Kuechle Folks Weblog

Beijing in June

2009-07-05T06:45:00.000-07:00

We went to Beijing at the end of June. We were warned that it would be unbearably hot. Well, it was hot, but we loved it. Dry heat. Sunny, 35-38C (95 - 100F). We hit all the major places, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and so on (see link below for pictures). It was a good pace, low stress. A nice mini-vacation.

This month some visitors are coming in where Gary works. Some new visitors some old friends. So we may be busy socializing.

We missed the annual 4th of July family party and our neice's 8th grade graduation party. So we've been feeling a bit sad about that, but we'll be back for a week in August.

Beijing, China

Ma and Bets in May

2009-05-31T00:38:00.000-07:00

We were blessed with a nice visit from Ma and Bets (Sue's mother and sister) this past week. Unfortunately the weather wasn't very cooperative, but it was great to spend some time together. We hit the usual tourist spots, the Peak, the big Buddha, the markets, Soho, Lan Kwai Fong and Wan Chai. (see the photo from the Peak - what's missing? (hint - you can't see anything beyond the railing))

For other photos, click here

Singapore and more

2009-05-20T08:38:00.000-07:00

We went to Singapore on the spur of the moment for a long weekend over the 1-May holiday weekend. It was a great trip. Very hot and sunny, an interesting place, got to see some friends from Hong Kong who had moved there. We went to the botanical gardens, the night safari at the zoo, rode in a boat down the river, sat by the water and just enjoyed each other's company. Last weekend Gary went on a walk up along Bowen Road and discovered it wraps around the face of the hill that we can see out our window. Another beautiful view.

Visitor Pictures

2009-04-25T01:10:00.000-07:00

Anna and Dan

Sharon and Tony

Mr. Titus

A suprise encounter!

Visitors in March and April

2009-04-12T07:08:00.000-07:00

14-Apr: We went to Hong Kong Disney for the first time. It was fun, and interesting. Disney with a Hong Kong twist. For instance, it was interesting hearing part of the the Lion King show in Cantonese. And when they let us in to one of the shows, it was a mad stampede for the seats. Definitely not as orderly as in the states. Afterwords we went to Red's rooftop restaurant. It was great.

13-Apr: Kowloon markets today. A beautiful day. Titus' first day in a pool. Mahjong at night.

12-Apr For some reason Tony thinks Durian fruit smells bad... some people just don't appreciate flavorfull nuiances.

09-Apr Our grandson Titus has come to visit us (he's six months old) and brought his parents - Sharon and Tony with him. We are having a wonderful time seeing some of the walking, seeing some of the sites, walking, eating out and walking. (Did I mention walking?)

Mar: Dan and Anna were here at the end of March. We had a good time with them, taking them all over as well. We even ended up in Macau for a day.

NEW YEAR IN HONG KONG

2009-01-27T05:17:00.000-08:00

Gung Hay Faat Choi! (Literally means “congratulations on getting rich!”) This is one of the most common Cantonese greetings during the Chinese New Year celebration. We’ve learned others also, such as “maan see yoo yee” which means “10,000 things as you wish them to be” and “leen leen yow yoo”, which is “May you have surplus every year.” The Year of the Rat is past. This is the Year of the Ox.

Many auspicious sayings and symbols are displayed throughout the city. We have a red fish hanging on our apartment door, which is very common. The Cantonese word for “fish” (yoo) sounds like the word for “surplus” or “extra.” Because of this, the fish symbol is regarded as very lucky. The color red can drive away ghosts and misfortune. We also have a pot of daffodils, which is thought to exorcise evil, bringing good fortune in the New Year. Our orchid symbolizes a happy life.

The Chinese New Year starts at the beginning of the lunar calendar, this year on January 26. Most employees get three full days off from work. Most of the shops are closed. But the New Year festivities last a week or more. Last night we went with friends to watch the New Year’s parade which was held on the street on the other side of the harbor. It was quite an event, with an international theme. There were lavish floats and extraordinary dancers. Thirty nine performances in all, from Spain, Korea, Russia, Mainland China, US, Japan, South Africa, Hong Kong, and more. Fireworks are scheduled for tonight. We may watch from a window somewhere. It’s cold today, about 50 degrees F.

We had a wonderful time during the Christmas holidays back home, visiting friends and family. We flew home on December 21, just as a snowstorm was hitting Buffalo, so when we landed in Newark we learned that all flights to Buffalo, Rochester, and even Syracuse had been cancelled. We were also told that we could not get a confirmed flight to Buffalo until the 27th! We had no intention of waiting until after Christmas to see our loved ones, so we rented the second-to-last car available and, after a 15 hour flight, drove for 8 hours. The last 40 miles was through the snowstorm we thought would have passed by that time. It was so good to be home. Especially the time we got to spend with our almost-three-month-old grandson. The trip felt too short, and we were on our way back to Hong Kong on January 1.

This marks the beginning of our second year in Hong Kong. For Sue, this year will be a bit different from the last. The once or twice-a-week volunteer work she was doing turned into a part time paid position with the charity organization as office manager/administrative assistant/volunteer coordinator/computer systems administrator. Because of the number of clients seen has doubled in the last year, the order and organization of the office had been neglected in order to spend the time assisting the clients. Sue’s first month or so will be spent bringing order, and hopefully implementing some process changes that will make it more efficient. So far, so good.

Gary’s work continues to be interesting and challenging. There are always new people coming to Hong Kong to contribute to this global project. The work and social environments overlap, as the people from the office (and spouses) get together after hours to eat, drink, and play.

January and February are the coldest months here in Hong Kong. But, in another month, by the beginning of March, we should start to see some of that beautiful, warm, 70 degree weather again.

GUILIN TRIP HIGHLIGHTS

2008-12-01T05:39:00.000-08:00

Much of the artwork depicting China shows beautiful landscapes: tall, steep, rocky mountainous areas with clear, still rivers below. Thick mist hovers around the peaks, giving it a serene but very mysterious quality. A small fishing boat in the foreground portrays a rustic rural lifestyle that many of us think is a thing of the past.

