May Day! May Day!

It's May already - May 1st - Labor Day (in Macau, anyway).  It's a BEAUTIFUL day - I can see blue sky and white clouds, the temperature is just about perfect, and the humidity - well, we won't talk about the humidity... 

We've had some good experiences the past few weeks - two trips to Hong Kong - one for a Branch temple trip, and one for a Multi-Zone Conference.  The temple trip was wonderful; one of our sweet sisters from the Philippines, Jean Berido, received her endowment--and others went who hadn't been able to go for a long time.  The trip for zone conference makes for a very long day when we have to be on the 6 a.m. ferry, but it's well-worth the effort.  Thank goodness the sea was calm for both trips, and thank goodness I brought a supply of Dramamine!

We had a wonderful Branch Family Home Evening activity - "Missionary Night".  All of the branch members received a mission call assigning them to "foreign" missions, and were to report to the Macau Mini-MTC at the appointed time.  They participated in classes to learn how to "find", to "fellowship", to "contact" (we actually had a little call center), and they learned phrases and words in their "mission language" - Cantonese, Indonesian, Mandarin, or French.  Roland cooked up a special missionary meal of boxed macaroni and cheese (YES, we found some at the US Mart!), hotdogs, and floats.  Most of the people here had never had a float, and didn't know what it was - but they liked them!

We mourned with the people of China for those who lost their lives and were devastated by the earthquake which struck the Yushu region of the Qinghai province on April 14.  The National Day of Mourning was April 21.  It was especially heart-wrenching to hear about so many children who lost their lives because their schools collapsed; I'd love to tell the grieving parents about eternal families.
Now for some REALLY good news!  There is a Dairy Queen in Macau!  It just opened this week - and we've been there already.  It's not "quite" the same, but we'll get over it.  Of course we may not ever try the green tea-and-mango or green tea-and-chocolate blizzards, OR the red bean-strawberry, red bean-lemon, or red bean-mint lemon slushes, OR the jelly-grapefruit, orange-carrot, or apple-carrot fruit drinks.  THAT just doesn't say "Dairy Queen" to us!  We may have to tell them what a hot-fudge sundae is one of these days. 
We've been doing some actual teaching - both temple preparation, and missionary discussions, and feel productive most of the time.  It's great to be here!

TurboJet - High-speed ferry between Macau and Hong Kong

    Missionaries in the rain

                                                     

                         DQ - Packing them in!

                                              Tunneling under Macau!

Guia Hill and Lighthouse

Macau - Looking Southeast from our window.

Chinese library on the Rua do Campo

APRIL in MACAU!

