Robertson Tribe Updates

More random bits of information for you from Yau Yat Chuen, Kowloon, Hong Kong

• We are battling the stomach flu and it.is.not.fun. The youngest was up every few hours, getting sick, requiring numerous bedding changes and clean ups. I am SO THANKFUL for my dryer. Many don’t have one here in HKG, and others have a combo machine, so you can only wash or dry; not both at the same time. We had both running all night. Then Mommy got a touch of it, and I’m waiting for the rest to succumb. Ugh.
• Daddy left for China today, in the midst of all the “flu fun”. Lucky dog.
• Chinese New Year preparations have started already, and wow, is it a huge deal. What a fun time to be here We are looking forward to enjoying some parades, parties, etc during this time as well as learning about the traditions.
• We tried a new church Sunday and it was a strong possibility for our church home. We are planning to try it one or two more times before we decide, but I am very hopeful. It was in a neat area of HKG; one we hadn’t been to yet, and we really enjoyed ourselves. (Check out hubby’s blog for some pics of the kids that day). It will be fun to hang out in the area after church on Sunday’s, so we’ll be able to make a day of it. I also ran into a lady I knew from my mom’s group. I had no idea she and her family went there. They are from Bombay, India. I have such international friends.
• I still feel like I’m on a really strange vacation. It’s not home yet. It feels more like home to hubby since he travels in to China, then comes home to us. Me….not so much.
• I am lonely. I am having a hard time connecting with people back home because of the time difference, so I feel lost, almost untethered. I’m still making friends here, so I feel like I’m in “no man’s land”, hovering between two places.
• Pollution, and the consequences that follow, is the pits. Be thankful for the clean, unpolluted air you are breathing right now.
• I miss all my appliances.
• I have a new oven door handle that doesn’t fall off every time I use it. That is a very good thing for which I am extremely thankful.
• I got my grocery delivery this morning so I don’t have to go to the store all week while J is away! That is a beautiful thing.
• We started our Chinese lessons on Monday. Nothing like learning a new language to make you feel like an idiot, ha ha! My musical ear is helping some though. It’s pretty easy for me to mimic the sounds the teacher makes. Of course, remembering them, well, that’s another story. Next week, we talk about tones in the language. That is going to be the challenging part, I think. Our teacher is a Chinese college student attending university here in HKG. She teaches English on the side to help pay for school. She is very smart. She speaks quite a few languages, and all of them very well. She’s never taught children before, or even really been around children for that matter (no siblings, no extended family with children) so she is a bit out of her element here with the Robertson tribe. She did a great job though and we are pleased. Thanks for the recommendation, B!!
• Grocery shopping used to be my favorite “chore” in the states. It has quickly turned into my most dreaded chore here in Hong Kong. There are so many challenges, with the biggest one being that not every store carries the same things. For example, if you want to buy applesauce in the States, you go to whatever store you prefer and pick some up. They even have a couple of brands to choose from. Now, some stores may carry different brands, but they ALL carry applesauce. That is not the case here. Each store has its own inventory and it is very different from the store a few blocks away. VERY different. Not only that, but each store within the same chain doesn’t carry the same things. Just because I can buy applesauce at my ABC store doesn’t mean that my friend B can buy applesauce at her ABC store in her town. It’s crazy! I have started a list of items that I can only find at one store. I know when I go to Wellcome (yes, that is a real name of a store and yes, that is how they spell it…cracks me up), I have to pick up the one brand of applesauce they carry and Cascade dishwasher detergent, again, the only brand they carry. There are no others stores any where near me that carry either of those things. Or if my friend B says, “I’m going to Oliver’s, do you need anything?”, I look at my list and tell her what I need. They carry things there that you can not find anywhere else in HKG. It’s crazy, I tell ya. Not only that, but they might have chewy granola bars when you were there last week, but this week…NOPE. You have to hoard them when you see them.

Whew, this got quite long. I guess that’s all for today. Stay tuned for more useless bits of information from Hong Kong.

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