(ignore)ance

This week I have come across a few very ignorant people. Quite ignorant actually. I had a conversation with someone who didn't know "what Darfur is" and also someone who didn't know that AIDS was running rampant in Africa.
I was shocked that people could be so ignorant. At the root of ignorance is the word ignore and I started to wonder what type of things I ignore in my life all the time. I choose to ignore so many things, and so many realities that are a large part of others' lives. Many times I say a believe in something, when in practice I do not. What are we, as Christians choosing to ignore everyday that are tearing apart our minds/lives/bodies and negating our testimonies? That's about it. Happy 4th of July my fellow Americans.

The Obvious

Readjustment is difficult. It's not very fun. I'm struggling.

Here I am, discussing the obvious again. Of course coming home would be hard, I knew that when I left FOR Hong Kong. Well, it is. There are so many adjustments. I feel like I felt when I was first adjusting to Hong Kong, only this is home, and it's supposed to feel, well, like home. And it doesn't really. I am also discovering my identity, yet again. Way back in September, I was discovering...
Christ is sufficient
Surrender
Submission.....

(PM had a four word catchy thing, that reminded me of Sonlife, which unfortunately, I cannot remember it in it's entirety, thankfully though, the results of those lessons have remained)

Well, I'm listening to Delirious? which has an amazing version of MY GLORIOUS, which I am copying a portion of it.

God is bigger than, the air I breath, the world believes that God will save the day, and all will say, my Glorious.

I was reading Proverbs 16 today, and I don't remember which verse it is, but it says that the LORD detests dishonest scales and weights, and then continues to say that God is the one who holds the bag that the weights is in anyways.

At this point in time, I feel dizzy: like someone made me put my forehead to a baseball bat on the ground and spin around forty times, and then told me to run in a straight line. Not that I'm literally dizzy, but this whole readjustment thing is very disorienting. I guess this is the part where I say that I'm glad that God holds everything and that it's all going to be back to normal once I give it time. Which I do believe. I believe that what is happening in the world is bigger than me, and that my life is just a minute portion in an amazing hand woven rug that extends over the universe. I do believe that. And I believe that God is good, and I know that I am His, and that I am in the shadow of His wing. But I'm saying, that it is so hard to run this race when I am feeling so dizzy. There's a reason why He said it wouldn't be easy.

New Feature

I'm adding a new feature to my blog (yeah, it's a post, hahahah, just kidding!). It's called "IMPORTANT QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK". Here are the questions of this week. If you have an answer, post a comment!

1. Do sharks have tongues?
2. Why does Mitsubishi own a pencil company? (I know because I am holding one of their pens in my hand)
3. Why does a pencil co make pens?

Who knows, eh?

The Rebarbative Stages

My time here is winding down. More like plummeting quickly to an end. I'm finding myself so conflicted about it. I am getting so excited to see my family, but at the same time, I know that once I leave here, it's like it's officially over. This chapter will have an abrupt end no matter what. And that end is a week from Tuesday when I leave "On a jet plane...don't know when I'll be back again...". Pardon me while I drift into a TimeLife infommercial from a midnight in my past. The other day I was helping to paint Mike and Melissa's new flat and talking to Ryan, another friend that was painting. He's a teacher and he and his wife and baby moved here around the same time as I did. So he asked me what was the best thing that I've done while I've been here, and I had to think long and hard...and still didn't come up with an answer. So I'm going to start working on this post, and keep adding to it, and probably publish it in a week or so. Just to warn you, it may get sappy at the end. =) Some of my favorite times in Hong Kong:

