Year 2: Book in Review
Enjoy looking through the book!
Click here to view this photo book larger
it’s happened
After traveling so much and living overseas I knew it was bound to happen…. the reverse culture shock. The first time I experienced this; I was coming back from studying in Pau, France. At that point in time, it was the small things that I noticed the differences- the music, the way people looked, and a new set of personal confidence that I gained from the time abroad. This time around, it took almost five months to hit. It’s probably because I haven’t actually had a moment where I get to sit and be still. Every since coming back from Hong Kong I have been the “world traveler/ around the US traveler.” You see my original plan was to come home from the HK, maybe get a part-time job, and go on two personal trips (Spain, & the Dominican Republic) plus seeing Australia for the Aussie Open. However, since I’ve come home I haven’t stopped moving (literally) or help other people move, which I didn’t mind helping out either. So, I haven’t had the time to stop, reflect, & have the reverse culture shock hit me.
After driving close to 16 hours from Atlanta with a car full of my stuff I finally made it to Omaha, Nebraska (aka one of the “middle of the US” states). Moving to a state where I don’t really know anyone (minus extended- extended family) was going to be a challenge, but I knew that. Part of this week moving in: I’ve thought I’d come around the corner and bump into my old flatmate, Vanessa, or I’ve heard the footsteps upstairs and wanted to run up there to say hi to Cath or Mar. But, I think one the biggest moments was unpacking my apartment/ flat.
I had memories rush back to the insanity of moving into our village house in Shatin. (https://jhabiteahk.wordpress.com/2011/06/18/a-month-gone/) That was an experience I’ll never forget and hopefully will never be in again…. or at least next time it will be in a country that I know the language! 🙂 So, moving into this apartment took two hours and I only had 1 set of stairs… not 69 steps… Thank God! As, I started to unpack everything I started to realize that this year was going to be different. It was from living a simplistic life in HK that I noticed…. I had more cupboards & closets than I knew what to do with. I had counter space to cook. I had a full size oven. I had a microwave. And then I looked at the refrigerator .. this was the moment that the shock hit me. I had a huge fridge and freezer, but I wasn’t sharing it like I had been before in HK. This was the smallest revelation, but I realized that I was blessed for being able to live here for a year. But, it was also the realization that I was some how able to cook in that HK kitchen with two burners & enough “cutting board” space that would fit a small plate. This “shock” was double today when I posted a picture of my kitchen and my HK friends commented on the features. It’s a moment where you realize that you’ve moved on and it’s a good place to be because God will continue to grow & stretch you.
More adventures to come…. 😉
Docklands- a night out
One of the nights we decided to go to the Docklands for dinner. This was a cute little area that seemed like it was still being built up. We were told from the city bus tour that, “During the wars, Victoria Dock was used as the main port for naval vessels and most of the Victorian troops returned from both wars to the docks.” Nowadays there were some cute little restaurants along the Docks.
Dad & I at the Docklands
Cool walking bridge to the other side of the Docks
Aussie Open
I had bought three days worth of tickets for the Open and some how God allowed us to see all the Americans on the first day! It was quite incredible. As a tennis fan, it was so much fun to sit in Rod Laver Arena and watch three great matches. We had really good seats and I was very impressed with how the seats were arranged. You could pretty much see every part of the court and there wasn’t anyone blocking your view. The first ladies match, we saw a young American almost take down the number 1 player in three sets. (A set consists of the best of 6 games). Jamie Hampton was playing verse Victoria Azarenka (the number 1). Jamie was mentally in it to win it until the 3rd set where she injured her back. She was so close to beating her. Since of course we had to root for the American, we had the people around us convinced that Hampton was going to beat Azarenka too. Unfortunately, she didn’t win but it was a fantastic match! The two others that we watched was Serena Williams and then Andy Murray. Both of these players wiped the floor with who they were playing against.
Jamie Vs. Azarenka
The next couple of days we saw even more tennis. It was a lot of fun to watch Venus & Serena play doubles but we ended up waiting a whole match to get inside of this court. The Margaret Court Arena didn’t have tickets for specific seats. In other words, you have to wait to get a seat in the court. So, waiting almost two hours just to watch them was crazy but well worth it!
Doubs- Venus & Serena
Our last day of tennis was amazing. We got to watch another young American woman- Sloane Stephens play against Bojana Jovanovski. It was a pretty intense match with a lot of grunting/screaming from the other side. **There’s a rule coming out, soon I hope, that will limit the amount of screaming/ grunting and I can’t wait! Sloane won and then went on to beat Serena in the next round.
Overall, it was 3 pretty amazing days of watching some of the best in the world play!