We ventured into the mainland of China (Jung Gwok Daaih Luhk, in Cantonese) this past weekend. In the evening, we flew out of Hong Kong to the small city of Guilin. Only a 1½ flight to one of the south-central provinces. We stayed overnight in Guilin, then in the morning, took a 4-hour cruise on the Li River to Yangzhou. It was from the riverboat that we saw the actual scene that I just described to you. It is beautiful.

The Chinese have creatively named the individual mountains according to what they have imagined the shape of the mountain to resemble. There is Bat Mountain, Nine Horse Mountain, “Waiting for Husband” Mountain, and many, many more. Although we have been studying Cantonese here in Hong Kong, most of Mainland China speaks Mandarin, a different dialect. We thought it best to hire an English-speaking guide (not expensive!) to show us around. We were so glad we did. Having her there was essential to being able to relax and enjoy it, and also to know what we were looking at.

In addition to the boat cruise, we spent time exploring the cities. Entering one of Guilin’s many enormous caves, the Reed Flute Cave, felt like walking into another world. The cavern, with its odd-shaped stalagmites and stalactites looks like something from a sci-fi movie. Yangzhou has a large street market. When the vendors see a non-Asian-looking face, we found that they raise prices eight or more times higher than we know the price of the items to be in Hong Kong. Learning to bargain prices in Hong Kong was useful when we were in Yangzhou, even with the language barrier.

We stayed in Guilin one night, in Yangzhou one night, and then took the overnight sleeper train to Shenzhen. The sleeper on the train, with its 4 inch foam pad, was actually softer than either of the hotel beds we slept in. It was puzzled us that both hotel beds had box springs, but no mattresses. And no padding on the box springs under the sheets.

We spent a great day in Shenzhen, a large, thriving Chinese city right over the northern-most border of the New Territories of Hong Kong. In Shenzhen there is a huge, beautifully landscaped park with smaller (but not at all small) versions of so many natural and man-made sites in China. It had all the famous ones, like the Great Wall and the Imperial Palace, but it also had obscure ones we had never heard about. It gave us more ideas about where else in China we would like to go.

OCTOBER-NOVEMBER

2008-11-11T22:29:00.000-08:00

The plane flight to and from Hong Kong feels like it gets shorter each time, although, in reality, it’s still over 17 hours in the air, and almost 20 door-to-door when counting the layovers. Sue had a great trip back home to Buffalo, the highlight, of course, was Titus. Us being back in Hong Kong now, and our sweet baby grandson back there is a heartache. He’s learning to hold his head up, growing bigger and bigger, focusing on faces, but we can only get glimpses of him through Skype or photographs posted on-line. We look at pictures and just wish we could hold him. We are so looking forward to seeing him (and other family, of course) when we go back in December.

But Hong Kong itself is still great. The weather has cooled off a bit and the humidity is significantly lower. Much more comfortable to walk around. But now we need a light jacket or sweater some evenings.

The cooler weather makes for better hiking. One weekend we went over to Lantau Island and hiked around the shoreline and up to the top of one of the mountains to an old Trappist Monastery. The hiking trails in Hong Kong are almost all cement and include hundreds and hundreds of stairs. Even in a remote, mostly-wooded area, you’ll find the paved path, stairs, and even sometimes an occasional streetlight. Getting to the top is hard on the legs, but worth the climb. The views are breathtaking.

We also did an “urban hike” given by a guide. Titled “Murder and Mayhem in Kowloon”, the group walked around parts of the city, on the northern peninsula side of the harbor, and learned of the seedier, unrespectable aspects of Hong Kong. We passed the apartment building where a prostitute was murdered and cut into pieces. We saw the market area where, not so many years ago, a mafia-type organization compelled fresh food distributors pay “protection” money to ensure their goods got delivered. We looked at the walled residence of a past drug lord. On the streets, between little shops, small brothels were pointed out. The signs at the doors listed different prices for different nationalities. In Hong Kong, we learned, western- or European-looking prostitutes cost more than Asian-looking prostitutes. Very educational.

Work for Gary has been going well. There are different people from different locales in and out of the office weekly. The evening conference calls continue to occupy his supposedly “free time.” The company has recently promoted the idea of employees developing a healthy work-life balance. But with people from several different time zones trying to meet together by phone, someone is always going to be working after (or before) regular working hours.

Sue has been offered part time work, although not in nursing. The job is with the legal aid organization she has been volunteering with. Since the number of clients they serve has doubled in the last year, there is a need to add more regular staff. Sue will continue to assist the domestic helpers work through legal channels to get justice when they’ve been cheated, exploited, or abused. She will also help implement the new database, develop a volunteer orientation, and do some office administration tasks.

We will celebrate Thanksgiving in Hong Kong! We have been invited to the home of one of Gary’s American colleagues for a traditional turkey dinner. Although, instead of watching football, we will probably play mahjong.

We can’t believe we’ve been here almost 10 months already. The time has gone very quickly.

WE ARE GRANDPARENTS!!

2008-10-11T04:14:00.000-07:00

Titus Solomon Warner was born on 7-Oct, 2008 at 8:45pm EST, weighing 9lbs 1oz at 21.5 inches in length.

Sue went back to Buffalo to be around for the birth and to be motherly for a few days. Gary has to experience it all vicariously.

MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL

2008-09-16T07:10:00.000-07:00

Jung Chow Jeet Fy Lawk ! (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, in Cantonese, of course!) The Chinese celebrate their holidays according to the Lunar Calendar, and the September 13,14, and 15 was the time to celebrate this traditional event. Most people had Monday off from work, and many of the shops were closed that day.

