Hello All,
Well I had an interesting weekend this weekend. Actually since I arrived here in Hong Kong every weekend has been interesting, but this one was really interesting. On Friday after school I caught the ferry with two other teachers from the Kowloon pier and headed over the Pearl Delta to Zhongshan, China, pronounced Jong san to help supervise thirty-five high school kids from my school. These kids are part of a school club called GID (Glow in the Dark.) It is named this because as Christians we are to shine God's light on a dark and hurting world. Three to four times a year this group heads into China and spends several hours with students from a local school playing games with them and doing other cultural activities. They also spend time visiting Christian missions and do singing programs at local churches. This program is run by a man named King Yu. What a great name, but its for real. Most Chinese people have a Chinese and English name. King's english is King. The Chinese word for King is Wong, which is as common as Smith in Canada. Any way King is a calculous teacher at CAIS and has run this club for 11 years.
Once my collegues and I arrived in Zhongshan a driver picked us up and took us to the hotel where we met up with King and the GID group. They were allowed to leave earlier, but because I and my fellow teachers had to instruct some classes we were released later.
We had a lavish eight course meal at the hotel. King loves to eat and we did not go hungry over the weekend. Every meal was a lavish 8-10 course extrvaganza. I ate fish, shrimp, pork, chicken, lamb, basically every common farm animal, (I hope not dog, but I am not sure) and vegetables galore. Eggplant, cabbage, corn, bok choy, etc, etc, breakfast consisted of dumblings and this soup thing called congi. One thing I learned about chinese eating habits that I had never known before is that it is common to clean your plates with the tea that is brought to the table. I tried, I made a mess, I will carry on like I did before and trust my stomach to handle any strange bacteria that enters in. Good so far.
On Saturday morning we took a drive into the country and had a "cultural experience," on a farm. For the GID kids and those from Zhongshan it was a unique experience since they are all city kids. After playing some ice breaker games like tag, and with the parachute, we went to a farmers field and were allowed to pick tomatoes. cabbage, and carrots. I showed the Chinese how to pull out a carrot. Wiggle first then pull gradually. They were impressed with my farming skills, but that is about the extent of it. The kids were also allowed to catch chickens. That was funny because the kids were as skittish as the chickens.
After another amazing 8-10 course lunch we headed into Zhongshan and met up with a church youth group in a massive echoing gym. My hearing has eroded over the years due to teaching gym and well, it took another hit from 100 loud kids. Hopefully I will still have some hearing left when I retire. From there we headed with the group to another 8-10 course "tea", really it was a lavish meal and gorged ourselves once again. One of the kids on the trip, Shiloh, who interesting enough has never been to North America and has been raised in Hong Kong by Italian parents, became a bit of a rock star due to his blond hair and teeny bopper good looks. My height was interesting to most of the kids, but Shiloh was the star and he must have signed a hundred autographs while on tour, I mean on our trip.
Once the meal was over we broke into groups and headed to different homes throughout Zhongshan. It was very interesting to see how a typical Chinese family lived. Zhongshan is for the most part a very clean and modern city and the house we visited was pretty good. Yet the strange part was that the lower level of the house was a hair dressing salon. So we visited in the waiting room. During our conversation the husband and wife took turns cutting people's hair. I tell you China is a little different. It is part of the deal. Any way one of the kids, Natalie, knew Cantonese and was our interpreter. I learned that Christianity is growing by leaps and bounds in China. The government is allowing "registered" churches to exist because they see the economic benefits of having good hard working and benevolent Christians in their society. Yet, the government does not want unregistered home churches. In fact you face imprisonment if caught at an "illegal" home church. These churches are however, thriving. Many people feel constricted by the officials that monitor registered churches and wish to express their devotion to God in ways that may not be approved by the government. Such things as prophecy, speaking in tongues, being slain in the spirit does not have government approval in China and this of course reflects a paranoid and ignorant attitude. How can any government control God and what He wants to do. Interesting enough the fact that the government will persecute those who don't toe their religious line has caused the home church movement to explode. One of the most dangerous things Christians are doing in China is helping those who escape North Korea to find refugee in South Korea. China is buds with North Korea so they would not be happy if you were helping the enemy. Yet just like the underground railway helped black slaves flee into free Canada at great peril to the white people who helped them, so it is with the Chinese Christians helping those to freedom.
After the home visit we headed back to the hotel and collapsed from an exhausting, but great day.
On Sunday we headed to a local church. The pastor, Pastor Wong (King, not kidding) wore a tie that didn't match, a dress coat, and jeans, (guy is probably not married,) but in my books a pastor that wears jeans and wears their hair a little too long is probably a decent and very real guy. Obviously the Chinese church police don't really care either about Pastor Wong's clothes and hair.
The kids did a great job with their presentations and we teachers got in to the act reading scripture in five different languages, to show our school's international dimension, and then having it translated by one of the kids. So we presented in mandarin, cantonese, english, french and german. Guess who got to say his thing in German? Weird to speak German in China to people who have no clue was ich sage. (What I am saying) Still it was kind of fun.
After church guess what? We gorged again on another 10-15 course meal or was it 8-10 I don't know, but except for chicken head I pretty well tried everything and so far I am holding up just fine and I hope it continues.
So all in all it was a great time and the next trip will be in June to some isolated Chinese villages. I am signed up ready to go. That will be verrrry interrressting. Adios my wonderful family and friends till next time.
