Destination - Macao Videos

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Macao 澳门

This past Sunday I took an hour long ferry ride from Sheung Wan in Hong Kong to the island of Macao. Why would I miss church to go to this place get-a-way casino haven? For good reason, I can assure you. I had the opportunity to see Pete Sampras play versus Andre Agassi in an exhibition Tennis Showdown event. To see them play each other in a match was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I knew that I had to get a ticket.

I'm so glad I went. Not only did I feel like I went back in time as I sat there mind-boggled with the fact that Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi were on a tennis court together before my eyes, but I was excited to be in Macao. To be honest, the only reason to visit Macao is to gamble. Everyone there is either working for the Casino or is a tourist having the time of their lives at the casino. The tennis match was held in the Cotia Arena, which is connected to the biggest Casino there (I'm assuming it was because it was monstrous)called The Venetian. This place is similar in style (so I'm told) to The Venetian in Las Vegas. But this place was out of this world with decorations. People were telling me this is "Asia's Las Vegas". I testify to that nickname, because the amount of money spent on the architecture, inside and out, was unheard of.

Maybe one of these days I will take a trip to Vegas and compare, though I would be fine without ever stepping foot there. You get off the ferry, and these amazingly high quality charter buses escort everyone to the casino free of charge. That right there proved to me that there's not much else to do in Macao! Although I'm sure there are some pretty landscapes to see or parks to visit, there can't be much else complementing these massive casinos.


At the game I made a new friend while waiting in line for getting into the arena. His name is Monu and he is a Hindu from India. It was great to meet him! He knew so much about tennis and we hit it off from the start as we talked all about tennis. He is a fan of Nadal, and I am a fan of Federer. Then he told me he was a fan of the Lakers! And then I went on to tell him how much I loved the Celtics. We ended up sitting together the whole game and I'm glad because talking with him during the matches made it a lot more fun.

The cool thing about him being from India is the fact that the number one 17-year old junior player from India Yuki Bhambri was there to play a set verse Ryan Harrison from the States. So we both felt an obvious desire for our fellow countrymen to do well (and win mind you). Nonetheless, we were still able to become good friends and teach other about our culture. He lives in Tsim Sha Tsui, which is also in Kowloon, Hong Kong nearby where I am living. I hope to reconnect with him sometime soon.

Now, about the players. The first match was a timed match between Yuki Bhambri and Ryan Harrison. This was great to see them play because it was their first times on the big stage. They were both very talented players who were obviously fighting nerves. Yuki was a smarter player than Ryan, but Ryan was strong and had an amazing serve.

Next up: THE LEGENDS. Well, the old men who looked like they needed a bit extra time to warm up! LOL. After a few games, they finally started to impress us with there secret weapons. Pete's beautiful serve formation and graceful one-handed backhand was amazing to see in person. Even better today was Agassi's serve, surprisingly.

He was really feeling it, and seemed much more focused than Pete. Sampras seemed so calm and relaxed, and didn't really show any huge desire to win. But, somehow, Pete managed to be the victor. When they got to the third set for the 10-pt tiebreaker, Pete showed Agassi who was the boss when it came to serving. Agassi really played well though, which makes me wonder how Pete won. I guess when you are the best, you just don't even have to play well to win.

Don't worry all, I didn't go to the slots. And I didn't even play poker - although it was tempting. Luckily, I scheduled my ferry ticket to leave soon after the match. So I didn't really have enough time to do much else. Nevertheless, I am glad to have said I have been to Macao! Great place for gamblers - but not for me! By the way...Rod Stewart was supposed to have a mini concert before the match, but he supposedly had to go to the hospital for some reason. Bummer! Rod Stewart is on my Favorites list in my iPod - JUST KIDDING.

外婆生日快乐！Happy Birthday Mammaw!