The festival focuses around the story of a man who shot down eight of the nine suns, saving the people from intense heat. The people were so grateful, they made this man king. But the king became greedy. He had his advisors create a magic pill that would let him live forever. His queen saw that the king had become evil, so just before the king was to take the pill, the queen took it instead. The king became angry so the queen went up to the moon to hide. Now, once per year, at the time of the full moon, mid-autumn, the king and queen get together and see each other on the moon.

For us common folk, this festival means eating moon cakes that now come in hundreds of varieties. Beautiful colorful lanterns are displayed all around the city. There is traditional Chinese entertainment in many different venues. It’s also a time when extended families get together to eat a meal (“sik faan”), often BBQ on the beach.

Saturday evening we took the train up north into the New Territories of Hong Kong to Fan Ling, where there was a large recreational area with many stages set up for Chinese Opera, Chinese dancing and singing. Also on one of the stages, they played a traditional riddle game, and in another area there were people getting their fortunes told. Although we understand more and more spoken Cantonese, when local people speak at their normal fast pace, we can only pick up words and phrases here and there. Nonetheless, the festival was fun for us to observe, even though we can’t fully participate.

Sunday evening we went to the south side of Hong Kong Island to see all the lanterns lit along the beach. Then we took a relaxing walk along the water with a couple we know to a restaurant nearby for dinner. On Monday we spent a little time at the pool at our apartment complex, enjoying the sunny 80+ weather. Gary’s always happy for a shorter work week!

WEEKEND IN JAPAN

2008-09-03T06:55:00.000-07:00

To take off from the US to go to Japan for just a weekend would be extravagant and impractical. But because it’s only a 3+ hour flight from Hong Kong, the trip is a reasonable option for a mini-vacation. And this is just what we did last weekend.

Flying into Kansai Airport, we then took a train past Osaka to Kyoto. Buying the train ticket in itself was a challenge. The signs at the ticket counter were, of course, in Japanese, which we don’t know. There were a few words in English, but not as much English as we are used to seeing in Hong Kong. The Japanese also use some Chinese characters in their writing, so we did recognized a few that we have learned living in Hong Kong. We had been told that Japanese students start learning our language in Middle School, and that many speak English well. In our brief experience, we didn’t find this to be true. Even so, we succeeded in buying the tickets to Kyoto, and arrived at our hotel.

Our room at the Kyoto Dan-ai Tower Hotel was the smallest hotel room we have ever been in. Even smaller than any US motel rooms we’ve seen. We couldn’t walk in the room unless one of us was on the bed. The bathroom contained all the usual structures, but everything was extremely small and close together. With so many people in Japanese cities to accommodate, we see that they don’t waste any space.

We had booked a couple of bus tours with English-speaking guides, so the first morning we went to see the sights of Kyoto, which is one of the former capital cities of Japan. The second day we traveled to Nara, about an hour from Kyoto. We were taken to picturesque ancient places. We visited a massive castle complex where a Shogun ruler once lived and learned a bit about the lifestyle of the people at that time in history. We entered a huge, wooden Buddhist temple (shoes off, of course) to view where the Japanese have gone for centuries to worship and pray. Multi-story pagodas were a common site. We stopped at a Shinto shrine filled with hundreds of man-size golden “gods” and “guardians”. To get to the shrine, we passed through the “torii”, a type of Japanese gate structure, which is said to purify the person passing through it, on the way to the shrine. There were also beautiful, serene gardens where man and nature can dwell harmoniously. The explanations given by our guides were indispensible to our understanding of all that we were seeing, the history and cultural implications of each site.

One evening we sat at a counter with a sushi “train”, a conveyor belt with color-coded plates that designate the price of an item. The belt circles around and the diners take plates with the items they want off the belt. At the end, the waitress looks at the plates and calculates the cost of the meal you’ve just eaten. We also had tempura, teppanyaki, and sukiyaki during our stay. We ate one meal at a traditional Japanese table, low to the floor, sitting on pillows. Not very comfortable.

Walking around Kyoto was fun in itself. Although Kyoto is a modern city and has many modern areas, we found the older area with smaller tea houses where the geishas were trained and lived more interesting.

We got to see a show with a sampling of different types of Japanese traditional music and theater. Bunraku is a play using large puppets, each one controlled by three people. We enjoyed that very much. Koto, Japanese harp music, was very soothing to listen to. Gagaku is traditional Japanese “court” music, using traditional Japanese instruments. After listening to Gagaku, we didn’t wonder why it is almost extinct ! There was also a tea ceremony demonstration as well as a short comic play. Even though it was spoken only in Japanese (no subtitles) we were able to follow the plot and see the humor.

On Monday morning, we headed back to Hong Kong. With our Hong Kong Resident ID cards in hand, we love being able to go in the very short line for HK residents at Airport Immigration, while there are hundreds in the line for HK visitors. Another small perk of living here. We’re very thankful for this, and that we have a rare opportunity to see this side of the globe.

SUMMER IN THE CITY

2008-08-18T06:01:00.000-07:00

There has been advertising for the 2008 Olympics in this city since February when we first arrived in Hong Kong. But now, Bei Bei, Jing Jing, Huan Huan, Ying Ying, and Nini, the cute Chinese Olympic mascots representing various aspects of Chinese culture, geography and beliefs, are pictured everywhere. It also seems to us that most of the people in Hong Kong are very proud and excited to be the host, even though only a few of the equestrian events are held here instead of Beijing. Many travelers are passing through Hong Kong either to or from Beijing. We’ve had the fun of three houseguests for three nights, our daughter’s college friends, who stopped in Hong Kong on their way north into China. Tickets for the Hong Kong equestrian events were too difficult for us to obtain, so our exposure to this year’s summer Olympics has been through the television, as usual.

Gary’s work is keeping him very busy. His Blackberry is his constant companion. He has frequent meetings and conference calls, with input from people many places outside of Hong Kong, trying to get everyone to agree and iron out issues, and still keep the project on schedule. Right now he is preparing for a training class on the technical aspects of this global system. During his lunch time, he can now order the food he wants in Cantonese and be understood by the waitress (thanks to the Cantonese classes and the coaching and practice with his Chinese colleagues).

