Our November Visitors Part 2

By the time Gretchen and I arrived home, we ate dinner with the family and spent time with them.  We decided that Sunday would be a very slow day...going to church, coming back for lunch and staying in the rest of the day.  So that is what we did!

But Monday was a different story:) We took an impromptu trip back the Shenzhen with Ben.  He was going to show us the Art Village and we were going to meet our friend Suzanne for lunch.  On the way to the village, Ben needed to stop at his tailor and have a suit made.  Well, Gretchen has been holding on to a picture of a wedding dress that she fell in love with.  The dress if beautiful...just not the price:) So she showed Stephanie, the tailor...and within about 30 minutes, Gretchen was having her wedding dress made...in China!!!

We then took a taxi to the Art Village where we walked around and saw some beautiful paintings. We met Suzanne for lunch and Ben ordered some amazing dumplings to share. Then we found a quick coffee (because basically that is what this whole visit has been about:) and Gretchen and I found our way back to the homestead in time for dinner. She and I actually stayed up later than the kids and watched Madame Secretary...and then we crashed.

Tuesday was yet another full day.  Gretchen and I took the bus to Stanley where we hit the markets and had Paisanos Pizza for lunch.  Then, we met Ben at the beginning of the Dragon's Back hike.  I have been wanting to do this hike FOREVER!! We had a blast as Ben, our guide, directed us all the way to Big Wave Bay...another place I have been wanting to go.  It wasn't the clearest of days, but it was comfortable and we had a great time.  Then we took the bus to the station, got foot messages at Gao's, found a bite to eat at K-Roll (Korean Burrito), stopped at the YL office, and then back home in time to kiss the kids goodnight.

Our November Visitors Part 1

For the last three years, I have joked with my friends, Gretchen and Anne, about coming to visit me in Hong Kong.  I knew that this would be difficult for both of them for many different reasons, but I just kept putting a bug in their ears.  Last spring, when they confirmed they were coming, I was speechless. I understood what a sacrifice this was and I greatly appreciated the investment in our friendship.

They booked a trip over Thanksgiving week, from Sunday morning to Saturday night.  Unfortunately, due to some issues with their China visas, their trip was delayed until Wednesday morning and Anne wasn't able to extend her trip because of home obligations that couldn't be changed.  Gretchen was able to stretch it to the following Wednesday.  This was a disappointment, but we didn't let it get us down, and when we picked them up at the airport, we hit the ground running!! And let me just say...they are rock stars!!!

After leaving the airport, we dropped Grace off at school and Andy at the train station to go to work.  Anne and Gretchen got settled, took showers, and then we were off again.  We took the train into TST to meet my monthly lunch group.  Our group meets monthly for lunch to try a new restaurant, since HK isn't hurting for restaurants.  We met at Master Thai and got to eat outdoors.  Even though our server was on the grumpy side, the food was good and it was fun for my HK friends to meet my US friends.

From there, we got back on the MTR and took the train up to Shenzhen.  It was really our only time to make the trip, and I wanted Anne and Gretchen to power through...not to mention, they were not missing China after the visas delayed their trip.  We were there for a few hours, focused on getting some gifts and checking things out, then got home in time for dinner.  We were all wiped out, but I couldn't imagine how my friends were functioning?!? They were amazing...and in bed by about 8pm.

The next day was a coffee in MOKO, Flower Market, Bird Market, lunch with Andy at Nha Trang, Ladies Market, Young Life club at our house, then out to dinner at Hutongs.  It was a FULL day...not sure we could have packed more in? Gretchen and Anne were able to lie down a bit during Young Life, but other than that, there was no rest and they cemented their reputations as rock stars.

Friday was Anne's last full day, and when we were celebrating American Thanksgiving.  Other friends were arriving around 3pm, so we had all morning to explore and show them more of the city.  We drove to IFC, then walked to the Peak Tram to go up to the Peak.  It was probably the most gorgeous day I have ever had up their and was so thankful that they could experience it with such great weather.  After taking lots of pics, we traveled down by taxi, which dropped us off at the escalators.  We traveled up enough for them to experience it, then walked down to IFC, drove to City One to pick up Lauren, and got back home in time to get a few more things for dinner, pick up the turkey at the club, and enjoyed our Friendsgiving.  We decided to watch Inside Out after dinner.  I was the only one in the family who hadn't seen it, and unfortunately I fell asleep in the middle of it...I will have to try that again.  Gretchen and Anne and I wanted to stay up to talk, but none of us had the energy.

