Enjoying the journey

Honk Kong is quite a place. As I prepare to be a "new dad" I find myself and my family with a few days to kill in Hong Kong. My original thought about how this time would be spent was in a hotel room trying to overcome jet lag. Surprisingly, jet lag has not been a large factor and was, for the most part, a non-issue after 24 hours. Now I find myself in a brief vacation mode prior to meeting Malea. Though not in or near her home city, HK is giving us a large dose of eastern culture. It is a fascinating blend of eastern and western civilization. The large western influence is a nice transition from the states before going to central China where western influence will be all but non-existent. In HK, the streets are unique and curious - much like a National Geographic film. But, it is also common to see a McDonalds or Starbucks; when one is spotted suddenly the area feels a little more normal. The "normalcy" of drinking a McDonalds coke, however, quickly goes away when getting inside a HK taxi. At one such occurrence when no amount of pointing or maps could close the communication gap between me and our taxi driver, my aborting the mission was narrowly avoided by the $20 bill my mother in law placed in the driver's lap. Suddenly the communication improved and he promptly got us to our destination. I fancy myself as one who studdies effective communication but flopping a twenty in a person's lap was not a style I had read about or ever tried!

An alternate to the taxi, the train is a preferred mode of travel and on it we met many nice people. One fella whom I struck up a conversation with was from San Diego but was working in India as a software developer. He was on holiday to HK prior to his return to the states. It was not long that I uncovered his home was once Seattle and not far from where we live. Right there, amongst hundreds of Chinese people on a crowded train, I once again felt "normal" and the comfort of familiarity made the world a little smaller.

On a trip like this, it always made sense to me that I would be the one to learn and gain from our visiting China. I never expected we could contribute to, and perhaps be a highlight in, another explorer's trip. On a side walk, an Asian family cornered Kiersten and Madison and before we knew it were all taking turns getting their picture taken with them. They were apparently fascinated by their blond hair. Abby and I stepped back and let our girls decide how to react to their new found fame. We were rewarded by watching our girls pose and smile and though not comfortable, they were tolerant of their new admirers and smiled for the pictures.

It is clear to me more than ever there is much to be gained from this trip. I consider it a trip of a lifetime. We are anxious to see Malea; she is our reason for coming. Surrounding the great event of meeting her, however, is time to enjoy her country and its people. My world has been enlarged even in the short time I have been here. I can't imagine what my perspective will be two weeks from now.

Life is, indeed, a grand adventure. I expect this two weeks will make my highlight films sixty years from now (Lord Willing) when I scroll through the memories. Just to make sure, I am taking lots of pictures (almost 200 in two days).

A few more days till Malea. Between now and then is a lot more culture to experience. I don't know what those days will look like, but I know I will be carrying twenties in case I meet a Taxi driver I need to communicate with.

Marc