Sue has been busy with a variety of things. For one, working with the Helper’s for Domestic Helpers, as explained in a previous entry. This organization, in addition to the day-to-day work of aiding Hong Kong’s mostly Filipino foreign domestic workers work through legal avenues to find justice in situations of abuse or exploitation, is developing training materials to help these women know their rights and learn to be assertive. Assertiveness will help facilitate decent treatment from employers. Sue has helped to write the contents of the training manual and is now in the process of formatting it into an attractive form to be sent to the printer. The plan is to hold seminars for these women. Other preparation for this will include developing a Powerpoint presentation and practice scenarios for role-play. Also, the organization hopes to transfer it’s record-keeping to computer, and be able to more easily collect and report statistics as to the number of clients served and types of issues addressed. So, Sue is now learning Microsoft Access. HDH is doing avaluable service here in Hong Kong and Sue is glad to be able to be part of it.

We had another typhoon! The rain came down in buckets again, and everything was closed. A day off ! But mostly, the sun has been shining every day this month.

Weekends are fun. Even though we’ve been here almost seven months, we still have a list of place to go and things to see in Hong Kong. Last Friday night we went with friends to “The Wanch”, a small pub in the heart of Wan Chai (our neighborhood), a venue for different types of live music. Also, since we have wanted to learn as much about the local culture as we can, we’ve learned how to play Mahjong, a favorite gambling game of the Hong Kong Chinese. We look forward to the weekend trip we have planned to Japan.

JULY TRAVELS

2008-07-29T07:05:00.000-07:00

On June 30 we flew out of Hong Kong for a global team meeting combined with a long-awaited visit back home to the U.S. The 17+ hour flight is still grueling. Gary, being on a business trip, flew in the comfort of the business class section, with attentive flight attendants, padded, almost-fully reclining seats, and carefully prepared meals. Sue, on the other hand, was in the Economy-Plus section, where there’s minimal leg room, and the hard seats tip back only about four inches. It was no surprise that Gary arrived more rested than Sue.

Our first stop was in Chicago, where we spent a couple of days with our firstborn and our daughter-in-law. Just being near to them, seeing their faces, hearing their voices in person, is somehow comforting to us. We also got to spend a little time with Sue’s sister, who we love seeing, too.

It was a little odd staying in a hotel when we were in our home town of Buffalo, instead of in our house, only a few miles away. And then seeing the house, where our oldest daughter and two roommates now live, with totally different furnishings and decorations. But not bad, just odd. Again, we love being with our girls, and our son-in-law. And our mothers. And our brothers and sister-in-laws. And friends. There’s just something about the proximity. The shower for our soon-to-be-born grandson gave us a good chance to see family and friends.

Much of Gary’s time in Buffalo was filled by team meetings, working on the global project. He considered the time spent worthwhile. Sue spent the time mostly with the kids and visiting. It was good to see some of her co-workers, as well as the expanded and newly-remodeled ER.

During our stay in Buffalo, Gary’s employer asked if he would be willing to go and work for three days in London, before going back to Hong Kong. Willing? Are they kidding? Gary has been there before, but Sue had not, and was more than willing, perfectly ecstatic at the idea. So off we went. This time Gary gave up his business class seat so that Sue could have it for the trip over. Two of the flight crew were so impressed, because they say it never happens, that they took some business class “treats” to Gary in Economy.

London was fun, obviously especially for Sue. We had half of a Saturday and all of a Sunday together, before Gary had to go to work, to tour the city. A friend Sue met in Hong Kong, whose children live in London, happened to be in London during the time we were there. A great day was spent with her visiting at one of the old palaces. While Gary was hard at work during the week, Sue, by the easy means of public transportation, got to see quite a lot of London.

Back in Hong Kong, back to the weekly routine for us: work, Cantonese class, church, seeing friends, etc. Because Gary had to work an extra day in Buffalo, he took a vacation day the next week in Hong Kong. We took the MTR, then a bus, then a mini-bus north, to a more remote part of Hong Kong, in the north-eastern New Territories. There are no high-rise buildings, but mountain trails, and warm, clear, refreshing water and clean, sandy beaches. Some of the slopes were steep and the temperature was nearly 90, which made hiking difficult, but once we reached the beach, all was forgiven. It was truly beautiful.

This time has gone fast. It’s hard to believe we’ve already been in Hong Kong for six months.

HOT AND HUMID IN HONG KONG: JUNE

2008-06-22T02:36:00.000-07:00

It’s hot here now. Very hot and humid. And the last few weeks have been the start of the rainy season. For the first two and a half weeks of June, it rained nearly every day. And it doesn’t just rain a little. It’s practically torrential. From a window we can watch newly-formed streams of water gush down the side of the mountain during the storms. One morning the booming thunder and flashing lightning were simultaneous, extremely close to our 30th floor hi-rise apartment. It is important in Hong Kong to check the internet or the TV to see if weather warnings are posted. Rain is rated on a color scale, amber, red, and black. For a black rain warning, people leave work, and have a couple hours to get home before the public transportation stops. There has been been Black Rain twice so far this year, and there has been some flooding, and even mudslides. The flooding was particularly bad in Sheung Wan, the area where Gary works. It rained almost every day, but, thankfully, not all day. After a while, the rain subsides and it’s nice again for a while, then it rains again.

The heat is really not bad once you get used to that feeling of being sweaty and sticky all the time. Just something you have to accept and go with. Everyone is in the same boat. Having an umbrella with you at all times is essential. If not for the rain, then to shade yourself from the hot sun as you walk down the street. We think that all the heat, humidity, and sweating must be good for the skin. It’s amazing how the local Chinese women look several years younger than they actually are, because their skin is so smooth and lacking in wrinkles. Humidity must be their natural moisturizer.

