The Lenten Discipline of Language Study

My Lenten discipline this year is another Cantonese course.

How's it going, you may ask?

Well, see those guys on bike in the picture?  Can you tell what kind of a road they are on?  Just after I snapped this picture, the guy in the back landed on his butt in the shrubbery.  I didn't have the moxy to take his picture then.

But that's how my Cantonese is progressing. 

One humiliation after another.

So in addition to my still new job as Coordinator of International Student Affairs and Mekong Mission Assistant Coordinator (that mouthful wonderfully depicts both the fascinating range and woefully wide disarray of tasks which I am still sorting out) I am also hauling my derriere over to the Tai Wai subway station, changing trains twice, fighting the rush hour hordes to get to my two hour intensive Cantonese class on Wednesday and Friday nights.

It's not called an intensive class, but for me it is.  Very.

I sit through two alternately agonizing and comical hours of attempting to get my mouth, my memory and my mind's eye to work together to string together a comprehensible sentence in Cantonese, while a dozen other students, mostly a couple of decades younger than I, look on in either deep sympathy or undepleted boredom (I can't always tell which).

I am that person I do not, ever, want to be.  The worst in the class.

Afterwards, I take the three train lines back to Tai Wai walk the 15 minutes back to our home, and lie awake for a couple of hours, unwanted fragments of Cantonese crowding my head.

Researching the meaning of Lenten disciplines, I found this quote:
 "A discipline won’t bring you closer to God. Only God can bring you closer to Himself. What the discipline is meant to do is to help you get yourself, your ego, out of the way so you are open to His grace." (James Kushiner)

Each Wednesday and Friday night Cantonese class I am reminded how damned full of myself I really am. How much pride I take in my word choice, nuance, powers of communication, knowledge. Maybe, little by little, there is some important emptying going on with me this Lent.

So, today, as I was walking down the hill from the seminary, I had a two and a half minute conversation with our street cleaner.  In Cantonese.  And she seemed pleased to listen to me sputter out my responses.  I've been smiling ever since.

The guy on the bike in the picture? He fell, but he got up and rode on.

How is your Lenten discipline going?

"Let this same mind be in you that you have in Christ Jesus, who... emptied himself...  in human form, he humbled himself..."       Philippians 2:5-8

Truth English Bible Club takes a nosedive...

After a GREAT start to our Truth English Bible Club three weeks ago, we had a totally out of control "club meeting" last week.

We do the same story two weeks in a row, first with group A, then with Group B.  Group B is, shall we say, a bit challenging?  More than a bit?

The first two meetings (Unit One) we focused on the Palm Sunday story, and while we could tell that Group B was a little feisty, we thought things went pretty well that first week with them.

The second two meetings (Unit Two) were about the Last Supper.  We had some yummy bread and grape juice, and had borrowed the chalice from the church to show them the cup we use in our church services. We did a pretty amazing craft, borrowing from Leonardo DaVinci's "Last Supper", they colored "Da Vinci-esque" pictures and filled in the names of the disciples, and then in a grand finale, I had them put glitter glue on the pictures of the bread and wine: gold glitter for Christ's body in the bread, red glitter for Christ's blood in the wine.  (Ah me, where DO I get these fits of inspiration?!?)


Little did we know these 9 and 10 year olds (of Group B) would race around the room with their full cups of grape juice and practically riot during the jaunty marching music of "We are Marching in the Light of God."  And did they understand even one word of the English Bible story I was trying to share with them?  Methinks not.

Group A sat long enough to enjoy a cup of grape juice. 

Hmmm, We are definitely going to a refine a few of our plans before the next meetings (April 13th & 20th).  May I ask you all to double up on those prayers for me, for all the kind ministry mentors from the church (and now we have an experienced teacher from the Netherlands who's helping us, as well, yippee) , and especially, please pray for those fascinating, complicated, maddening, beautiful kids God is calling us to serve :)


"Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God." -- Jesus, quoted in Luke 18:16
(this is the old King James version, and you'll forgive me if I say this past week, we did indeed SUFFER the little children...)

Stewardship 101: What's it all for?

A new semester has begun at LTS (the Lutheran School of Theology in Hong Kong) and Wayne and I have been busy preparing for classes!  He's the full time professor, teaching Marriage and Family Care as well as Christian Counseling and Spiritual Discernment.  He also has a boatload of students to counsel, meetings to attend, and student papers and theses proposals to guide & edit.

