Sharing Life

There's nothing like sharing your experiences with those we love.  

Keeping everyone in Hong Kong during Gran and Jack's visit proved to be challenging. Jeff spent all but five of their seventeen-day visit in the US, Forrest spent six of their seventeen-day visit in Laos, and Ellis had a busy social schedule during their visit (which is not necessary usual for him). All the girls remained steady and devoted!

 The China Club

Anna and Livia arrived in HK on their way back to North Carolina from their month-long visit to Vietnam. What fun to have them for a week. Of course, we had the same struggle with keeping everyone in HK. During their visit Jeff spent a couple of days on business in Japan, and Forrest was only with Anna one full day before going to Kolkata, India with school.

This has to be one of my favorite pictures. Forrest and Ellis had dentist appointments on the day Anna arrived, so of course, we took Anna and Livia with us. The moment we walked into the office, Ellis and Forrest plopped on the floor (kids' corner) and started playing trains with Livia.

Christmas 2014

While we don't have a white Christmas in Hong Kong - unless you want to count the pollution that might look like snowy, white clouds that just don't move or produce anything (other than lung cancer) - we do have cool weather, with virtually no humidity. The city also seems to clear out, as everyone travels during the holidays, so, for us, it was a perfect place to be - HOME. 

I think the greatest part of staying in HK for Christmas Day, was being able to go to our home church on Christmas Eve. It's such a happy place for all of us.

Christmas Eve in the Mexican Restaurant in Central. Needless to say, we had the place to ourselves.

I had grand plans for silly games at the Christmas party with our friends, but the gingerbread houses juts took over, and the night was over before I was able to offer the real FUN. So, I saved it for Christmas day.

Here's the idea: Make a Christmas Tree from one sheet of construction paper behind your back, ripping the paper to create the tree.  I cheated (while on google) and read that you should fold your construction paper first (behind the back, of course), but I still failed miserably. Well, not as miserably as Ellis. Results below.

Jeff always wins these contests. Clearly, this comes from his perfect childhood.

Yep, this reveals so much more than meets the eye.

Taylor created a pretty good chess piece, Claire dug into her southern roots to create Alabama (or is that Mississippi), but Forrest and Ellis . . . ummmm

Holiday travel

Because we have no idea how long we will be living on this side of the world - my fingers are crossed for years and years - we want to take advantage of school breaks to visit as many places as possible, places that don't take 24 hours to get there.

Beijing and The Great Wall seemed to be a logical choice for the Christmas break. The weather is cold in December and the crowds are significant lighter (although, I wouldn't say light), which we decided is far better than wicked hot and unbearably crowded.

I found the "warnings" on the weather in Beijing by our HK friends a bit disturbing. Of course, at first, these weren't "disturbing" because I dismissed these comments as those of who had been too long in the wicked hot summers and mild winters of HK.  But, there were just too many "warnings" to shake. My favorite was from a friend from North Carolina, "Have you been to Beijing in the winter? It's COLD! We often ask people, 'is it cold-cold, or Beijing cold.'" And, each time I saw this friend, she would remind me of some warm article of clothing that I mustn't forget to pack.

So, I gathered all the ski gear, scarves, thermal underclothes, gloves, hats, socks, and boots we had in the house, and then went out and bought more to make sure we had enough clothing to layer all six of us sufficiently. Deep down, I didn't think we would truly need all of this. But, my friend is a strong personality and I didn't want to face her after Beijing without having heeded her warning.

OH MY WORD!  Cold cannot describe how I felt on The Great Wall. The beauty and sheer engineering marvel is something to behold, but because I was mostly hijacked by my low body-temperature,  I don't think I enjoyed it as I might have with a few more layers.

The oldest sections of the Wall that haven't been repaired are the most interesting (and you don't see a soul on the wall while hiking). We hiked 10K each of the two days we were on the wall. 

And it didn't get any warmer in the city!

Beijing, I could have done without. The sky was blue (miracle), but the city and the people seemed gloomy and depressed (hello, communism). Also, we were a spectacle with our four kids (in this one-kid-and-better-be-my-blood-kid country). And, apparently, it's not rude to take pictures and stare and laugh at other families you do not know!!! But, overall, I'm glad we went - but mostly only for The Great Wall.

But, these finds - bringing joy to all native English speakers - make the cold, the communist, and the discourteous all worth it!

Holiday Traditions

When my neice was in high school she was asked - at school - about a holiday tradition in her family, and she replied (in speaking of her holidays with her grandparents, i.e. my parents), "Our holiday tradition is making a new tradition."

No one really laughed at this because it was just SO VERY true. We all had the Ahh-that's-insightful kind of look.

I'm afraid I will proabably do the same let's-try-something-new-this-year-tradition. Learned behavior in the formative years tend to be tough to un-learn.

But, there was one tradition that began when my children were very young, and I was able to make sure it happened this Christmas in HK - gingerbread houses. Of course, we didn't really make these at Christmas in GA, we made them on Thanksgiving Day in preparation for the holiday season (new tradition).  Finding enough gingerbread houses for a party proved to be a challenge. Nonetheless, it happened.

(I'm breaking all my rules of allowing not-my-own-kids' pictures to be posted.)

A tradition that would be fun to start in Hong Kong would be having a friend visit for the holidays. So, Rachel (a teacher from Forrest's days in grammar school at Caldwell in NC) didn't really come to HK to visit us, nor did she stay with us; but she went to church with us, ate dinner with us, met us for coffee, and posed for a picture to prove it.  And, she absolutely is a friend! This is an invitation to all.