The Tram and the Japanese Tour Guide

OK, so I wrote a post about the fabulous weekend we had and it has pics to describe it, but the pics won't download for some reason. I keep trying, but nothing will come up. Therefore, you will get another tidbit until I can load them:)

The Tram and the Tour Guide.
When Ashlynn started her first year of school I was delighted to have the privilege of taking her to school. This was in Hong Kong and her school was located at The Peak. The most convenient and fast way for us to get there was via tram, straight up the mountain. So every morning we would walk a couple of blocks to the small path which led to the MacDonnell Road tram stop. Along the way we would pass the trash ladies taking out the accumulated trash from all of the high-rises , where they would deposit it in heaps along the road, and the trash diggers who would be pawing through it all looking for anything fixable or salvageable that they could try to sell or give to family members. One old man had a little stand on the road and he would always squeeze every bag listening for the crunch of a soda can to recycle. Then as we turned up the step the aroma of “the stinky stairs” would hit. These were the stairs that every dog in the neighborhood used as a bathroom. It was forbidden to fall on these stairs as your hands and everything else would have to be thoroughly scrubbed and sanitized before they would ever again be considered clean.
Now, the tram itself is a huge tourist attraction. Everyday thousands of people are transported up and down. The views are spectacular and it truly is a fun experience to be going at such a steep incline, in a boxcar, and realize that the buildings themselves look like they going perpendicular to you; like they are going to slide or break off. Also, there is always a point when you are going up and the tram clears the tree line where, if the pollution isn’t too bad, you suddenly come upon a view of the entire Hong Kong skyline, Victoria harbor and across from that you can see the Kowloon skyline as well. It is truly breathtaking.
Yet, it only took us a couple weeks of riding before we forgot to look and appreciate what we had. The tram became another chore in the routine of our day and we didn’t stop to think about its beauty. Most often we would be talking about the coming day or perhaps a dog (usually a small, little guy named George) we had seen on the stinky stairs. That was when the Japanese tour guide came along. He started bring on the tourists’ once or twice a week. This guy got a kick out of going into the aisle at the steepest point and demonstrating, using the angle of his body, just how steep it really was. Well, as soon as he would step into the aisle the entire group would gasp and his smug smile would be appreciated by all as they took pictures and clapped. I loved it.
Every group loved it. Then, as soon as we would cross the treeline he would point, like a proud father, at the beauty of the view. It was great. It taught me to always look at things with fresh eyes. So many times we fall into a pattern and get used to the present, forgetting to open the box and appreciate the contents. Life is about the opening the box and inhaling the aroma even if you already know what it smells like.

Ash's Debut

Brielle being goofy!

Ash singing with the others

I so tried to get a good picture of the two of them, but they were being goof balls and this was as good as it gets...

This is a video of Ashlynn singing her New Years song in Mandarin. She was asked to do it for a Chinese New Year celebration held at Hoss's work for the local nationals. She was super nervous before, but did great on stage. The girls won best dressed too:)

Today's Picture

To make it even I thought I should post this older picture of Ashlynn in her GI:)

Brielle wants to do anything and everything her father does. In her eyes he is a god. Her dreams of joining him in the profession are only shared with becoming "the barbie that rides on a Pegasus" and being a dancer. So, ever since he started Brazilian Ju Jitsu she has been begging to go. Well, today she had to get her four year old shots and was so good that he told her she could finally go:) Here is a picture of the two of them when he was stretching out. She lasted about a half hour before she got completely bored, but I definitely think it was the highlight of her day!