Today is April 5 - the Qingming Festival (also known as Pure Brightness Festival or Tomb-sweeping Day).  I think China has almost as many public holidays as the State of Illinois!  The traditional activities of the day are cleaning the gravesites of loved ones and paying respect to them, taking a "spring outing" or enjoying nature, and kite flying.  A neat note on the kite flying:  they are not only flown during the day, but at night.  Little lanterns are attached to the kite or to the string, and while it is in the air, the string is cut, letting the kite go free.  This is said to bring good luck - and to get rid of disease!  The cemetery next to our apartment building is really busy today...
We have had too many days of fog and dreariness - we are hoping April will bring some sunny skies!
We had our Branch Conference yesterday - and it was a wonderful day (we can say that now that it's over!)  Our mission presidency came from Hong Kong, and were kept busy doing interviews before the meetings.  And - our attendance was the largest since we've been here.
Here's one of our recent adventures:  An Indonesian lady (not a member of the Church) has been coming to our meetings since last fall.  She looked pregnant, but said that she was not.  She disappeared for about a month, and when she came back, she had a tiny baby boy in her arms!  Well, she lost her job, and in Macau, if you are a foreigner and don't have a job, you don't have a visa; so she was illegal.  Roland took pity on her (mainly for the baby) and we decided to help her get back to Indonesia. On the day she was supposed to leave, some of the sisters took their only day off for the week to help out, and we got her to the airport at 6 a.m. for an early flight to Jakarta.  We arrived at the airport only to find that the airline had gone bankrupt overnight, and all of their flights were cancelled.  So, here we are with a homeless woman and little baby, all of their worldly goods in a "borrowed" suitcase, and no flight and no where to go.  The transportation authority (after MUCH waiting) got all those who were stranded into a hotel room across the street from the airport and tried to help.  I'm sure it was because there was a baby involved, but some of them got papers in order fairly rapidly and were arranging a flight - until they found out that the lady's passport and baby's travel papers were at Immigration, because she had overstayed.  Things came to a screeching halt, and the authorities came to take them into custody until a flight could be arranged.  Roland's advice to her was to let the baby cry, and that might spur them on to do something quickly.
In all of this, our heroes are our sweet Indonesian sisters, who helped her after the baby was born with money for diapers and formula - money that they could ill-afford to give since they send every extra pataca they earn to their own families back home. They helped her care for the baby, and before she was to leave, arranged to spend their one day off helping her, and helping us get her to the airport. They took up a collection so there would be bus fare to get to their province once they reached Jakarta, and one of them even gave her only piece of luggage so they'd have something to travel with. What a lesson to us this is in charity - the pure love of Christ! Note: We heard that they DID in fact get on a flight, albeit several days later.
We continue to enjoy interesting things here in Macau. (See pictures below.)  One day we were in one of the markets (the "markets" are just sections of town where there are lots of little shops and stands in a three or four-block area - just foot-traffic, no automobiles - but the scooters go through!), and we heard music coming from nearby.  We saw that a place had been cleared, a "loft" cleaned out, and a Chinese Opera was going on.  What a treat to watch and listen.
In all of the parks, plazas and little "squares" or gathering places there are always groups of men playing chess or card games.  Some of the games must get pretty interesting (or the stakes are high) because of the number of spectators they draw!
We are looking forward to General Conference - I know, it was last weekend! Thanks to the wonders of computers and internet, we can get it here in our apartment, but since we are 14 hours "ahead" of what's happening there, we have to wait to view it. Our Branch will receive the DVD's sometime this week (hopefully) and we will watch the sessions as a Branch this coming Saturday and Sunday. I will have to admit that I sneaked in the Saturday Morning session yesterday while Roland was at the church getting ready for meetings!
We are two days away from the 7-month mark in our mission - hard to believe!

Chinese Opera at the market

Guys playing cards/chess in the park

Lou Lim Ieoc Garden-across from church.  This is a classical Chinese garden--narrow pathways winding through groves of bamboo and flowering bushes, molded concrete "mountains" and a large pond with golden carp and lotus flowers.  There is a nine-turn bridge, zig-zagging across the pond (according to legends, evil spirits can only move in straight lines).

February 23, 2010

We survived the Chinese Lunar New Year!  What an awesome celebration - and the party continues!  (We still wake up to firecrackers every morning...)

On the Lunar New Year's Eve, we watched fireworks from our apartment window.  Macau was really putting on a show down by the Macau Tower.  We looked out the windows on the other side of the living room, and the show from Zhuhai City (Mainland China) was even bigger!  We just walked from one side to the other, oohing and aahing at the wonderful views.  One of the best things we did was to go down a couple of days later to an area by a reservoir where there are fireworks stands - a couple of blocks worth - selling every kind of rocket, firecracker, fountain, spinner, cherry bomb, sparkler, etc. etc. imaginable.  A little way further is an area to set them off - fireworks launchers mounted to the fences and towers for the rounds of firecrackers and all!  We watched as tiny kids and old people alike set off fireworks to their hearts' content.  Everyone was smiling and having a great time, in spite of imminent danger--some of the kids got so excited that they pointed their Roman candles in every direction, including directly at anyone nearby.  Roland got excited about the huge rolls of firecrackers that were draped around a fence about a block long, then ended in a tripod tower.  It was one of the loudest things we've ever heard, and the explosion at the top of the tower at the end was HUGE! Smoke a red paper flew everywhere!

