Discovering HK during Winter Break

Over winter break, we had a chance to visit some places in HK that we hadn't seen yet.  Hong Kong isn't a very big place, but when you rely on public transportation it takes awhile to get to places.  So, we reserved some of these fun, more touristy places for winter break when Josiah and Shannon were out of school and we could enjoy the whole day together as a family.  If these pictures make you feel like coming here, that's great!  We would love to show you around (what we know so far) and we love visitors!

Cheung Chau Island- This was probably our favorite place we got to visit over break.   It's a fishing village where bikes and walking are the only modes of transportation.  From Central you take a 30-45 minute ferry to the island. 

It's quite busy near the pier, but if you rent a bike (and they're cheap!) you discover the natural beauty of the island.

Cheung Chau

Cheung Chau

There are also several bright and colorful temples on the island, and you'll often find worshippers lighting incense sticks as offerings.    

We happened to catch a man rowing in a dragon boat.  They are narrow, long boats and each year there is a big festival where they have dragon boat races. 

Cheung Chau- Since it's wintertime, we had fun goofing off, playing in the sand, climbing on rocks, and generally had the beach all to ourselves!

This was taken in Cheung Chau, but you can take almost identical pictures at other fishing piers in HK.  This picture shows shallow tanks filled with different types of live seafood. You pick out what you want to take home for dinner or they can make it for you at the restaurant next door, where you see the man standing in the background.  We ate a yummy seafood dinner there.  

The evening ferry ride from Cheung Chau back to Central  provided us a beautiful view of the city.  We don't spend our nights out here since it's about an hour away from our home, but we have to admit that it's a great skyline.

Nan Lian Garden in Diamond Hill- Sometimes it's hazy and cloudy in HK, but this particular day was clear and a great day to visit the garden.  It's a short bus ride from our home and a peaceful, pretty place to spend a couple hours.   

Nan Lian Garden- It has a small man made waterfall and behind it is a vegetarian restaurant.  The kids are "posing" here.

Chi Lin Nunnery in Diamond Hill- A small bridge connects the gardens to the nunnery.  It's quite large and just as beautiful.  At the top of the stairs there is a large Buddha behind the glass window.    

Chi Lin Nunnery- This is the view from the top of the stairs.  Once you actually enter the temple you are not allowed to take pictures. We actually entered during part of the worship, and observed monks chanting and walking in long robes from one part of the temple to another.  There were also traditional offerings of towers of fruit on the tables.  

Plover Cove Country Park- This ocean reservoir is the quietest place we've been to in Hong Kong.  We took the train and bus in order to get here and the ocean views on the way were stunning.  

Bride's Pool Nature Trail- This was a nice, short family trail, but it's hard to believe that it's considered a level one (easy) hike.  Locals like to come to this park to picnic and barbecue, and as we passed barbecue areas we saw many people barbecuing since it was a public holiday.  Most of the time during our hike Ava repeated the words, "Mmm, I want a hot dog."

Bride's Pool Waterfall- The name originates from a folk legend that tells that of a bride who fell to her death here on the way to her wedding. We sincerely hope it wasn't true!

The ride back home was beautiful as well, and we noticed a large white Buddha and temple in the valley.  Can you spot it on the right hand side of the picture?  Although most Hong Kong people are irreligious, the majority religion in Hong Kong is Buddhism. 

Statue Square in Central- Hong Kong used to be under British rule and you can see traces of that through the architecture here.  We stumbled here on accident while trying to find the right train one day on the way to the Peak.  

Bottom of The Peak, one of the biggest tourist attractions in HK

It's hard to tell because we went on a foggy day, but you can ride the tram all the way up to the top.  It's a fairly steep incline and Josiah especially loved it.

The view from the Peak on a clear night.  Although it was a nice view of the city and harbor, the long lines and shopping mall at the top were a turnoff for us.   

This is actually what the old Tai Po railway station used to look like.  It's since been turned into a railway museum, and Josiah's class got to go here during their unit on transportation.  

In Tsim Sha Tsui, on the steps up to the History Museum.  The picture on the steps shows the Terra Cotta Warriors.

