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. 

First month

Hey everyone!

We have now been here for one month, and it stil feels like we have only been here for a couple weeks because the time has flown by.  Shannon enjoys teaching his 6th graders, and has even become a coach for the 8th grade soccer team.  Josiah loves preschool and has such a wonderful teacher.  He even gets to go to Mandarin class twice a week.  I've tried getting him to teach me what he's learned, but he tells me that it's a secret.  He has learned a lot of new songs, and has made some new friends in school too.  Ava is adored by a lot of people around here, both by staff at the school and strangers that we meet on the playground and train.  I think part of this is due to her lighter hair.  I am getting to know other moms in the area, and have joined a playgroup that also has some other spouses of ICS staff.

View going to the train station from school/home

View going back home, train station is on the left

We've learned and experienced a lot of new and interesting things over the past month.  Most mornings I take the kids out, and I always pack an umbrella and the kids' raincoats.  It tends to rain often this time of year, but only for short periods of time.  Most umbrellas here also have a UV protection lining, so they're not only great for the rain but also provide much needed shade from the heat of the sun.  It the past week, the weather has not seemed as penetratingly hot.  I'm not sure if it's because I'm just getting used to the weather or if it is actually getting cooler.

There is a local playground right near a big housing complex about a five minute walk from the school, so we try to go there most mornings.  The kids love going there to play, and I try to use that time to meet and engage in conversation with other people.  There is usually a group of elderly people chatting on benches and some women here and there doing tai chi or other exercise.  There are not always other children when we go, but when we do see them they are accompanied by mothers, grandparents, or helpers (which are usually Philippino live-in nannies).

This is a really American thing to say, but I've been surprised by how few people in our neighborhood can actually speak English since it's one of their national languages.  The other morning, a woman pointed to Ava and started talking to me in Cantonese.  Since I didn't understand her, I said my usual phrase of "I am Korean" in Cantonese.  "Ahhh," she said knowingly and then she told me, "Beautiful!" as she pointed to Ava.  Thinking that we could communicate, I started talking to her in English, but then she shook her head and said "No English."  We laughed and shrugged at our inability to speak with one another and watched our kids play.  This kind of scenario has played out pretty regularly, although I have chatted once with a grandfather whose grandaughter was applying to enter a kindergarten at a school nearby.  I'm still hopeful that I may be able to find other moms in our neighborhood that I can communicate with and get to know a little better.  

In Central, near church

For those of you that prayed that we would find a good church to attend, thank you!  We started attending a great little church called Island Community Church.  It still takes us four train transfers or a long bus ride to get there, but we love it because it's a bilingual church and it feels very much like family.  There are probably less than fifty people that attend, but it's so neat to be a part of that community.  During Sunday worship adults and children alike can pick up a tambourine, shaker, or other instrument of their choice and sing praise to God.  It essentially feels as if everyone is part of the worship team.  We also love that the songs and sermon are both in English and Cantonese.  There is a missionary family and another family that works at Crossroads (the website we linked to in our first HK post) that attend as well, and we also love that the church is composed mostly of Cantonese youth.   The pastor of the church is Cantonese and has a full time job outside of the church.  He invited our family over to his place for dinner next week, so we hope in the next month or so that we can get more involved and find ways to serve in the church and local community.

First Day of School

I've also become friends with an ICS parent that is native to Hong Kong.  I've ended up on the same train and walk to Josiah's school with Sally (name changed) and her daughter.  She's originally from mainland China but moved here when she was two.  She is not a Christian but decided to send her kids to ICS because she heard from others that it was a good school.  We walk together on most days when we see each other.  I hope that I can share the good news of Jesus with her, and I'm thankful to have her as a new friend.  She's told me that her parents are not happy that their grandaughter is attending a Christian school, but she thinks her kids can make their own choice and she is okay with if they decide to become Christians when they grow up.  I think that's awesome and it has been fun as we get to know about each other and our cultures too.

Train's here!

On a completely different note, it's funny how quickly we've gotten accustomed to taking public transportation.  I love the train system here because if you miss a train, you know that another will come in less than five minutes.  I've also purchased a used stroller off of an expat site (and still paid more for it than my whole stroller system back in the States) but I am so much happier for its small size and weight.  I've learned that you can take a stroller up and down an escalator, which is really great when you ride them a couple times a day.  Due to our new stroller, we've actually arrived to Josiah's school a little earlier than usual (it's about 20 minutes away by train and walking) and had a couple minutes to walk around the area.  The school is very close to the ocean, so we've been able to enjoy the peaceful view a couple times.  There are also great pedestrian and bike paths right next to the water all over the place here, so if you're a runner or biker this is a great place to be.  The paths are used at seemingly all times of day, and are well lit at night too.

One of the other great things about Hong Kong is that it's very safe, and perhaps part of it is because the city seems to bustling from morning til evening everyday.  For those of you that like to sleep in, stores open late here, usually around 11am or noon and close around 10pm.  Some shops will open a little earlier though, and I can do my grocery shopping at the wet market around 9:30am.

I know I've given you all the impression that Hong Kong is very expensive.  Although that's true, it can be cheap as well depending on where you are and what you want to purchase.  The funny thing is that you never know where you'll find a good deal, so it's good to stuff an extra reusable bag into your purse just in case you end up buying something that A) you never knew you could find or B) you find something at a great price.  Shannon needed to get a watch for coaching soccer since he has to ref some of the games, and he was able to get one in Central (where the business district is located) for less than four US dollars.  This week I discovered a little shop in the wet market in our neighborhood where they sell steaming buns filled with pork and cabbage or Chinese barbeque pork for less than a dollar.  The kids' favorite place to hit is definitely the bakeries.  There are little bakeries everywhere here, and they are great incentives at getting Josiah to walk far distances.  They are also the reason why I probably won't lose any weight here even though I'm walking a ton.  They're very similar to Korean bakeries and they sell anything from loaves of bread to mini muffins to light pastries filled with custard.  I have yet to try the green tea bun or curry donkatsu mini sandwich buns, but they look really  tasty.  I don't like to spend money, but we love to stop by the bakery more often than we should.

Some of you have also seen a picture that I posted to my facebook (you can find me at Carol White if we're not facebook friends already) about a hike that I got to take with some of the other staff at the school.  One of the teachers led us on a hike to a beautiful waterfall and spectacular view of the mountains and city.  It was so refreshing to enjoy the natural beauty of Hong Kong and be able to jump into the natural pool at the end of our hike.  It was actually only one train stop away from where we live, which tells you which part of Hong Kong we live in.  We live in the New Territories where the land has not been as developed yet. (and we hope it stays that way :P)

Have I got you wishing you could be in Hong Kong with us yet?  We hope this has caused you to want to make a visit!  We hope you can see the pics, and sorry if they're not very good.  Our camera is still on its way here, so we've used Shannon's tablet to take pictures or others have sent some pics to us.  We miss you all and please pray for us when you think of us!

Praises:
Thank you Lord for helping us find a great church and new friends.  Thank you that Josiah loves school and for providing a great teaching job for Shannon.

Prayer requests: Please pray for...
- Opportunities to serve in our church and local community
- Sally and her family, that we would continue to get to know them and that they would know Jesus
- ICS, that the students and staff would be a light to Hong Kong

Left side view from our balcony

Right side view from our balcony- train station and canal are in between the two apartments