On another note, we didn't give laih sih (red envelopes), but we did get one! So, here goes the Year of the Tiger - San Lihn Faai Lohk - Kung Hei Fat Choi!  Happy New Year! Happiness, Good Fortune!

March 1
I didn't get this finished in February...We found out that the end of the New Year celebrations was yesterday - the Lantern Festival, which is held 15 days after the Lunar New Year.  Lanterns are put up in all the public places and businesses to "break darkness, illuminate the land, and bring brightness and hope to people."  We are all for that.
Everything in Macau is damp, musty, and foggy.  Will we ever see the sun again?
We had a Mission outing to "Big Buddha" in Hong Kong on Feb. 18.  It was a freezing cold day, but we enjoyed the experience - even the vegetarian lunch at the Po Lin Monastery in the village at the base of the Buddha. 

We're going on six months - and still loving it!

        

Pictures, L to R and Top to Bottom:
The lobby of our apartment building - decorated for the New Year.
Band performance at Senado Square.
New Year's decorations at Senado Square.
Fireworks booths at Nam Van.
Big Buddha - Ngong Ping, Hong Kong
Macau at night from the bridge to Taipa

January in Macau!  The Christmas season is past, as well as the Western New Year.
Our Christmas celebrations were few, but sweet.  We went out caroling as a Branch several times - to public parks and gathering places.  Most people smiled, and nodded or waved; some were not aware of what we were doing, a few disagreed and turned away.  Caroling on a sunny Sunday morning is something everyone should do at least once!  We had a big ham dinner for our Zone on Christmas day, and then in the afternoon and evening we hosted the entire Branch at our apartment (those who wanted to come or COULD come).  Everyone brought food and we had several hours of fun together.  It kept all of us from missing home and family too much.  Making phone calls (thanks to Skype!) to family members also helped.  One of our favorite memories will always be Jacob (2 1/2) singing "Happy Birthday" to Grandpa while his big sister, Sarah, played "Joy to the World" on the piano!
We have started January with many forays into the back streets and by-ways of Macau, trying to find less-active Branch members--actually with some successes.  We are getting VERY good at finding streets--NOW, if everyone could spell them correctly (in Portuguese, of course) and then give us the name of their building (in Chinese of course), AND get all of the building numbers, floor numbers, and apartment numbers right, we'd have it made!  That's asking a lot of people whose mother tongue is a dialect from the Philippines or Indonesia.
We had a Mission activity in Hong Kong early in January, and were able to make our first trip to the Ladies Street Market and the Jade Market.  We had a wonderful day to do it - warm and sunny; apparently everyone else in Hong Kong thought it was the perfect day to go there also - it was PACKED!  We enjoyed the experience, and found some neat little items--we'll go back.
One of our "cultural experiences" lately was to watch a Chinese funeral - or graveside service.  I was doing some laundry on our little back balcony, and heard small cymbals and bells.  Our apartment building is in front of a large cemetery; I looked down, and saw a man dressed in a yellow and black hooded robe at the side of a grave.  He was playing the instruments, lighting incense, and throwing pieces of paper in an open grave.  Then, the funeral procession came through the far gates and wound its way to the gravesite; the people wore robes of some sort with hoods - black, white, or yellow.  They put the coffin in the grave, then each person filed by and threw a handful of dirt on the coffin.  The cemetery workers shovelled all the dirt into the grave, and the mourners filed back by, accompanied by the cymbals and bells, this time bowing three times and lighting an incense stick to put in the mound of dirt covering the coffin.  After they'd all done that, they turned around, and filed back by once more, this time lighting a rolled-up piece of paper from the burning incense, bowing three times at the foot of the grave, and throwing the burning paper into a burn barrel.  When they were done, they removed the robes, threw them in a pile on the ground, and filed out of the cemetery in the same orderly fashion they entered.  I need to read more about the customs and rituals of this area--it was fascinating to watch.
We are looking forward to Chinese New Year, which starts Feb. 14 this year.  It's the Year of the Tiger!  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  Sanlihn Faailohk!!!

