Good Morning, Hong Kong!

originally posted on 6/14/10

When I woke up in Hong Kong I looked out of my window at the skyscrapers across the harbor on Hong Kong island. The Samsung building flashed the time and then the message “Good Morning!” Hong Kong was glad I was there and so was I. The art museum was across the street from my hotel and there were 2 women doing their morning exercise, dancing with fans, just outside the museum. The day looked cool and cloudy, but that was definitely not the case.

When we walked outside it felt a lot like jumping in a pool. The air was hot and sticky. Hong Kong is basically a massive sauna. The first place that we visited was the Wong Tai Sin temple. It is a Taoist temple and it is beautiful. We walked around the Good Wish Garden and then we went to get our fortunes told. Each of us were given a container that had 50 or 60 sticks in it. We were to shake the container until just one stick came out. That stick had a number on it that would correspond with a fortune poem that would help to discern your future. The number on my stick was 42. I though that was pretty incredible, as 42 is the answer to life, the universe and everything. (The fortune-teller also told me that I would be successful, get good grades on my exams and go oversees a lot.) My overall out look: quite good. I can feel good about that.

After the Wong Tai Sin temple, we went to see the Hong Kong LDS temple. It was closed for cleaning, but we did meet up with a guy named Colin who was also visiting HK before going to the mainland for school. He came to lunch with us and then we all parted ways. When I say ALL, I mean ALL. I was headed to Disneyland, and for some odd reason no one else wanted to come with me.

I can now say that I have been to every Disneyland in the world. I am kind of blown away at this, besides Anaheim none of the trips I made were Disney-specific. I just kind of happened to end up where all of the parks were - and this was my last one. Kinda geeky, kinda cool. I love it. HK Disneyland is just as small as everyone says, but as least the Jungle Cruise ride is in a real jungle. You just can’t beat that.

For the next two days we took the city by storm. We ate chicken feet as part of a traditional Dim Sum breakfast. We walked about 10,000 steps on the day we went to see the 10,000 Buddhas in the New Territories. (Which btw, was one of the most incredible things I have seen anywhere in the world). We rode the subway across all of HK and up to the mainland (even though our visas did not permit us to leave the station). We visited Victoria Peak to see the view of Hong Kong that has been on my desktop at work for the last two months. While there, we also saw the spot where Hong Kong was dedicated for missionary work in 1949.

On Sunday we had church in Mandarin and we went to the art museum and the Hong Kong history museum. I do love me some museums. My favorite part of the art museum was an exhibit of pieces by Wu Guanzhong. He recently donated 30 pieces of art to the museum and I loved, loved, loved them!

That night we had Bombay Delight curry pizza at Pizza Hut and watched the light show down by the river. The next day we just ran around Hong Kong island and went to some local markets. Soon it was time to leave and we headed off to the airport. The flight to Xiamen was only an hour and 15 minutes. On the way I started to read The Piano Teacher, turns out it is set in Hong Kong. How crazy is that?

A group of students met us at the airport, brought us to the university, and helped us get checked into our hotel rooms. I can’t believe I am in China. Real China. Mainland China.

Now it is time for the real fun to begin…

The only thing constant is change...

As I was sitting in Institute tonight I realized that one week from that very moment I would not be sitting in Institute. I would be sitting on a plane -- on my way to China. This is it folks. The countdown begins. In one week I will be eating noodles and rice. In one week I will be about a foot taller than everyone around me. In one week I will be officially starting my grad program.

Wow.

I had another realization this week that shook me a bit;I have been on UVU's campus since the Fall of 2000. I left for my mission and to teach in Korea, but UVU had been a very big constant in my life for the last 10 years. 10 years. And that ends in just a few shorts days. Everything is changing. I like change. Change is good. That doesn't mean that it isn't hard. This is incredibly hard. It isn't just a couple of little things that are changing, NOTHING is going to be the same. However, this is usually how things go for me. I don't like to do things small.

So here goes...

It all starts in t-minus 7 days...

Moving Day!

Well, today is moving day. I have officially moved out of my office and will be working out of a cubicle for the next week and a half. A week and a half. No point in settling in. This is weird.

I have been working here at UVU for almost 5 years now. I didn't think it would be very hard to leave, but here it really it. It hasn't always been perfect, but I have spent the majority of my life the past 5 years giving tours, presenting at high schools, managing ambassadors and eating free ice cream. It is so strange to think that I will just walk away from all of it in a week and a half.

I am excited for all of the things that are to come, but it might be a little harder than I thought to leave this all behind.

LOST

About 3 years ago my sister introduced me to LOST. Season one had me hooked. Seasons four and five almost lost me. But I have stayed true. Now, it is rapidly coming to an end. When I say "rapidly", I mean that there are only 2 episodes left and they are killing people off. No one is safe. I don't know if I can take it.

I just wanted to get that out there.

All Grown Up and Going to China!

Remember in Mulan when Mushu says, "My little baby is all grown up and saving China"? Well, I don't know that I will be saving the country, but I am going there! In just 44 days I will be flying off to China for 2 months. I will be taking a Performance Measurements class that is a part of my masters program and I am all at once excited and scared to death. Well, maybe not scared to death, but I am certainly nervous. I am mostly nervous about the class and getting along with my classmates. Many of them are halfway through or finished with their degree and that makes me feel VERY green. Traveling makes me only a little bit nervous. I love adventure and I love to see the world. I can't believe that I have had the incredible experiences that I have, especially when I remember being 19 and thinking that visiting the east coast was the impossible dream. Now I have seen the world and am so excited to see more of it. Adventure is a wonderful thing!

Dr. Who

My roommate Queen Kate recently started hanging out with a pretty cool boy. We like to call him RDS. RDS is fun and witty and he watches Dr. Who. Did I mention that he watches Dr. Who? Who watches Dr. Who?! I remember watching Dr. Who with my family when I was little. I remember Tom Baker(pictured below)the most. I also remember Peter Davison, but just a little bit. We loved the show and I still get a very excited feeling in the pit of my stomach whenever I hear the theme music.



Dr. Who recently came back into my life when I met my friend Nan. Nan is pretty much everything I wish I could be. She is cool and artsy and well versed in all things BBC. Hence, she watches Dr. Who. (When I discovered this, I knew we were meant to be friends) David Tennant is her Doctor of choice.

So, what this all comes down to is that last night RDS came over with the newest episode of Dr. Who in tow. It just aired in Britain on Saturday night and features the new doctor. The new doctor. He is acceptable. But he is no David Tennant.




As I watched Dr. Who sans David Tennant, I realized just how much I love David Tennant. I guess that absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder. Have I mentioned that I love David Tennant? Mostly, I decided that I probably shouldn't love some one so much when I have never actually met him and I know for a fact that said person spent time dating Kylie Minogue. You just can't trust that at all. Oh, well.

Musings on Today

The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain, but the snow in Utah is out of control. It is April for heavens sake.

Returning a video to the redbox machine at Walmart would be much easier if I had a husband who would stay in the car so I wouldn't have to park it and turn it off just to pop inside and return the video.

Women used to wear dresses all the time and they looked super classy.

I would rather eat a cupcake than a salad. Unless it is a very good salad.

Flavored water is much easier to drink lots of than normal water.