A Travelogue By Dad

Publisher Note: The parents of this blog, Bill and Tammy, came to visit their son Tommy over the  Chinese New Year. Bill wrote a travelogue of his experience. His wifeTammy thought it shouldn't be posted because of the rumors it might create. After review, we, the publishers of 'The Year of the Dragon,' have decided to post the original travelogue unedited.  We maintain that our educated readership can make their own decisions. 

When thou risest in the morning unwillingly, 

let these thoughts be present:

I am rising to do the work of a human being.

Why then should I be dissatisfied if I am going to do the things 

        for which I exist and for which I was brought into this world?

Or, was I made for this - to lie in the bedclothes and keep myself warm?

- Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor, 161 - 180 AD

Dear Friends of Tommy,

I asked Tommy if I could post a few words on his blog.  I thought you might be interested in a father’s perspective on “waz-up” here in Hong Kong.

First, let me speak about Tommy.  Tammy and I came here with two major objectives.  Of course we brought some home made cookies and the Ultimate Frisbee Tommy requested but there were two main objectives. 

Our number one objective was to see and be with Tommy for a few days.  At the airport, as you can imagine, Tommy literally stood out above the crowd waiting to meet arriving guests.  The cardboard sign reading “The Pooles” was a nice touch but not really needed.  Tommy doesn’t have a beard and his hair is shorter, especially around the ears, than I’ve seen it in a long time; but, we recognized him right-off and he looked good.

We arrived at night so didn’t see much of Hong Kong on the way to Tommy’s apartment in the dorm here at Hong Kong Adventist College.  As for Tommy’s place, it is clean, cool (literally) and spartan (no pictures on the walls, no plants and a minimal amount of furniture).  Tammy and I immediately recognized that what this place needed was a woman’s touch and this leads into main objective number two for our trip.

The second main reason we came to HK was to meet and check out Tommy’s fiancee.  If this is news to you imagine what a surprise it was to us when after only a month away from home, Tommy told us over the phone, “When people ask how I’m doing, just tell them I’m engaged to a local girl and everything is fine!”  Now, knowing Tommy, we figured he was kidding but there is nothing like first hand “intel” to make sure.

As already mentioned the apartment gave no indication (pictures, flowers, cards, etc.) that there was a woman in his life; so, rather quickly we were able to relax and just enjoy being here.

Tommy is a good host and we’re enjoying ourselves; however, if you are going to come for a visit there are a few things you may want to plan for.  To begin, Tommy has three bowls but only two spoons.  Next, there is only one guest towel which hasn’t been an issue until this morning when Tammy told me she was going to shower first.  Another thing is the ants, but unless you are extra squeamish about this sort of thing (like Tammy), I don’t think you’ll be too bothered.  Honestly, they are so small and there are so few of them that I hardly even notice and my sleeping mat is on the floor.  Another thing, if you, like me, think ketchup can enhance almost any and every meal, you might want to bring some with you.  Finally, let me comment on the weather here.  There may be palm trees growing around HK but this is not Hawaii.  In anticipation of our visit, Tommy borrowed a space heater that’s not quite as large as a toaster.  The heater does an okay job if you put on your clothes, and a jacket when you first get up and then hover over the heater as if it’s a small fire.  More than once, in the early morning hours I’ve repeated to myself the above quotation by Marcus Aurelius (I learned this in an Early Church History Course I took while at Andrew’s University many years ago).  Most of the time while we’re out and about the town I’m not freezing; however, more than once I’ve found myself singing to myself the words of Liza Doolittle, “All I want is a place somewhere . . .”  My point in sharing all this is help you be prepared if you should come in the winter.  Actually, I think, given a choice, I would choose being a little on the cool side as opposed to the high heat and humidity that will come in the summer.

Hopefully, my bringing up the aforementioned points doesn’t come across as whining or complaining and I hope you don’t get the impression that the situation here is only one step away from a jungle hut somewhere.  HK is a marvelous city and there is abundant evidence of wealth and luxury.  For example, Mercedes and BMWs are as common here as are Chevys and Fords at home and when you mix in the occasional Maserati, Lamborghini , Ferrari, Lotus or Rolls, you quickly realize you’re not in Kansas (or Walla Walla) anymore.  

The tour books say the major religion here is “money-theism” and that shopping is a passion.  On our first day one of our first stops was at the Pacific Place Mall.  Now, at home a mall usually has some combination of the following:  Sears on one end, J C Penneys holding down the other end, Macy’s in the middle and multiple filler stores in-between.  Such was not the case at Pacific Place.  Here, it was one designer store after another, after another, after another with their windows so brightly lit and richly displayed that I decided I really couldn’t afford to even window shop in a place like this.

Once out of this mall, we wandered the parks, streets, churches, zoo, arboretum, etc. of downtown HK.  I can’t tell you how wonderfully stress free it is to have someone who knows the area to show you around.  It was a fascinating day in an intriguing city.

One of the last places we stopped, on our first day, was an open-air flower market set up in an area larger than a football field.  Buying flowers is part of the new year’s celebration and I think about one third to one half of HK’s seven million people were at the market - it was wall-to-wall people.  We took pictures but didn’t buy any flowers and neither was I tempted to buy any of the fast foods on a stick that different vendors were selling.

For me, one of the highlights of the market and of the day was meeting one of Tommy’s students.  But before I tell you of this encounter, let me back up a minute and tell you how, as we started out in the morning, we crossed paths with the School Principal here at HK Adventist Academy.  Tommy introduced us and the principal proceeded to tell us how glad they were to have Tommy here.  But, if you think about it, what else could the man say.  Regardless of that, we believed him and thanked him and went on our way.

Now, back to the run in with one of Tommy’s students at the market.  Tommy had his camera up to his eye and was focused on something when I noticed a young girl reach up and tap on his shoulder.  Tommy didn’t respond immediately so she reached up and tapped a little harder.  Tommy lowered his camera and immediately started smiling from ear to ear and of course the girl was all smiles too.  Tommy introduced the girl to me (Tammy was off somewhere at that moment) and she introduced her mother to us.  Tommy told me the girl was in the eighth grade.  We chatted for a minute or two and then went our separate ways.  

As I thought about it, I thought, she didn’t have to do that.  When she saw Tommy she could have turned and gone another direction or just done nothing at all and we wouldn’t have seen her and would never have known she was there.  Do you see why this, more than the Principal’s kind words, said to me that Tommy is doing okay here - he’s making a positive impact.

But, as I reflect on this further, maybe this was more than just a coincidental encounter.  Both Tommy and the girl seemed quite excited to see each other.  And did I mention that she was very cute.  And as I think about it, traditionally, don’t Chinese girls marry at a young age?

This is probably just my imagination running away with me but I need to go find and have a talk with Tommy . . .