Bryan Brothers- Doubs
Andy Murray
Melbourne & Back
On of the trips that I had been planning was to go to Australia, specifically Melbourne for the Aussie Open. As for being a tennis fan and coming from a family of tennis people this was just one trip that we would have to take! Mom and Dad took the initiative of planning the whole thing and it was a fantastic trip. Of course we had our bumps along the way but as we look back it was a great time. We took about 2 weeks to see only a small part of the country. When Mom found out that Australia was the size of the US, she decided to only visit a small part and focus on Melbourne plus it’s surrounding area. We found a lovely little apartment that we hung out in for the first week and then hopped to different towns during the second.
Our first week was discovering the different parts of Melbourne and enjoying the Australian Open. We hit up the tourist office and they recommended that we take the free city bus tour to get a better idea of the city. I think this was the best thing that we could have done. This tour gave us a better idea of how the city was laid out and where the different things were in relation to each other.
We hopped off at the Queen Victoria Market and wanted to walk around. At this market, we were told that it was one of the best places to get souvenirs. There was also a great section that you could get fresh veggies and fruit. We decided to pick up a few things since we had a full kitchen back at the apartment. Our next trip, at the market, was to the Meat counters. Mom really wanted to get some lamb since we were in Australia. We found a great vendor that we got a lot of lamb from. We thought it would be a good idea to pick up some lunchmeat while we were there. There was a deli counter next to the lamb counter and I asked the lady if they had any gluten free lunchmeat. She said that they did have some turkey. Then she asked how many kilos. Well…. the conversion got a little messed up and we purchased about 1 kilo of turkey… which was about 2.2 pounds. opps!
And yes, we did mangage to finish all of the turkey. We just had quite a few turkey sandwiches for lunch!
They also had a vendor that would sell you a bottle of wine that you could come back and refill for a reduce rate. It was quite a fun market to see all the fresh produce.
Being Home
It’s been about almost a month since I’ve settle back down in the States and it amazes me every day of how easy it is to live in my foodstyle here. I know that I will still uncover many of the truths that God had taught me while being in Hong Kong, but for the moment I think it’s totally fine to enjoy the present.
My adventure back Stateside began with 4 suitcases and 2.5 carry-ons. Veronica and Ernie were wonderful to come help me get to the airport and wake up with me at 4:30 am. I knew things would be pretty easy until I got to Atlanta since the airlines would be transferring my bags for me. It was when I was in ATL that I was praying for help. God has always provided even in the small things. You see, ATL wasn’t my “final” destination, but where I would temporally be dropping off 2 bags at the house in Flowery Branch. I had rented a car to take my stuff up to Flowery Branch but the problem was getting all the bags from customs to the rental car. The Rental car facility wasn’t exact “next door” to the international terminal. In fact, you have to get on a bus to go over to the rental cars. So, I was picturing it, myself, with all of these bags strapped to my shoulders or dragging them one at a time. In the end, I knew I needed a miracle. Plus, I knew that I could n’t take the cart with all my bags on the bus. I just started praying and I had a lot of people praying for me previously to that point in time.
When the bus pulled up to the car rental drop off point, there was another empty cart that someone had left behind sitting right by the door. I even hear the lady say, “You got really lucky since you would have to pay $5 to rent one.” I told her that I had been praying for a miracle and God blessed me! I’m still quite amazed on how God provided and then the blessings just continued. Christmas Eve, I flew out to Dallas from Atlanta to finish my trip. I had found out the night before that I was “upgraded” to first class. And, if God didn’t want to blow my socks off; He did it again. It was amazing to see that He even provided me breakfast on the plane (which doesn’t happen anymore except on DELTA in the USA.)
I’m still quite amazed at what God is doing and excited to see where He takes me! I know that Omaha is next stop but my side trips before that should be a great time too! We have a lot to look forward too in 2013.
Une Excursion Française
My upper French classes and I went on a field trip to an authentic French Restaurant. It was like a “Sunday afternoon” family style meal at Ma Cuisine in Chai Wan. The chef de cuisine was a wonderful help and the food was amazing. She helped me organize this small outing to fit 30 people in one room which in HK that can be “impossible!” We had a lovely time experiencing a bit of “France” in Hong Kong. The restaurant was transformed so it was as if we had stepped into a restaurant in Paris. For a few of the students that went on WWW with me last spring then were able to draw the connections to this restaurant and to France, but the for others it was a new experience. I had a few of them comment that this was the longest lunch that they actually have ever had which I found funny, because that I was I love about eating in France. Plus, the atmosphere was really relaxed and chill. We were able to experience what eating for 1.5-2 hours was really like. Students listened to an explanation of the different sorts of cheese by the chef de cuisine in French and then were able to try them. I had a few students tell me how impressed they were with themselves that they could understand what the chef de cuisine was saying when she was explaining the cheese plate. There were quite a few funny faces, from my students, after trying the “Roquefort”, which is an extremely strong blue cheese. However, a few students did enjoy it quite a bit! Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching the guys and gals in HK. This was one of my highlights from teaching in Hong Kong.
