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Hope for China

As a Westerner, I am expressing my opinion from a far different perspective than my classmates. I have done much research to make sure that I am learning first before expressing my thoughts. If I were to blindly express my opinions on the way that China's government makes decisions then I would probably have nothing good to say about Communism, seeing as I am an American who believes strongly in freedoms of speech and the press. However, from my research I have gained a much better understanding for why China is the way it is today.

In my country we take pride in our freedoms. Personally, I come from a Christian family and our lives reflect the way that God discerns us through his word written in the Holy Bible. This means we live unashamedly, passionately pursuing his command to share the Gospel (福音) to others. Given my personal background, I may have an ethnocentric opinion. At the same time, I admire China very much. Their deep history shows how deserving they are to show their own patriotism. This patriotism was proven to me not only in the Beijing Olympics, but also in the recent 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

I would like to focus on state governance and how it relates to society today. Since Chairman Mao caught China's vision of becoming a utopia, the Chinese Communist Party has striven to bring the nation together in hopes of becoming modernized. It may be more than hope, but rather intent because China's sheer determination has proven to let there be no distractions or choice for ignoring its progressivism. A good example of this would be through the development of communes. Before the development of the communes, the state had much more social control. This, in my opinion, is because China was and still is extremely economically driven. They soon realized that embedding the work unit into the social body was not an effective tool for social control. This social control seems to be a strategy to get focused on Mao's vision of becoming modernized.

Reforming the danwei system by giving the people more autonomy was good for the people, but still not what they really needed in my opinion. This is just one of the many examples of how China has rapidly advanced it's society in the past 60 years. Although they started in coastal areas, the inland area is now already catching up. It's very impressive to see China, as Mao hoped, regain their wealth and power, dignity, international respect, and territorial integrity. Don't get me wrong - the CCP is legit and the majority of the Chinese have proven their loyalty to the party. Their massively industrialized cities such as Shenzhen are evidence of these strategies working quite well. According to TIME magazine's article "China at 60: The Road to Prosperity, China is the world's most populous and industrious nation, is the world's third largest economy and trading nation, has become a global innovator in science and technology, and is building a world-class university system. It has an increasingly modern military and commands diplomatic respect. It is at peace with its neighbors and all major powers."

I think China's government needs to cool down a little bit. Being mostly capitalist, their world view is continually progressing and beginning to reason. However, technological advancement is their main reasoning for how to make China a better place. When this becomes your main focus, people begin to face an identity crisis. Living for the market and not considering human rights denotes the value of human life. People living in China can't express their own individual opinions on how to make China a better place because they have to stay focused on the task at hand: "become modernized". China has yet to recognize the problems of market economy and capitalism and the importance of governing the people in respect to their freedoms of the press and speech. I really dislike the Chinese government censoring.

Living in Hong Kong for the past few months and visiting Tokyo a couple years ago has revealed to me how materialism can impact a society's livelihood. Chinese author K.K. Yeo in his recently published Chairman Mao meets the Apostle Paul states, "University students, Christian and non-Christian alike, have repeatedly told me of their fear that the pragmatism of capitalism, technological advancement, and economic modernization will lead to the neglect and robbing of China's ethical, spiritual, and relational wholeness." With the lack of nostalgia coming from Mao's visionary leadership, Chinese people can begin to question their purpose in life in regards to the fact that they seem to have already achieved modernization. Of course, I am mainly referring to those living in developed areas. The result can be depression or even suicide. Without a sense of meaning or an end goal, how can China have a healthy society?

I know that the CCP professes Atheism. They have tried and failed to abolish religion, and have now decided to protect the individual’s right to believe in Buddhism, Catholicism, Islam, Taoism, and Protestantism. Article 251 of the Criminal Law states: "State personnel, who unlawfully deprive citizens of their freedom of religious belief and infringe upon the customs and habits of minority ethnic groups, when the circumstances are serious, are to be sentenced to not more than two years of fixed-term imprisonment or criminal detention." Many westerners are unaware of the truth of religious freedom. Some still think that treatment is at the same level as it was during the Cultural Revolution. I, too, before researching thought this way. I am seeing signs of hope in China they are realizing how crucial it is to have religion in order to have a healthy society. However, in my opinion China is still struggling to find how they want to be seen by others. The state and its loyal citizens seem to be very patriotic, but also trying too hard to uphold secularism.