Macau - looking NW out of our 18th floor living room window.  The tin roofs are about 6-8 stories high, so street level is WAAAAAAY down there!

Mission Christmas dinner - along with the Tim-Tam Slams, it doesn't get much better!

The streets of Macau - on a clear day, you COULD see forever; but we haven't had one yet (a clear day, I mean...)  In the background is the Grand Lisboa Hotel/Casino--the "great and spacious building"!

More streets of Macau - this is the REAL thing.

"THE" Barber Shop; Roland says this guy is a real barber. The "shop" is about 3'x7', built onto the side of a

building on the street.

 

An old lady in Taipa; when I asked if I could take her picture, she nodded, then held out her hand for a donation...

We found Waldo - right here in Macau.  (Just in case anyone is still looking!)

IF YOU CAN'T FIND IT IN MACAU, YOU CAN'T FIND IT ANYWHERE!!!

DECEMBER!  We're hearing about the cold and snow from friends and family in the States, and it's hard for us to believe we're not there, but here in Macau where the temps are in the 70's F. and the flowers are still blooming.  As we were walking downtown this morning, Roland mentioned how funny it is to see Christmas decorations on the avenues with marigolds in the background!  Actually we're experiencing a cold snap--it's only in the high 50's today.

We've experienced many things since our last post; Thanksgiving!  Thanksgiving here is just another day, BUT, in the true American tradition, Roland announced in church one Sunday in late October that we would have a "Thanksgiving Feast, complete with all the trimmings" for the Branch.  That was before he knew that turkeys are VERY scarce in China--in fact, almost un-findable.  After many frantic contacts, he finally found out about a market in Taipa where we could order some.  So, we took the Chinese missionaries, and placed an order for five turkeys.  On the appointed day, I (along with four strong Chinese elders) took the bus to Taipa to pick them up--we then distributed them all over the place to people who had refrigerator room for them.  The next problem was ovens to cook them in; people here just don't have ovens, and if they have one, it's usually just a little toaster oven.  AND, the ovens are heated by gas which is in propane tanks a little larger than the ones used for barbeque grills in the USA.  So, we not only needed ovens, we needed to make sure everyone had enough gas to do a turkey for four-plus hours.  We did finally get them all done, but they were all over town and had to be carted to the church for the dinner.  I won't even mention the pumpkin pie fiasco (other than to say that we ended up doing large pans of pumpkin bars because pie tins aren't to be found here, either)!

Our other "food" adventure worth mentioning was the evening the Chinese elders decided that we needed what they call a "cultural experience" and they took us to a "Hot Pot" restaurant.  This is a place where each table has a section in the middle which is lowered and has a hot plate in it with a large pot of boiling water.  You then order various things to be brought to the table (raw) and you put what you want to eat in the pot to cook it.  There was much that we didn't recognize and couldn't pronounce, but there was choi (Chinese vegetable), wanton, several kinds of dumplings, fish balls, rice balls, little sausages, beef strips, and then the live shrimp (they dip them out of the tank at the front of the restaurant and put them in a basket with a lid on it--the antenna or whatever you call them on shrimp are poking out and moving around, and they try to "run" when you stick your chopsticks in to get one to put in the boiling water.  I'm sure they scream when they hit the water and turn from their normal gray color to a lovely pink!)  Oh, and don't forget the chicken feet.  Yes, real chicken feet with the claws still on them.  Roland tried one; I couldn't do it.  The rules of the restaurant are few:  you pay for the time you are there--not the food you eat, and you have to eat everything you order.  They made big bucks on me, I'm sure, but the elders who were with us just loved it, and kept ordering and ordering (and ate it ALL)!
We made a couple of trips to Hong Kong this past month - one for the Mission Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving Day (That's a whole 'nother turkey story!), and on the 30th of Nov. for a Senior Missionary Conference at the Asia Area Office.  That was a real treat, to be taught by our Area Presidency and their wives, also our Mission President (Pres. Chan) and Pres. Yip of the Hong Kong Temple.  We enjoyed getting to know some of the other couples who are serving in this area in various capacities, and hearing their stories.  We also enjoyed a trip together to Hong Kong Park (Zoological and Botanical Gardens and Aviary).We are looking forward to Christmas here in Macau; we have a very little tree with one string of lights in our apartment, but the spirit of the season is not in the decorations. It is in our hearts and the hearts and lives of all we have met and grown to love here in China. We are thankful for blessings unmeasured!