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New Adventure: Tai Wai to Tai Po

It was just yet another stress-free day in Hong Kong. My friend Ben from church had e-mailed me an invitation to go on a bike ride with a Christian Fellowship from City University of Hong Kong on a Saturday. Ben is actually Chinese, but he lived in Australia for a few years so he has a fun Australian accent to go along with his friendly personality. This weekend I had no intentions of studying, because I find that being an exchange student, it is better to study by experiencing. I had a good feeling that a bike ride with Christian professors from a more well-known university would be a pretty good experience. Boy was I right!

From left to right: Ben, Eddie, Myself, David, and Wang. Eddie is local second year student studying chemical engineering if I recall correctly. Ben is teaching communications by the way. David is actually an American-Chinese teaching English at City U for the past 7 years. Wang actually grew up in the United Kingdom and has been teaching Engineering for the past 21 years. Great group of Christian men. Eddie has been married for 2 months now, David is seeking to find the right girl just like me, and Wang is married with 4 kids (3 boys and a girl). After introducing ourselves we began to embark on our semi-long journey to Tai Po from Tai Wai.

It was a beautiful bike ride along the coast. Passing Sha Tin, Fo Tan, and even Chinese University of Hong Kong, there never was a moment without a good view. I had never realized how open and spacious the New Territories were until this trip. Sure, it's a bit out of the way. But it seems like such a pleasant and more peaceful area to live in. I really like Sha Tin because it is quaint, beautiful, and close-by to Kowloon. Being able to take turns chatting with each of these guys was so nice. We would have to converse in two's seeing as we were trying to ride our bikes and dodge all other bikers in the meantime! The amount of bikers is nothing at all compared to the chaos in Beijing. I have heard life-threatening stories of tourists riding bikes in Beijing. There were, however, a few people that I saw crash along the way. It was mainly there fault because they weren't paying good enough attention and ran into the fence!

After our tiring adventure, we took an hour long bus ride back into Kowloon for dinner. We ended up deciding on going to a hotpot restaurant in Mong Kok. I don't think I have ever felt more hungry in my life! We ordered so much food, we had to wait a while because we ordered so much. When they finally rolled out a huge cart full of food for us, we turned on our hotpot to boil the water, and then threw in all of our food. This style of eating is very communal and enjoyable for friends and family to eat together. During this meal time I really had some great conversations with them. You can learn so much from professors even outside of the classroom! I really am glad that I decided to join this fellowship time, and I will surely hope to join them again in the weeks to come. God is good, all the time - and all the time, God is good.

Li Bai 李白 “A Tranquil Night” 静夜思

床前明月光，

疑是地上霜。

举头望明月，

低头思故乡。

Before my bed a pool of light,

Is it hoarfrost upon the ground?

Eyes raised, I see the moon so bright;

Head bent, in homesickness I'm drowned.

This poem （静夜思）is from the Chinese Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai (701-762). He is known as one of the two greatest Chinese poets ever, along with Du Fu. His Taoist beliefs influence his great imagery in his 1,100 poems that still exist today. Poet He Zhizhang called Li Bai the "Transcendent dismissed from Heaven". This is because he lived a very carefree life, with a great love for alcohol. His nickname 詩仙 “Poem-God", which is true because of his amazing ability of communicating his feelings to the reader. He is very free-spirited and uses the characters wondrously. Among the common people of China, Li Bai is unquestionably the most beloved figure in Chinese poetry.

Unfortunately, since the start of the Nobel Peace Prize in Literature in 1901 - not one winner has been Chinese. The Swedish Academy decides who gets the prize each year. They have received a lot of criticism in recent years because of their controversial decisions. Since I have begun to gain much respect for the Chinese characters and it's uniqueness, I now am frustrated to find out that not one winner of this prize is Chinese. How can we disregard this language? Just because the meanings are deep and difficult for the Latin languages to adhere to doesn't mean that it can't be praised. Nearly all laureates have been European! This is not fair - I officially will never eat Swedish meatballs again!

Fan Scores A Penalty Kick During Saturn Spartak Moscow Game

This is hilarious! I would SO do this if I was at a game with that many fans.