Secularism is not the answer. In my opinion, God is the answer. China can still keep its patriotism, but it needs to realize the imminence of something greater than technological advancement. What is best for the people is personal faith in the One who has all of the answers to life, not personal wealth which infects us with greed and temporarily pleases us inside. Personal faith gives people a sense of purpose. Love is a powerful thing. When someone experiences the love from God, human nature gives them the will power and internal desire to change lives. This love that I am talking about is contagious. If this love would transcend into the hearts of the government leaders, then they too could find individual purpose. Being convinced of eternal hope found in God's gift to the world of salvation through Jesus Christ will truly allow humanity to shine like the Sun. Money and assets, skyscrapers, a strong military, or even a strong leader as Mao cannot bring redemption to this lost world.

Although I try to focus on the big picture, I realize how difficult it would be for this politically run world to have a nation that solely relies on God. Even America, with "In God We Trust" on its dollar bill struggles to let God govern it's people. Because of this, I am reminded how faith in God must be personal. God speaks to us personally and desires to use his people to speak to the world. He doesn't choose to speak to all of China through the Chinese Communist Party. Before I get too off topic, I want to get to the point. China's government may be struggling with an identity crisis, but so is every other government. For that, I come to the conclusion that China is doing a wonderful job in governing its people. I just hope that they can become more receptive to the Gospel as it, too, does a wonderful job in bringing goodwill toward man and assisting us in our pursuit for happiness.

Guilin Adventure 桂林，很多的山！

Yet another amazing adventure! This past Thursday I completed two of my mid-term exams for Cantonese and Mandarin. Feeling rather free from all prior anxieties, I and my friend Jonathan Pager from Arizona decided to plan a weekend trip to Guilin (桂林）. This was a rather ambitious decision that was made rather abruptly, but we were so excited about traveling to Mainland China. We both have great interest in living in China, and so we set off with little hesitation.


Guilin is a 12 hour bus ride away from Shenzhen, which is the first city across the border from Hong Kong into the Mainland China. It was only 130RMB (~20USD) to take our bus. This isn't an ordinary bus because it actually only travels overnight and all passengers have their own bed. They are surprisingly comfortable, however not completely horizontal and the foot space was very cramped. Other than that, not too shabby for 20 bucks!

Allow me to explain what happened first. We didn't actually know that the bus was going to be this cheap. We were intending on taking the train via China's Railway System. However, the desk didn't speak English. I was able to speak in Chinese well enough to explain where we were going and when we would need to return in Chinese, but wow was it difficult! Especially when tons of Chinese speaking only people are looking at you amazed with the fact that I am a foreigner speaking an ounce of Chinese. It was a cool feeling, however you must know that I am far away from fluency. But at least I was able to say "liang ge pian dao guili. women xingqitian hui lai zhe'r ,hao ma?" This meaning we want two tickets to Guilin and would like to return Sunday. She understood me! I looked up to the heavens and thanked God for the fact that she understood me, then was disappointed when she said, "meiyou". This meaning they didn't have any tickets left. Lesson learned: their are many people in China. Always book in advance. Especially on weekends.


At that moment, we had to decide on whether we should just go next weekend, or take a bus. Realizing that next week I would have to study for another exam, we decided to take the bus. On our way to look for the bus, this man with one arm comes up to us asking for money. This is common in Mainland, so we have learned to just walk away and smile because if not you may get swarmed. Especially in Guilin. This guy was really bugging us though. A younger Chinese man comes up and tells the man to leave us alone and then starts speaking in English with us. We told him we were looking for the bus station to go to Guilin, and then he asked if we needed a translator. Barely knowing the guy, I questioned whether or not this was a good idea. But he came across to be very helpful and because I was with Jonathan we both agreed it would be good to have him with us.

Next thing you know, he has taken us to this local travel agency and we end up getting tickets for 20 bucks each. We told him in return for his help we would pay for his ticket. This was the least we could do for him being so helpful. There were a lot of good reasons for us to take the bus. Not only was it cheaper, but it was just as comfortable (besides the bumps) and we got a chance to better understand the road systems in China. Not only were we able to gain this new perspective, but we were able to see what China looks like from the window quite clearly. I can now answer the question, "Is everything made in China?" Almost! It seemed an endless amount of factories where we could see people working inside making various things.