*learning how to wakeboard in Sai Kung on the Enns' boat
*tubing with the Enns and whoever else was on their boat at the time
*playing Settlers with the Enns
*going to Macau with PM and Mel and Izzy to "get my passport stamped", and to also look at furniture
*falling asleep with Izzy in a rocking chair the same day
*babysitting Izzy
*the first time Izzy ran to me with her arms open
*going to Thailand for American Thanksgiving and seeing NWC students there.
-seeing James Bond
-seeing the Prestige
-having the most unconventional thanksgiving ever
-getting my haircut without any verbal communication
-seeing people that I recognized in Asia
-chatting with Dr. E
-DQ and Dunkin Donuts
*Leading the youth worship team
-the thousands of times asking for feedback from the group and getting blank stares, even though all of them are extremely gifted musicians...they like to go with the flow
-playing all hymns one Sunday and bombing them
-playing all new youth songs, and bombing with the congregation
-worshiping in sync
-doing adlib song writing
-spending time with the team
*Getting lost for over 2+ hours late at night (I pretty much almost crossed the border into mainland) Thankfully, Brett NEVER turns his cell phone off and always answers it!!!
*Realizing that I missed my stop by two stops, but deciding it would be easier to wait till the bus came back down the same route on it's return...Though I knew it was a circular route, I didn't know that it takes almost 2 hours to complete. Whoops.
*Getting hopelessly lost in TST and being only a few blocks away from where I was supposed to be
*RISK with the youth pastors
*Getting lost a block from church, (Ok, we'll make it three blocks)
*Missing my train stop twice in the same trip
(As you can see, I have many fond memories of getting lost)
*Trying to get to starbucks at the border crossing and almost getting arrested, this happened twice
*Sleeping on a sidewalk in the heart of the city on a pizza box...this was when me and Brett waited all night outside of the 2nd Krispy Kreme to open...and yes, we did win the golden ticket!
*Going to SoHo every Sunday after church to get 2 dozen Krispy Kremes...that got really old...and fattening...
*Going to Ebeneezer's with Scott...he introduced me to it
*Going to Ebeneezer's with anyone.
*Ordering over the phone for Ebeneezer's
*Sleeping over and PM and Mel's.
*Dai Pai Dong
*Having Christmas with PM and Mel...Christmas dinner rocked...
*Walking from Hung Hom to TST at Christmas time
*Exploring the heritage museum by myself
*Going to CROSSROADS INT'L with CAIS as a chaperone...getting to live in the "slums" there for a night and doing simulations
*Going to CROSSROADS with the youth group
*Going to Thailand with Mike and Melissa and Izzy...
-having fun with Sangkor
-Eating spicy salad
-Eating DQ..a lot
-Exploring a Sangkor Fair by myself...it was sweet that I sort of blended in...
-trying new Thai delicacies, and mumbling everything and pointing so that they wouldn't know I only spoke English
*Riding the bus with Angela Chan after Revolve and discussing China vs. Hong Kong
*Going to EXP with Angela Li
*Going to EXP with Angela Li and Vania...discussing everything from Manga, to boys, to fashion, to God, to devotions, to birthday presents, and family
*Watching Angela Li use chopsticks
*Angela trying to teach me to use chopsticks properly, which was every time we ate together
*Listening to Ben Chan play piano
*Chinese New Year
*The youth group's Thanksgiving
*Singing at Keswick
*Discussing ways Vania could possibly die before our next event
*Lunch Bunch days with the Youth Group
*Din Tai Fung...esp with Melissa...=)
*Going to an intra church meeting at the Mother Church
*Finding my way to a theatre without getting lost
*Going to band concerts
*My 20th Birthday
*Standing in the hall holding hands with people from all corners of the earth singing Christmas Carols and praying
*Playing the Friday songs for Dorie
*Making coffee in the office
*Lunches at CAIS
*Girl's Bible Study
*Lunches at ICS...or at Dunbar Snack...hahaha
*Playing the piano at the funeral of the father in law of a celebrity and sitting five seats from that celebrity. Then hearing from PM about his lunch with him the next day.
*Watching Caleb try to lick his elbow
*Finding out why Angela is nicknamed Manson
*learning how to teach...this is still on going
*The development of the coffee house in the office
*Tuesday morning meetings with PM at PCC
*Hanging out with Lori...Tai Po, the Big Buddha, talking in the kitchen...that woman has wisdom galore
*Time with Dorie...she literally knows everything, and is so humble, loving, and fun.
*Being there for Izzy's 2 year birthday...and remembering that I was there right before whe was born
*Hanging out with Melissa...Esprit, the ghetto of Hung Hom, the lanes, baking Christmas cookies, getting advice, seeing her laugh at a random Christmas song...she's amazing
*Lofty Virtue
*Listening to Angela and Brett discuss Manson and Eminem
*Staff meetings...ok, these aren't always exciting or enjoyable, but meeting together with the others in the office is always good.
*The weekly CD warehouse run with Beckel after church
*Buying eggs for the Easter egg hunt, actually, coloring them was the fun part. I ended up buying 200 brown eggs without realizing it.
*Google Paper
*Friday night train rides home
*Mong Kok with the women from church
*Activities with the Rainers
*Having my Mom visit...that was so great!
-going to Cheng Chau, the Peak, MK, tea ceremony, seeing her actually get excited to shop
*Teaching a lesson that clicked with everyone...and receiving a trowel of righteousness
*Packing...NOT
*St. Alp's Tea House
*Being humbled and overwhelmed by love.