Achievement Day Girls and Helpers making Peanut Butter Cookies--

They REALLY love to "kook"!

Just thought everyone would like to know Kara is OK and living at the Venus Disco in Taipa!

One flat duck left (and several heads available) at this stand at the wet market.

Our living room and our little Christmas tree - Merry Christmas!

Roland eats the chicken foot at Hot Pot!  What a MAN!

November already!  We are thinking of the fall colors at home, and we miss them, but we DO NOT miss the coming cold Illinois weather!  We have had a little change in temperature here in Macau; the past three days have actually been very nice!  It's in the 70's--all of the people have broken out their "winter" clothes--sweaters, sweatshirts, jackets, etc.  We, on the other hand, are happy in short sleeves and no sweat!  We've had the air conditioners off and the windows open.
We're still having almost daily adventures in the city; we've had some members helping us find people, which is almost impossible unless you have someone to lead you by the hand.  Also, the apartment buildings are all locked and you have to be buzzed in or have someone open the main door for you.  Then, once you get inside, you don't know where to go, and most of the apartments are behind another set of locked gates if you do happen to reach the right floor.
On Oct. 26th, there was a Chinese holiday--Chong Yang.  Our Branch activity was a hike up the highest hill on Coloane to the temple and statue of A-Ma.  Roland wasn't feeling well, but I went, and even though it was a hot day and the hill was high, it was very enjoyable.  There was a huge celebration at the temple, which is close to the top of the hill.  Of course, there were the lion and dragon dances, but lots of other things going on as well. I especially enjoyed listening to the music.  Here is the story of Chong Yang and the reason for hill-climbing on this day:
During the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220), a devil inhabited the Nu River which caused disease in the neighbouring people. The parents of a young man, named Hengjing, died because of the devil's magic. In order to rid the people of the devil, Hengjing went through extraordinary lengths to find an immortal to teach him swordsmanship in order to expel the devil.

On the eighth day of the ninth lunar month, the immortal told Hengjing that the next day the devil would appear and he was to go back to get rid of the devil and the disease. Taking a bag of dogwood and some chrysanthemum wine, Hengjing returned to his hometown. In the morning of the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, Hengjing led all the villagers who were each holding a piece of dogwood leaf and a cup of Chrysanthemum to the nearest mountain. At noon, when the devil came out from the Nu River, the devil suddenly stopped because of the fragrance emitted from the dogwood and the chrysanthemum wine. At that moment Hengjing used the sword to battle the devil for a few rounds and won.  Great story!
We got our temporary "blue cards"--a visa--so we can remain in Macau for a few more months.  Getting visas for Macau is very difficult--unless you're just visiting for a few days.  If you want to stay, you have to sign away your life (and your first-born child!).  For those of you who know Roland's handwriting (if you can call it that), he wrote the e's differently in his father's name and his mother's maiden name, and they caught that and wanted to know what kind of scam he was trying to pull.  They probably would have denied him the visa, except that he was blessed to have a former school teacher who spoke some English helping him in Immigration, and when he explained that he just can't write very well, she understood!  The lady who was 'helping' me in Immigration wasn't quite as understanding when she asked if the last letter of my maiden name had a 'y' or a 'g' at the end.  It was clearly a 'y', but you couldn't have proved that by her.  She thought I was trying to pull something (I don't know what it would have been or why a 'y' or a 'g' made any difference even if I was).  I didn't think I'd make it out of there without being told I'd have to leave Macau and not come back.  AND, we really don't want to leave!