I'm a part-time lecturer at LTS. This semester I've been asked to teach a course on Stewardship, so my first lectures have been on stewardship in service of God's Mysteries. Here are some of the mysteries we get to take part in here in Hong Kong:

The Lutheran parish Wayne serves as sacramental pastor is located in an area of Hong Kong sometimes referred to as "the City of Tears" because of the  poverty, unemployment, familial disruptions, and suicides which take place there. This Lutheran church reaches out to families and special needs adults to give a new vision of God's kingdom, where Jesus teaches us that the least among us is is actually the greatest.

Meanwhile, at the church where I serve as sacramental minister, we are beginning to lay down plans for a deeper inreach to the Lutheran Primary School (where the church is located), through in-school and after-school English and Bible Story programs.  The school has a reputation for serving special needs children and children who commute from Mainland China, so we at the Lutheran church which meets at the school have a unique opportunity... and unique challenges.


What's it all for, the good stewardship of all the resources with which God has blessed us?

To serve those whom many in the world consider to be small and insignificant, and to be part of God's mysterious way of making them, and our relationships with them,  the most important and significant of all.

"Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God's mysteries."
            -- St. Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians 4:1

3 Worship Services + 2/3 Blessing + 6 Continents = 1 Family of God

After practicing, practicing, practicing my Cantonese for Sunday's liturgy, I was ready to lead worship with gusto on Sunday.... only to stumble and stutter who knows what language into the microphone.  For a grand finale, I stood up to give the closing blessing... and promptly forgot one whole person of the Holy Trinity (All were blessed in the name of the Father and the Spirit only... so, my good theologian friends... did the congregation  receive a whole blessing or only two thirds of a blessing?) It reminded me painfully of my earliest days as a seminarian, when I would garble the invocation and forget whole parts of the liturgy.

Afterwards, instead of giving me their usual lovingly exaggerated compliments, "Oh your Chinese is getting so good!",  my kind Chinese parish members instead said, " Oh, you are working so hard on your Chinese!"

Indeed.

But here's an amazing thing I realized on Sunday night... this weekend I worshiped with people from all six (inhabited) continents!  At the prison worship on Saturday we had prisoners from South America and Africa, on Sunday morning we had lots of folks from Asia and one from North America (yours truly) and on Sunday night (at Amazing Grace in Kowloon Tong) a couple of Germans and an Australian couple joined in with the mostly Filipina congregation, to make the intercontinental worship complete.


In God's house we need not be segregated by our language abilities, or lack thereof.

⁷Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. ⁸The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." ⁹So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.   -- Paul writing to the Galatians, chapter 3

No climbing

I'm feeling a little bit like this little boy at the Chi Lin (Buddhist) Nunnery... can you see the "no climbing" sign?

I was ready to "climb" into teaching a new course at the seminary... a class on Christian Saints... only to discover that not enough students have signed up for this particular class.

Is it because the class is scheduled for 8 a.m.? Is it because it's a course that doesn't meet any graduation requirements? Is it because Protestant students have already been trained to be utterly skeptical of "saints"?

Or is it because everybody in my last semester's course passed the word, "Whatever you do, do NOT take a course from this teacher..."  :)     :/
(pathetic smile, or grimace)

Did you know the Bible spends a whole chapter telling us to think about the lives of those who have gone before us as part of the great "cloud of witnesses" who surround us, and (I would say) cheer us on, like the support teams who stand along the side of the road, cheering on marathon runners?

Christian Saints include Mary, Peter, the Desert Fathers & Mothers, Augustine, Francis, and one of my personal favorites Teresa of Avila -- she who is famous for praying to God with such intimacy that she crisply told Him one day: "If this is the way you treat your friends, it's no wonder you have so few!"

Ok, thanks for indulging me in a posting of self-pity.  I'll report a bit about Wayne's classes soon (yes he has some amazing classes he's starting today, in pastoral care, and everybody is flocking to take those classes.  I'm very happy for him, I really am,  (more pathetic smiles and grimaces)  :)  :/

I, meanwhile, re-started my paying job at the Hoppy Palace Phonics Center yesterday (yes, my little students were thrilled to see me which did my pathetic ego some good) AND I get to start with the Lutheran school kids in two weeks, so I'm looking forward to that, too.

Blessings to YOU in your work and callings, with all of the ups and downs, and "no climbing" signs we all seem to endure.

  Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.   --  Hebrews 12:1

Monkeys, leaves, and long noses

My 51 year old body is still protesting from endless rounds of "Ten Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed"  during small group time with first graders at the Lutheran School this week.  I tried to teach them the story of Moses (we were on the letter M) with a picture Bible but... (remember, their English is VERY limited, and several of them have various special needs making it difficult for them to concentrate in ANY language)... and so in no time at all, I had Jenny Lo standing on the chair and Jackie Chu shoving Jackie Wu, and Yui Yui dismantling the plastic Christmas tree which was still occupying a corner of our little-used English room.  So I had to give up on Moses for the time being (sorry, Lord) and got them to participate in a very rousing round of "Ten Little Monkeys".  They were particularly good at the jumping part.  And the falling part.  And the shouting part.  All in all, a big success.

Doing crayon leaf rubbings (letter "L") with the second graders was also a pretty big hit.  Many of these children seem to have so little interaction with nature, living as they do in high rises surrounded by concrete covered hills and paved playgrounds.  So it was (I think... I'm never totally sure about these things) a real novelty for them to take real leaves, cover them,  and watch as patterns, shapes and veins emerged as they rubbed their crayons over the surface of the paper.

This almost made up for last week when I was teaching "N is for nose" to the younger, better educated children whose parents can afford to give them special English lessons at the Hoppy Palace.  Suddenly one of my gorgeous little four year olds looked at me in a fit of inspiration and said in a tone of absolute sincerity and wonder, "Your nose is so long.  Why is your nose so long?" And then she burst into a peal of laughter and pleasure at being able to express this new discovery so well.  I could only reply, "Honey, because that's how God made me."

We westerners DO have pretty long noses from an Asian perspective and she was only being honest.

"Be wise my child,
and bring joy to my heart."  -- Proverbs 27:11

Advent 3: Speaking in (Cantonese) Tongues

This was the week I took a deep breath and finally did part of the liturgy in Cantonese:
Before Holy Communion:
Tjuu yuu leih moon tuhng jeui!   (The Lord be with you!)
and the Words of Institution:
Ngoh Juu yeso bei my dik la yaht yeh... (in the night our Lord Jesus was betrayed...)
and the Benediction:
Yuhn chunglahng dik Juu Seuhngdai, Sihng Fuu, Sihng Tzee, Sing Lihng... (May God bless you, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit...)

My face burned hot as I did it, because I knew I was stumbling and bumbling with these words, even after months of practice.

But I got at least a dozen comments telling me "very good!" on the Cantonese liturgy, and I suddenly got warmer smiles from people of the parish than I've ever gotten before (I've been going there once a month for five months, now).

It was clear to me that my attempt at speaking Cantonese was more important to everybody than my well-crafted sermon -- which had, of course, been given in English.

It goes to show you how important it is for people to hear God's word in their own language, even if (in my case) that language is very poorly spoken.

Another lesson in humility for me.

I guess that's exactly what's behind God humbling Himself & sending his Son into the world as a baby -- the incarnation. There is no more universal language among human beings, than that of a baby, looking with big eyes on a brand new world, and that of a family, celebrating the birth of a child.

Advent blessings to you all!!!

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God... emptied himself  taking on the very nature of a servant, being born in human likeness..."  -- Philippians 2:6-7

Climbing up and falling off

OK so maybe it wasn't the best idea for me to step on a rickety stool to teach kids the meaning of "up" and "on".  But I think they now fully understand the words "fall off," as I provided them with a memorable example.  The second graders screamed for joy.  (I'm fine, except for my ego, thanks for your concern).

They loved it when I sprayed them with water to teach them the meaning of "rain", and by extension,  "rainbow".

I meant to teach them the word "rug" and had spent way too long the night before trying to find the right little clip art illustration.... only to have one of my helpers walk around and have everyone write "rag" next to the picture of the rug.  I didn't have the heart (or the time) to correct them all.

The 6th graders looked at me stonily when I tried to get them to belt out the words to the BIBLE song during the morning assembly. But later in the afternoon, three of the 6th grade girls visited me in the English room and tried to ask me all kinds of things in their fledgling English, giggling & egging each other on.  I'm sure they were actually supposed to be somewhere else, but it was good to have them come.

Relationships are developing.  Maybe the children are learning some English phonics.  Maybe the whole school will be able to sing a few fun Bible songs by the end of the year.  Maybe some students will become curious enough to visit the church which meets at their school.  Maybe "in, with and under" the English language skills, Bible stories, songs, and mini-dramas (planned and unplanned!) they will hear a Word of Life with deep meaning for themselves and their families.