That's all for now. It's now Monday evening and I leave in the morning tomorrow. I cannot believe that these 9 months are over. I have learned so much, been taught so much, loved and been loved so much. God has watched over me blessed every step that I've taken. I feel so lucky that I have the opportunity to serve here. I'm beginning to realize a little bit more about being a servant. This weekend, I was drowned by love and generosity from the youth group and people at the church. People would thank me, and the only thing I could think is, "This is so backwards...THANK YOU! I am feeling quite...well, indescribable at this moment. I am turning the page with great weight and hesitation, yet excited for what lies ahead. The people and experiences won't be left in my past, nor shadow my future, but I carry them with me, and run toward the prize.

Fusion

Sunday night was a night that I will remember for a long time, and one of my highlight times that I've had in HK. Sunday afternoon Dorie, Emelda, Ave, Map, Melissa, and I met at the MTR to go to spend time in Mong Kok. We had quite the group: Dorie and Emelda are Filipino, Ave is a Kiwi (from New Zealand), Map is Chinese, Melissa (White-American), and Me (American-but-no-one-would-guess-it). None of us noticed how odd of a group we looked until we sat down to dinner.
We met in the MTR and then headed toward the Ladies Market. I'd never been there, and I think it was one of the best I've been to. It was fun going with Map, because she grew up in the area, and of course is fluent in Cantonese. So she bargained for us and showed us how to get food at the side stalls along the road. We all got Bubble Tea for $5 HKD, and where I usually get it, it is $20+! And everyone else got hooked on it too. We also fish balls and they were actually good. After wandering through the hyper crowded Ladies Market (seriously, there could easily be a million people there...if not, at least 100,000), we wandered around to Temple Street Night Market, which is the most famous night market in Hong Kong. Then we ate dinner at a Dai Pai Dong Restaurant that her friend owns. Dai Pai Dong is an outdoor street restaurant. According to HK magazine, it's a dying cultural landmark. We had amazing food. Well, it was mostly amazing. We had Oyster bake and clams. The clams were so delicious! I could've have eaten just those. We also had Chinese Sausages, chicken feet (I only could finish a toe), radish cake, and egg pudding stuff. It was great. The best part was just hanging out with some of my favorite women in Hong Kong. It was a great way to spend time with them and to see a side of Hong Kong that I had never seen before, even though I had walked those streets before. Here's a few pictures...

It's Been a While

Long time no post.

So much has been happening, and I'm kind of dreading writing this post. But I'll just have to bite the bullet and do it. I have been writing in my sweet leather, old-world-map-with-Psalm 24-written-on-it Journal. So I have been writing in there, which makes the chances of blogging a lot slimmer. So let's see, what has been happening lately:

*I leave a month from Tuesday
I'm really quite confused about how I feel really. I'm excited to see family and friends, but I will miss all of my new family and friends that I have made here. It's extremely bittersweet, so I'm trying not to focus on it too much so that I just use my time wisely. I'm actually a tad nervous about readjustment. I tend to get emo and try to bring everything back with me when I leave a place (like, pretend I'm still there almost and try to still live there in my mind). That last statement may make sense, and it may not. But that's all the explanation I'm going to give.