Lion's Peak

The Adventure of a Lifetime

One night, about a week ago, I just couldn't sleep. Well, I could, but I just decided to stay up and study. Something in me told me, "Jon, you know you really don't have to go to sleep. I mean, you're in college on the other side of the world. Who cares?"So I let my conscious be my guide and stayed up studying Chinese until around 4:30. Finally, I decided I better at least consider going back to my room. As soon as I opened my door to my room, I noticed the sun was coming up. Wow, I thought, "It's only 4:45ish, and the sun is already coming up!" Full of this sudden burst of energy, I somehow convinced myself that I needed to go hiking. What was I thinking?! Oh, I have no idea, but this was the best decision of my life - other than accepting Jesus Christ as my Savior of course!

The photo above is what I see when I'm trying to find my way from campus to get to the top of this mountain. Yea, that's right, my goal was to get to the top of this mountain. I don't know what inspired me (other than my adventurous nature), but I was determined to make it to the top of that mountain. With great ambition, my Eddie Bauer hat, and my Merrel hiking shoes, I took off with bloodshot eyes from zero amount of sleep. Even better, this is a solo journey.

My strategy for finding my way up was simple: just start walking straight towards it! Not that simple in Hong Kong, however. With busy streets blockading my what seemed to be straight path, I had to weave my way via walking sidewalks and scale

overpasses to get to my destination.

Finally, I found my way to what seemed to be one of the many entrances to Lion's Peak Trail. The entrance was very secluded and an abrupt change from the rural to natural environment. I was amazed that among all of this, that so close was this beautiful vegetation. I took some videos, I can't get them on my blog sorry. But they are uploaded on my Picasa Web Albums if you want to check them out. Which, after you read what I am about to tell you...you will probably be really curious to see the videos!

Going in the morning was the best idea. Once I got on to the trail, I felt like I was in a whole different culture. All of the people I saw were elderly (obviously people my age were asleep). This was such a cultural experience for me because they were so friendly! Everyone said "Jousahn" to me, which means "Good morning". It was so cool because I was able to practice what I had learned so far with the friendly locals. Some of them told me that they climb the mountain everyday. Yea - the age range seemed to be 60-80 years old! So, these people are healthy. This is not an easy hike. Very vigorous, but well worth it when you get to the top!

Well, I didn't just talk with elderly people. I made other friends while on this amazing hike. As I approached the peak of the mountain and was in awe of the most amazing view of the entire city and harbor, I was startled. Not by the amazing

view, but by the peculiar shaking of the trees behind me and to my left. Happening to already have my camera on hand, I turn to the left, and see a monkey dangling from the tree - looking straight at me! Oh my goodness, is this reality? I

shook my head in disillusion, trying to make myself believe what I was seeing. It was true!

There were nearly 10 monkeys climbing around and "oo-oo-ah-ah-ing" or whatever the sound effect translation is! I could not believe my eyes! After a few seconds goes by, I un-drop my jaw, and begin to video-tape them. As I am video-taping, I am thinking to myself, "I need to get them on tape because they are going to leave before I can get them". To my amazement, they were not leaving. In fact, two of them jumped down athletically from 15 feet off the tree limb to the edge of the cliff that I happened to be standing on. I was trying to enjoy a nice view of Hong Kong, but these guys didn't seem to care.

Suddenly, I realized that I had a pack of Ritz crackers in my hand. Then it all made sense - they were hungry and I had a nice treat. Uh oh, I thought. But, no, I wasn't going to run away, especially seeing as I had no where to run but off the cliff! They had me trapped. So, instead, I quickly decided to try and be really friendly to them. I started waving; that didn't work because they were still curiously monkeying around me. I gave in, and motioned for them to come and take the Ritz crackers. These guys are smart, because the biggest one came at me in an instance and snatched it out of my hand. Good thing I'm an experienced hiker and brought extra food!