Today's Bible verse (duly recited in both Chinese & English during the morning assembly) was this one:

^"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 

I really believe that!  Even falling off of chairs can be used to good purpose when you are working as one of God's agents.

kittens, lizards, mold: the letters K,L,and M

Next week's letter for my 2-6 year old's at the "Hoppy Palace" is the letter "L" so we are doing lambs and lions and... lizards maybe? This beauty was sunning himself near our home recently.

My work at the Hong Kong Hoppy Palace English Phonics Center is always interesting. My teacher's aid doesn't speak much English but she does the scheduling (and most of the talking to parents). This past week, she told me there would be a maximum of 6 kids in my two year old class (yes, you are reading it correctly, I have Chinese two year olds... and younger!... whose parents sign them up for hour-long sessions of intensive English lessons)... so I carefully prepared 7 sets of materials just in case... only to have 8 babies actually show up. I felt quite self-righteously indignant with my aid, & ran out through the little lobby in my stocking feet (no shoes allowed in the classrooms) to scramble for an 8th set of kittens with mittens (last week was the letter "K") and slipped and fell, splat, right on my rear end, which thankfully is ample enough to cushion the fall, but it still hurt. And yes, there were enough witnesses to hurt my sorry little ego as well.

Also, I had just recovered from my fall the previous week from the slippery green slime on the sidewalk in front of our house. Because of all the rain, heat & humidity, everything outside is covered with the most astonishing array of green molds . A few things inside too: I was horrified to open the closet in my office and find my black leather jacket covered in dusty rings of gray fungi.

Tropical molds provide a good parable I think, for the creeping sin of self-righteousness, and the slippery sin of a "better than thou" attitude.

So anyway, I'm grateful for my calcium-laden ice-cream habit which I'm sure helped me not to break any bones... I'm thankful for ibuprofen, which helps get me moving these last few mornings... and I'm indebted to Church tradition which leads my family & me through weekly confession of sins...

¹⁶ For I said, "Do not let them gloat
or exalt themselves over me when my feet slip."

¹⁷ For I am about to fall,
and my pain is ever with me.

¹⁸ I confess my iniquity;
I am troubled by my sin.

-- Psalm 38:16-18

Ups, Downs, and Typhoons

We were so happy to pick our youngest son up from the airport where he had successfully navigated the multi-legged trip to Wisconsin and back to Hong Kong. Not bad for a 16 year old.

We gave him one whole day of rest then signed him up to go with Wayne for an overnight camping adventure with Inner City Ministries. Since he will be teaching a course about Youth & Family Counseling this fall, Wayne thought it would be good to get some hands on experience with the ministries already in place here in Hong Kong. This particular event was with youth whose families are immigrants to Hong Kong from Nepal.

Do you notice anything funny about the way Wayne is holding his arm in picture #2? After falling hard during one of the first activities, he soldiered on for several more hours until everyone convinced him it might be good to go see a doctor.

Yes, indeed, the arm is broken.

We also experienced our first typhoon winds just last night. I slept through it but for some reason (!) Wayne was awake and heard the winds roaring and tree branches falling around us.

In the morning, the city sweepers were already hard at work cleaning up the debris. Typhoons seem to be just part of the standard summer experiences here in Hong Kong.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

--Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians 15:58 (Today's New International Version)

Hoppy Palace #5 - Teaching Babies to Read

For the past few weeks I've been teaching hour long phonics lessons to 4 and 5 year olds at the Hoppy Palace Reading Centre. This is a picture of a friend's child, not one of my students, but she is exactly the age & vitality of the children I've been dealing with these past few weeks. And I've actually been enjoying it!

Isn't she beautiful? They all are!

Right now though, my stomach is churning because in a few short hours I will have the first of the Baby Phonics "trial" classes... one group of two year olds and a second group of one year olds, all coming with either a parent or a "helper" for a full HOUR of English phonics & reading lessons.

Much to the consternation of my family members, I have been practicing today's key songs all morning, including one of my personal favorites, "Elephants have Wrinkles".

The center piece of the class is flashing word and picture cards in front of the children, while making siren noises. I am just grateful that video recordings are strictly "verboten", so none of you will ever get to see me doing that.