Yesterday we got up early and took the one-hour TurboJet ferry ride to Macau, a former Portuguese colony, returned to China almost 10 years ago. The city has an interesting mix of old and new. Many very old European-style buildings and cathedrals along side of traditional Chinese markets and Buddhist temples. Since its return to China, Macau has been built up into a “Las Vegas of the East” with flashy hotels, casinos, and shopping malls. There is a lot packed into this small city, and we walked and walked through the streets, alleys, and plazas. We went to dinner at a small restaurant near the beach and we had to take a taxi to get there. Not as many people speak English in Macau as they do in Hong Kong. We were so happy that we were able to speak in Cantonese to the taxi driver and the waitress and actually be understood ! We told the driver where we needed to go, asked if it would be difficult to catch a taxi back to the pier, and how much it would cost to go there. One drawback of this, though, is that when you speak in Cantonese to the locals, they answer back in Cantonese, but usually not slowly. For us understand them, they have to repeat their response slower, and sometimes several times. But we see that the language classes we’ve been taking are starting to sink in.

We look forward to going back to Buffalo at the end of the month. Gary has meetings and it’s a great excuse for both of us to go back and see family and friends.

NOW IT'S MAY

2008-05-18T05:44:00.000-07:00

Having two of our daughters here in Hong Kong was such a wonderful Mothers' Day gift. For our little girls, now in their twenties, it was their first international travel experience. They endured the grueling 17+ hour trip, and made it here safe and sound. Their week was packed full, going from place to place: Victoria Peak, Hong Kong Park, Dim Sum at Maxim's, a junk boat tour around the harbor, the Jade Market, the Bird Garden, and lots and lots of walking the streets, riding the subway, shopping and taking in all the sights and smells. One of the days was a public holiday, Buddha's Birthday and the annual Cheung Chow Bun Festival, so the four of us went to a nearby island and experienced the crowded streets, the floating children, and viewed huge bun towers, the temple, and a little of the Chinese Opera. We didn't have enough time to take our girls to all the places there are to see. We loved having them near, and it was so hard to see them go.

May 1st, or 1-5-08 as written here in Hong Kong with the date first, month next, then year, was also a public holiday. It was Labor Day. Government buildings and a lot of business, as on other public holidays, were closed, and most people get the day off.

All the domestic helpers get the day off, too, and since they are live-in help, with no more than a tiny 10 x 8 room in the back of an apartment, most of them spend Sundays and public holidays out, congregating on covered walkways or in open plazas, on blankets or cardboard, eating, playing cards and socializing all day long with the other amahs. There are thousands of them, mostly from either the Philippines or Indonesia.

Sue has been working with Helpers for Domestic Helpers (HDH), a charity outreach organization, coordinated through St. John's Cathedral, a local church. HDH assists these women, who are very often scammed or cheated out of their minimal income or mistreated by employers, in need of legal assistance. Part of the job is writing letters to the HK Labor Board or the Immigration Office or maybe even the employer, as an advocate for these vulnerable women who cannot always speak for themselves because of language barriers or unfamiliarity with legal options. It is a worthwhile service and it helps this oft-oppressed subculture.

Gary is ever-busy with the IT project at HSBC, but content, and trying to keep the work on schedule. He is still working longer hours than is usual in the US. Gary is glad to have his co-workers as tutors: he gets to go to work and practice his new Cantonese language skills with them.

It is getting increasingly warmer and more humid, but not yet uncomfortable. The locals say it has been a good spring, not too hot, not much rain. Wearing sleeveless tops and shorts seems appropriate to us in this kind of weather, but we've noticed that the Chinese locals keep more covered up, even wearing layers at times. Maybe it has to do with cultural modesty, or maybe it's just their lack of insulating body fat. Or maybe it's that, even though it can be so hot outside, the air conditioning in most buildings is kept so high, that you need AT LEAST a sweater indoors to be comfortable. We have a pool at our apartment complex, which we've been to once or twice, but we're expecting to take greater advantage of it as it gets increasingly hot.

Over the past 4 months, we've met a lot of new people and now can say we have a few friends. We've been going to a church that we like, and we hope to get more involved there, too. We still like it here in Hong Kong very much.

ANNIVERSARY TRIP TO BANGKOK

2008-04-10T21:39:00.000-07:00

We never imagined 29 years ago when we married that we would have such a wonderful opportunity to spend our wedding anniversary touring around in Thailand. We are very thankful.

We left early on a Saturday morning to catch the 2½-hour Thai Airways flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok. Even in economy class, this international airline company has many more amenities than any of the US airline companies we’ve used: a large Thai meal (free), personal video monitors to watch a movie, and orchid corsages for the women, to name a few. We were greeted in the Bangkok International Airport by a huge figure of a Buddhist Thai “guardian”.

So much to see in Bangkok! The city is full of beautiful, ornate, massive Buddhist temples as well as mansions and palaces use by a past or the current King. The artistic detail of each aspect of the temple was stunning: intricate designs using tiny shining pieces of tile or mirror, golden figures of heavenly beings (very different from the western idea of what an angel looks like), painted murals on the walls telling stories of sin, repentance, forgiveness. There are huge golden sitting Buddhas, standing Buddhas, reclining Buddhas, meditating Buddhas. We saw Buddhist monks, as well as many Thai people in the temples praying.

On the hot, humid streets of Bangkok, in the shadows of designer clothing stores and 5-star hotels and restaurants, there are make-shift “shops”, really carts or folding tables, where people sell their wares to locals and tourists alike. Even though, by U.S. standards, prices are cheap, bargaining is commonly used to determine the price of an item. If interested in an item, we’d been told to offer half of the first quoted price, and negotiate from there.

The price of a ride in a taxi or a tuk-tuk (a little vehicle like a motorcycle with a back seat for two, with a roof) had to be negotiated also. We were told to be careful. Being tall, light skinned, and not Asian-looking, it’s impossible to hide the fact that we are tourists. The drivers often attempt to cheat tourists by charging many times the usual rate. Once in a tuk-tuk, the driver, usually having limited English-speaking ability, may lie and tell you that the place you want to go is not open yet, and, in the meantime, he would like to take you to a jewelry store, most likely owned by his relative.