Saturday was Anne's last day, as she was flying out that evening. So Gretchen, Anne and I drove to Lo Ping and the Big Buddha.  We had another beautiful day.  Even though we bought tickets online, we had to wait in line for an hour.  This was a bit disappointing, but we got lots of good talking in:)
We took the beautiful cable car ride, ate lunch and ate Greek kabobs, walked the 200 steps to see the Buddha, and then did the reverse back to the car.  We navigated back to the airport where we said our sad goodbye's.  I know we were all disappointed that Anne had to leave, but I was so grateful that she got to come.  I'll share the rest of Gretchen's visit in the next post. And if you want to see better pics or a more detailed account of our trip...check out Anne's blog!

The Rest of October...

I realize that we are almost to mid-November, but I feel it necessary to share a few things about the rest of October before I can blog about November:)

Josh and Andy have been committed to hiking the Wilson Trail this year.  It is the only trail in Hong Kong that runs from the southern part of Hong Kong Island to "just about" the border to the Mainland.  They have gone out about four Saturdays...sometimes with extra people, and sometimes by themselves.  It's been great bonding time, and they have been learning a lot about God through a devotional they do when they rest, nature, and common sense while being in the outdoors.  Recently, they did part of the trail that hails a certain species that, we Americans, are only used to seeing in zoos.  It just added to the experience, and everyone (Andy, Josh and Abby) came home with new insight on wild monkeys:)

Halloween was another fun experience of last minute costume shopping, pumpkin carving, and interesting trick-or-treating.  This year we went with a family theme, and thanks to Grace's hesitant cooperation, we were able to pull it off.  Try not to read into the casting...all our children display all the emotions...although some people may be more likely to express certain ones more often.  Case in point...Grace didn't have to act like Disgust:) Andy continued his tradition of carving the pumpkins and taking the kids out trick-or-treating, and he noticed that there were many more participating houses than in the past.  The kids did walk away with some interesting treats...including two baby toys because they ran out of candy.

Young Life has been a very important part of our lives, and we are so excited to be a part of it in Hong Kong.  A couple weeks ago we were able to host over 30 kids for Young Life club.  It was a blast!  We sang songs, played games, and listened to my friend Lauren share about Jesus.  We can't wait to see how God grows this ministry and we feel privileged to be a part of it.

Finally, Andy and I were able to get away for a long weekend to Phuket, Thailand.  It was an amazing time where we thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful scenery and lounging around the pool.  A much needed time away for us...and we could not have done it without our wonderful helper, Marina, and our friends, Ben and Lauren.

Fall Break Part 2 - Chiang Mai, Thailand

After a fabulous five days in the Philippines, our family was ready to trek out to part 2 of our adventure...Chiang Mai.  Wednesday started off with packing up, saying goodbye to our friends, and preparing ourselves for a long day of travel.  We left in plenty of time, got to the tiny Dumaguete airport, and left without delay.  We arrived in Manila, with the most difficult and tiresome part was moving from the domestic terminal to the international terminal.  Once we figured all that out, found our gate, Andy bought us a nutritious lunch of french fries and hot dogs (the only thing we could find). Sarah pretty much fell asleep on my back and stayed that way our entire time in Manila.  We finally took off for our three hour plane ride to Bangkok...moved from the international terminal to the domestic terminal...got a bite to eat, and finally got on the plane to Chiang Mai.  The kids, by then, were tired, so it was a pretty quiet and short flight there.  It was also gorgeous to land with such a beautiful moon allowing us to see the city below.

We were able to get all our luggage pretty quickly, and our friend, Ryan, was there to pick us up and take us to the hotel where we were all staying.  Ryan, and his wife Melanie, are friends from our church family in PA.  They are missionaries and drove for two days to see us in Chiang Mai, a place they are very familiar with since they lived there for the first three years.  We were able to say hello to Melanie (who stayed back with a sleeping 2 year old), take showers, and get to bed.

