Internet, How I Love Thee

What would I do without the Internet?? I have been marvelling at this amazing thing all evening as I have been listening to music on iTunes and streaming from radio stations in the States. I have been reading friends' blogs and catching up on their lives, looking through photos on Facebook, and watching episodes of Monk and Seinfeld on surfthechannel.com. I have to say, it has been nice to watch 'normal' TV once in a while, though a lot of the shows I can't watch from outside the U.S. But I still can do more than I once could.

What would I do without the Internet?? I can talk on webcam for FREE on Skype, message with friends online, upload and organize photos that friends across the world can look at, send e-mails to my parents. I can also manage my finances, look up maps to help me find places in Hong Kong, and even renew and reserve my library books with just a click. I can find out current weather information, read the latest headlines from around the world, and even play Sudoku. I can even, through my connection, access my work files and do work from home, pulling up shared files between myself and others I work with (and don't even get me started on Google Docs ... genius!). And I do each and every one of these things while lying on my bed in the middle of the night, passing the time until I fall asleep.

Ah, Internet. How I love thee.

Tainted Goods

Periodically, Maz and I enjoy splitting a bar of chocolate and having a good old fashioned girls night where we have a long chat and maybe watch a DVD. Yesterday, I went to the local grocery store and purchased a bar of Cadbury’s chocolate (no Hershey’s here). We enjoyed it during our girls night, but then I looked at the newspaper this morning, and the front page headline reads, “Cadbury recalls 11 products after tests reveal melamine” and the list of recalled products includes the one Maz and I just ate. I think it’s probably more a part of the melamine scare and there probably isn’t a toxic amount in the chocolate, but it was still a bit disconcerting to read that 12 hours after consuming the product. And we still have some in the fridge.

If you haven’t been keeping up with the melamine scare in Asia, basically several people watered down milk used to produce baby milk powder with melamine, a chemical used in making plastics and tanning leather. Four children in China have died from the toxin, and thousands of others have been affected. It has caused the children to develop painful kidney stones. Now, melamine traces are being found in other dairy products produced in Asia, so the scare is widening but may also just be partly paranoia.

It’s been making headlines for a while now, and I guess it has now spread to candy products. Some Hong Kong supermarkets have suspended sales of M&Ms, Snickers, and Oreo chocolate candies after tests showed high concentrations of melamine in the products.

Needless to say, it’s a bit odd to have this food scare, which is bringing into question other Chinese made foods. Never a dull moment over here!

Kiddos

Each week I co-lead a Book study for the kids on site, which has been a huge weekly reminder to me about childlike belief. Also, last week the kids put on an open house and recital. Many of them take music lessons in various instruments, and they also have been learning to sing some songs. Sitting there watching them, I just so felt almost like a parent. I just was so proud of them!! They are really amazing kids. They are still kids, and act like kids, but they are also very sweet and lots of fun. I am really glad I've been given the chance spend time with them this year, and am really grateful for their enthusiasm and sweet spirits.

Out of the Black Shadows

Stephen Lungu. Google him. You won’t be disappointed.

Stephen works for an organisation called African Enterprise (google that too). He came to share with our team on Tuesday morning, and I was absolutely blown away, to put it mildly.

Stephen was born in what is now Zimbabwe, and at age 7 his 21-year-old mother abandoned him in a marketplace with his brother. Stephen grew up on the streets, illiterate and uneducated, joining gangs, and performing hate crimes against white people, for whom he had a very deep rooted hate, particularly against believers. At the age of 19, in 1962, leading a well known hate group called the Black Shadows, Stephen had organised the bombing of a nearby bank that predominantly had white clients. As his gang made their way to the bank to plant the bombs, AK-47’s on their backs, they came across a big tent full of people. It was a revival, led by South African believers. Stephen hated believers, so he told his gang to surround the tent and at 7 pm he would give the signal, and they would throw the bombs in and kill as many people as they could. He made this announcement to his gang at 6:55 pm. For the next 5 minutes, as they waited, he had nothing to do but listen. And those 5 minutes changed his life. People looked at him, moving away from him in fear, but as he heard the Good News of JC and His sacrifice, Stephen was changed. He went forward, collapsing at the front, begging for forgiveness and giving his life to the Creator.