TST, in front of the History Museum- It cost $25US to get a museum pass to eight museums for our whole family for a year.  Hong Kong is a lot more kid friendly than we thought it would be.  

The great thing about Hong Kong is that although it's full of skyscrapers, you can easily get out of the city.  One of the other new teachers enjoys hiking, and showed me how true that can be.  We ran about a mile to a trail behind the school and then hiked for an hour where we were rewarded with this view.

Thanks for reading/looking at the pictures!

Glimpses of everyday life in HK

Hi friends and family,

We hope these pictures help you visualize our life in Hong Kong a little better!

The National Flower of HK, these orchid trees haven't stopped blooming since we've been here. They're absolutely beautiful, as are so many other interesting plants and flowers that we can't identify. 

The view that greets us as we get out of the MTR station in Central Sunday mornings on the way to church.  

It's amazing how quickly buildings go up here. When you see a building covered in green like this, you know it's under construction.  There's always something new going up here. 

We also see a lot of these trucks that hold the bamboo scaffolding.  Would you trust bamboo to hold you up?  

These guys do. Can you spot them?  In Central, the business district

Shannon's giving me his best fake smile on a weekend train ride.  It can get pretty packed, but for the most part we've all gotten used to it. 

A Hello Kitty car, of course! Cartoon characaters, such as Sponge Bob and Angry Birds are popular and are easily spotted here.

Mmm, dim sum. This actually isn't something we do everyday, but it is delicious and a must do (in my opinion) while in Hong Kong.  It's best to go with someone that knows what they're ordering, or you might end up ordering chicken feet on accident.  The verdict? They're chewy but flavorful. We actually went with friends this weekend and discovered that Josiah and Ava like chicken feet. A LOT. 

The proof.  That's chicken foot number two, by the way.

Our stroller is truly multi-functional.  Mine can hold Ava, groceries, my wallet and phone, an umbrella, Josiah's backpack, and that doesn't even include the basket underneath! When you don't have a car trunk and you walk a lot, you realize just how wonderful umbrella strollers can be. Did you know that strollers and escalators go well together too?

In Hung Hom, Kowloon.  Buses, cars, and trucks get to Hong Kong island using this underwater tunnel, but you can't tell that you're going underwater and I still have a hard time believing it. And by island, I mean all those buildings you see in the background.  This is where the historical, political, and economic center of HK lies.   

A very typical wet market in Heng On, near Josiah's school 

More wet market- I know, those carrots are huge! I buy the majority of my produce here and the prices tend to be cheaper than the grocery stores.  In my opinion, most of the time they're more fresh too!

 Mong Kok

Mong Kok in "Ladies Market". If you want to find something touristy, you'll find rows and rows of seemingly never ending stalls packed with wares to sell. You can find trinkets, clothing, knicknacks, electronics, shoes,and pretty much everything else you can think of.  There's a reason why people associate Hong Kong with shopping. 

Took this picture over one of the various elevated pedestrian walkways on the way to the Central Piers. It amazes me how immaculate the landscaping is here.  Streets are washed and cleaned often, sometimes even on rainy days!  

Also passed by the Apple store.  Look at that line.  Yikes!  People really like their technology and smartphones here. I'm a bit behind the times, and before coming to Hong Kong refused to jump on the texting bandwagon.  I've jumped.  

Gai Daan Tsai, a popular treat you can find anywhere.  Literally translated, it means little chicken eggs. It's basically a waffle and you tear off the little "eggs" to eat them.  The kids could eat these every day.  They're crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and especially good when they're freshly made and hot.

The building at the end of the street is ICS, where Shannon teaches and where we live

By far, my favorite view near home.  The school is a five minute walk from here, so we like to take family walks along the canal and watch fisherman catch tiny, tiny fish with very long fishing poles.


 Winter Break pictures (aka the touristy stuff) coming soon. Miss you all!

