August 2, 2011
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Wrong side of the road
It is amazing how discombobulating it is to have cars driving on the other side of the road. Riding in a bus makes me cringe because I am always sure we will hit something when we turn. Crossing the street is just disasterous. I have never been good at that, even when I do know which way the cars are coming. It makes you feel like something is just a little off–that you have transported into some other world that moves to the left. And you realize that it works their way too…and you wonder what else can be done differently and still be a valid option. Blow my mind.
Junior Forum was amazing–the kids were full of questions and ready to go. All our fears of low English levels were erased after the first day when kids were raising their hands to share in front of the group. All of them were special, but one of note is King Julian.
Julian made himself a crown and wore it regally, adding to his donald duck plastic necklace, tee shirt, high tops, and multicolored leggings. This was his daily uniform. The first night he was on the podium, sharing about his day. In one word increments. pause. Julian is 10 years old and about 4 foot tall. When told to dress up for graduation dinner, he put on pajamas. For graduation, he got out his leopard tank top.
One moment I will always remember was during our dance circle. Everyone jumps up and down dancing, until the music beat goes down slower and everyone lowers down until we are on our hands and knees, waiting for the music to speed up, when we rise and jump up and down again. Well, not Julian. As we get lower, he becomes visible–standing there in the middle, tall and regal. He looks down on everyone on the floor, as they are his subjects. As they begin to rise, he raises his hands, orchestrating the whole thing–the powers that I am convinced he is sure he has.
It was day 4 when he told us his actual name, which is not Julian (he got that from Madagascar). Apparently, he decided it wouldn’t be a good idea for his parents to come and have everyone calling him a different name. But to me, he will always be Julian. I need more Julian-ness in my life:).
I arranged to have three days of sightseeing before leaving Hong Kong. They have been fantastic. Supercamp let me stay in my dorm room (yeah!), so I already feel comfortable with getting around and knowing where I am at. Not that I haven’t managed to still get lost, but it is always in a basic general direction of where I am going–so that doesn’t really count.
I have enjoyed sleeping in, jogging (yes! my rib is better!!), swimming in the ocean, visiting random bakeries and eating all these interesting breadness things, fresh fruit (gold Kiwi is my new best friend), and shopping all over Hong Kong. I feel like a pro on public transport, going from HK island to Kowloon and the New Territories. Today I took a cable car to the big Buddha. It was a beautiful view, with a glass bottom. There is something amazing about islands and ocean and mountains covered in green. And about going over them.
I kept looking at the Buddha and wondering why him…why did he get to be so famous and all statued-up? From the simple studying I have done, he always seemed like a great guy with a lot of good ideas, but I always get the idea that he would probably be surprised at all the statues of himself as well. The big statue looks like it is waving as you leave. I waved back.
China knows tofu. I’ve had stinky tofu, tofu in goopy sauce, fried tofu, sweet tofu, BBQ tofu…but today was the best ever tofu: curry tofu at the monastery. One thing those buddhist monks have for sure–good vegetarian meals. Yum. I loved it all except for the green tea red bean jello stuff. That was NOT for me.
