Hong Kong Madness

Wow, it has been quite an adventure to say the least.  We finally made it onto a flight, all 5 of us at the same time, to Hong Kong!  On the airplane we made friends with the flight steward/stewardess and they gave us great information about what to see and contact info just in case we are lost or are in an emergency.  They were so sweet and helpful.

When we landed we encountered a problem. I got sick the last night of commissioning and so coming through customs they took my temperature....37.5 celsius=slight fever. And in Hong Kong a fever= swine flu.  I was escorted by the health officers to a doctor...and blah blah...they released me...thank goodness.  The next day Me, Sarah W and Krystina all had to see a doctor who ended up prescribing us so many medications it was intense. Luckily none of us had a fever. :) Now we are on the mend and all is well.

The people here are so gracious. One of our hosts (Judy) is the sweetest person. She is also our translator, though we are really trying to pick up the language, at least a little of it.  They have provided us with everything we could need.  We are staying in an amazing apartment that fits all 6 of us in the Kowloon Tang Hang Tung area.

The food is amazing.  They keep giving us all kinds of fish, pork, chicken, and beef dishes and they are all so delicious.  They have these steamed bread balls with yummy custard inside of them...after today's lunch with the officers at the training college we are almost professionals at using chop sticks...some more than others :)

Major Chan took us to THQ in Yau Ma Tei and showed us around all of the departments and introduced us to the employees and officers who run all the programs in the area.  We also met the bandmaster of the Kowloon Central Corps, so we will be going to band practice tomorrow night and playing in the service Sunday morning.

Agnes, another of our new friends too us to the women's market by THQ.  And by women's market, that means everything a woman could want, seriously.  Jewelry, purses, shoes, clothes, jade, luggage, and random goodies all super cheap.  There we practiced our bargaining skills (pen dei laa) translated means "go cheaper" and it works.  We stopped and bought some boba because we were so thirsty after walking around for hours.  Everything is so fast paced here, even the escalators and the MTR(Subway) go at lightening speeds...but it gets us to where we need to be faster.

Tomorrow Shalini comes and then our team will be complete. It feels like we have already been here for weeks, we even got home on the MTR all by ourselves today, it was such an accomplishment.  We all love it here...the food, the business, the people are all so amazing. We are all looking forward to the adventures we have ahead, so keep an eye out for more blog posts.  

We are praying for the other teams and wishing you the best in your ministries!

Love, Sarah Kalentermidis