We also did a lot of walking and took the Sky Train, Bangkok’s rapid transit system. As Bangkok is on a river and there is also a system of canals running through it, we saw some of it by long boat and ferry. We enjoyed the Thai food very much and got to see a show with traditional Thai dancing. After four activity-packed days, we headed back to Hong Kong.

Returning from previous trips, we could always look forward to seeing our family. Not this time, as they are all back in the US. It made us a little sad. We are very grateful for all we get to experience in Hong Kong and elsewhere, but we miss them. We are glad that with current technology, it is easier than ever to keep in touch with those back home. And, we are very much looking forward to two of our daughters coming to Hong Kong to visit next month for Mothers’ Day.

VISITING CHEUNG CHAU on 24-March-2008

2008-04-10T07:46:00.000-07:00

On the Monday after Easter we went to Cheung Chau Island to go for a walk. The sun was shining and it was in the 70s. A beautiful day. We took the ferry and entered the small harbor. It was filled with fishing boats and a few sampans (motorized). We wandered along the roadway by the harbor. Cheung Chau is a small island (2.5 sq miles), and has no car traffic, but it still contains “roads” as they are called, but the only traffic with wheels that we saw were bicycles and rickshaw replacements (bicycle powered).

On one side of the road is the harbor and the other is a series of small shops and restaurants. They sell fresh seafood (fish, shrimp and other things), much dried and salted fish (don’t eat the heads because the flys lay their eggs in the eyes). The seafood dishes are amazing. We wandered around the shops for awhile then visited a famous temple. The people of Cheung Chau continue to hold an annual “Bun Festival” celebration in honor of the god who they feel rescued them from a plague many years ago. The festival includes Chinese opera to entertain the ghosts, a parade with “floating children”. The children are attached to seats on poles so they appear to float because the gods all fly and flying children please the gods.

We took a sampan to a small village about 10 minutes from the main pier. From there we walked along the southern portion of the island where we had some breathtaking views of beautiful beaches, views of the sea and amazing rock formations. We went by some grave stones tiered along the hills, and stopped by a couple more temples. Our hair smelled like incense by the end of the day.

We got to walk on the “Mini Wall of China” and see a rock carving dating back 3,000 years. It is amazing to think that there were people living here back then.

We finished up the day walking down the main road from the ferry pier to the beach on the other side of the island. Here food vendors sell everything from octopus on a stick to freshly made cotton candy (yes, cotton candy). Balls of something unrecognizable on a stick seemed to be a favorite, along with a deep fried potato chip made from a single potato and cut into a long curly strip on a stick.

OFFICE SOCIAL LIFE, WEEK OF 24-MARCH,-2008

2008-04-10T07:43:00.000-07:00

This week we had the official office opening ceremony. The senior sponsor of our project (the CFO) and the senior Information Technology Manager (CIO) came to the celebration, said some positive words about the project and the teamwork (we are sharing an office – very unusual). They then jointly slit the back of the roast suckling pig (it is, of course, for good luck). Most of us ate some of the pig and some of the other specialty foods they had.

Earlier on the same day, we had a team lunch celebrating the completion of the plan and thanking people for a good start to the project. We had a traditional Cantonese lunch with many different dishes. I could hardly eat any of the pig later!

The next day we had our annual department dinner. To my surprise, it was all in Cantonese! I was the only gui lo “white ghost”, a.k.a. foreigner). I just sat back and enjoyed the food and the celebration. The food was amazing. It was a banquet. 10 courses! One more amazing than the next. We had about 16 tables with 12 people to a table. Each table had a single server who would set the food (each course came in one dish except the noodles and rice) in the center of the table on a large lazy-Susan and then put a portion in 12 separate small bowls or plates depending on the food and then would serve a few people and indicate that the others should take some. The server was so quick with her hands and chopsticks, or spoons or knives, whatever was appropriate.

It was a fun evening, they had two MCs who brought a few people up at different times to play games. Everyone went along with the fun. Many awards were given out and every team had their picture taken.

At the end of the evening, people were particularly happy when the senior manager announced that the staff could come in late to work the next day.

SETTLING IN: HONG KONG IN MARCH

2008-03-16T01:32:00.000-07:00

Experiencing the mix of culture here -- Chinese, British, Indian, Australian, Philippine -- is a great learning experience. People here frequently use words or expressions that we’ve never heard used in conversation in the US. We knew that a lift is an elevator, and calling take-out food take-away food instead is easy to understand, but would you know what the venue for a birthday party means? Or a sign reading No Lorries or We Buy Gallstones? We’ve learned how to bargain with shopkeepers for lower prices. Everything is so high-tech here; with a tap of our Octopus Card, we can quickly pay for a bus ride or a snack at 7 – 11. Yet, you can also go into a shop and see wall to wall wooden boxes filled with big, live snakes, used for making medicinal soup. Living here, we find, is broadening.

Nei hou (pronounced “lay-ay ho-oh”) means hello, or greetings in Cantonese. Sue has been taking a Cantonese course offered by the HK YWCA. It’s difficult to learn because Cantonese words have to be “sung”. The meaning of the word is different if it is pronounced with a low voice versus a high voice. And some of the words go from low to high or high to low within the same syllable. Because he has to be at work during the day, Gary is learning the language on his own now, but will join an evening class when the next one begins.

Sue has joined the American Women’s Association, which provides both social and volunteer opportunities. One option is the Help for Domestic Helpers program. Hong Kong has so many housekeepers/nannies, called “Amahs” from the Philippines who may be well-educated, but come here and make much more money. The volunteer work is helping them with legal issues. AWA facilitates training for volunteers to be an advocate, writing letters, working though the system, because the volunteer knows English better.

