Ordinary Life

After quite the grilling from a very dear friend about not updating our blog, I'm finally writing a new posting. Things have been relatively low key lately, which is probably why I haven't been too inspired to write anything.

How is that possible when we're literally on the other side of the world, you ask? Well, I guess it's just ordinary life. The last couple of weeks haven't been too eventful. No major issues, no major faux pas, no toilets being randomly turned off. There have been a few mishaps here and there, but, all in all, a relatively quiet time. And I have to say that I can't really complain about that. It's nice to have a little bit of a comfort level with the city. I'm sure that this slow time won't last forever, but we're enjoying it while it does.

So what exactly have we been up to? Like I said, just ordinary life stuff, but it's been fun.

Two weekends ago it officially turned from summer to fall and we had both seasons here in Hong Kong. Saturday (the 22nd) was the perfect summer day. We rented a junk (translation: big boat used for cruising around the waters of Hong Kong) with about 10 people and spent the day on the water. We did a little swimming, eating and napping. It was the perfect summer day that we topped off with a very good Chinese meal. Fall came on Sunday and we had the weather to prove it. The day was rainy, cloudy and gross. The kind of day where you want to stay inside all day on your couch and watch football. That's exactly how we started our day - watching the UW Badgers beat the Iowa Hawkeyes, thankfully. We then headed over to our friends' house for a "Proper English Lunch" if you're from England or "Proper Sunday Roast" if you're from Ireland like our friend Lorraine. (Translation: roasted meat, lamb in our case, with lots of veggies, potatoes and Yorkshire puddings. Please note, Yorkshire puddings are basically like popovers and nothing like pudding). There were 8 of us. The food was really amazing and 18 bottles of wine and 10 hours later, we somehow managed to make it home. This is something we could have easily done one weekend with our friends in Milwaukee. See, normal ordinary life stuff.

We have, however, gotten to partake in some of our first Chinese festivals. Last Wednesday marked the mid-Autumn festival, the second most important Chinese holiday after Chinese New Year. It's historically a harvest festival and people spend time admiring the harvest moon and with their families. Kids go out to the beach and walk around with lit paper lanterns. On the beaches, it is supposed to be a beautiful. We were supposed to go out on a junk that evening but it was cancelled due to a thunderstorm warning. There was a celebration in one of the local parks that was a really bad version of the state fair. We went to see it but didn't last long. Nothing too exciting.

Yesterday (Oct 1) was National Day. We signed up to go out on a boat trip to celebrate our Chinese heritage. There was a really great fireworks display that we got to see from the harbour. Definitely Bartolotta's quality. We missed July 4 fireworks so it was a nice treat. I started singing the Star Spangled Banner but Chris made me be quiet. Probably an appropriate move.

See, ordinary life stuff.

Today, Chris is home sick and has lost his voice. Ordinary life stuff, I guess. I promise to write more in the future to keep you all up to date.