random thoughts

 we ordered pizza hut last night with the students.  the boxes were still on the table this morning, and i noticed the box.  "Experience European Sensation."  Who are you kidding?!  Pizza Hut is a purely American invention.  sigh.

On an unrelated note, i think God is trying to teach me to quit sleeping in.  this is the 2nd day in the row where it's started raining as soon as I've thought of leaving the house.  If i had left at my normal time today, I'd already be at work.  instead, i'm going to go slog through the rain again.  dangit.  

michelle's visit

michelle (my sister) came to visit for about 10 days.  she just left today :-/  so i'm taking the opportunity to use all her photos that she uploaded on our computer and post them on here!

we ate dim sum, sushi, mongolian barbecue, and cheap cantonese food

rode the tram to the peak

shopped in the markets

hiked to a beach in sai kung

went to another beach and took a junk boat back to the harbour for the light show.

played ultimate

went to museums (it rained a lot)

took a cruise with grant's 8th graders

watched indiana jones, enchanted, and juno

played a lot of guitar hero

taught michelle cribbage

see what you're missing?  i know you want to visit now!!

Photos in non-chronological order:

**Grant likes Indiana Jones

**On the ferry after hiking to the beach and back

**Out in Sai Kung

**Grant fights Bruce Lee

**Such cute sisters

**There was a comic book exhibition

**under the fountain at HK park

**The Peak Tram

**Waiting for a table at Sushi One.  It's a Lily sandwich!

**Big Buddha

**Grant likes Indiana Jones

i've been meaning to link to this blog

i was introduced to a funny blog by the youthspecialties updates i get each week. this blog is all about "stuff christians like." it follows after the theme of "stuff white people like." this post was the best though:

http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/2008/05/205-frisbee-gods-favorite-sport.html

check it out.

a quick update since it's been awhile

it's been awhile, so i thought i'd throw a few highlights up... i don't have any pictures really, since i'm at work :-D

*in the beginning of April, we went to the states for garret's wedding. garret was the best man in our wedding, and grant's best friend of all his life. it was beautiful, warm, sunny, blue skies, clear air, being able to drive a mazda 3, shop at target, sit at a pool and hot tub, see kathy and scott, celebrate love and weddings, and then make our quick trip back to hong kong.

*grant did the 30 hour famine with his 8th grade students, including an overnight the week we got back. i was only able to be there for a short time, but it was a blast spending the night with the kids! they all seemed to have really been impacted by the fasting and the games they had played.

*confirmation sunday came and went, and was quite awesome. 5 kids were confirmed, after spending about 3 months with mentors from the congregation. grant was a mentor for a cool kid named jannes.this is me and a couple of our kids: olin and jannes (not related! not even the same nationality!!)

*our friend from university, anna, came to visit from china during a long weekend, and we went and watched the olympic torch run through hong kong.

*this weekend, we visited the "billiards house" down the street from our flat. very quiet, somber, and serious pool playing. the guys didn't end up playing pool, but rather a game called "snooker" that's british. crazy.

*michelle comes to visit in 2 weeks!

other than that, it's been a lot of frisbee, church and youth group, grading for grant and getting ready for the end of the year!

our summer plans so far: one weekend trip to shanghai for a tournament, one week mission trip to cambodia, and hopefully a one week vacation trip to phuket, thailand in mid-july.

when i was talking to a friend recently, he pointed out the strange juxtaposition that is life for us (and him, as he is in egypt). on one hand, we have daily life that is no different (really) from what it would have been in the states - hanging out with friends, playing frisbee, and working. on the other hand, our life sounds wild with travels, olympic torches, and becoming accustomed to hong kong. i realized as i walked down a busy road the other day that the abundance of neon lights and people barely fazed me.