Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Started the year off with a bang having Natalie and Riley visit! They arrived on the 27th of December after all of our assignments and cool things we were doing were complete! I think we may have been as exhausted as they were when they landed in Hong Kong, ha ha, but what an amazing time all of us had! 51 miles, 2 theme parks, many fun Hong Kong famous sites, and a whole lot of fun story making Hong Kong culture! (Ask Natalie about the chicken in the wet market! She might need therapy. Eek) At least in the winter time, the "half naked man with a big knife" is DRESSED. Still smoking over the "food" he's "preparing", but dressed. So that's good, right?

One of the wonderful things about serving a mission as a couple is that family and others can come visit. I think out of the 20 couples serving in Hong Kong right now, about 8 had family in town that week. We did get several meetings set up and took care of a few things, but there was a natural break in there with the holidays. It was just perfect! I got to do lots of fun "grandma things" like making cookies, and pancakes and eggs and all kinds of fun stuff I do with the kids back home. Made my heart happy!

We are busy setting up 2019 with all the events we have within our many different assignments. Joe is going to Taiwan January 23rd for the day to meet with Formosa Petrochemical Corporation. They are the ones who are developing the LED lights for air purification. Joe is working with the BYU engineering team to determine the effectiveness of these LED's. The purpose is to find a viable option for the future development of air purification systems as part of the humanitarian outreach for the church. The goal is that they would be used in developing countries around the world. Of Course, Joe is LOVING it and is totally in his element with all this technical stuff.

Every Sunday in January is packed with meetings in different areas of Hong Kong for the youth and leaders in preparation for FSY that will be in July. We also have a big fireside with Elder Homer who is the 2nd Counselor in the Asia Area Presidency that we are helping with. It is for all YSA's, youth, leaders, and parents... That pretty much includes everyone. It is interesting here, because if they have an activity for any group, they usually include all the others as well. In the States, a youth activity is strictly for the youth. A Relief Society social is strictly for the RS. Here, my experience has been that everyone is included in most events. Also, they don't do weeknight activities. They are only on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday evenings because that is all they have as everyone is working crazy long hours wether it's a job or school/study. Even High Council meetings for Joe are every other Friday night from 7:45pm to 9:30pm.

Culturally, you don't ask an employer, "So how many hours a week is this job?" ... That is a big no no. Generally, you get a job and do whatever is expected and it is a standard 8:00am-7:00pm (ish) or later.... Duty, accomplishment, status, and achievement. Asians will tell you, that in general there is a "class" distinction as well. If you haven't seen the movie, "Crazy Rich Asians", go see it. Joe laughed so hard, and in parts I wasn't because he could painfully relate to some of the cultural things portrayed. We personally know families who have their pre-K children in classes to help them get ready for interviews to get into the Kindergarten. This is a pretty standard thing. The right kindergarten means the right elementary school, to get then into the right Secondary School, then the right University. SO... You must interview well as a kindergartener. There is SO MUCH pressure to perform. Like I said, there is a class system and for schooling, you test into them. Once you have a job/career, they call it "Work Life Integration"... (ie... little bit of life in your work) If you are not willing to do it, there are hundreds of people who are. That is just how the system works here. These are great people who love their families and work so hard to fulfill their responsibilities. They are incredibly smart, industrious, loyal and committed. They serve, work, reach out to others and are so kind.

Culture is just that... Culture. How we do things, how we live, shop, work, relate with one another, and what love looks like to different groups of people. It's neither right or wrong, but just a different way that some can call "weird", but really it's just different than what we are familiar with. We are all creatures of habit and are comfortable with our "own way". There is a sweet young sister missionary here from the Philippines who is really missing her culture... She said, she misses going to buy the fish and killing it herself. She misses eating fish with bones, and many other foods she's used to. She misses using her language to express herself, and many other things only familiar to her culture. It's ok to love our own culture. It's also ok and good to embrace and understand others cultures so we can better love and serve whomever we are with.

I love New Years. I love new beginnings and to be able to set goals and start again. It doesn't have to be a new year to start again, but for me it's a natural time to evaluate where I am and where I want to be. It's also a time to feel gratitude for all I have been blessed with and see all that is possible. I can speak for both Joe and I that we are so incredibly grateful to be here in Hong Kong serving these people. It is a blessing and is going by very quickly. We want to make it count and do all that we can with the time we have.

Love,
Sister Kwan

In Macau at the Venetian canal shops.

There is a screen at the arrival hall's doors and we
could see Natalie and Riley about to come out.

Riley's first MTR ride..(Hong Kong's subway rail system)

On the way up the hill to the monastery to the
10,000 Buddha's, which is actually about 12,000.

More 10,000 Buddah's.

Making cookies with Grandma!

 Outside the Jumbo Floating Restaurant.
You literally have to take a boat to it.

This was on the Teacup ride at Disneyland, BEFORE the ride.
Joe was not a happy camper after the ride. :)

At Ocean Park. Another spinning ride Joe opted out of, ha ha.

The end of the day at Disneyland.  Smaller
park but still has the Disney magic.

Visiting "Big Buddha". It was freezing and raining,
so we got these rain ponchos and looked like great big marshmallows. ha ha

After Big Buddha, we went to this fishing village on the other side of the island and rode a boat out to see the pink dolphins. The water was very rough, and no pink dolphins. Riley was NOT amused.

A really cool street on Hong Kong Island in Central.