The Security Guard

There is a local gentleman who works on the corner by the pee tree (the tree ALL the dogs pee at) as a security guard. He is rather abrupt and mean looking and he works at an apartment building with signs posted everywhere about not letting your dogs pee on the planters, building and walls. One of my first encounters with him was one bad morning before I had, had my coffee. I was walking Ashlynn to the bus and Hoss was still at PT. So, I had Brielle with me and, as is the custom, I brought Max down with me for his morning bathroom duties to get everything knocked out at once. However, we live on the 7th floor and there is only one main elevator (the back elevator is a crickity, old service one) and the main one kept coming up and down with people in it. This matters because most people are terrified of Max and so I have to wait for an empty elevator to get into. I would have taken the back elevator, but the cleaning lady does trash every morning at 8:00am. When she does this, she takes the back elevator up to the 25th floor and holds it as she hits every floor on the way down. This happens every morning, but usually I can get main elevator within a five minute period. Unfortunately, this was not the morning that it happened; instead we waited for an elevator until I was uptight and we were late to catch the bus; then we had to run down the 11 floors of stairs (including the carport). So, I dropped Ash off at the bus and Brielle, Max and I went for Max’s morning relief. We walked him around for a bit but he didn’t seem to be able to complete the pass on the solid end and after a while we just started walking back. As you can imagine we got right in front of the guard shack and down he crouches. The security guard runs out and starts yelling at me in Cantonese about Max and I just shake my head at him and grab out the newspaper to clean it up. However, as I start to clean it up Brielle starts playing on the cement railing by the road and Max starts pulling at another yappy dog that is walking by. So, I start yelling at Brielle to come down and try to pull back and get Max under control so I can stretch out my free hand to scoop up the poop. It was chaos and the security guard, who had by this time grabbed a jug of water, is watching the whole thing go down with distain; as if he thinks I am the typical out of control, disrespectful American with the crazy kid. I guess it did appear that way, but that is neither here nor there. Well, I know you don’t need the descriptor but it was the crumbly type and it was a disaster. I managed to get all but the tiniest crumb and the security guy is still yelling at me. I can tell you that I didn’t have any more paper and for Pete’s sake it was on top of a storm drain grate! So I told the security guard to splash it down with the purposeful bottle and walked off, cursing him under my breath. It was a rotten morning and hard to recover from.

Flash forward to the present. I have tried my best to forget the incident and every time I pass I make sure to wave and smile. On Chinese New Year he came out of his booth to wish me a happy new year and he makes sure to wave and smile at the kids when we pass. I feel like the one rotten experience was just a fluke and through my respect (by not letting my dog pee on his building or ever poo again near him) he has learned I am different. Now, I look forward to waving at him and his friendly smile. I think I will actually miss seeing him on the morning routine and I hope he will notice my absence as well. Maybe we have both gained something from the experience. I know I have.

Before and After

I thought I'd post the two pictures to show you how much the girls have changed and grown. The first was taken last week and the second was taken over a year ago. How sweet and cute they are!

Happy Birthday Brielle!

This is a clip of Brielle singing for me today. It was another of her nonsense songs from the heart...you'll also notice the shelves. She took all her birthday ballons and made a "balloon store":) The cardboard is a "holder shelf" she made to keep the ballons I bought in.

Today was Brielle's 4th birthday!!!! She was such and angel about everything. For breakfast she started out with blueberries, strawberries and grapes (apparently she wanted mango too, but I didn't hear that part yesterday:). Then opening family presents and up to the rooftop to get some energy out and play with the friends who came for her party. Remember we don't have many toys so I had to occupy them some other way for a bit. After that it was back downstairs where we had more fruit, corndogs and chips with the cake. This years cake was nothing like last years. Last year I did a really cool one (I'll try to find a picture, sorry couldn't find it I looked) and this year all I had was the spatula they gave us in our moving kit. So I bought a Reynolds pan and cooked up a round cake that I decorated with store bought icing. Then as was the theme this year, I put some new "My Little Ponys" on top. She was funny about her theme. She had My Little Pony stuff for her friends and then insisted on getting camouflage plates and napkins for Hoss and his coworkers (who she pretty much begged to come for the last couple of months). They did come and were so sweet about it. I am very thankful for everyone here that we have been privileged to be around here. It was a great day. Ashlynn had a really hard time of it as we made sure Brielle felt special and was able to dictate the day, but I think she still had fun at the party.

A tidbit...

