Good Morning Hong Kong!

I think this particular entry may come out in jibberish. I am sitting in the Hong Kong airport (huge) sipping on a delicious cappucino and enjoying free (well, with my beverage purchase) internet access, waiting for my friend to meet me so we can go enjoy the city! The key pad has all these symbols on it, which are rather strange looking having never seen them anywhere but on food packages in multicultural San Francisco. I can't help but look out the window every couple seconds to enjoy the view. The airport is mostly made of windows, allowing it to easily and silently boast of the gorgeous mountains that surround it. I have never seen anything like it. I feel so humbled and exhilerated and captivated by this new, strange place I am in. Finding yourself in a new place, especially a place in the world that resembles nothing of any of the other countries and places you have seen, is one of the greatest gifts. I wish I could put into words what I felt as we were landing. The sun was rising- pink, gold, orange, and blue in patterns and shapes that made it look like it had been brushstroked onto the sky. There were big puffy clouds as well as thin, wispy clouds and mist like condensation that just exaggerated the colors even more. Best of all, these tiny little mountain islands scattered throughout the sea were sprouting up from the rather calm looking water. The combo of the seascapes and skyscapes made me feel like we were landing in the label of a fancy package of Chinese tea. My breath was stolen and replaced with a sigh of gratitude. How lucky! How blessed to be seeing what I am seeing. And the day has just begun!

Ah my friend has arrived and it's time to see Hong Kong!! To be continued...

Back again (now in Perth, several days later, but pretend I haven't gotten there yet)...

... a quick recap of the flight (before the euphoric landing) will reveal that I am not always so grateful and "centered". Shari, the kids, and Christina dropped me off at the airport, and as they all pulled away I was flooded by the feeling and thought: "What am I doing here? Where are you going?" I stood at the curb for a good long until I figured out that since I was at the airport, I must be there to get on a flight. I looked through my bag for further clues. Sure enough there was an itinerary for a flight to Australia, via Hong Kong in my purse... with MY name on it!! So I checked in, happily shedding the 200 pounds of luggage I had brought, made my final good bye calls, and then headed for my gate.

I sat at the gate waiting to board, thanking God for this opportunity and for my amazing last day and evening in Berkeley. I decided I wanted to add to my thanksgiving by listening to a worship song. I got out my ipod and tried to turn it on.. but it wouldn't work. I started pressing the buttons frantically. Oh no oh no oh no. Not a fourteen hour flight without music. Please God no. I put it back in my bag, tried to calm myself and then took it out again. It really wasn't working. It was totally dead. I had labored hours the night before carefully selecting what music I would want to listen to for the next six months. I had charged it for more than 24 hours. How could this be happening? It would be no exaggeration to say that Jesus's famous last words nearly crossed my mind (the bit about being forsaken). I nearly cried. My pathetic little technology tantrum was cut short, thankfully, when I was called to board. I saw the plane for the first time then, through the windows, and my jaw literally dropped. It was the size of of three story apartment building. I giggled in delight. How do they make that thing fly? I gave the guy my ticket and started to walk down the little boarding gate/hall thing. Okay, you know a plane is big when there are two separate halls leading to it, and the one for economy class is long enough and has enough turns and twists to get you lost. When I finally got on I was equally delighted by the inside. It was a high school. Two rows, ten people each, and probably over a hundred rows. A small city was flying to Hong Kong. It was great. I couldn't hide my excitement. I exchanged mystified looks with an elderly Indian man. It's big! I said, stretching out my arms. I sat down and asked God forgiveness for my rotten attitude earlier. I am the luckiest person on earth.

Well, this post is already getting quite long and I'm sure I've probably lost 60% of my readers, but I must comment on my day in Hong Kong. It was awesome. My friend Gregory showed me around. We had breakfast at a fancy cricket club, did a tram ride up to a very scenic view point, we took a ferry across to Kowloon, we went to a park in the middle of the city, equipped with a bird sanctuary and all. We had so much fun in fact that I nearly missed my flight. It was to depart at 3:00. I was still going through immigration at 2:45, then discovered that my gate was nearly a mile away. I ran so hard I couldn't breath. I was the second to last to board. Exciting. This flight was not so smooth, but I will spare the negativity. Suffice it to say that by then I was tired of traveling. I think I grumbled angry sentences in my half sleep, and I definitely started crying at one point. I was a total basket case. I'm sure I was frightening the passengers around me. I recovered from my grumpiness about ten minutes before landing only to discover that the girl who was sitting next to me the whole time is in the same program as me. Boy, talk about first impressions.

And that topic... I will save for the next entry. Thanks for faithfully reading to the end. I'll try to keep it shorter next time.