He didn’t give the signal to bomb the tent, but another gang came along and decided they would bomb it instead. Hundreds of people were killed, including many of Stephen’s gang members, but he was spared and committed to changing his life. Just in those 5 minutes!! I couldn’t believe that. According to Stephen, every other word out of his mouth was a curse word, every thought he had was of killing white people and he hated everything about the Book, and any time someone crossed him, he immediately gave them a bullet. He was a hard man at 19, and yet in 5 minutes he was delivered from those chains. He still struggled with his hatred of white people, but was adopted into a white family (he attributes this to the Father’s sense of humor). While with that family for 5 years, he learned to read, and received an education. He also grew tremendously under the spiritual leadership of the family. He struggled with his long-lived hatred of white people, but as he told us on Tuesday, “Now I love them! So you can’t get rid of me!”

He also shared that recently he met a little old South African lady, who had been part of that revival. The night he was saved, she and her group had asked the Father for just one gang leader to be saved. Amazing!

Stephen is now one of the leading evange’s across Africa, leading international teams of African Enterprises. He tells his story, and leads others to know Him who have similar backgrounds to his. They place evange’s in buses, bus stops, street corners … anywhere they can. Right now, their major goal is to reach 100% of the children in Rwanda with the Message, ensuring that each has heard it. I’m telling you, this man is on FIRE.

I encourage you to read more of his testimony. He also wrote a book called Out of the Black Shadows. Just incredible what the Father can do!!!

Charity Cone Day!

It never ceases to amaze me how the Father provides.

Each year, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream chooses its favourite local charity, and for one day they offer the public a free scoop of ice cream, of their choice, for a small donation to go towards the chosen charity (in this case, $10 HK, which is about $1.30 US). It’s a great way to raise awareness about the charity, and also a fun way to make some money. Amazingly, a friend of one of our team members works for Ben and Jerry’s, and recommended Crossroads for this fundraising event. Incredible!

So yesterday, 23 September from 12 – 8 pm we were in the six Ben and Jerry’s locations around Hong Kong. We had teams of volunteers signed up to pass out our flyers, help with crowd control, tell people about us and how they can help, and of course eat free ice cream. It was a long, intense day, but definitely a lot of fun. For my part, I was travelling between three of the shops to check on people and snap photos. I was also holding the keys to the locked donation boxes, and had to trek from my location in IFC Mall, in Central on Hong Kong Island, up to Kowloon Tong in Kowloon (mainland side), which is a good 30 minutes on the MTR (in rush hour, no less) to empty the boxes there. The shopping center in Kowloon Tong, called Festival Walk, needed their boxes emptied because they had a rush of school kids come through and the boxes were overflowing! For two hours, they consistently had 60-80 people in line!! And all making donations for their ice cream, towards Crossroads!! Hallelujah!

Unfortunately, however, Typhoon Hagupit was bearing down on us. I know I have explained typhoon warnings before, but we were at T3 all day, and once the warning hits T8, public transport shuts down, and so do the shops. The winds were increasing all day, but we were still sitting at a T3. In IFC Mall where I spent most of my day, there are a series of glass doors leading outside that kept being whipped open and banging so loud, they had to send people to hold them so they wouldn’t hurt anyone. The doors lead out to the ferry pier, so they didn’t have the option of locking them at that time of day.

The signal finally hit T8 around 6:30 pm. The Ben and Jerry’s shops were shut, and myself and our small core team went to the other sites to collect the donation boxes. They were so heavy, but that’s a good thing! We enjoyed an inexpensive but well deserved dinner in a Chinese restaurant in the mall, which had windows looking outside. The rain, from the wind, was literally horizontal. Incredible. The glass doors had big X’s from tape in case they broke, and as I walked outside, I had to walk at angle into the wind to avoid being knocked over. It was intense!

We got home safely, locked up the money, and each headed home to collapse. It was a long day, but worth it because we gained some much needed donations and got our name out there a little more. And hurray for selfless, wonderful volunteers who helped us all day despite the weather! Yay!

More Culinary Accomplishments

A few nights ago, a friend here had a surprise birthday party thrown for her. Her husband had let us know beforehand that she really wanted Mexican food, so we went all out to theme the party for her, complete with a pinata, sombreros, and music. Myself and another Texan, and also an "honorary Texan" offered to be on the cooking team, since we actually know good Mexican food. I opted to make enchiladas, even though I've never made them before (why make them when I can go to Martha's?). I had to track down tortillas, which they do sell in the store, but they are pretty lifeless - nothing compared to homemade, thick fluffy ones back home. I also had to make my own enchilada sauce, which was a little work. After that, I cooked and shredded chicken, diced onions, and shredded lots of cheese. The finished product was pretty yummy, though of course nothing compared to the real thing. I even got myself a Dr. Pepper (imported) for the occasion, since it really rounds out the Tex Mex experience.

In other cooking adventures, I have perfected my baked potato soup, which has quickly become a favorite of Maz's. Also, last night I made a beautiful, and delicious, fruit salad. Yum!