Our First Christmas in HK

Josiah as one of the wise men at school 

Dear Friends and Family,

We have had an exciting Christmas season and it seems like much has happened since our last post (or least since I [Carol] last wrote).  We hope that your holidays have been filled with joy and peace.  One of the songs that Josiah learned for his Christmas play had a line that I cannot get out of my head because it's so catchy and meaningful too.  It says, "Jesus is the reason, we celebrate the season! He is the reason that we sing!"  Whenever Josiah gets to that part of the song, he shouts it out and I love it.  The song will forever be ingrained in my head, and it's been a great reminder this month that this season is indeed about the birth of our King (another line in the same song). :)

For our first Christmas in Hong Kong, we learned that it's surprisingly celebrated in big ways.  When we're in the train station, Josiah starts singing along to "Joy to the World" and "Silent Night", and it's interesting that religious Christmas songs are played more frequently here than in the States.  When I was in Toys R Us a couple weeks ago trying to find little gifts for the kids' stockings, in the background I could hear the story of the wise men being told over the loudspeakers.  And although Hong Kong is a place where there are not many Christians, people in Hong Kong celebrate the secular part of Christmas in some seemingly bigger ways than the US.  There are huge and pretty incredible Christmas decorations in the malls, a very believable Santa that you can take a picture with at one of the bigger malls, and amazing Christmas light shows and decorations that illuminate the night sky on many skyscrapers.  A couple days before Christmas some of the staff at the school  had a Christmas scavenger hunt around the local mall.  The people that participated shared that the most difficult thing to find on the list, which included items such as candy canes, reindeer, snow, and Santa, was a manger, which is pretty telling as to what Christmas means here in Hong Kong.

Christmas lights near the Central piers

Christmas decorations at the local mall (on a weekday)

One of the best gifts we received this Christmas was a visit from Shannon's family friends.  Tammy and Dennis Wilson visited us for four days through Christmas, and it was so nice to have a full house during the holidays.  It made it seem like we were a little closer to home to have friends from home.  Tammy and Dennis were bonus grandparents to our kids while they were here, and made them feel so loved.  We also enjoyed having Christmas Eve dinner with the other teachers that stayed here over break.

Showing off our stockings!

Josh showing off his manger box

Another fun part of this month was that I started teaching Sunday school at church.  I asked the regular Sunday school teacher how I could help, so we decided to teach on a 4-6 week rotation.  This month I taught the kids about the promises that God gave and fulfilled through Jesus' birth.  Every week there have been 10-15 kids and they have ranged from 2-12 years old.  The age gap has been a little bit of a challenge and there have been a few times when a couple of the children haven't spoken any English, but I have really enjoyed it.  Plus, I found out that the person that normally teaches Sunday school hadn't been able to enjoy being in service with the rest of the congregation without teaching the children for eight years!  So I am really glad that I can share the privilege of teaching these kiddos about Jesus with her.  My favorite moments with the kids this month were singing Christmas songs that helped them remember and celebrate God's promises and the little manger that they made and took home.

It has also been a time of joy for me as I've gotten to know other people in the community a little better.  I was really starting to miss family and friends a lot, but God has provided people in our lives that have encouraged us greatly.  The moms' group and the community of people here at the school have all been so wonderful, and it's been really encouraging to have people that I can relate to and share with whether it be as a mom to little ones, a foreigner, or as a Christian.

Goofing off with classmates while waiting for the train

The biggest thing that's put a smile on my face though is that we've had a friend start attending church with us.  One of Josiah's good friends at school has an aunt that takes care of her during the day since both her parents work.  Almost every school day we walk together since we ride the same train, and Josiah and his friend regularly hold hands and have silly conversations as we go home.  I've gotten to know the aunt pretty well because the kids are friends and we've had a couple playdates too.  On one of the playdates we got to talking about church and she shared that she actually lived in the US for awhile to take care of her mother-in-law until she passed away.  During that time she attended church in the US.  She shared, "I was a Christian in the US but not here in Hong Kong."  When I asked her why, she expressed difficulty in finding a church to attend that seemed genuine.  So I asked if she wanted to come to our church and that Sunday she came!  It turns out that our church is actually only a five minute walk from her place in Central.  Although I sometimes get frustrated at how tiring and crowded our commute to church can be, I'm even more thankful now because it's a great little church that's close to where my friend lives and that she really enjoys.  It continues to reaffirm why God put us there and we hope we can continue to build friendships and share our faith with our neighbors and friends.