The next day was so exciting because we really had nothing planned. We got up at a leisurely pace, ate a nice breakfast, and took off for "animal road," a road with many different animal attractions. Our friends had a great car that all of us fit in comfortably...it was a truck with a full-sized covered bed that was air conditioned, included a cushion and was sound proof:) All the older kids piled in the back, Ryan and Andy in the front, and Melanie and I had the two toddlers in the back seat.  We missed our turn for our first animal stop, but found an amazing waterfall that we took a short hike to find.  The weather was fabulous, and the kids loved playing in the water.

Some one's excited:)

Because she got to get wet!

After getting our fill of the water fall, we got back in the car and the boys decided that it would be fun to stop at a snake charmer.  Melanie and I weren't too keen on the idea, so we took their son and Sarah to a tea garden while the rest of them enjoyed a snake show.  After hearing about it and seeing the pictures, it was confirmed that us parting was a great decision.

Not sure who is crazier???

Melanie and I took the toddlers to the Tea Garden instead:)

We got back together, and finally made it to our original destination...Tiger Kingdom.  This place has tigers of all sizes, but we were only interested in playing with the smallest ones.  We left Sarah with Ryan and Melanie, and the rest of us enjoyed about 15-20 minutes playing with 4 month old and 2 month old tiger cubs.  It still made me nervous, and I was glad Sarah wasn't with us, but the kids thoroughly enjoyed it...they were really cute!!

Sweet two month old cubs

After Tiger Kingdom, we went to a great local place for lunch (delicious!!), then back to the hotel for a short rest before we went to our next stop...The Big C!!! (Thailand's version of Walmart...and this one was extra big:) We wanted to get a few more gifts for the next day, and they  had a great food court for dinner...PLUS...Dairy Queen...woohoo!!!  It was a pretty inexpensive night out...but very entertaining!!

Love that their workers wore roller blades...efficient!!!

Sarah and Miles enjoyed their Thai dinner

The next day was a day we had been waiting for since we heard we might be moving to Asia.  We have been sponsoring a boy through Compassion for the last 7 years.  This day we were finally going to meet in person!! God opened many doors for this meeting to take place, and we were all so excited to finally spend the day with Tanawat.  Tanawat was joining us with his father, a Compassion representative, a church worker, and a translator.  They all came to the hotel at 9am.  We had just finished breakfast and were awkwardly waiting for the entourage to come.  And yes, that original encounter was very awkward.  We met the translator, Pay, first, and she was wonderful and made the whole experience as enjoyable and communicative as possible. Then we went out to the taxi where the rest of the group was waiting.  The other gentlemen were very kind.  Tanawat and his father were very quiet, but respectful and answered all the questions my children had for them.

Chiang Mai Zoo

Yes, they are feeding fish with a baby bottle!!

We spent most of the day at the zoo...watching a few shows, feeding animals and having lunch.  All in all it was a great day. When we got back to our hotel, we were so excited to give Tanawat and his father our gifts.  What we didn't expect was that they would have gifts for us.  It was overwhelming.  His mother had prepared a collage of pictures of their family, as well as a picture of our family that we had sent him. She had also hand woven a purse-like gift for each of us.  They were beautiful and the most I had seen Tanawat laugh was when he draped Sarah's over her while she was sleeping.  It was so sweet...it melted my heart.

Abby with Pay, our sweet translator

Even the elephant like to pose for pics

Sweet:)

It was such an incredible gift to meet the boy, who has grown into a young man, that we have been in touch with for the last seven years.  It nearly broke me, knowing he was going back to a lifestyle that we can hardly comprehend.  The lesson I took away, as I usually do when I meet those "less fortunate" than myself, is that they bless me more than I ever expect.

Our final day in Chiang Mai was another laid back day.  Melanie took us to the market in the morning, than we got back to the hotel in time for Ryan, Andy and Grace to go to the movies.  The rest of us took naps than swam in the pool.  We went out to dinner at a great restaurant on the canal and ended our evening at the Night Bazaar and ice cream at McD's.  It was such a great day and wonderful few days in Chiang Mai.  We love it there and wouldn't mind going back...hmmmm...

Last meal together...and she is still life of the party!!!  Love the Gehrmann Family!!!

 Of course, it wouldn't be a fun ending to our trip if we didn't have a 6am flight, which means we needed to leave the hotel at 4am.  Our taxi didn't show, so we had to wake up Melanie who graciously drove us to the airport.  We finally got on our plane...all the kids slept, and we landed in typhoon-like winds.  We like to keep it interesting:)