Another option of particular interest is involvement with Crossroads, an organization based in HK, that needs help distributing all kinds of goods that factories here no longer want (for example: last season's clothes) all over the world to needy people, such a refugees and disaster victims. It seems very worthwhile. It's out in the New Territories, the northern-most section of HK, but easy to get to by bus or MTR.

Gary’s project is coming along. Each week someone new from another HSBC site comes into Hong Kong for a few days or more for work sessions, planning sessions, or for training purposes. Because it’s such a big, global project, the team has a lot of challenges. One is estimating when each piece of the IT development will be completed. And, as in every company, upper management always wants things done in the shortest amount of time possible, so there’s always that looming pressure. As IT Integration Architect, Gary is enjoying the work, mostly, but enjoying the people and the newness of the work environment more.

All of Sue’s paperwork for Hong Kong RN license is submitted, but we’re waiting for a couple of things to be sent from the US to the HK Nursing Council. Hong Kong makes it very difficult to apply for licensure, and Sue may also have to take a test. We’ll have to see.

It’s been in the low to mid 70’s this past week. We’re told that, before long, it’ll be uncomfortably hot and humid. It’s hard to believe. This is so nice. Come see for yourself.

14-Mar-2008

2008-03-14T19:30:00.000-07:00

We went to a famous drama last week called the The Master Builder. It was quite the multi-cultural experience - it was written by a Norwegian playwright in the late 1800's, put on by a famous mainland Chinese drama troupe - very good acting, translated on monitors into standard Chinese characters and english.

This week Gary went to a small Indian restaurant that one of his co-workers was taken to in the past. To get to it, you have to go into an office building and pass by many people from Africa and the middle east. The word is that they go to this building to pick up (or perhaps ship) goods to transport back to their home countries. We then walked up a back stair case to the 4th floor passing by several small restaurants (more like rooms) with Indian and middle eastern cooking. Passed by some more Africans (all of whom stared at us like we were oddities) and then went down a small corridor and into a little hallway, then it opened into a small room, more like someones living room or small office converted into a restaurant that seats about 30 people. Very good food, very cheap price.

Today we are off to a town on the southside of Hong Kong island called Stanley for a trip to a famous outdoor shopping market and to see the beaches on the southside of the island. It is supposed to hit about 74-75F today, so we're bringing our sunglasses and a couple of books to read.

FEBRUARY REFLECTIONS

2008-03-02T04:38:00.000-08:00

Our lifestyle is different here in Hong Kong. For Gary, it’s off to work in the mornings, but he doesn’t just jump in the car and go anymore, like he did in Buffalo. We don’t have a car. We really don’t need one. Gary will either walk down the “street” (the street is really about 18 flights of cement stairs, bordered by tall buildings) to catch the bus for about a 20 minute ride to the west, past Central District to the Shueng Wan District, another area of the city with slightly smaller high-rise office buildings. Or he can take the MTR or a cab. Our apartment complex also offers minibus service at specified times throughout the day that can take us down to Central.

Working on an IT team of mostly-Chinese has been interesting and broadening. Team dynamics are different. It’s inappropriate to express strong emotion and you never want to inadvertently make a coworker look bad or embarrass him/her. So you have to be extra careful. Lunch “hours” are longer, and everyone goes out to eat. There have been some after-hours “meetings". Since this is a global IT project, there have been team members in and out, for a week or a few days, from London, Chicago, and Vancouver. It’s customary to discuss business, mixed with personal talk, over drinks and dinner. Sue has been invited to a few of the dinners in the evening. Gary will periodically have to participate in very late night conference calls from home. He doesn't have a regularity to his schedule yet, so he gets home between 6 and 7pm.

We go out to eat a lot. There are so many restaurants and, as long as you don’t eat in a hotel restaurant, it costs much less to eat out compared to the US. We’ve gotten the hang of using chop sticks to eat. Sue has cooked dinner only twice so far. Part of the reason for this is that buying groceries has been confusing. They have different kinds of food than what we’re used to buying, so we don’t know how to prepare them. And the labels are written in Chinese, so it’s hard to know what’s what. We’ve never seen some of the fruits and vegetables. (But the truth is that it is just more fun to go out…)

The wife of a co-worker of Gary’s recently took Sue on a “Grocery Store Tour”. It was extremely helpful to know the protocol for shopping. Since most people have no car, groceries can either be carried home or the stores offer free home delivery. If you shop in the morning, they will deliver that afternoon, right to the apartment. If you shop in the afternoon, they will come the next morning. Wine is sold in grocery stores here.

Getting around is a lot of fun. Just walking down the street is a new experience each time. The cars, vans, limos, taxis, buses, minibuses, and motorbikes drive “on the wrong side of the road”. And they all drive very fast. So, if you’re not paying attention, it would be very easy to get hit by a bus. The crosswalks are wide, at least 20 feet on most streets, and are set up with walk/don’t walk lights, just like in the states. But, corresponding to the “Don’t Walk” light is a slow clack, clack, clack metal against metal noise that changes to a fast pace when it is ok to cross. That’s when you hurry across the street. On the subway, recorded voices, first in Cantonese, then in English, with a British accent, will remind us “Please mind the gap” and other directions, instructions and safety measures for riding the MTR.

Some of the shops are filled with things we’ve never seen before, things unrecognizable. We couldn’t even guess. The smells are very unusual. Everyone is either talking in the staccato Cantonese dialect to the person next to them, or has a cell phone to their ear. With 97% of the population being Chinese, we see mostly shorter, dark-haired, Asian-looking people. But there is the occasional Caucasian. They may be speaking French or German or English with a British or Australian accent. We’ve only seen about 6 black people in the 4 weeks we’ve been here.

We feel how it’s very hard being away from our children. Although we miss them, if we know they are doing fine, then we’re OK. But it’s a different story when one of them is hurt or in need. We got a call one night, in the middle of the night (afternoon in Buffalo) that our firstborn was in a skiing accident. We so badly wanted to be there with our son and our daughter-in-law. But now it’s not as easy. It’s a two day trip to get there, at best. It is so agonizing and heart-wrenching to be so far away when something like this happens. Our son had surgery at Northwestern in Chicago, and we’re praying for a quick and full recovery.