Well, I could write pages about other cultural differences such as how crazy they are at driving! But, let's fast forward 12 hours to where you can find out about Guilin. Guilin is in Guangxi (广西）Province, northwest of Guangzhou (广州）the capital of Guangdong（广东）province. Guangdong is the province just north of Hong Kong. We arrived in this largely populated town/city - hard to say - at around 8am. We had booked a nice hotel online for free, and it was only going to cost us 30USD at the counter (15 a piece!). However, upon arrival we realized that maybe it would be better to do what we came to do - which was to see Li River (漓江）and then take an overnight bus back that same day. This would save us money and still allow us to experience this beautiful place. Wow, the whole city is surrounded by these oddly shaped mountains. They endlessly stretch so it seems. The downtown is in a flat region in between this stretch of mountains, and the river is flowing alongside the eastern part of the city on down south towards the smaller city of Yangshuo (阳朔).


My roommate is the one who recommended us to go here. He even gave informed of us a small village worth visiting and where we could also get on the Li River by boat. The small town to which we were heading to was known as Yangdi (杨堤). So, after practicing my Chinese by ordering fruit in the local market for just nickels and dimes (2元~.20cents), we hopped on the bus that would take us to this village. It was about an hour drive it seemed. Once we hopped off the bus in this remote area, I felt like I had just entered another world! I had never seen such an environment as this. The city had countless people, but here you could count the number of people. Not only that, but there were no tall buildings. The mountains were surrounding the villagers' homes, and everyone seemed to be working strenuously on various projects that obviously needed to be done to upkeep their shelters and crops.

Many of the villagers were older than 40 it seemed. Our guide, who by the way is from Fujian (福建) and named "Mr. Lu" (卢先生), informed us that most people his age leave there homes to find jobs in the city. He explained how he also did this and went to find work in Shenzhen. However, it is hard to find work if you don't have a good education. It is hard to get into good schools in China because it is very competitive. Anyways, you could see that many of these hard-working villagers made no money whatsoever. Instead, they grow their food and tend to their shelters on their own. It was difficult for me to get a picture of the villagers. In fact, I didn't even get one picture in the small village unfortunately. This is because we were swarmed by older ladies holding bags of oranges chanting "2 kuai, 2 kuai". As they continued to pursue us, they would look us in the eye and smile, knowing that we had more than enough money to buy. I was overwhelmed at first, but then I finally bought a bag from one of the ladies. She was the oldest of the group, and would not leave me alone. I ended up giving her 5 kuai and told her "meiguanxi" when she asked me if I needed change. I was glad to let her keep the rest. She looked at me and gave me a sweet, wrinkled smile that I will not soon forget.

Soon after, Mr. Lu was helping us bargain for the cheapest boat. The first guy offered us a very cheap deal, but he was older and Mr. Lu thought we should have someone younger lead us. Just in case you are unaware, everything is in Chinese - there is no English at all. I can read some characters, but not enough to get around. So, it was a blessing to have met Mr. Lu. He was no doubt a Godsend. Finally, we decided to let the older man take us because he was offering us a much cheaper price than the others. Now here is where I let my pictures do the talking:






Yea, so that was what we came to see. Although it would be nice to have more days to hike to even more spectacular views, we knew we wouldn't have the time or energy to do more than the boat ride. Still, this was a great experience. However, I am extremely adventurous and was craving to explore more. Especially into the caves. Supposedly, the mountains have a number of caves - two of which I was able to get pictures of from the boat.

We got back on to land and the older man kindly asked us if we were hungry. He wanted to take us to eat some food in a nearby village, which he said would also be where we could take a bus back out of the mountains to Guilin. Such a nice gesture! I told him "fei chang gan xie ni" meaning thank you so much. He said "bu ke qi". The villagers are very down-to-earth and friendly. Their kind nature and hard work ethic makes me want to consider living as a villager!

This took up most of our day, but we did have time for a late supper before our bus would leave for Shenzhen at 7pm. So, we being typical Americans, went to Pizza Hut. I know, I was upset to give in to the western food, but you wouldn't believe how nice Pizza Hut's are in China and Hong Kong! Luxurious, but still rather cheap as well (cheap for foreigners). Plus I just wanted some pizza! It had been a long day of crackers and bananas and oranges - now it was time for a meal.

Now, I will Fast forward again to the end of the trip when we arrived back in Shenzhen. Mr. Lu asked the question that Jonathan and I knew was coming, "how much money will you give me?". Knowing he was going to expect us to pay him, I offered him 120RMB, which is about ~20USD. He said he wanted 300RMB, but we came to an agreement. Jonathan really needed help with Mandarin, and Mr. Lu really needed to make some money. So Jonathan and him made a deal to meet once a week for Mandarin lessons. We couldn't have done the trip without his help, so I was more than willing to give him the money - even though it was a bit out of my budget!