The A-Ma Temple in Coloane--Chong Yang Holiday

Some of the 'fish' girls - parade at the A-Ma Temple.

Don't know what the instrument is, but it sounds neat!

A-Ma Statue - Coloane

This statue was made for the return of Macau to China in 1999.  It is 19.99 meters tall, weighs 1000 tons, and is made from white jade from Fangshang in Beijing.  120 sculptors worked for 8 months to complete it.

Our branch Halloween party was a huge success--see pictures below:

Roland with his Bud - Hou Leng Jai (Cute little boy).

Ida as "Spider-Woman"

We are plugging along with our weeks having a few successes and plenty of people to try and find. We have an appointment tomorrow to teach a lady who came to church on Sunday. We will also baptize a little girl this Sunday who has been coming to church with her aunt on a regular basis. The mother has given permission and says she will attend the baptism so we hope we can teach her also. A sweet little girl whose only hope is the gospel.


In a typical week we have meetings, contacts with members, make lots of phone calls and send lots of text messages, and do our jobs in the branch. We have been out wandering a little--trying to meet people, and trying to find our way around STILL. Macau is someplace you'd never really get to know--there are little alleyways, narrow streets, little openings into courtyards from strange doorways, mostly one-ways, etc. etc. We have been to some places we'll NEVER be able to find again!

We continue to be amazed at the city of Macau and the culture; some parts of the city are so old. The streets themselves fascinate us--they used lots of tile and some of the streets have very intricate patterns in them. It's a wonder to us that there aren't a thousand accidents when it rains because the streets get so slippery--and the motor scooters are just wild and crazy, zipping all over the place at high rates of speed and usually without looking.

We were in the area called San Mah Louh (the oldest part of the city) the other day and saw a parade which snaked its way down the hill from the Ruins of St. Paul to Senado Square. It was quite a production—see the pictures below. We tried to find out what it was all about, but couldn’t. We were told that there are parades all the time and for any reason—the people here just love to have them.

We have finally worked out the bus system enough that we can get close to where we need to go, and even get back home again in a reasonable time--and without ending up at the Barrier Gate! Now, if we can find a bus that will drop us off at our door....

We have been to Taipa and Coloane (the other islands in the Macau peninsula) a couple of times. We took a ride over one day just to see if we could do it--and visited a beach called "Hac Sa" or "Black Sand". It is a beautiful beach, and even though the weather wasn't very good the day we were there, there were lots of people. An entire boys' school was having some kind of an outing that day, and practically filled the area. They were having a great time. The schools over here are numerous; the children ALL wear uniforms--different uniforms for each school. (It's the same in Hong Kong.) They have classes in each school all the way from kindergarten through the end of high school. The littlest kids are so neat when they go outside of their schools--they all hold onto each other for dear life and the teachers shepherd them like ducklings all over the place. Even the pre-schools have uniforms.

We decided to go to McDonald's for supper the other night; we got together with the Chinese missionaries and asked them how to say a few things, like: "Super-size it" (that was Roland's main request!), or "For here”, or “To go", or "No sauce, please" (this was mine--they put a horrible sauce on the Big and Tasty and it ruins it!). So, we get there, and we get everything we asked for EXCEPT that they put lots of sauce on the Big and Tasty's. Roland says he got his part right, but that I messed up. I say that he was so busy saying his one line, "Gau daaih, gau daaih" that they couldn't hear me saying "Mouh jau". Anyway, we had to waste a couple of french fries (which are JUST like the ones in America!) scraping off the nasty sauce. As missionaries we have to sacrifice in some things... We are thankful for McDonald's now and then.

The "Horse Girls" and the "Scary-Faced Guys" in the parade at San Mah Louh.

Hac Sa Beach on a cloudy day (left) and one of the Streets of Macau (right).