Year of the Rat Begins
We got out yesterday to snap a few pics of the New Year’s decorations. Melanie has been sick the past few days (stomach virus), but she went to the doctor today and hopefully will be back to her old self here in a few days. I’ve been on full-time baby duty and it’s wearing me out, not to mention I’m not getting any school work done. About the photos, there are orange bushes everywhere that have some special meaning (which I don’t know exactly). There are red packets in which you give money to others (usually kids) as a blessing for the New Year. Flowers are being sold galore, not sure the exact meaning. Ancestor worship is still pretty big here although it’s hard to tell exactly where it applies and what’s going on publicly. Hopefully by next year, we’ll have someone who is able to explain some of the traditions, superstitions and meanings of all the flowers, oranges, candy, red packets, fish symbols etc. Anyway, Lion dances are pretty huge events and we’re scheduled to have one at our complex on Saturday so we’re going to try to take a clip and post that. There are also many festivals/carnivals which look vaguely similar to Catholic church picnics in the States. If Melanie is up to it, hopefully we’ll have an opportunity to attend some festivities.
Other than that it’s still pretty cold here. We have no central heat and our walls are concrete so living with no insulation pretty much keeps the inside temp close to the outside temp. Thankfully we have a small space heater, but we primarily use it for Ezri at night. This week has been the first time in the 5 months we’ve been here that it’s actually warmer in Louisville than it is here. Of course the warmer temps are causing severe weather in Louisville (storms, tornadoes and such) and it is only cold (or cool) here, but it’s still seems very unusual to see a higher temp in February in the Midwest U.S. than here in the tropical environments of Asia. A friend mentioned that it might be cool to have a snow here to usher in the Chinese New Year, but we’d like to respond that that would not be cool, in fact that would be miserable, lol. You see, in our short time here we’ve become quite “climatized” and accustomed to the amazing weather and aren’t in a big rush to go back.
But anyway, I got to watch my 2nd UofL Cards basketball game on the internet when they played Marquette in part to www.channelsurfing.net . You’d be amazed how excited I get to wake up early in the morning, get online and watch a game on a 3 x 3 (as in 3 inches by 3 inches) stream that is so tiny you can barely read the scores. I was comforted hearing American accents, around here it’s either British, Australian or New Zealander. Well, thanks for checking in. Until next time.
Jason
Greetings From HK!!
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
leave a comment