I have been inquiring of the Lord just what "the Plan" is, having me, with all my experience in Sunday School, Confirmation, and Adult Education, involved in this kind of teaching, which I actually know very little about. Maybe there will be some doors opening for sharing something of God's love for these children & their parents, their domestic helpers (aka maids & servants)who often are the ones bringing these wealthier children to class, or maybe I can be a grace in the lives of my co-workers or even my boss here at the Hoppy Palace.

But right now there aren't just butterflies to contend with -- it feels like caterpillars are having field competitions in my stomach!

As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
until he has mercy upon us. -- Psalm 123:2
Kyrie eleison!

The god of money

Yesterday I found out that these little altars we pass everywhere in the alleys of Hong Kong are not actually something in honor of the ancestors (which I had thought they were!) but quite a few of them are specifically in honor of the "money god". Or at least that's what our Sino-religious -studies -just-accepted-an-offer-to-teach-at- Yale-scholar friend told us. "Yup," she said, peering down to look at the inscription on one of the little red-light lit niches in the quaint, ramshackle town of Tai Wai (within walking distance of our home in Shatin). "This is in honor of the money god, hoping good fortune and money will come to this little shop."

I felt quite superior for all of about 5 seconds and then thought, well at least these folks are being honest about it. Whereas I have been having trouble getting to sleep, worrying about our house that hasn't sold yet and what should the fair listing price be.

The chief topic of my conversations with God lately have been much more about what He's doing to get my house sold than about, say, better ways to serve the poor and the lost of this world.

I awakened extra early just this morning... was it to worship up at the seminary for Morning Prayer? Was it to see my son off to school? Nope, usually I sleep through anything like that. I got up early in order to .... call the U.S.A. & talk to our realtor about the sale of the house.

And guess what's been the desktop picture on my computer for these last five months... yup, there's that big colorful picture of the house that we're still hoping to make a little bit of money on...

I may not be offering oranges and electric lights to the god of money, but he is certainly getting my thoughts and my time.

Maybe it's time for a dethronement.

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. -- Jesus, according to Luke 16:13

Studying Cantonese in Hong Kong

Wayne and I never guessed we would ever go to China, in fact I distinctly remember saying that Chinese is one language I would never want to have to learn... and here I am just beginning Cantonese!

For the uninitiated... most of the Chinese world speaks Mandarin, a wonderfully difficult language with four tones, so that if you pronounce a word exactly right but say it in the wrong pitch, you can mean to say a perfectly innocent thing and you actually end up saying something indescribably vile which will cause looks of consternation and shock on the face of your local Chinese friends and shopkeepers.

However, since we are living in Hong Kong, here (as well as in most of the immigrant "Chinatowns" of the world) people speak Cantonese. Which doesn't have four tones. It has nine. So that's what I'm studying twice a week, in the evenings, through the New Asia--Yale-in-China Chinese Language Center (I always did want to be associated with Yale University... and here's my big break!)

I'm studying up for the third session tonight... been taking it just long enough that I should be able to understand a few words when spoken to. Last time the teacher asked me (in Cantonese) if I was an English teacher and I responded that I was an American husband. Hardy har har, everyone just had a fine time with that one.

I and another person about my age are clearly the worst in the class. Part of that may be due to the fact that the others in the class have lived in Hong Kong a longer period of time already, and most know quite a few words of basic objects. I just hear a roar in my ears when the teacher directs a question at me, and for the first time in decades, find myself praying for the school day to be over so that the teacher can't call on me again. sigh.

I take to heart the wise words of the Old Teacher of Ecclesiastes 5:2

Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.

Amen to that.

Hoppy Palace Training - Part 2

“Be wise my child, and bring joy to my heart;
then I can answer anyone who treats me with contempt. (The Proverbs of Solomon 27:11)

I’m totally exhausted after a full week of “Hoppy Palace Phonics” training. My major short-falling seems to be my slowness with the flashcards, which is true, but do I really aspire to greatness at speed-shuffling flashcards in front of two year olds? The critiquing teacher (cute young Canadian gal) told me I looked nervous. Well, yes, actually I was! Put me in front of 500 people for a lecture or a sermon & I rise to the occasion, but put me in front of 6 two year olds.... who are supposed to be learning phonics… and I’m all fumbling fingers.

