Beijing

My passport is going to expire in March and with a Christmas planned in Hong Kong I thought I'd better get it renewed. Ten years ago I could not get checked in to a flight for Singapore because I needed six months left on my passport and I only had five. Was not going to let that happen again!

Unfortunately, I needed to go to Beijing, where the U.S. Embassy is located. This involved flying there, taking a taxi into the city, dropping off the passport application, taking a taxi back to the airport, and flying home. Lots of fun!

Some interesting things happened along the way. First of all, I could not believe how much Beijing has changed. I lived there in 1991 for 6 months and have not visited there since 1994. First of all the airport had transformed from a hick, backward structure to a 21st Century ultra modern facility. The airport even had a Burger King. I don't eat much fast food anymore but after 4 months in Qingdao, when I saw it, I wanted to cry. Great Wall? Been there (13 times). Forbidden City? Been done... Tiananamen Square? Have led tours. Not one of those things could be as fulfilling in that moment as a Double Beef Whopper with Cheese, Fries, and a Coke made my way . :)

The city has also transformed from a city that gets around by bike, to a city that gets around by car. Huge new roads and avenues ring the city but that still didn't stop me from getting stuck in traffic as heavy as any L.A.freeway.




Because my flight was not until later in the evening, I had a chance to visit an old friend of mine who runs a business outside of Beijing. Because of the company's Christian roots they also operate a children's foster agency called New Day Foster Home. The foster home takes in children who are "special need". Often the children are abandoned because of their handicap and the fortunate ones end up at New Day. I heard the stories of many of these precious children which often involved many life saving surgeries to repair hearts, stomachs, deformities and the like. My heart went out, not only for these precious children, but for the many volunteers, and to the parents who adopt these kids into their home. Jesus' quote, "Whatever you do for the least of my brethren, you have done it for me" was never so appropriate than in this foster home.

The trip to Beijing lasted less than 12 hours but my time at New Day will be with me much, much longer.

Poor Libby

When we were making the decision to come to China, whether or not we could bring our pet Chihuahua was a big factor. When I was interviewing for the position in Hong Kong back in April I knew I had to broach the subject. The interviewer asked me to hold on, made a quick call, and then replied, "Yes, you can bring the dog." It was THEN that I knew that this job was a possibility.

A couple weeks ago Libby was in "her time" and got out. When she was found she had a new "friend" who was 5 times bigger than her. The idea of having puppies is not something we want to deal with here so we decided to to take some advice from Bob Barker and "have our pet dog spayed or neutered."

Last Sunday Libby made the trek to church with us (sleeping quietly in her little purse bag) and then had an appointment for a little operation after. The vet put her out. Gabriel was very nervous and was "praying to Jesus" a lot more than usual. As a parent you think, "Hey, whatever gets them praying..."

Libby came through it OK. She was kind of out of it for a couple days but was treated like a Queen in the Hackman household. That lasted until last night when we came home and found she pooped on the kitchen floor. Now she's just back in the "doghouse".

Gabriel Percy Shelly Whitman Donne Tennyson Longfellow

In October, Yew Chung School participated with other schools around the world for International Poetry Day. Each of the students, regardless of grade, was required to produce a poem on that day with the theme being a haiku. A haiku poem is Japanese in origin and consists of three phrases of 17 syllables. The first line is 5, the second 7, and the third 5. Gabriel produced the following haiku:

It's Homeworkzilla
It's terrorizing my desk
NO! It's 10 o'clock!

The English teacher that coordinated the event told me that she and the other judge had picked Gabriel's poem as a winner in the Primary grades. I was pretty proud and I had to keep it to myself until the winners were announced this week.


Wish I had brought a copy of Dead Poets Society with me. I really want to watch that now...