The weather is getting warmer, approaching the high 60’s. (That’s about 16 – 18 degrees Celsius. Although we are not yet thinking in Celsius, the local temperature is reported that way.) We are definitely not missing the snow and ice. Spring here would be perfect for visitors!

First Week in Hong Kong

2008-02-11T04:48:00.000-08:00

Our Hong Kong adventure begins! We arrived safe and sound, one day later than expected due to weather delays and missed flights. We were met at the Hong Kong Airport by an HSBC-provided driver who spoke a little English. Our 30th floor apartment at Bamboo Grove, in a very centrally-located area of the city of Hong Kong known as Wan Chai, has floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room and master bedroom with beautiful views of the city and the mountainside. We also have 2 other furnished bedrooms – plenty of room for guests!

We were provided with basic furniture, plates, cups, utensils, pots, pans, etc. and one can of Pringles. The complex itself has its own security system and we now have a code to get in. Each "block" of our apartment complex (6 blocks, 64 apartments in each block) has its own Resident Service Associate, who seems to be at our beck and call if we have any questions or issues with the apartment or need information about where to go. Ours is a sweet young Chinese woman named Oboe.

We spent our first day in Hong Kong exploring our new surroundings. It was a little scary at first. We woke up hungry and had no idea where to go for breakfast (we ended up at McDonalds – a safe start), and needed groceries (hurray! We found a small grocery store not far – “what are these?” “can you say milk in Cantonese?”) The temperature has been in the high 50's here. A little cooler than we had hoped, but better than the snow, ice and wind-chill back in Buffalo. It’s been fun just walking around, up and down the busy, crowded, hilly city streets, taking in all the unusual sights. The majority of signs are written in Chinese character script, which we are trying to learn. We’re starting to recognize some of the simpler, more common ones, but, fortunately for us, a lot is also written in English. Because of our location, we have very easy access to the MTR, Hong Kong’s rapid transit system, which can quickly and inexpensively take us from one side of the island to the other, or across the harbor (under water) to the peninsula side of Hong Kong.

There are others HSBC secondees here, some even from Buffalo. Everyone seems very welcoming. We were invited to "tea" by a colleague of Gary’s from work at their apartment up on “the Peak” (Victoria Peak). We found out that "tea" means more than just drinking tea. It means food too, like scones and little sandwiches and pastries. It was fun. They gave us a lot of useful tips about living in Hong Kong.

Gary started his new job on Monday, and Sue was asked to accompany him to the office for the morning to get new health insurance cards, and a Wing On Department Store credit card (that HSBC will pay) to buy necessary household items. The HSBC HR person also reviewed other benefits provided to the secondee and family. Gary stayed at work Monday afternoon, and Sue went back to the apartment to unpack and set up.

Gary worked Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, then had Thursday, Friday and the weekend off because of the Chinese New Year holidays. He's back to work now on a regular 5 day a week schedule. We'll have to see how many hours each day. One day last week they had a meeting until 7:30 at night!

Happy Chinese New Year! Kung Hei Fat Choy! It's now the year of the RAT! We took the 10 minute Star Ferry boat ride over to a huge parade on the peninsula side of Hong Kong. There was sea of short, dark-haired people, in every direction, as far as we could see. We’re glad we’re tall—it made it much easier to see the parade. The next night they had the most amazing fireworks over the water at the harbor. It was a panorama of fireworks across the whole sky and had the whole 25 minutes of what we would consider the "finale". They had fireworks in the shape of dragons, the Bauhinia, Hong Kong’s official flower, and the "lucky" number 8. We stood there watching, taking it all in, feeling very thankful to God that we have this opportunity to be here and experience living in Hong Kong.

Communication has been a bit challenging, because although a lot of people speak English, many, particularly the shopkeepers and the taxi drivers, only speak a little. We hope to learn some Cantonese, but for now we carry around a map and our Cantonese phrasebook, a going-away present from friends.

There is so much for us to do and see. Right now it feels more like we’re on vacation, instead of a work relocation. Hong Kong has every kind of food imaginable, and we’ve been trying some of the restaurants in our neighborhood. We want to go to all the tourist attractions and do some hiking on the trails in the mountains on the main Hong Kong Island and on the surrounding islands. We’ve heard about a church, "Island Evangelical Christian Church," that we plan to check out on Sunday, so that we can get connected with a church here.

We think about our children and friends back in the US. Gary has his work Blackberry phone and we have internet access and a phone in the apartment to help us stay connected. Sue should be getting a mobile phone this week, after we get our Hong Kong Resident ID Cards, which is necessary to sign up for cell phone service. We are hoping that family and friends will come to visit us some time during our stay here.

We hope to update this Blog regularly. Take care.

(Check out all these people - just a normal day in one of the main shopping areas) =>

Dominican Republic Medical Missions Trip

2008-01-20T16:47:00.000-08:00

The team of about 60 of us—doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, one physical therapist, and many essential support personnel, saw, on the average, about 400 people each day. Because of the poor living conditions of many people living in the Dominican Republic, they suffer with scabies, parasites and both bacterial and fungal skin infections. Also, because of the extreme poverty and inability to access medical care and basic medicines, many adults and children live with malnutrition, unmanaged hypertension, diabetes, poor vision, sickle cell anemia, fevers, arthritis and many more easily treatable conditions.

Because of the donations of money, medicine, and medical supplies, we were able to assess and treat many that would otherwise have no option for better health and relief from pain.

As Christians, we also wanted, if possible, to heal the spiritual ills of our patients. So, through skits, video, one-on-one interaction (with translators), and written Spanish materials, a portion of our group presented those willing to listen with a message of hope. Many, for the first time, heard about the love God has for them and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.