Thank you so much for your prayers, emails, facebook messages/posts, letters, surprise packages, and love.  We are often reminded that we are immensely blessed to have people like you that will read our long posts, pray for us, and think about us even when we're miles away.  And we remember, especially during this season, that we love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

Merry Late Christmas and Happy Early New Year!

p.s.- Over the break, we plan on sending a couple more posts filled with pictures that capture some everyday glimpses of things we see and experience here, as well as some of the fun touristy things we have gotten to do.  Check back again soon for more pictures and less writing!

Happy November!

Happy post-Thanksgiving everyone!  Hopefully you've recovered from your turkey-induced comas.  We were able to celebrate with a fairly traditional American style thanks to another American tradition, the pot-luck.  We were very pot-lucky and especially thankful for our new friends, even as we were missing those of you in other parts of the world.

I'll try not to overdue it with the 'thanks' since that tends to happen a lot this week (and not quite enough the other 51).  But, I was reminded during a staff devotion this week to remember to be thankful for my salvation, without which all of the other blessings in my life lose their meaning.  And I also just want to say 'thanks' to you.  If you are reading this it is likely because you love us and to most of you we rarely get an opportunity to let you know that we love you too and are ever grateful for your love, care and prayers.

It has been another very busy month (and a half).  Josiah has been balded (oops!)  Ava is filling up her sticker chart for using the potty!  I wrapped up my first coaching experience and spent a week in Xiamen, China.  Carol has been busy learning how to make a few of the delicious things that we cannot find here (bagels for one), and is really starting to build relationships with some ladies.  And I think we ate chicken feet today.  It's difficult to know what you're ordering based on small pictures...

I'll start with a short update on the kids.  Josiah turned 4 a few weeks ago.  We got fake mustaches to share with his classmates.  

If you didn't already see it on Facebook, the guard fell off of the clippers as I was giving Josiah a haircut.  He took it in stride so I'm not going to feel too bad. He is still loving school.  We had our first parent-teacher conference as parents.  It went well, but strange to be on the other side of the table.

Ava is talking a lot more now, and I think we officially started her potty training this week.  Her hair is now long enough to braid.  Ava really likes to pray now.  She usually starts off thanking God for cherry pie and kim pap (which she picked up from Josiah) and then lists everything on the table.    Sometimes her prayers devolve into a conversation about what something on the table is, but regardless we are happy that she is always eager.

Carol is doing very well and since she knows how to type I'll let her post her own blog.

Xiamen is still fresh in my mind so I'll share that experience.  First, a little background: every year the middle school does a 'week without walls.'  It's an entire week devoted to getting out of the classroom.  We offer about a dozen choices and the options are all pretty incredible.  Serve at an orphanage in Cambodia, learn how to design apps, run a restaurant, build a BMX bike and learn to ride on an international course, 'etc.' seems inappropriate, but the list is too long.  Some trips are focused on service, part of our school's motto, and students are required to do at least one service week during middle school.  

My trip to Xiamen was a service trip designed to let kids experience teaching by supporting kindergartens.  Two other teachers and I took 18 kids and had an amazing time.  I'm already getting long-winded so I'll just share a few details and some pictures.

To travel there and back we took an overnight sleeper bus.  A bus with bunk beds! Sounds like something a 10 year old would think of.  I'm certain this is not legal in the US.  

We worked with Jacob Tree Organization which was started by a a former principal from ICS.  He had a vision to start Christian kindergartens in China and left ICS a few years ago to see God make it a reality.  The demand for English is very high and they have grown much faster than even they imagined.  We visited a number of schools operated by Jacob Tree or where Jacob Tree teachers are working part time teaching English.

We didn't spend all of our time teaching though.  We also scheduled in lots of eating out and some shopping and activities.

All in all it was a very successful trip.  The kids had a great experience and will hopefully be changed by it.  I had a great time as well, and as the carrier of the first-aid kit I was very happy to never have to take it out!

That will do for now.  Hopefully we can pick up the frequency and shorten the length of these posts!  

Lots of love from all of us in Hong Kong!