I actually am quite liking to cook. We'll see if I get burned out on it, or perhaps I will continue and graduate to more complicated dishes.

Books!

Today I became card carrying member of the Hong Kong Public Libraries. There are over 40 libraries here, so I have lots of options. Much like the library at home, I can renew and reserve books online, and within the library they have self-checkout, which is wonderful.

I went to the main, central library today in Causeway Bay. It's HUGE! Escalators and glass elevators shooting to the different levels ... I was so happy to see so many books. And of course, all for free, which is a must on my non-existent budget.

It's just one more detail that makes me feel a little more at home here.

The drama continues

This is the continuing saga of my adventures with the creatures of Hong Kong.

Two nights ago I headed up to the far side of the property to the laundry room to collect my clothes. It’s dark back there, and as I made my way across the sidewalk, a very long creature started to cross my path. My very first thought was it was a snake and I stopped. But as it came closer (ignoring me, thankfully) I saw it was in fact a centipede. I’ve only seen a centipede a couple of times before, and those were nowhere near as big as this one. I stared at it out of morbid curiosity. So many legs! And again, it was massive.

Last night, I had yet another of many, many roach encounters. I see at least one almost every day, and I’ve gotten edgy about it now. Every time I think I see movement from the corner of my eye, or I’m lying in bed at night and I feel phantom flicks of my hair (probably just the breeze from the fan), I get tense and worried it’s a roach. And unfortunately, sometimes I’m right. They mainly stay in the bathroom/kitchen area since they tend to come in the windows. (side note: we don’t have central air, and with the intense summer heat, if you don’t crack the windows it’s even more like a sauna than normal, so closing the windows isn’t an option.) Maz headed into the bathroom to get ready for bed, and I could hear her chasing one and subsequently smashing it. I headed in there about 10 minutes later, and there was another one. “It’s the size of a cat!” I yelled to Maz as I dragged her in to kill it for me (and it was! HUGE). She just gave me a look and went after it. It was speedy, and ran all around until we couldn’t find it anymore. I decided I could wait for the bathroom. Sidney, our short-term roommate (until her apartment is ready next week) who is from Hong Kong, then went in, and a moment later she called out to me. The roach was back, and she is somehow more scared of roaches than me (hard to imagine). I couldn’t get at it to smash it, so I scrounged in the kitchen and found Raid. I sprayed the roach, but he got away before I got a good hit. There was an all-out battle raged as I chased it around, with Sidney jumping around behind me. It ran behind things, up the wall, skittered across the toilet, and started flying (that’s right, I said FLYING ... a nightmare come true). Out of pure luck, in all its haste, it flipped on its back and during its temporary disablement I gassed him with the Raid (by this point Maz was out of bed laughing her head off at us). Sidney clung to me, yelling to gas him some more. So I did. I probably used enough Raid to kill three or four roaches, but oh well. And then I smashed him with a shoe. And then flushed him down the toilet, just to make sure. Sidney told me I was brave (funny, I know), Maz laughed some more, and I went back to my room. A while later I came out and as soon as I walked into the bathroom, the Raid fumes hit me. It will take a while for the smell to go away, since we were spraying all over the place trying to catch the roach. But I think it’s worth it.

Suzy Homemaker

While I have been here, I have developed cooking skills. Who knew I could cook? And while I don’t want to do it every night, I actually quite enjoy taking something from scratch and making it into something, and something good! And when I cook, I can control what is in the dish, meaning it’s always something I like. Even better!

Recently, I’ve mastered potato soup. It’s legendary. I have also learned to make killer banana bread and banana chocolate chip muffins, as well as Vietnamese spring rolls and quiche. Of course, there’s always the usual pasta dishes, and I make a mean omelette too.

Last night I made Shepherd’s Pie, and I didn’t even really use a recipe. Amazing! And mine was a roaring success! Sidebar: Why isn’t Shepherd’s Pie more popular in America?? It’s so delish! I think it may have to do with the name, so maybe we can find a more suitable-for-Americans name for it because it’s really a simple but yummy dish, with meat, carrots, onions, tomatoes, and potatoes.

This recent burst in culinary excitement has prompted Maz to call me Suzy Homemaker. I’m just glad I’m finally learning some cooking skills!

My Day in Central

Two long-time members of our team here were married yesterday in a beautiful wedding at their church in Central. It was especially fun because, since our whole team knows them, we were all in attendance. It's great to see all these people, whom I have only ever known in their everyday clothes, get all dressed up for a big occasion.