But, I was beginning to have fun now and they didn't seem as aggressive anymore. So, I started to play around with them. I actually climbed a tree and tried to get close to one. I dangled down, showing them that I was athletic too! It was the coolest, yet goofiest experience ever. I started talking to them thinking they actually understood me. Then, I started to realize that they just

wanted more crackers. Giving in to their now what seemed to friendliness, I sat down at a nearby rock. I began nibbling my three pack of crackers. Suddenly, one of the monkeys comes up to me and sits down next to me! Laughing hysterically, I got out my camera again, and offered him one of the crackers. He seemed more shy than the big monkey who snatched the other pack of crackers (by the way I saw him open it with his hands just like we would!). I call friendly, shy monkey Curious George. I kept my hand held out until he finally conjured up the courage to come take it out of my hand. It was an amazing feeling to touch his little hand. I will never forget that moment of him casually reaching towards me in trust. Although I didn't get it on camera, I did manage to shake his hand. But his friends were uneasy when he did this, and they all chanted what I translated to be "don't do that stupid".

Soon after, a few local women came and saw me interacting with the monkeys. They spoke English, and were amazed that I wasn't injured because, according to them, they were known to be aggressive and scratch the face of humans! I was perplexed, because I didn't get this feeling from them. They seemed to behave differently towards me.

Anyways, I still hadn't made it to the top! I still had a goal to obtain! Feeling like George of the Jungle, I confidently continued on up the mountain. After about 100 paces up, I look to my left and see a mother monkey holding a baby monkey! The baby seemed like it was just born, I was once again in awe! This time, unfortunately, I was unprepared. I tried to get my camera out, but once I did, a monkey pounces at me through the trees directly at me! It was the most startling experience! I don't know how I did it, but I dodged the lightning fast move made by the monkey. He snarled at me and it was obvious that he was protecting the baby. I have it on video! You can hear me scream like a girl and then the snarling monkey. What's unbelievable, is that I managed to get away from them. I scurried up the trail a little ways, and about 10 monkeys were following me!!! I was scared for my life because one of them was enormous. Unbelievably so, but I got all of this on camera! You can see the baby monkey being escorted across the trail for a split second if you pause the video. Wow. Breathing heavily, I continued to walk up frightened by what just happened.

Only 50 more paces and there is a man with a walking stick singing along to his radio! He was as jolly as old Saint Nick! I have a video of him singing this pleasant Chinese song. I thought to myself, "why didn't he get attacked by a monkey?" It must be because they are used to locals and were startled to see a white man. Just a guess.

Continuing on up about 50 yards or so, I find myself at what seems to be the highest point. A small shelter with two elderly men was to my right. Fatigued, I went to sit down in the circular bench circumfusing the shelter. As I gathered my breath back, I just sat there listening to these two Chinese men chat. They seemed to be long time friends. I couldn’t understand them, but it was so good to see smiling faces. Their demeanor was just not the same as the people in the city. They were joyful, and seemed to enjoy talking about me without me knowing what they were saying! I finally asked them their names in Cantonese, and then introduced myself to them. That’s about all I could say!

A few minutes later, many people arrive at the shelter. Most of them were women. But one in particular stuck out like a sore thumb! She had the loudest voice known to man, and she was not shy about confronting me. Her English wasn't very good, but she beckoned for her friend to come speak with me because she spoke English better. They were so curious to why a 19-year old white American from Kentucky was up hiking Lion's Peak at 5 in the morning. I wonder why? I answered all their questions and even impressed them with my Putonghua. It was so cool to speak with locals. I was so happy to experience the culture in this way. Everyone there (about 30) knew each other because most of them hiked to the top every morning. I was impressed, and wanted to make a commitment to do the same. But they laughed and told me I should focus on my studies because I am not retired like them.

This concludes my hike! I went back and reflected on my day. I wrote in my journal a bit, and then suddenly became extremely sleepy. All of the adrenaline had been sucked out of me, and I was hungry as well. But I felt so satisfied because of the amazing events that just occurred in just 3 hours. I hope to go back many times and meet George again. Lion's Peak is a special place to me now, and I will never forget this day.

Summing Up September

Learning so much! Living it up the Chinese way!

