Wan Chai 灣仔

Harbour

Thursdays are my days for adventure. I don't have class until 4:30, so I love to go exploring Hong Kong during this day of the week. Today's destination: Wan Chai. My reasoning for going here was for obtaining my Hong Kong Identification Card, and also to begin the process for collecting my China Visa (it takes 4 days).

A number of interesting things happen when you go out into a city like Hong Kong by yourself. Especially when I am always looking for opportunities to share Christ, or just be Christ-like towards others.

When I arrived at Wan Chai station via MTR, I immediately saw foreigners everywhere. Not just that, but businessmen. Wan Chai is the first destination for any foreigner coming into Hong Kong, whether to do business, site-see, or live. Because everyone has to go to the Immigration Tower. There is a beautiful park at the base of the tower. Yet, right next to the park is the busiest street ever. And right above the street is a bridge with crazy amounts of people walking across. Not just one bridge, but maybe 5. Even crazier, the whole building and even a couple of the bridges are made out of some shiny marble that looks really expensive.

After I got my Hong Kong Identification Card, I went to McDonald's for lunch. No, I do not usually go to McDonald's for lunch. The reason for this time was because when I opened up my account with Bank of East Asia, they gave me a gift certificate for a free meal at McD's. So, there I was, eating a Big n' Tasty with fries and a coke "supersized". Typical American, as the locals would say! But, actually, I'm very glad I went. Let me explain the culture of eating in Hong Kong. There are so many people that it's usually difficult to find a seat.

So, people just sit down wherever they can - even if it's with someone they don't know. I have gotten accustomed to this cultural aspect, and noticed an African couple walking into the seating room. I could tell they were tourists and had no idea where to sit. Realizing this, I waved at them and asked them to come sit with me. I don't know why I did this, but I did - and I'm glad I did. The man was very friendly and they both spoke good English. I asked them where they were from, and they told

me Uganda. They were on vacation and staying in Tsim Sha Tsui for site-seeing Hong Kong. He noticed that I was wearing a Rajon Rondo jersey from the Boston Celtics, and so we started talking about Hasheem Thabeet, who is the first Tanzanian basketball player to make it in the NBA. This immediately led me to tell him that my dad was just recently in Tanzania. When he asked me if he was doing business there, I told him he was working for the Tanzanian Baptist Convention. I didn't even have to explain myself because he smiled and immediately knew that my dad was a preacher. We exchanged business cards, and I hope to keep in touch with him. Maybe even have lunch again before he and his wife head back to Uganda. His name was Arthur and his wife's name was Aiishi.

This made me smile as I walked off because I knew without a doubt that God had planned that appointment. The International Mission Board refers to this as a "divine appointment". That it was!

Next stop: China Resources Building. I needed to wait in a long line for turning in my application for a visa to Mainland China. I would be first getting a double entry visa, and then after I go twice I will get my multi entry visa. Well, the wait was atrocious. But I couldn't let a long line keep me from going to China. There's not many other places that excite me more than that of China. It seems like a mystery to most of us, and I want to begin understanding this mystery personally.

So everyone had to leave and they told us to come back at 2 pm because they were closing for a few hours! I was disappointed because it was only 12pm.

I went to a local park, and it was beautiful. Surrounded by tall buildings and somehow this park was still very serene and peaceful. I sat down on a ledge in the middle of a small bridge. It was nice to just sit and people watch. Five minutes of sitting goes by, and then suddenly a Chinese woman decides to sit down next to me. She was obviously curious to why I was there, because I was the only white man there. She didn't really speak English, so I took this as an opportunity to practice my mandarin. Wow, was this cool! She actually understood me, and we had a conversation. A couple times I had to apologize for knowing little Putonghua, but it was so exciting to actually utilize what I had learned independently these past couple of years. I just couldn't have this experience in Kentucky. Simply no way. Sure, I was horrible and probably didn't make much sense to her. But I spoke Chinese! This is my first step to fluency - even if there are 100 more steps to go. Which reminds me; I haven't even been here for one month. I'm anxious to see how far I will have come by the end of my second semester here.

After my stroll in the park, I went up to the Pacific Coffee Company (which competes heavily with Starbucks here and seems to be winning). There was a gorgeous view of the harbour from here. In fact, the view is the picture at the top of this post.

Anyways, during my waiting period here a Buddhist monk comes up to me! Yes, that's right - those bald men who wear orange robes! Well, he asked me to donate to their cause. Just expected me to pull out some doe...I'm like "sorry dude" I'm a college student. He was a bit saddened and walked off. I felt bad, but as I began to think another guy walks up to me! This time it's some middle eastern man from Singapore. He tells me there's a dot on my forehead and it saying I'm going to be a successful man. He just keeps rambling about luck and karma and how I'm going to have successful love and I'm like a rose. I tried to interrupt him to ask him a question, but he was so persistent on fortelling my future. He gave me a little ball, and asked me to give him paper money for his cause, which seemed to be the same as the monk I just saw. However, this guy had a turban on and a button-up shirt and tie, so I was perplexed. I just told him "I don't want to be successful". He was amazed at my comment, and then he said, "you will find successful love". I told him I already have through Jesus Christ. I then showed him my cross knecklace and then explained to him that I was a Christian. Then he asked me, "where are you from?" So, I told him the United States. He then said, "do you know Jesus was from Israel, not US?" I said yes, and then I went on to say, "but Jesus came to save all peoples of all nations." Then he gave me a grimace that I will never forget and stomped away.

I don't know if I said the right things, but I do know that this was a great experience for me. I feel that God was testing me as how confident I am in my faith. I hope I passed the test. But I definitely need to be more aware of those who are in opposition to Jesus Christ.

After this, I took the deepest breath I had ever taken in my life. Knowing where you stand in life is a good feeling. I knew instinctively that I needed to stand for Christ. Doing this on my own on the other side of the world was no doubt an invigorating experience! Please comment on this, seeing as I still am unsure on whether what I said was good, or even what I didn't say. Just give me your opinion. You won't offend me, I promise.