Your Dirk
Well I had an interesting weekend this weekend. Actually since I arrived here in Hong Kong every weekend has been interesting, but this one was really interesting. On Friday after school I caught the ferry with two other teachers from the Kowloon pier and headed over the Pearl Delta to Zhongshan, China, pronounced Jong san to help supervise thirty-five high school kids from my school. These kids are part of a school club called GID (Glow in the Dark.) It is named this because as Christians we are to shine God's light on a dark and hurting world. Three to four times a year this group heads into China and spends several hours with students from a local school playing games with them and doing other cultural activities. They also spend time visiting Christian missions and do singing programs at local churches. This program is run by a man named King Yu. What a great name, but its for real. Most Chinese people have a Chinese and English name. King's english is King. The Chinese word for King is Wong, which is as common as Smith in Canada. Any way King is a calculous teacher at CAIS and has run this club for 11 years.
Once my collegues and I arrived in Zhongshan a driver picked us up and took us to the hotel where we met up with King and the GID group. They were allowed to leave earlier, but because I and my fellow teachers had to instruct some classes we were released later.
We had a lavish eight course meal at the hotel. King loves to eat and we did not go hungry over the weekend. Every meal was a lavish 8-10 course extrvaganza. I ate fish, shrimp, pork, chicken, lamb, basically every common farm animal, (I hope not dog, but I am not sure) and vegetables galore. Eggplant, cabbage, corn, bok choy, etc, etc, breakfast consisted of dumblings and this soup thing called congi. One thing I learned about chinese eating habits that I had never known before is that it is common to clean your plates with the tea that is brought to the table. I tried, I made a mess, I will carry on like I did before and trust my stomach to handle any strange bacteria that enters in. Good so far.
On Saturday morning we took a drive into the country and had a "cultural experience," on a farm. For the GID kids and those from Zhongshan it was a unique experience since they are all city kids. After playing some ice breaker games like tag, and with the parachute, we went to a farmers field and were allowed to pick tomatoes. cabbage, and carrots. I showed the Chinese how to pull out a carrot. Wiggle first then pull gradually. They were impressed with my farming skills, but that is about the extent of it. The kids were also allowed to catch chickens. That was funny because the kids were as skittish as the chickens.
After another amazing 8-10 course lunch we headed into Zhongshan and met up with a church youth group in a massive echoing gym. My hearing has eroded over the years due to teaching gym and well, it took another hit from 100 loud kids. Hopefully I will still have some hearing left when I retire. From there we headed with the group to another 8-10 course "tea", really it was a lavish meal and gorged ourselves once again. One of the kids on the trip, Shiloh, who interesting enough has never been to North America and has been raised in Hong Kong by Italian parents, became a bit of a rock star due to his blond hair and teeny bopper good looks. My height was interesting to most of the kids, but Shiloh was the star and he must have signed a hundred autographs while on tour, I mean on our trip.
Once the meal was over we broke into groups and headed to different homes throughout Zhongshan. It was very interesting to see how a typical Chinese family lived. Zhongshan is for the most part a very clean and modern city and the house we visited was pretty good. Yet the strange part was that the lower level of the house was a hair dressing salon. So we visited in the waiting room. During our conversation the husband and wife took turns cutting people's hair. I tell you China is a little different. It is part of the deal. Any way one of the kids, Natalie, knew Cantonese and was our interpreter. I learned that Christianity is growing by leaps and bounds in China. The government is allowing "registered" churches to exist because they see the economic benefits of having good hard working and benevolent Christians in their society. Yet, the government does not want unregistered home churches. In fact you face imprisonment if caught at an "illegal" home church. These churches are however, thriving. Many people feel constricted by the officials that monitor registered churches and wish to express their devotion to God in ways that may not be approved by the government. Such things as prophecy, speaking in tongues, being slain in the spirit does not have government approval in China and this of course reflects a paranoid and ignorant attitude. How can any government control God and what He wants to do. Interesting enough the fact that the government will persecute those who don't toe their religious line has caused the home church movement to explode. One of the most dangerous things Christians are doing in China is helping those who escape North Korea to find refugee in South Korea. China is buds with North Korea so they would not be happy if you were helping the enemy. Yet just like the underground railway helped black slaves flee into free Canada at great peril to the white people who helped them, so it is with the Chinese Christians helping those to freedom.
After the home visit we headed back to the hotel and collapsed from an exhausting, but great day.
On Sunday we headed to a local church. The pastor, Pastor Wong (King, not kidding) wore a tie that didn't match, a dress coat, and jeans, (guy is probably not married,) but in my books a pastor that wears jeans and wears their hair a little too long is probably a decent and very real guy. Obviously the Chinese church police don't really care either about Pastor Wong's clothes and hair.
The kids did a great job with their presentations and we teachers got in to the act reading scripture in five different languages, to show our school's international dimension, and then having it translated by one of the kids. So we presented in mandarin, cantonese, english, french and german. Guess who got to say his thing in German? Weird to speak German in China to people who have no clue was ich sage. (What I am saying) Still it was kind of fun.
After church guess what? We gorged again on another 10-15 course meal or was it 8-10 I don't know, but except for chicken head I pretty well tried everything and so far I am holding up just fine and I hope it continues.
So all in all it was a great time and the next trip will be in June to some isolated Chinese villages. I am signed up ready to go. That will be verrrry interrressting. Adios my wonderful family and friends till next time.
Your Dirk
Great Pictures, Dirk. As for the motorcyclist, maybe they have the same laws as in Guate.... only the driver has to wear a helmet. The 'factory' opening onto the street is the same, as well as the gated communities and lack of safety standards. Maybe it's how they control the population? (bad joke)
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