Happy Easter!

It is Easter Monday in Hong Kong, and the city is closed today.  This city benefits from celebrating Christian holidays - thanks to the years of British ownership, and the traditional Chinese holidays - thanks to thousands of years of tradition.  Though the number of Christians in Hong Kong is relatively small (only 10% of the population), the city does get Good Friday and Easter Monday off, and the evidence of Christianity is not hidden.  Let me share a bit about it with you:

View from our window - we seem
to be in the clouds

Palm Sunday was cloudy -  

Despite the weather, on our way to church, we passed a procession of Catholic devotees (looked mainly Filipino) heading to church waving their palm branches.  It was as if Christ really was being welcomed, and was very joyful to see.

Later in the day, it rained and rained.  I think we just got a taste of what is to come.  These are stairs on our route home:

The week between Palm Sunday and Easter was filled with many errands and preparations for having some friends over for dinner Friday night.  As the week progressed a few things made me think and reflect:

*one store had these signs, big and small, everywhere.  Now, I have been out of seminary for a few years, but I think when the angels pronounced "good news of great joy for all the people", and Jesus said "go and make disciples of all nations", the message was not to stop in the British Empire.  Easter is for everyone, not just the Brits! (sorry to burst your bubble, my British friends and relatives!)

*In a different store, on Thursday, a Chinese cashier wished me a "Happy Easter" - honestly, I was quite surprised.  I smiled and wished her the same, and as continued my wandering I reflected on when I last heard that from a store clerk...and I couldn't remember. Had I ever? This would seem like a 'politically incorrect' thing to say in Canada, yet here in this non-Christian nation, Easter is alive and well.

*A few weeks ago I was learning the Cantonese word for pastor (there isn't really a direct translation) and my instructor said "oh, are you Christian or Catholic".  I chuckle (as I always do with that question, as that is when I know I am not in Canada anymore), and when I said "Christian" she hi-fived me!  Seriously, full-out hi-five! I loved it!  I think when we meet fellow Christians we should do that...first, be brave enough to ask and then rejoice together in the sister and brother-hood of being a part of God's family!

 

*In the paper this week, I read an article about the church in Mainland China.  There are 15 million Protestant and 5 million Catholic believers in the 'official' churches (government controls all aspects of these churches).  There are 50 million believers in the underground/unofficial/house churches.  This article shared many stories of the sacrifice these believers make - from loss of job, arrest, and more. They would not be able to worship openly, or would risk imprisonment, this Easter.  I then gave thanks for my freedom to worship....hope you have done the same.

Good Friday we had three friends/co-workers of Jeff's from Canada over from dinner - thank you ladies for a wonderful evening full of good conversation and lots of laughter!  Thank you for helping us celebrate Easter, break in our home (not literally of course), and feel more settled in Hong Kong. 

Easter Sunday - I awoke to the green hill behind us, the birds chirping and the sun shining.  Perfect!  Jeff left for two weeks in North America - not perfect.  I headed to our new church family, and the joy, promise and hope of Easter was there - perfect!  I headed to new friends' home, taking a new bus system (mini-bus) which I had never done before.  Okay, I was really late but I made it - Perfect!  I had a wonderful time with many new friends, eating lots, chatting lots, laughing lots, learning lots, being outside lots, and truly relaxing and feeling blessed - Perfect!  We are sisters and brothers no matter where we come from or where we are - Perfect!

How was your week and your Easter?  Filled with family and long-time friends? You are truly blessed.  Yet this year I learned I am blessed to overflowing without any of those people. Though I missed them all very much (and dealt with a few times of tears), God provided new 'family and friends' to celebrate with - as my favourite verse says "may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit".  He fulfilled this promise once again for me this Easter, how about you?

Love you all, and with a big hi-five,

Linda

p.s....if you see Jeff, give him a hug for me!  Thanks

Our Hong Kong Home

Well, after a few trips with a wonderful real estate agent, we decided on a place to live and last weekend moved in.  The process of deciding where to live is difficult when you have no idea what different areas are like, you hear a variety of people's opinions and you do not fully know how long travel (also known as 'Jeff's commute) will be from where.  Where would you start? (or where have you started when you have done this type of move?)

We started with an area or two based on some advice from locals.  Very nice apartments, good view, and yet seemed to be far away from the core of the city.  Next we headed to locations closer to Jeff's work.  These had small apartments that catered to Asians, so no ovens and very small rooms. We were told by our real estate agent that the stores cater to the Japanese and Korean community that lives there. The third time out we headed to a few areas closer to the core of the city and where more expats (like ourselves) hung out.  There we found a perfect apartment.  We mulled over the distance for Jeff's commute (15 minutes down escalators, 45 minutes by MTR, then shuttle) verses the great view and layout of the apartment, and being in the core of the city.

Graciously, Jeff is dealing with a longer commute to allow us to be in our new home.  The view is away from the city and right at the peak...and not bad on the 45th floor!  This was the only apartment we saw like this, and after a day of the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong, this is an amazing and refreshing break.


looking to the left



looking to the right - on a clear day
you can see the harbour!

looking straight out - ah, greenery, rocks
and hawks flying by

Besides the location and view, the other thing we love about our new home is that every room has a window that opens....that means the living/dining room, our bedroom, your bedroom (when you come visit), both bathrooms, the kitchen and the laundry/maid's room!  The fresh air sooths our souls!