French 4
French 3
French 2
Thoughts on the Temples
As we visited the different parts, I had a lot of different thoughts go through my head. So, I thought I would just share a few of them.
My favorite parts-
- Exploring the old temples in Angkor Thom and seeing the spot where Tomb Raider was filmed. Whether or not this was the true story, I cannot tell you since everything in Siem Reap said, ” Welcome to Angelina Jolie’s favorite Restaurant, favorite souvenir shop, favorite bar, etc.”
- While at Angkor Thom- you felt like you were the one discovering the temple on your own since there were all the over grown trees that were taking over the temple.
- Climbing the towers to get a better view of the city.
- Great tour guide that knew the best places to see, take pictures, or even getting us away from the crowds since on average there were around 2000-3000 tourists daily. We learned about his daily life before he became a tour guide- how he was trained as a young kid to fight in the military when there was the civil war happening.
It was quite interesting to see certain things while we were there. Some of the kings that had built the different parts of the temples were Hindu and then other kings actual converted the temples into Buddhism. For me, it was sad for me to listen to the guide explain the religions to us. I have studied about Hinduism and Buddhism in High school and I still come back to them with my Christian glasses on. I find it sad because I started thinking- What’s the point of living this life if you really don’t know in the end when you be judge (whether good or bad) or what if all the “good” you do is not good enough? 2 Corinthians 5:10- For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
I have comfort in these verses- 1 John 2:1-6 NLT
1My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
3And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. 4If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
It’s just something to think about with any religion. Why are you following it? And with Christianity I know the truth- Jesus is the only answer. Acts 4:1
0,12- 10 Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene,[a] the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead.12 There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
Indiana Jones anyone?
The Temples of Angkor Wat= Day 2
We ended up hiring an English guide from the hotel and our own personal Tuk-Tuk. It was the best way to see the area since this place was enormous! One of the things that I had forgotten was that you needed to wear certain clothing to be respectful. I had long shorts that would go down to right above my knees and when I came out the lady at the front desk told me that I needed something longer. So, it was “take two” and I had to go back in and find something else. We knew ultimately that we would just be hot all day and it didn’t matter if we were wearing jeans or leggings.
It was a wonderful but long day seeing the temples. I was soaking up the sunshine that I hadn’t seen for about two weeks since it was overcast in Hanoi & in Hong Kong. The sunshine was amazing but it definitely was an adjustment for the 90 degree weather. Our schedule for the day was to see- Angkor Bayon Temple, Angkor Thom, & Angkor Wat before sunset. Jennifer was hoping to get a great sunset picture while we were at Phnom Bakheng but the clouds rolled in as we sat and waited. However, this was an incredible sight to visit and see. It was built around 889-910 and Angkor Wat was build around 1150.
Siem Reap
Jennifer and I flew from Hanoi straight to Siem Reap in Cambodia. The first thing that we noticed was the temperature difference. It was about 90 degrees in Cambodia compared to low 60’s in Hanoi. As soon as the plane landed the heavens opened and the rain just came down. For the majority, it down poured for only 20 minutes and that was mostly while we were on the plane. We got our visas, went through immigration, customs, and were out the door to the transportation that awaited us. The process through immigration & getting our visas was more organized compared to Hanoi. We were in and out but it was still a little freaky with the finger printing, picture-taking, and I could have sworn that they did an eyeball scan… but I don’t remember…. no… just kidding. 🙂
Our first stop was for dinner after checking into the hotel, which was a bit of unorganized chaos but some how we figured it out. We told the hotel that we wanted to go somewhere cheaper for dinner. The first place they directed us on the Tuk-Tuk was to an upscale $18 (USD) a plate western restaurant. I knew there was something up with this after we had been reading in the guidebook that food should have been about $4-5 a plate. We hopped into another Tuk-Tuk and headed to Pub Street. It was here that I realized that this is where the white people go. It was one of the strangest feelings to be paying in USD, surround by white people, and not being in the US. It was like all these were out of place to me or I have just been in Asia for a long time. Pub street had all these great cheap western restaurants on it. Plus, there was live music playing on every corner and it was almost as if we were transported to what I would image New Orleans to be like (even though I haven’t been there either). It was just a nice evening after a long day of traveling.
j'habitais à HK 