Birk Adventures

Welcome home Adam! Having him back has been great. Not that being alone in a cramped apartment in a hot, humid city 8000 miles from home is lonely or anything. I just like having him around. Saturday we had a fantastic adventure. We went to Lantau Island to see the world's largest outdoor seated Buddha! (The natural question is if there is a larger one standing or outside somewhere and I have no idea.) This guy was pretty impressive! Just for the record, he is not very old. Adam was thinking that we were going to see some 2500 year old artifact. For him, after growing up in Denmark, "old" starts at 500 years (his parents' house was originally built in 1805). So you can imagine his disappointment when I told him this Buddha was erected in 1993. We rode a cable car 3.5 miles over a mountain to get to it, which provided an incredible view of the surrounding area. (This was instead of the 50-minute bus ride on windy narrow roads.) We could see Buddha from the tram coming ...

Friday night we went to a night market on Kowloon. We were planning on eating out, so we found a little shop that sold fried rice and curry rice. We got the food and looked around for somewhere to eat it. At the end of the street where the night market was on there was a little park (no grass, just tiles) where we found a bench and a table. In the middle of our dinner an old man came up to me and said something in Cantonese(which I do not understand) and pointed at my spoon. We realized that he wanted my spoon for his dinner! This was strange and hilarious because 1) I was using the spoon and was still in the middle of my dinner, and 2) I had used my spoon - there was still curry sauce on it when I handed it too him. Fortunate for him, I don't believe I carry any dangerous diseases:)

Adam gets home from the Philippines in 4 hrs and 45 minutes. Oh boy am I excited to see him and have him "home." We have done OK without him but Marian's tantrums have increased exponentially since he's been gone. Her world is unstable enough right now, moving across the world and all, that I think having her daddy gone has been the last straw. We have slept at the Jensens' apartment while Adam's been gone (Adam is with Brother Jensen) and they have been so kind to us. They are a wonderful family. Most of their kids are in college or older but they have one 17-yr old boy here with them, Jake. He and Sister Jensen made us feel so at home in their apartment. Tuesday night they had us and the sister missionaries over for dinner. The sisters are so cute. They are from the Philippines and teach in Tagalog and English. Missionary work is spreading like wildfire among the Filipino women here. They come here to nanny for Chinese families, leaving their own kids in the...

So, after ten days of being in Hong Kong, I must say that I love it!! This is the most amazing place. And it's so great to actually live here and not just have 2-3 days to try to see everything. There is so much to see and do! I am glad to have the first week under our belts and have some more things figured out. I'll try to do less talk and more pictures this time. As for an apartment update, the manager moved us next door to a bigger apartment. It's still a one-room (including bathroom) studio, but is better. I don't feel claustrophobic every time I come home now. Anyway, here are some of our adventures. (By the way, don't miss Adam's great story he posted last night. I'm glad he's willing to share some of his less flattering moments publicly!) Friday night we went across the harbor to Kowloon (the peninsula that is connected to mainland China). There is a bird, flower, and fish market all within a couple streets of each other. The bird market has peop...

Sorry, the title is a lie. We were not attacked by any jelly fish or anything else; I just wanted your attention. Yesterday Martha and Marian and I went to Ocean Park here in Hong Kong. I'm sure Martha will fill you in on the details; however, it's time for my semi-annual blog post, so I thought I'd share one of my special experiences with you all. We went to the jelly fish house to see the jelly fish. As we entered, we walked through a number of rooms with aquariums, mirrors, and really cool jelly fish. The rooms were all dark and the only light in the rooms came from the aquariums that would shine colored lights on the jelly fish. After walking through a corridor we came to a long room that was filled with tons of people. I was wondering where all the people came from because it didn't seem very crowded when we entered the exhibit. Anyway, I went over and looked at the jelly fish, then started towards the other end of the room to find the way out. It was really dark, ...

Hello from Hong Kong! What an adventure it has been! I don't really know where to start. So, the flight over here was SOOO long! Marian did OK. We weren't able to take her car seat on, but there were extra seats so we had three seats by each other. We tried giving her Benadryl but it didn't do much. She slept about 6 hrs of the 15 hr flight. I slept about 5 hrs. At one point I lay down on the floor in front of our seats because I couldn't get comfortable in the seats. Anyway, the attorney Adam is working with here, Mike Jensen, met us at the airport with a senior missionary couple, the Newells. It was so nice to have them there to meet us! (By the way, to answer some of your questions--we are here for Adam's externship with the church's legal office here in Hong Kong.) They got us on the train from the airport to Hong Kong island then a taxi to our apartment. So, we get to our apartment, open the door, and have a look. I seriously felt like crying when I saw it....

Well, our big adventure is just around the corner. We leave on Thursday for our seven weeks in Hong Kong. Our leaving inched closer for so long and now each day flies by! Time gets shorter and the list of things to do gets longer. We finalized our housing--a 220 square foot studio apartment for $1000 a month! What a steal! I'm sure it would be the same going to downtown London, New York, or anything other big city. I am really excited though. I'm antsy to get there and see what it's like, as I have no idea what to expect. I haven't done a "real" post in awhile, so I'll write about some of the highlights of the last several weeks. One big event was my mom's 60th birthday party. My dad arranged for all 8 kids and as many spouses as possible to be there. (Melba, Carrie, and Anna all live out of state with their families.) We had Macaroni Grill and Cheesecake Factory take-out. It was fun to all be together and celebrate Lowli, who is such an amazing mom a...