The apartment was unfurnished, like all of them in Hong Kong.  The apartments in Manila were all furnished, so we pretended we were first married and furnished our new home!  We are very thankful for IKEA (see earlier post).  We ordered so much that it was all delivered on Sunday and we paid a little extra to have IKEA people put together the couch, chair, tv stand, two bookcases, coffee table, side tables, dining room table (chairs on back order), bed and two night stands.  We know ourselves well enough to accept if we tried to put all of that together, we would be finishing up around the time we were leaving Hong Kong! 

So - move weekend (just read this and remember your own past moves....and appreciate the organization of Hong Kong like we do!).  Saturday - movers who had our shipment from Manila came to our temporary home to get our suitcases and other stuff at 1:30 (well, they arrived at 12:30....), got the key for the apartment 2 pm, shipment of our belongings from Manila and from Hong Kong arrived at 2 pm.  During the course of the afternoon cable/Internet/phone guy came, tv and sound system were delivered, guy putting together the tv and sound system arrived, and gas man came.  Jeff and I unpacked 35 boxes from Manila, and headed out for supper by 8 pm, very tired, very hungry and happy.  Sunday - IKEA stuff was delivered and set up (took a few hours) and then we started our extensive list of what we still needed.  We slept well Sunday night in our new home....

Here is your own personal tour:


entrance way - what you
see when you arrive






dining room at your left
as you walk in the door
(chairs to come)



left hand side
of kitchen

right hand side of kitchen

The kitchen is to the right as soon as you walk in the door.  It is very western, with gas stove, oven, microwave and tiny fridge (once again dishwashers do not exist).   It is very large by Asian standards. The laundry room is behind it, and has a washer/dryer combination machine.  Who knew such wonderful space-saving thing existed!

 Then as you head left and stand in the dining room you see the living room with its spectacular view:



Left side of living room, with
Jeff relaxing.  The doorway to
our bedroom is on the left hand
side of the picture




Right side of the living room, with
Jeff's new tv!  The doorway to
your room is on the right hand
side of the picture





 



Our room...with the same spectacular view.  Our closet area and bathroom are to the left of this picture:

Your room...with the same spectacular view.  Your bathroom, with full tub and shower, is off the living room. (don't worry, we will have something for you to sleep on by the time you get here)

So, our home....for the next little while.  We have two grocery stores within a three minute walk, and our main commute is up the escalators (Google that and enjoy!).  We are in an area called Mid-Levels. 

We are settling in well, and feeling pretty good.  Yesterday I even ran into someone I knew just a block from home! (Marian, wife of one of the pastors at our new home church...more on that next blog).  We appreciate all your thoughts and prayers as we have made this transition.  With these pictures you can now picture us relaxing, making meals, looking at nature and just hanging out.

Even Cookie is settled, as he enjoyed watching the sun set over the harbour last evening. 

 Now it feels like we can start really settling in...so many more discoveries to share!

As usual, we love you all, and look forward to having you visit us in person in our new home!

Linda and Jeff

Random Discoveries

Reminders of Canada - it is surprising what little pieces of Canada we have found in delis in Hong Kong:

This is for you,
Bonnie and Dave!

 



How odd being in the land
where soy began, to
find soy milk imported
from Canada!










The following are news items read this past week or two in the South China Morning Post, a daily English language paper in Hong Kong. I enjoy spending a bit of time in coffee shops reading this paper. All of these events are from Mainland China.

Incompetence in all countries:
A big, expensive hi-tech rubbish collection system in Guangzhou (cost was 300 million yuan - over $44 million Canadian) built two years ago has never gone into operation.  After it was built, they realized construction did not take into account the city's heavy rainfall and the place flooded as soon as it was built.....

For Teachers:
All teaching and administrative staff under 45 years old at the Wuhan Vocational College of Commerce in Hubei are now required to start personal blogs to communicate with students.

Weather Reported in the Paper:
I like how the weather is reported in the paper...it is labeled as rainy, cloudy, mainly fine and fine.  I hope all of your days are mainly fine!  I think that is how I will answer the question "and how was your day?"  "Mainly fine, thankyou.  How was yours?"

House Churches in Guangzhou, China: 
These churches, not part of the 'recognized' church in Mainland China, are once again under pressure.  They are being kicked out of the spots they rent, they have paid for rental areas but then landlords back out of the deals (even though the church has paid in full and they do not get their money back).  They then turn to open worship in public parks, but there is immense risk with this...keep them in your prayers.

Our best discovery this week???

Swedish chair discovered in Hong Kong,
named after a Canadian boy!

As you can see, we continue to discover many things about our new home town. The good news is we are moving into our new home next weekend!  Two bedrooms, 45th floor in Mid-levels, an exciting core area.  After we move in, we will share some pictures.

As always, we love you all
Linda and Jeff