It has already been one month since I arrived in Hong Kong. Never have I been away from home - or even America - for this long. I was afraid that I would come to a point of homesickness, but surprisingly this is not the case. Well, when I received my family photos via e-mail I felt pretty homesick. But in the long-term, I am still very excited about the next 10 months I have left here in Hong Kong.

Why? Because of the progress I can make in my studies. I am learning so much so quickly mainly in part because I am taking courses specifically about China. These courses include:

Regional Geography of China - This, at first, was rather boring. But, aren't most classes boring at the beginning? Just imagine - you are the only westerner in a class which holds 75 other Chinese students - and the teacher is Chinese speaking English to everyone. Sure, they are pretty darn good at English seeing as it's not their mother language. But, they are slow.

On the bright side, I am able to sit back and relax, taking in everything that he puts on the power point at a rather comfortable pace. Even better, the information is actually rather

interesting. We are going over Chinese history like the one-child policy, which is now a law. And we also talk about how things are run - like cities is a flexible term in China. They have municipal cities, prefecture-level cities, and county-level cities. So Beijing is one of the four municipal cities. Guangzhou is a prefecture because it is the capital of the Guangdong province. I'm really gaining

a great perspective of the Eastern way of utilizing space and governing it's people.

Chinese Philosophy - This is a very exciting course! I've come to the conclusion that the teacher is the single-most important factor for one's interest arousing in a particular subject. This teacher has further ignited my desire to learn about China's deep, deep culture. America only has a tiny fragment of history in comparison to China.

What is so cool about this teacher is the fact that he is a Westerner who has grown up in China. He conducts the class in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English. Yes, by himself! It requires a lot of patience for the students because he has to repeat everything he says twice - once in Cantonese for the locals, and once for the exchange students in English. Trust me, it is so worth the wait. His reasoning for having a course like this was to bring the East and the West together. He feels

like our ways of thinking are very different and we can learn so much from each other. He is right. I am reading texts from Fung Yu Lan, who was the first to actual write about Chinese philosophy. You see, the big question is what is Chinese Philosophy? They didn't even have this word in their vocabulary until they received books in a gift package from the Pope in the 19th century. They call it ‘zhexue’ 哲学 which literally means 'wise teachings'. Our first 'argument'

involved a student from mainland China bickering in Mandarin about a passage in Mencius. Then there was an immediate response in English (after Dr. Pfister translated of course) by a

Slovakian student in heavily accented English. Right after that, my friend Byron from Minnesota (who is really Korean and goes to school in Boston, and has a northern English accent) responds with his blunt American style point of view! I was so enjoying listening and almost said something myself, but I was so in awe of the conversation and different points of view! As for the local students from Hong Kong who speak Cantonese, they're culture is more accustomed to not raising their hand or saying something in a class setting. The teacher has encouraged them to forget this idea and speak up, but I have yet to hear one brave enough to get out of their cultural

comfort zone.

I am really looking forward to learning more about the Chinese way of thinking - and hopefully speak up about Jesus Christ and then hear their reactions to my comment:))

Basic Conversational Cantonese - Yes, the name says it all! They make this course as basic as possible because this is just such a difficult language for exchange students to learn. Especially when the teacher is Chinese and teaching in English, which is her second language; and then at the same time, most students (besides me and a couple other Americans) are really limited as well. This is because they are coming from Singapore, France, Germany, Ukraine, etc. and thus also have to listen to her weak English when English is also their second language! Can you see how difficult this is for communication? Especially when the material is so foreign and

completely confusing for them. So, this class has also been rather slow for me because English is my first language. This is nice though, because my main focus is Mandarin. I do, however, want to study this language so I can academically understand the differences between the two - and

boy are their differences! I am learning basic conversation, not writing, which is nice because I am able to utilize my learnings each day with locals. Writing Cantonese would just explode my brain because they use traditional characters and don't comply with what I am learning in Mandarin completely. The teacher is really fun and energetic, so this helps make up for what could be a dreadful class. I love learning Chinese! Example for the differences:

Ngoh yiuh hohk Guangdongwa (Cantonese).

