slept about 4-5 hours of the entire flight; we only slept 2 hours of the flight! (So goes the life of a parent, eh?!) But she really did great. She got upset and restless a few times, but nothing too insane.
Upon arrival in the HK airport, we waited for the flight attendants to bring us Ezri’s stroller; when they did, a piece was missing: the bar that holds the infant car seat in the stroller! After searching for the piece for 15 minutes, a crew of 3 flight attendants offered to help with our things in order to get us through immigration, as we could not carry the baby and all of our things without the use of the stroller. Thus, we were escorted through an unfamiliar airport. When we got to customs and immigration, there was a long line for non-residents—i.e. us. Our flight attendants spoke with someone working there and they lifted the security band, instructing us to step in front of everyone! We then came to baggage claim, our flight attendant crew still assisting us with our luggage. We were anxious to see if all of our bags actually made it. Jason saw our duffle bag come around the carousel and grabbed it. Not sighting any of our other items, anxiety began to grow—until, at the opposite end of the long carousel, we spotted all 7 of our black trunks, loaded neatly onto dollies waiting for us! (How fabulous!) Jason went and got them while our flight attendants negotiated with a baggage carrying service for us. All this took place in Chinese; praise God for our posse of Chinese helpers! They then escorted us to the customer service/ lost & found and explained our problem with the stroller piece. The airline opted to compensate us the equivalent of $100 US dollars to replace the item! The next big hope was that our pre-arranged taxi would actually be at the exit gate waiting for us. We finally got there and awaiting us was a man with a big sign that said “Case Jason” (they put the family name first here). We were thrilled! We then commenced to walk to our taxi where everything was loaded up to take us to the university—the place we would spend our first 10 days in country. <To say the least, God paved the way for our arrival. Sometimes we are surprised by the ways God uses, but, hey…if we needed to lose one small stroller part to get such royal service, fine with us!>
Finally, just a note about the God whom we serve: Listening to the song Be Still My Soul impressed upon us something to share. The lyrics read as follows:
Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
Be still my soul: the waves and wind still know
His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.
(Lyrics: Katharina A. von Schlegel, 1752).
In Psalm 46:10, we read: “Be still and know that I am God.” The psalmist here is singing a song of God’s great and very real provision; He is a faithful God—be still; He is a friend—cease striving; He is on your side—be still, worry not; you will face grief and pain—be still, be patient; He will order and provide—rest assured; He remains faithful—do not worry; He does not change—rest in Him; the waves and wind obey Him—be still and place your solid and unwavering gaze upon the Lord who is your strength. You will most definitely find a joyful end in Him!! Amen!! What an amazing word from this scripture written into song!
Be encouraged by our awesome God and Father as you go throughout your week! Thank you so much for journeying with us. We love and cherish each of you.
Jason, Melanie and Ezri
Clips of things here in HK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3F-GJRsUnY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkyUxRKUaWM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi2TFaYYp5c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a6MsqjmQx0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SoVGTrcj4k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK63lpYFsU0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBfEAgrYIJ0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZZCRQ50flg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDHAB2oe_Js
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWsMOHvfxgQ
Finally we waved down a taxi driver who dropped us off at the Registrar’s of Persons office and getting the ID took less than 10 minutes. Then we went over to the island to pick up Melanie and Ezri’s visas, they’ve been here on a 90day tourist visa thus far, but will need a 1 year dependent visa to get their HKID (actually Ezri doesn’t need one). The HKID seems to be a combination of the driver’s license and social security card in the states. The HKID is required of all residents here over 30 days. Actually the trip to immigration wasn’t all that bad either and probably lasted less than an hour overall. We capped the evening off with our first trip to Starbucks since we’ve been here, we all split a Green Tea Frappucino and Ezri got a taste, which she loved. On the way back home I noted how odd that the drink from Starbucks costed more than I paid for my dinner, but didn’t seem to mind since it tasted better than our dinner. Melanie also remarked about how nice it was that the Starbucks was exactly the same as all those at home, but when you’re in the states that one of the things that really gets in your nerves is that their all the same. Well that’s all for today. Peace.