The critique came from the same teacher who handed out two pencils each - unsharpened at least, but still -- to these same two year olds, and asked them to wave them and pound them and point them up to the sky... we lasted about 6 seconds before little DiDi almost put out her daddy’s eyeballs. (One of the bonuses of teaching on Saturdays is that while the littlest students during the week are usually accompanied by their live-in-nanny/helpers, on Saturdays the little ones often come with their Daddies, and it is an exquisite treat to see these stern, hard-working, professionally elite Dads take off their polished shoes and J-J-Jump up like a J-J-Jack-in-the-Box with their tiny tots. The kids just scream with delight!)

So I met the rest of the teachers and all nine of them are women in their twenties - Canadian, Canadian-Chinese, Australian, British, and two born and raised in Hong Kong to British parents. They are all slim and funky. So of course that explains why the head guy ("Dr. Lee"... although I have yet to see exactly where his doctorate might be from) that explains why he hired me. I just fit right in. (not).

I've certainly discovered again why God doesn't usually allow 50 year olds to have babies. To sit on the floor cross legged, jumping up and down for our song interactions... whoa.

This week we had one class where three boys wet their pants. Another class where little Lili came in the room… took one look and saw me sitting there… and promptly began to cry. I thought it was stranger-anxiety but then my teaching-teacher helpfully reminded me that Lili had already seen me in action last week, and obviously had recognized me again.

But there are moments of incredible sweetness. Like when little Ho-Ho wrapped his arms around my knees and said, “I love you teacher.”

Give me some moments of grace like these and I think I might be able to go on for years.

Job Interview

"[your Father in heaven] causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." -- Jesus (as quoted in Matthew 5:45)

I may have mentioned that I’ve been looking for a part-time job to supplement Wayne’s ELCA Global Mission salary (and a huge thanks to churches & individuals who give to ELCA Global Mission… without you we could never be here!)

So while Wayne is working full time as a professor of Pastoral Care at the Lutheran Theological Seminary, I’m looking for a part-time job for these reasons:
a) to help pay our bills including two college tuitions
b) to use my God-given talents and experiences to make a difference in the world
c) to be able to give generously to God’s work here in Asia and back in the States
d) to learn about, and become more a part of the local community here in Hong Kong

(the order of importance of these four things vary greatly, you understand, depending on the circumstances!)

And so it came to be this week, that I, a middle-aged matron, holder of a Master’s degree in a not so very sought-after field, have managed to snag an interview at a children’s center.

It is drizzling a bit the morning of the interview. I meant to leave early, yet somehow it is still pretty much the last minute when I discover my fabulous new umbrella won’t stay up. Fortunately, Wayne has seen to it that we are well supplied with umbrellas, and I find an extra. Off again in the now driving rain, I walk very quickly to the metro station, only stepping in one large puddle on the way.

The train has just left which means waiting precious minutes for the next one. In the train, out of the train, then I’m racing up the steps of the MongKok station with ten minutes to spare. Has the rain lessened? No, actually, it's a mini-monsoon now. I have to flag down a taxi and actually get one, only to discover the driver speaks no English. "Waterloo DOE" I proclaim, proud of myself for remembering that "doe" means "road" in Cantonese. I show him my damp map. He grimaces, but takes off. I just pray, religious person that I am, just pray he will know where to go. He drops me off at a huge seven- way intersection, pointing down one of the roads. I see no street signs, but splash through the puddles in trust until, voila, I am at 1117 Waterloo "Doe". Enter a little elevator up to the 53rd floor. Breathlessly into a minuscule room, two of the cutest little kids you've ever seen are playing on the floor, anxious looking moms hovering over them, awaiting their child’s turn with the “English tutor” (job I’m applying for). I practically have to step over the children to get to the receptionist's counter, only to realize I have dripped rain all over the floor. The receptionist is kind. She takes my umbrella, shows me where to place my shoes, and says, "You can wait long time."

Not sure what to make of that, I look around for a place to sit. None. I observe the kids and smile, wondering if this is a test to see how well I interact with kids. I am ignored.

Finally after several painful minutes of standing in my stocking feet in the puddle I have just created, I am ushered into another teeny room, the office of the interviewer, where I am given a half hour lecture on the importance of RESULTS and PROGRESS and rigorous TRAINING METHODS (Did I tell you... these kids are 3,4,and 5 years old?)

I nod enthusiastically at what I think are all the right places. The interviewer tells me there is an opening in our area of town for just one day a week, which is beginning to sound like plenty enough time for me with this particular organization.

The interviewer warns me I will need an additional interview if I am to get the job. I find myself wondering what his topic will be for the second interview.

