Christmas Break

We have entered the real world once again. Our two week Christmas break is over and we are back at school for the start of 2^nd semester. Over Christmas we traveled to Hong Kong and came home to spend New Year’s in Kunming.

Hong Kong is where East meets West, and depending on where you are coming from it will seem more like one than the other. Since we were coming from mainland China, Hong Kong felt very Western to us, but I can easily understand why those coming straight from the U.S. would think it is so Asian. So many of the things I appreciated about the city would have been lost on me if we didn’t live in Kunming. I was first struck with how clean (no spitting allowed!) and orderly the city was and how cars followed traffic laws and moved to the side for police sirens. Although it is a huge city, it was easy to travel around thanks to the MTR, buses, trams, trolleys, and taxis. We could read most signs and effectively communicate with people because everything was in English, as well as Cantonese. We almost forget sometimes that at home we are basically illiterate. We can’t read 99% of the signs around us and unless we are talking about a very specific subject (like fruit at the market) we aren’t able to talk to people either!

We traveled to Hong Kong via Guangzhou on the 22^nd and were there for 6 days. On the 23^rd we met up with a local Kunming friend, Liz, who was in Hong Kong visiting the Logos Hope ship she used to live on. I don’t know if you are familiar with Logos Hope or its precursor, Doulos, but LH is a large ship staffed by over 100 M’s that docks in harbors around the world and holds book fairs, hosts conferences, facilitates service projects, etc. It is an amazing organization and we were lucky enough to tour the ship with Liz and get a first-hand look at how the staff lives on board and what they do. We spent the rest of the day walking around Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, visiting Man Mo Temple, and enjoying the café scene. That night we huddled along the Kowloon waterfront to watch the “Symphony of Lights”, a light show on Hong Kong Island set to music.

Monday, the 24^th, we ventured to the far reaches of the MTR system with a visit to Lantau Island and its most famous resident, Big Buddha. Big Buddha is technically called the Tian Tan Buddha statue. He is 26 meters tall and has a spectacular viewing platform. We traveled from the last stop on the metro to Po Lin Monastery via bus over the islands hills and down by the beaches and finally up to the peak. We walked through the touristy village and then started the climb to the base of the statue. The views from the top were amazing; we could see all over the island. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening enjoying the Christmas lights and festivities in Kowloon.

Christmas Day was celebrated at Disneyland. We arrived before the park opened and stayed until the last fireworks went off. We have never spent a Christmas away from family so it seemed like more of a random vacation than actual Christmas, but I suppose that makes sense since we have never been on our own before. We enjoyed the rides and the decorations on Main Street and were pleasantly surprised at all of the traditional Christmas Carols they played throughout the park (Silent Night, Hark, The Herald Angels Sing, etc.)

We celebrated Boxing Day by hanging out with fellow KIA staff member and friend, Hana, a Hong Kong native. She took us on the Peak Tram to Victoria’s Peak, the highest point in Hong Kong, out to Stanley to enjoy the market and awesome beach views, and to Ikea. Sadly, Ikea may have been the highlight of my day. Don’t misunderstand me, I loved the trip to the peak and I thought Stanley was beautiful, but I was thrilled to be able to buy a few much needed items that cannot be purchased at home (fitted sheets and baking dishes!)

On Thursday we visited a market, walked through Signal Gardens, and basically just wandered through the city looking in little shops and stores to see what they had. Friday morning we traveled back to Kunming.

Our second week of break was mostly spent at home and around Hu Pan. A cold snap hit Kunming for a few days and our lack of central heating became evident as we layered on the clothes and sat under blankets. We are thankful that winter is short lived here and that most days the sun shines into our large living room windows and warms the entire house.

We hosted friends for New Year’s Eve and as we rang in 2013 I had to laugh at how far we’ve come in a year. G has led us to this amazing new country and into a new community where we feel like we’ve found our place. We have jobs where we can contribute and are building relationships where we feel like we can make a difference. We are blessed beyond measure.