Overall, I am glad to have experienced this diverse area in China, and hope it has better prepared me for my time in Yunnan. I say this because Yunnan will be even more ethnic than Guilin I am sure. As I continue to learn more and more each day, I am continuing to be thankful for the opportunity I have had to be here. Next stop: ? We will see...

道风山 "Life After College" Retreat

This past weekend, I went with Kowloon International Baptist Church (KIBC) on their university and 20-somethings first retreat. This has been a great church for me. I have really come to know a lot of solid Christians and am always meeting new people. Our weekly fellowship time after church is the best. We gather together for lunch and a bible study, which really starts my week off right.

The past two weeks I have been unable to attend church, which made me really look forward to this retreat. I really didn't know what to expect. I knew the plan for this retreat was to stay the night somewhere and just have guest speakers come and help us better understand the idea of life after college.

As all of the group of around 30 hopped on the bus, we headed to Sha Tin. This is my favorite place in all of Hong Kong. It's not super busy because it's in the New Territories north of Kowloon. At the same time, there is beautiful mountain views, tall buildings, and a river flowing through. Simply perfect environment. Even better, the retreat was going to be held in a Lutheran Seminary up on the mountainside. Gorgeous, with every building being traditional Chinese style roofs. All overlooking Sha Tin.


The theme verse was Matthew 14:24 where Jesus says to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Michael W. Smith's song "Oh God, you are my God" was our theme song.

"Oh God, You are my God,
And I will ever praise You,
Oh God, You are my God,
And I will ever praise You,
I will seek you in the morning,
And I will learn to walk in Your ways,
And step by step You'll lead me,
And I will follow You all of my days."

Our guest speakers consisted of three Christians who are working in secular fields in Hong Kong. The first, was the one whom I connected with the most. He was a father of two sons, who grew up poorer than most. He worked hard in school so that he could climb up the status ladder. He ended up making a lot of money as a real estate agent. He was very successful, until one day he lost 5 million dollars due to the economy. Everything gone, and on top of that, his mother died. His mother had good morals, and raised him well. Now that he was gone, he began to seek out God's will for his life. He realized that he needed to do something different with his life because he wasn't using God's gifts and living a passionate lifestyle.

This is what I really connected with him in relation to how I want to decide on my career. I, like him, clearly see how important it is to make sure you are using your gifts to serve God - no matter what your career is. To make sure you are where you are supposed to be, then you must have a passion. After starting over from losing everything, he chose to pursue his passion for teaching by starting a learning center. With his gift of teaching and administrating, he has changed the lives of many students and parents through this learning center. He has written a book that consists of all of the letters that he has written to parents over the past 5 years. He really seems to enjoy being a light to the student's parents as a school administrator. I really could see in his eyes how much he loved what he was doing now. He is an active member in the church and said his challenge now is trying to raise his two sons so that they can pursue their passions in life and not get off track.


As for me, I am constantly thinking about the future. Although I know I must, according to God's word, live for today and not worry about tomorrow. At the same time, I feel that God is presently equipping for that which he has planned for me in the future. Knowing this, I can't help but be curious to know what exactly he has planned for me. As far as my passions, I love stepping into the unknown and making a difference in the lives of those around me. I think this passion has been formed because of the number of times that I have moved in my life. Starting over is something I am accustomed to. When I was younger it was tough, but now I am glad for this because I know it has given me the strength to overcome the adversity of adapting to a new environment.

I see all of this as God's way of using me to bring Him glory to people in China. I really have a gift to connect with the Chinese, even though I can't yet speak their language. Many Chinese students know English, but not well enough to communicate as we do with each other in the States. Our social environment here is limited, due to this language barrier. This barrier seems to be something that I feel gifted in breaking. By my great desire to learn Chinese and their extraordinary history and culture, I am able to listen and comfortably have a conversation with them. Even better, some of them have offered to have conversations where I speak Chinese and they speak English so that we can both practice!

My ultimate desire is to be like Christ. If that means I live in China and being a light to them by just showing them kindness and God's love each day, then so be it. Is there life after college? Yes, without a doubt - and with the immense joy that comes in glorifying God, I look forward to what he has in store for me.

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!