I think I will take the job, if offered, as it pays a very impressive sounding $250 an hour in Hong Kong dollars, and will give me some great opportunities for getting to know families and beautiful children from the “real Hong Kong” instead of just the expatriate community.

The rain has slowed when I leave, and I am able to walk in leisure back to the Mongkok Station. My umbrella works perfectly.

Finding Our Way

If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. – Psalm 91:9-10


Three weeks in Hong Kong and no disasters yet. Just educational experiences.

Cultural Excursions
Last week was a “Mom & me” week with my 15 year old son, as his school didn’t begin until this week. I don’t recommend that you try this at home.

We started the week by going to the Hong Kong Heritage Museum right here near our home, which was pretty much a disappointment… a lot of old documents behind glass. True, a few somewhat murderous looking swords and one extremely cool sculpture of a Buddha with long eyebrows down to the ground. Not sufficient for entertaining said 15 year old.

To make up for it, I told him he could choose our next excursion. I was hoping for Disneyland Hong Kong since I have never, ever, been to any Disneyland. Son pronounced this idea “gay” and we settled on Ocean Park, touted as a combination amusement park and Sea World.

Ocean Park has something like the world’s longest escalator, so that was a good start. Next we came upon this roller coaster thing where you dangle out over the ocean. I kept listening to the one thing I could understand, as we stood in a much too short line – warnings (in Chinese & English)that people with high blood pressure, heart conditions, etc. should not go on this ride. Son was making fun of me continually yet ignored my suggestion that I just watch while he rides alone. So I spent Wednesday night, all night, sleepless, trying to determine whether that tight feeling in my chest was just a residual from the ride or something I should go see a doctor about. Probably good that I had forgotten what the Hong Kong equivalent of 911 is.

I’m fine, thanks for your concern. Looking back, I think it was actually a muscle sprain from hanging on so tightly to the hand grips of the Metro on the ride home. We ended up going home during rush hour and it was madness, about a zillion black haired people squished together into the compartment.

Cooking
So towards the end of the week I was going to cook this nice healthy meal, a beef stew with a minute bit of beef (meat is extremely expensive here), some spinach type stuff, carrots, onions, garlic, and I even found a can of tomato paste to add! Then I made my fatal move: I saw, I purchased, and I added a little packet of hot Sichuan powdered soup starter. Big mistake. So extremely hot, not even hot food lovin’ husband Wayne could eat more than a bowlful. So we mixed in some more water. Then a whole bunch of rice. And potatoes. Nothing helped, now we just had a LOT of leftover hot rice, potato Sichuan soup-stew.

Directions
Ok, those of you who know me know that to say I am directionally challenged is a very kind description of my utter helplessness in finding my way around new places. Or even some places I’ve been living awhile.
Here in Hong Kong I have the added hardship that there is some Chinese thing against straight lines. I think there’s a theory about evil spirits not being able to travel a straight line, so bike paths, roads, walkways all seem to wind and then take inexplicable turns at odd angles.
Then there’s the problem that when I think I can orient myself by, say, the Mc Donalds around the corner or the shop across the street, lo and behold, at the next corner there’s another McDonalds and a jewelry store, pet palace, or handbag shoppe which looks exactly the same as the last one. Each subway stop also seems to have at least two identical bakery shoppes (useful for stress snacking, but not good for finding out which way is home).

Then we have to add the confusion (to me) of traffic which uses the British pattern of driving on the left side, and the fact that the number “four” in Cantonese sounds something like the word for death, so sometimes the fourth floor is missing in buildings, and in the gigantic mall near our home there are escalators that skip floors and floors that comprise different levels.

I have to confess I do not yet know my way dependably to the nearest grocery store (Park N Shop, where you can’t actually park) even though I’ve been at this grocery store on at least 5 different occasions. I think. Then again, it may have been 5 different stores that looked the same.

So, yesterday I did my grocery shopping on-line for the first time (the only way to go, says my new Norwegian acquaintance), and I’m pleased to report it was a success, and I felt very modern and sophisticated. They really did come by in a little white truck to deliver my groceries, and delivery is free! Ok, so I accidentally only got one kiwi instead of the four I thought I ordered and I got a whole case of "beef noodles pots" (I just wanted to try out one) but I now have enough soy milk to last until summer and I didn’t have to schlep it up the hill.

Life is good! God is great! Stay tuned for upcoming reports with a slightly more spiritual bent…

love to all,

Christa