Merry Christmas from Hong Kong

Tracy and I don’t have any snow to offer you. It’s still warm over here. I went swimming at the beach this morning, but the water was a bit cold, still Merry Christmas. 2023 has been a meaningful year for us. In December of 2022, Tracy and I rededicated ourselves to each other. Then in 2023 we found employment, lost Tracy’s parents, bought a car and more.

We Stayed Together

I wish I could tell you that everything in our relationship was smooth sailing after our reunion, but it has not been. We had already lived separately for 2 and half years. I would guess that most marriages that go through the level of conflict we went through don’t survive. Early on in our marriage friends told us never bring up the “D” word (divorce). Of course, God hates divorce and we should also. Scripture also talks about not letting the sun go down on your anger and I imagine if couples faithfully practiced that the little day to day issues would be far less likely to become major issues. Needless, to say we didn’t practice that advice. Instead, we accumulated years of unresolved hurts that we could not communicate through. We had and were in fact still deeply hurting each other. Not considering divorce, would have been living in denial. There were many times where we both wanted to quit. The fact that we are still together is a miracle.

Today it feels like we are on a different page. We actually enjoy being married to each other. I am gaining the kind of happy and fulfilling marriage that I didn’t think was possible. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not perfect. We still argue. We don’t know the future. Our faith is not in each other. It is in God. If we are willing to honor Him first, somehow He will take care of us. As you can see from the picture about Tracy likes to cook and you can probably guess I like to eat.  

Major Transitions

So Tracy came to live with me in December of 2022. Just a month prior to that, she had resigned from her job working for the Hospital Authority. She was excited about a new job offer that didn’t pay as much but offered some unique advantages over HA, so it was already going to be a period of transition for us. My decision to resign from my job, due to the vaccine mandates, meant more transition. On top of that, Tracy’s mom passed away unexpectedly a week before our reunion. It was a very difficult time for Tracy. The year before she lost her father and now she had also lost her mother. January was an especially difficult month.

Home Visit

Tracy suggested that I go back to the states to spend time with family and friends. I went back for homevisit for the month of February. I had not been home in 4 and half years and now I as unemployed. The timing seemed right. This also gave Tracy a chance to process the loss of her parents and to prepare for her new job at Sister Annie Skau Holistic Centre. Sister Annie’s has given Tracy a chance to practice many of the lessons that she learned while working with her own parents. Her dad suffered lung cancer and her mom suffered from Dementia. I remained unemployed for 6 months. I think it is pretty rare in life to reach 50 years of age, resign from your job and not receive pressure lots of pressure from your spouse. At times, I gave myself pressure, but Tracy didn’t.  

Back to Work

When I got back to Hong Kong, the vice principal of my former school contacted me. She asked me if I wanted to interview for my old job. I said sure. It took two interviews and three months of time, but I finally got the job. The job has been an answer to prayer. It’s not perfect. There are things that I struggle with, but I feel like I am learning to be more of an adult here in Hong Kong society. My previous NET positions were all dependent on local Hong Kong English teachers. I was not supposed to be in the classroom by myself. I was always dependent on local teachers for classroom management, discipline and more. Now those responsibilities are on my shoulders. Also my school’s English Ambassador Program has expanded, so I need to take up more responsibility there as well. Here is a one minute video of the English Ambassador Summer Globalization Tour Handling the classroom on my own marks a significant milestone in my development. Previously, my Cantonese was not a level where I could have done that. Now, I regularly translate what I am saying into Cantonese for the students. No it’s not perfect, but I think it is getting better.

When Tracy came to live with me in December 2022, she told me that coming to the TinLui village house in SaiKung was a huge sacrifice for her. She was very concerned about getting to work on time, buying groceries, and getting around in general. Our village house is in the countryside. There is a lot of construction going on around us. If you would like to see our surroundings. Here is what a bike ride into town looks like. We are not close to Hong Kong’s MTR. It takes about 12 minutes to walk to a bus stop and then maybe 15 minutes to take a mini bus or regular bus into town. Our problem wasn’t just the 27 or so minutes of travel to get into town. It was also the bus frequency and a number of the buses already being full. We went back and forth on whether or not we should get a car. Then finally I decided that we should and I took care of all of the details of making it happen.

We Got a Car

Our car is a 2005 Toyota Corolla. It suits our needs. I am actually surprised as I didn’t realize that driving a car in Hong Kong would help me feel more at home. Also Tracy really likes my driving (most of the time anyway 🙂 we enjoy a variety of conversations in the car. We call the car Goldie as we never got a golden retriever. Instead we got a golden colored car.   

Cambodia

Our Trip to Cambodia was definitely the highlight of our summer. You can also check out my favourite photos for 2023 here.

Watoto

A couple of months ago Tracy and I attended a Watoto children’s choir concert. I had seen Watoto in concert once before, but it was Tracy’s first time. Watoto is an orphanage with over 1000 orphans in Uganda. Every year they send children’s choir teams around the world. Yes, they do it to raise funds, but they also do it to share the good news of Jesus to schools and churches all over the world. They don’t just share the message in words. They share it with their lives. We are truly grateful we got the opportunity to host. It was a stretching experience for us at times but we made it work. We gave a blessing and we received a blessing.

A Real Thanksgiving Dinner

In my heart, I had been wanting to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends for years. Hong Kongers don’t usually celebrate thanksgiving. I told my students about the holiday and they were mostly fascinated by the “fire chicken.” That’s a direct translation of the Cantonese for turkey, but don’t really know anything about the holiday. Thankfully, we joined a new cell group just in time for a Thanksgiving feast. Tracy and I have a lot to be thankful for this year. May the Lord bless you and your loved ones with special moments together this holiday season. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.