Wo yao xue Guangdongwa (Mandarin).

Elementary Poutonghua - This is Mandarin. They call it 剖通话“poutonghua", which means "popular language". Oh how I love this language. It is by far my favorite language that I have studied so far. It beats Japanese, Spanish, and Cantonese by a long shot. Just studying the characters independently is enough to strike my interest. But there's more; over 1 Billion people speak this language, because Beijing has adopted this language as the national dialect of China.

That means I can speak Mandarin here in Hong Kong, and people will still understand me (as long as I speak clearly of course! seeing as there are four tones and it's imperative to emphasize the correct tones!!!).

握每天练习写汉字。Everyday I am practicing writing Chinese characters. Believe it or not, it is actually a stress relief - and enjoyable for me. There are just so many different meanings and combinations of characters to be had. Just like solving a never-ending puzzle. I don't think I will ever get to a point where I can understand the language completely - but that's the beauty of it! And I'm not alone in this never-ending process because even my professor doesn't know all

characters. In fact, he likely doesn't even know half of what there is to know! There are approximately 48,000 characters. 1000 are used in basic, daily conversation. If you know 1500, then you can read a newspaper. If you know 3,000-4,000, then you can go to college. If you know 5,000 or more, then you are pretty dang smart - like my professor.

Chinese needs to be a "poutonghua" or popular language, and it must. We must promote this language because it is the last language that is based on ideographs. This means that the writings are pictures that have nothing to do with the pronunciation. Well, for the most part. I don't want to go into huge detail! But, it's so unique and I feel that we should at least offer it in all of our schools in America. It shouldn't be a mystery! Okay, so maybe I'm too passionate...

Well, as of today. It is raining like crazy - there is supposed to be another typhoon sometime this week. That means we get rain everyday this week. How exciting...not really. But the wind gets ridiculous - watch a video on youtube about it because you won't believe how powerful the winds get!

I am accustomed to everything now for the most part. I don't hang out with exchange students anymore, unlike most. I really want to learn about the Chinese culture - the best way is through relationships. I have a multi-entry visa to China, so I will be traveling to the first city in mainland, Shenzhen, once a week. This will enable me to listen to Poutonghua and speak. In Hong Kong, unfortunately, most speak English and so they don't want me - a "gwai lo" (literally white ghost - nickname for foreigners) to not speak English.

....oh yea - one more thing - MY SISTER IS ENGAGED!!! Check out her gorgeous ring! Special

thanks to: Andrew Duncan - a great guy!

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.

KARAOKE is the new way to party!

So...my birthday party was the biggest surprise ever! I planned on just going out to eat with some friends at a nice, peaceful village in Sha Tin. If you know me, I don't like being the center of attention or having big birthday parties. Well, so much for being me!

I was on msn (we don't use this really - but the eastern countries do), and I was talking with all of my Chinese friends and a couple from Taiwan. They all knew it was my birthday - and they were telling me that it just so happened to be two other girls from Taiwan's birthday as well. All of these exchange students from Taiwan booked a party room at Neway Karaoke in Kowloon City Plaza. This is beyond what any westerner could imagine if they have never been to an Asian country. People here love karaoke. This is what they do for fun with friends. Now, I can see why - because a good time is surely possible!

15 of us showed up to this triple B-day party. It was such a great cultural experience, and not only that, I was able to celebrate my birthday in the best way that I've ever celebrated before. There was this huge mall, and on the top floor was this ginormous section specifically for karaoke parties. There was a never-ending hallway, like a hotel, of rooms. You walked down the hallway and heard people partying like crazy in each room - singing Chinese songs and some even attempting English songs (key word: attempting). Well, I and my other German and American friends at the party, also "attempted" Chinese songs. Yea, not possible, but 50% of the time we were singing songs we knew in English.

