Barbara & Bruces' Asia Adventures continue (China, Hong Kong and Korea too!!!!)

Greetings from  Minneapolis!  We're now back (mostly--but a bit disoriented by the trip, as we left one morning from Hong Kong, flew to Seoul, and then back to the U.S., not arriving until the evening of the following day, and my body may be getting a little old to do that gracefully).  One our last day we revisited a beautiful and expansive garden connected to the Buddhist Nunnery, a good way to bid farewell. We were reminded of the various peoples, cultures and histories we've encountered at least briefly in Hong Kong, including Muslims (from South Asia, China, and Indonesia and Malaysia), Sikhs and Hindus from India and Pakistan, Christians (both Chinese and Western/British), and those who still worship in the several Taoist temples we've visited   (the Pak Tai Taoist temple is seen below).   We also encountered political differences, movements, and struggles in Hong Kong, most directly when we walked with...

  Greetings to all, once again.  I've been seeing and thinking about the variety of people living here in this city of over 7 million people: the earlier small settlements of people who farmed and fished, but then the influx of British colonists, the people those colonists brought from India, the immigration of Filipinos and Indonesian coming here for work at "domestic helpers," and many others seeking their fortunes in this most prosperous city in China. We encounter those who have become our temperary neighbors often unaware, while strolling through the many street markets, still popular among Hong Kong folks (and people like myself) alongside western-style (and very stylish) stores (Hong Kong folks on average sill have five times the assets as Chinese people in general, and the gap used to be much greater before China's growth beginning in the 1980's).  At right, we find perhaps eight varieties of rice at an outdoor market, ...

My 4 days of teaching (8 hours a day) here in Hong Kong are finished and we have two more days to explore a bit before we return home. I wanted to talk about the students here as well as some of the things I have learned from them. The class was held in the Expressive Arts Therapy Department of Hong Kong University. HKU is located in a south west corner of Hong Kong island with many different views of islands, mountains and the harbor. It is a beautiful campus, with tall buildings meandering up and down the lush hills sides of Hong Kong Island. Many of the buildings have covered open air areas that catch breezes and provide amazing views (both important in this land of hot humid weather and highly overloaded and driven students). The department itself is impressive, with well-equipped rooms, walls covered with various art works and posters of research on the efficacy of Expressive Arts in Healing. They are doing some amazing work here, especially since it is so new. The class was s...

As we return to Hong Kong, we find things here both familiar and new.  As most of you know who may be following our Asian blogs, in recent years I’ve have the opportunity and pleasure of journeying at least twice to Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul.  Each has brought new things to learn and experience, as well as the growing familiarity of returning to things I like.  A delight watching the evening lights across the bay come on! But  Hong Kong has been facing difficult political changes.     Once a British colony (since the 19 th  century, after the Opium War of 1840, and the Treaty of Nanking in 1842), it was returned to China in 1997 (to be finalized during the following 50 year period!), after which Hong Kong would be “fully” part of mainland China.     But this spring the chief administrator, Carrie Lam, appointed by government in Beijing (not elected by Hong Kong residents), proposed that China would now be able...

Fruit stand near our hotel (during a quiet time of day) Some returning impressions of Hong Kong. To begin I really love Hong Kong.  It is a vibrant, hectic, complex city. However, being here after about two weeks in Seoul has provided an interesting lens for my impressions. For a start the actual pacing of this city seems almost frenetic, compare to Seoul. People seem driven and rushed. They walk faster and even the escalators to the subways (MTR) are faster- so you have to really pay attention and time your steps accordingly. (There, of course, lots of auditory and visual instructions to hold the handrail on the escalator, with scary picture of groceries or falling children knocking down others on the escalator!). Bruce’s first impression as we tried to buy some fruit at a nearby fruit stand was that they were rude. My own impression is that it was not rudeness, we were just taking to long to figure out what we wanted, and there were other customers waiting. Another impre...

Lotus Pond and Tea Pavilion in the Royal Secret Garden Our last days in Seoul included two activities in some of the historic palaces (dating back centuries, with some repairs).   We took a tour of the “Secret Garden” in one palace, where the royal families spent time resting, talking, writing poetry, drinking, and studying.   The secret garden was huge and had many different plants, trees, and birds- some being  familiar to us, but some not.  One corner of the vast gardens even hd a small plot of rice growing in a shallow pond. This was to perhaps remind to ruler of the crop which made life in the area possible, or strengthened their tie to the farmers of this small kingdom. Performer in traditional Handbook We also enjoyed a performance of traditional music and dance, guests  of one of our hosts.  This  included amusing skits and songs between a woman and man that was beautifully sung and quite dramatic. It was all in Korean, so we c...