*Last week was the much anticipated holiday in Thailand
I was able to go to Thailand with Mike/Melissa/Izzy on their family vacation. It was a great time to hang out with them, soak up some rays (I went from milk chocolate to dark chocolate), swim, explore a little bit, and eat DQ!!! We ate at DQ three times, AND bought an ice cream cake. It was magnificent. Now if only I could find a Taco Bell... It was Sangkor, Thai New Year and the Water Festival at the time we were there. It was the third New Years of 2007 that I've celebrated. And I think this was my favorite. It's a country wide water war, and people have buckets of water in the back of their trucks and someone will sit in there and splash people. And if you were walking by someone with a hose, WATCH OUT! It was great. The Thai people are so laid back, friendly, and they are not bound by social classes as I see here and elsewhere. (At least, not to my knowledge...which isn't too much.) The world was proven to be quite small again: The place we stayed at was run by a woman from MN, there was a family from Iowa there who are currently living in Bangkok, and there was another guy from Bangkok who is from Virginia. It made me laugh, especially the Iowan family. Who knew they could be so adventurous!? Hahaha. Izzy enjoyed her time by the pool and was in that thing every second she could be. I was trying to get her to say, "Hannah" by the end of the vacation, but for some reason, she associates me with cookies and so every time we tried to get her to say my name, she would say, "cookie". It was cute, and I do slightly resemble a triple chocolate chip cookie.

*Today: It was kind of a crazy Sunday. The youth worship team played and I also spoke to another youth group immediately afterward. The worship team hardly got to practice this month, so I was really worried that we might bomb this morning. But I know it was totally God answering my prayer, because, it went great, in my opinion, one of the best. Man, if the "He is strong when we are weak" works this way, maybe we should cancel all practices. Completely kidding there! I've known about this talk at HKMBC for quite a while, but, as I tend to do, I procrastinate a bit, and I wrote it this week. (HKMBC is a Mandarin speaking church with an English speaking youth group that has their service on Sunday.) When I wrote it all out, it was OK, and by the end I was pleased with it, but when I got up to speak, I had a few jolts and pauses. Although, I feel like my speaking isn't as forced as it used to be. It's just remembering where I'm going. I seriously don't think that my brain works independently while I'm speaking publicly. It's kind of like I'm speaking to get through it. I mean, I believe what I'm saying, but I don't quite enjoy it totally while I'm doing it. I think that will change as I do it more. However, I am grateful for the practice and learning, and I think that a few kids may have been tracking with me. So that was good, and the experiment/example that I used a volunteer for seemed to go over well. So after that, I took the MTR a ways, then took a bus to Sai Kung for a youth event we did today. It was wakeboarding/tubing day. A parent has a boat here, so he was nice enough to agree to taking the youth group out. We had close to 20 people too. So while half the group was boating, the other half explored the cute town of Sai Kung. Today I finally got up on the wakeboard for more than 10 seconds. It was great. And it was cool that a lot of kids who wouldn't normally do fun things like this, got out and did it. Afterward, we all went for pizza, the typical and most vital component to any youth gathering. J/K.

*Well, that's about it for now, I'll try to write more in my last days...a few prayer requests though:
-Pray for Pastor Mike and Melissa, they have been given the opportunity to move into a bigger flat at a better location. However, there are two flats to chose from and both locations are wonderful, and the owners of the flats particularly like them, and are giving them a choice. Pray for them as they are in this quandary and are considering all the options for both areas.
-Pray for me as I try to get back into school: There are a lot of things to register for, fill out, etc. to get back into Northwestern. I'm finding it particularly difficult and frustrating to do thousands of miles away. Also, pray for me as I finish up the my distance ed courses! Finals week is coming up and I have a LOT left to do! Thanks!