It was so much fun just singing horribly with everyone! We had 5 wireless microphones, and whoever knew the song that was chosen would take a mic and show off what they know. Believe it or not, I may have been one of the better singers there - but this isn't saying much! But the girls from Taiwan were something else! You could tell that they did karaoke a lot. They knew most of the songs and hit basically every note on key. This probably explains why people in HongKong are actually more fond of Taiwan Mandarin Chinese musicians. Many famous musicians come from Taiwan. One of the first songs in English was...the Backstreet Boys. I think the song was "Backstreet's Back...Alright!" Immediately, Andy, Max, Matthias, and myself took the mics and stood up in front of everyone

and passionately sung the whole song to the girls. It was hilarious, and completely embarassing -but it didn't matter! That is what is so cool about asian culture - humiliation isn't possible. People just show respect and have a good time. Well, at least as of now I haven't been humiliated...I better not speak too soon. Maybe I should change my views on humiliation here after living here more than a month! In addition to the music, there was an all you can eat buffet! That's right...this was heaven. For just 100HK (~25USD), we could have this amazing room with full projection screen, LCD on the other side, PS2, internet access, unlimited food and drinks, black leather couches, champaigne, and birthday cake! Pretty sweet deal. So with all of this fun to be had, we had so many songs to sing still! They have practically every song known to man to choose from. You name it, we sang it - seeing as we didn't end up leaving until 2:30 in the morning! I think we sang for at least 5 hours. These asians are all about some karaoke, let me tell ya!

The funniest part was by far the videos played for the English songs. You see, they don't have the actual videos for the songs, so they have the most random music videos with European people just walking around and doing ridiculous poses. It is beyond ridiculous! Not kidding at all. I can show you a photo, but please if you are bored youtube "KTV" English videos. You will surely know what I mean by ridiculous.

After a few hours of partying, the karaoke employees (better known as Butler's - the service was way too good) brought in the birthday cake! With one candle, and three peoples' birthday to sing for, we huddled around this small cake and sang the B-day song in Chinese and English! Very cool. The other two girls spoke Mandarin, but they both knew English very well. Happy Birthday to Tina, Pamela, and random white American Jon! This event wasn't intended for me and my friends, but did we liven up their party or what?! Without us it just wouldn't have been as fun for them, I'm sure. I brought a local friend from Hong Kong, Stephy, and a couple Mainland China friends Jessica and Camille, and also a friend from Kazahkstan named Kamila. So half of the crew came to celebrate, which was great. Probably the best birthday party ever for me, that I can recall.

Mong Kok 旺角

This is by far the coolest place to go in Hong Kong. The heart of the local culture resides here. At the same time many visitors, known as "white ghosts" Goi Lao, come here to shop. The story behind this nickname goes back to the first time the locals here saw a white person. At that first meeting, they were frightened and thought we were ghosts because of our light skin color. So now they still call us this as merely a joke, not in a disrespectful way - although it may come across that way to us! Anyways - you name it, they got it here in Mong Kok. Shop 'til you drop in this chaotic center.


The nicest building here is Langham Place, which is an enormous mall. But most shops and markets are way down low at the street level. Many electronics can be purchased here, but you have to compare prices. If you are too hasty you may regret it when you notice that another store closeby is selling the item for less.


On top of price comparison, you can even go to markets with people running small booths. This jam-packed, thin streak of booths is a great way to get an amazing deal. Bargaining is the way of purchasing things in these markets. Let me give you an example by personal experience! I wanted to buy a simple HongKong magnet for my mom because she always wants magnets for the fridge from different places. The lady told me it cost 25HK dollars. I responded by saying, "Tai guai" which means "that's too expensive". Then I turned around to walk away. All of a sudden, I here the lady say, "10 dolla". With a burst of excitement, I smiled and nodded to her and got myself a nice magnet for less than 2 US dollars! You see, there are so much stuff to be sold here in these markets that the sellers are desperate to make any amount of money - to the point where they will take whatever they can get from the customer. I've done this strategy on a number of the items I have purchased, but I can't tell you about them because they are Christmas presents :)

Our family pictures are off the chain! This is our album cover!
We're goin global