So yesterday I had a wonderful time in China!!!! The pearl market was too much fun and I could have spent days there looking for the perfect strand. At any rate I am still a bit exausted from the long day and have yet to go out and pick up everything for Brielle's birthday tomorrow. So, in the interest of my mental capacity and time, I am going to post a piece from the book I've been working for the girls. It's going to be filled with stories about me. I guess as I move forward in my life I wish I had more to reflect on in my past. (and my recollections of my father get more and more dim). So, in case anything ever happens to me I want them to know who I was. Anywho here is a piece from it:
The Sunrise over the Ocean.
I don’t know if I’ve ever felt so at peace as when I am near the ocean. Everything about the ocean is calming for me. I could sit on a beach from sun up to sundown and just feel the beauty in the motion of the water. I am enthralled by the sound and enchanted by the life and pattern of the waves. The people who are around me have no bearing on my mesmerization and I can always find my center at the water. Just the smell alone when I am standing near an ocean, without seeing it, is enough to make me take a deep breath and remember who I am and where I came from.
I believe my love of the ocean comes from fond memories of visiting my relatives in Rhode Island. My brothers and I would spend our mornings at the beach digging in the sand and splashing around with my cousins. My grandparents’ house is only a short walk away from the Providence beaches. Sometimes we would heave enormous rocks (big in a small child’s eyes) onto the sand and wait for the squirt of the clams that would gush up through the grains. Then we’d dig down as fast as we could to try to get the offender. Our parents were even good natured enough to cook up the few we caught and let us destroy the unlucky oysters looking for the elusive pearl.
This fondness only grew as my childhood in Montana was dominated by mountains and land-based adventures. I should stop right here to mention though that once I was invited to a birthday party at the lake and our sleepover spot was in the cabin of my friend’s father’s boat. I didn’t last fifteen minutes before my mind was convinced that the boat was going to go down while I was sleeping and we all would drown. I left embarrassed and crying. So, it is rather funny that my love with the water progressed until I eventually joined The U.S. Navy when I was eighteen.
This led to my first duty station, the USS Belleau Wood. We had such the relationship, that ship and I. Some days I walked on with an enthusiasm and joy and others were a lot harder; those were the days I walked off with joy. I remember the day we pulled out on our six month deployment. Hoss dropped me off at the pier and said his usual quick goodbye. We were determined not to make a scene and if I remember right he didn’t even get out of the car. I made it to the berthing and that was about it. I spent the next two hours balling my eyes out and willingly myself off the ship and back into his arms. I distinctly remember one girl’s mom was there seeing her off and she just looked at me with such pity and asked her daughter about me; who told her I was married. It was not pity I wanted, it was Hoss; but that is neither here nor there.
That night, the next morning and during the many that followed I would make my way to the opening in the hanger bay that reached out onto the water. I would look out and watch the sunrise and sunset with nothing to get in the way. The blue of the water was so deep it could not be perfectly captured in any of my pictures and the sun simply melted into it until only its reflection was left to remind you of the events past. No matter the time of day or night I could always make my way to the ocean and feel as if my problems were nothing compared to the vast control of the sea and the figure behind it who never let it swallow me up. Then I could go below again and the water would rock my small bed to sleep where I could wake refreshed to face another day. I do miss those days and the comforting feel of the ocean beneath my feet.

What I will not miss about Hong Kong

A fun pic of the girls playing in the "snow" (bubbles) at Ocean Park.They were convinced it was real...

I will not miss standing out in a bad way...

You see some people here do not really enjoy people of a lighter skin color. It's not my fault, there have been many before me, but it's definitely something I deal with on an everyday basis. For example, if I am trying to take a taxi and put my arm out to get an available one coming down the road it may pass me up. It will pass me up and not one block further down (where I can see) it will pick up a person with a more Asain look than my ancestry gave me. This racism will happen in lines (called queues here), buses, resturants and any other place where you may need service or be waiting. I have done what little I can to change these people's perception, but have never seen the fruits of my labour manifest themselves.

I will not miss my kids being sick.

As I write Ash has had a fever for the last four days. This is nothing new, just something we deal with and that I have developed lots of techniques for. We even now will go out. I have brought them to birthdays and everything like this. All it is, is a fever. There are no other symptoms. They eat and sleep just fine and as long as I keep them medicated they feel just fine. There seems to be nothing I can do to prevent it. Their bodies just can't deal with the pollution, at least I think. I used to bring them into the doctor every time, but after so many times I just call now and the staff will give me the rundown and the reassurance over the phone. So, life goes on, but I will be glad when it goes on without the fevers:)

But enough negative...

Tomorrow I get to take my last trip over the border and into China!!!! I'll be visiting the markets of GuanZhou! I can't wait! I do feel terribly guilty leaving Ash with a fever, but Hoss has assured me that he'll be as paranoid as I usually am. And since it's Ash I know she'll vocalize if she needs something. Brielle will get up to 104 and never say a word. If Ash crosses 100 she starts talking about her eyes and head and temp. So yeah, I'm really looking forward to it and I'm bringing my computer so I can work on the dreaded paper on the way there and back. I have loved all my shopping trips across the border, hopefully this one will be no different and I can get the last something special to keep for myself and or the girls for memories of this foreign land.