8 Days!

Me & Kiko

It is so hard to believe that in 8 days I will be boarding a plane and heading back to the U.S.! I am beginning to say goodbye to Hong Kong, to all of the amazing people I have met and the places I have come to love. Yes, even Kiko the Dog, my roommate for the past 8 months, has grown on me.

My first going away party was Friday April 28th; some friends and I had dinner and then went to karaoke in Causeway Bay. It was supposed to be a tram party but because it was raining heavily we chose to forego the tram part and just do the karaoke. It was so much fun! I enjoyed spending a few hours singing with my friends. One of my dear, dear friends here, Rebecca, left on Sunday to travel around Southeast Asia so it was the last time I saw her. We hugged and hugged!! I will miss her so much; she really made Hong Kong feel more home-y.

Saturday the 29th I went to Repulse Bay with another friend of mine, Crissy. I had never been and I hadn't been able to get to the beach at all before now due to weather conditions. It threatened rain the whole time, with big heavy clouds rolling by, but the rain held off. We built a sand alligator and swam, and I laid out for a little bit. It was nice to spend the day relaxing on the beach! We also had dinner with some of her Chinese friends out in Tsuen Wan. It was a full day!

Tai Wai

Tuesday May 1 was a holiday and I went to a friend's house out in Tai Wai, a village in the New Territories with a 500 year old shrine in it. They have an apartment with a rooftop and they set up a screen and projector to watch a movie. It was fun having a pizza and movie night with them and some of their other friends, mostly film/photography people that Sammie knows from her school. We ended up watching WALL-E, which I hadn't seen before, and it was so cute!

Movie on the roof!

Sunday I went back to St. Stephen's in Stanley to serve with Father Will, who is just a delightful and wonderful person. I enjoyed serving at the little church and fellowship after. I met up with my friend Crissy again and her sister, and we went to the beach in Stanley for a few hours. I wish I had brought sunscreen though--I got a really bad sun burn! I sure hope it heals up soon--definitely don't want to be on a long flight with a sunburn.

Mangoes & Grapes

The Quarterly Report for the Mission is coming along; I'm waiting to receive more of the encoded databases from my colleagues so I can extract the data. Hopefully I can get it done before I leave on May 14! I'm trying to finish up my work and also spend time with friends, not to mention packing up some things so I am not totally rushed. I will probably ship some things home too. So much to think about!! Thank you all so much for your support over the last year; I could not have done this without you or without God working in my life.

Grace and Peace,
Kathleen