Month Two- We'll try to get better about these titles

Well, it’s my turn now.  Carol has always been good at getting her thoughts typed up quickly and I’ve always been really good at getting my thoughts typed up slowly.  But now it is Mid-Autumn festival time in Hong Kong and that means 2 days off and extra time for me to whip up a blog of my own.  So, here goes…

The past week has been jam-packed with all kinds of exciting stuff.  We took the kids for a hike on a 3K nature trail this morning.  We stopped off at Subway (which just opened up here a couple stations away) on the way so we could have a picnic lunch.  The hike had an awful lot of stairs for a trail that was given the easiest possible rating, but our kids were awesome troopers and walked the entire thing, not to mention the trip from our home to the trail and back.  We knew Josiah was pretty durable, but the first couple of weeks here in HK Ava wouldn’t even walk down to the shop on the corner without begging to be held, so we were impressed.  The trail started off fairly harmless, we spotted a toad only a few feet onto the trail, but then our hike quickly became more exciting than we had planned.  We’ve heard stories about aggressive monkeys, so when we saw a group of them mingling on and around the path we got a little nervous.  When they did not budge even as we passed by I was more than a little worried that they were going to smell our sandwiches and demand payment to pass.  Fortunately we did not encounter any aggressive behavior, and instead had the interesting experience of walking next to wild monkeys within arms’ reach.

During the holiday we also took advantage of somewhat cooler temps to visit the HK Heritage Museum and stroll through the park nearby.  We also stopped off at a nice Vietnamese restaurant to try some Pho (we’ve heard lots of people rave about it, we’re not raving, but it was good).  Josiah did say that it was the best food he’s had, but he tends to live in the moment so that was not a surprise.  For example, the other day Carol asked him what his favorite part of HK was and he said it was the pink truck they had just seen.  Anyway, now that the weather is starting to cool off we’ll hopefully be able to get out and explore a little more.

I spent Wednesday through Friday at middle school camp (MSC henceforth), which was an overnight camp for all middle school students and teachers.  I wasn’t sure what to expect but MSC was very cool.  We rented out the local YMCA which had cabins, a pool, lots of recreation areas and a cafeteria.  I was rooming with five 6^th grade boys and also was responsible for the room next door that did not have an adult (there are some distinct differences between US and HK 6^th graders which I will not delve into but which make this scenario not as scary as it sounds).  The three days were well planned, utterly exhausting and tons of fun!

Half of our middle school students

We had a great speaker and the first night he spoke about how God doesn’t look at a person’s outward appearance but their heart.  The most exciting part was that many of the students accepted Christ for the first time.  About a dozen 6^th grade boys all came to the back after he spoke and I prayed for them.  Now that camp is over we’re starting voluntary Bible study/discipleship groups that will meet during lunchtime a couple times a month.  I’m hoping that the boys I prayed with and others will come and grow spiritually as we meet together.   

My facegroup (homeroom/advisory)

Getting back to teaching has been really great.  For me it has been the proverbial riding a bike.  (I also hope to find out soon if actually riding a bike is like the saying!)  I am teaching humanities, which is a combination of language arts and social studies.  Because I teach two subjects there is another humanities teacher that teaches the same content and we share a classroom as well.  She’s been teaching 6^th grade for over 30 years in places like HK, India, Beirut and she is a native New Zealander.  She also leads our staff professional development, has ADHD and is tons of fun.  So while I’m quite busy teaching, I’m also trying to be a good student and learn as much from her as I can.  All in all I’m having a great time teaching and getting to know my students.

Lastly, we got our first visitors to Hong Kong!  One of Carol’s old high school friends and his wife moved to mainland China for missions around the same time we left for HK.  They were visiting family in Hong Kong during the holiday and made a visit to our home too.  It was so nice to spend time together and catch up with old friends as well as share our experiences thus far. 

Praises and Prayer Requests

Thank you God for a great week of middle school camp and for the students that made the decision to accept Christ!  Please pray for the new Bible studies that will begin soon.

Please pray for my grandmother who is now at home with my parents in hospice care.  One of the hardest things about being so far away from family and friends is that you really feel the distance when things happen back at home.