Debbie and Craig (the couple getting married) hired a bus to transport us all across town so we wouldn't be burdened with the public transportation. Road trip!

The wedding itself was beautiful, and the reception following was a brief afternoon tea - very casual.

After the wedding was over, five of us did the Hong Kong thing and smooshed into a taxi to head to IFC (a very central point in the area). Once there, we tumbled out of the cab and made our way into the tower in search of food. Unfortunately, being the area it is, prices can be a bit steep but we eventually found a spot that satisfied our hungers and wallets. Central is a big, busy, and often crazy place to be, which I actually quite like. We pushed through crowds to get places, and finally joined the massive line of people to get on the bus home. Because of the crowds, we were left in standing room only, in our heels, for the 45 minute ride home, which wasn't terribly comfortable. Oddly enough, though, I ran into someone I know on the bus, a lady with a charity here whom I had met with last month to talk about our donations to her organisation. Small world!

Well, that was my adventure for the weekend. My next one will be on Sunday when I go to get a library card. There are lots of libraries here, but the central library has six floors and so many books! I'm excited.

Misadventures in Mong Kok

Because she is often not able to travel much (due to chronic illness), Maz doesn't go into the central city parts of Hong Kong much. So today, when she said, "Want to go to Mong Kok?" I jumped at the chance the go with her. (I make it into the city at least once a week, but I've never had much opportunity to explore with Maz.)

She needed to purchase art supplies for the kids at a stationery shop she had heard about in Mong Kok. Mong Kok is known for being a shopping district, and is always quite crowded. In fact, Mong Kok has the highest population density in the world.

We boarded a red mini bus, the cheapest way to get there, from in front of the Crossroads site, on Castle Peak Road (red mini buses are smaller buses, holding 16 people, and they run on no fixed schedule and only keep a loose route, you pay cash, hail them like a taxi, and alert the driver - hardly ever an English speaker - when you are ready to get off). Once we saw Mong Kok out the window, we got off the bus when some others called the driver to stop, and Maz oriented herself and we set off.

Knowing the shop was on Sai Yeung Choi Street, we cut across the roads, weaving through masses of people, and found the street. We started the trek in what we thought was the right direction, keeping our eyes peeled for a stationery shop. We were momentarily distracted by two men fighting, to which an ambulance was later called (it's actually very unusual to see Chinese people fighting like this). Maz had the phone number for the shop, and rang them to see if we were heading in the right direction, but the person on the other end spoke little English, so it didn't help. Maz then stopped in another shop to ask directions, but again, the language barrier halted any conversation.

A man handing out flyers for a new French restaurant in the area tried to point us toward where he thought a stationery shop was, but we couldn't find anything. Standing now in the goldfish market, I decided to call my Chinese friend, Amy, who lives in the area to see if she could help. (She has been very helpful to me in the past with directions, and she speaks English very well.) Amy came to the rescue, directing us back to Sai Yeung Choi Street, giving landmarks and how many minutes walk it would be to the shop. Within 15 minutes we arrived at the Chung Nam Book and Stationery shop, which had 3 levels of stationery items, including lots of art supplies. Hallelujah! Thanks, Amy!

After the search and subsequent shopping were over, we were starving (it was after 8 pm) and said, "Let's eat at the first place we see." We walked out of the stationery shop, and there was the bright shining sign for KFC (they're popular here). I can't remember the last time I ate at a KFC, but my hunger didn't think that was a problem, so we walked down into the KFC (since everything is built so tightly in HK, things are often in basement levels, or built on top of each other).

Maz looked at the menu, and said, "They don't have fries. How odd." Of course, they do have fries, they were just waffle fries, which she had never before heard of. She was convinced she wouldn't like them, even though I kept trying to tell her it's the same as french fries, but when she saw her other side item choice was rice with mushroom gravy, she ventured out for the waffle fries. She examined them, then popped one in her mouth ... and liked them. Then she asked me, "So this is a normal thing, waffle fries?" And I was able to educate her a little more on American culture.

We then made our way through the crowds again to the MTR, headed two stops down to Jordan, and found our way to another mini bus for the ride home. Mini buses have a digital readout where passengers can see the speed. Once the meter hits 80 (km per hour, not miles), the meter beeps. Our mini bus driver took us up to a whopping 113, careening around corners, with each of us holding on to the handles on the seats so as not to go flying off. We made the journey quickly back to the Gold Coast, departed, and were home.

It's nights like this I feel so far removed from life at home, and its ways and culture. I can't get over how different my experiences are here, and just how adventurous life is in such a place as Hong Kong.

Mong Kok

Stationery Shop

Goldfish Market

Red Mini Bus