Friday, August 22, 2008

Hong Kong, Our Style

Mui Wo, Lantau Island: beaches, laid back atmosphere, small villages and a hotel with a pool. Who needs the real Hong Kong? We certainly didn't for the three days before starting a 5 day Wilderness Medicine course. We pulled Steve out of retirement to teach 9 students (representing 6 nationalities) who work for an outdoor education program based in Hong Kong. They got some of his jokes. Our 5 days at a YWCA facility was plagued by unbelievably loud groups. Some were school kids who ran around screaming. Some were college freshman here for leadership training ROTC style. They shouted, marched, chanted, and sang their school anthem endlessly. Li spent her days with a friend of the course sponsor. She got to central Hong Kong for a day at Ocean World while we dodged the zealous students. We got to end our course with a typhoon, so named Nuri. Though the rest of Hong Kong got a typhoon day and had no school, by the time we got up for breakfast all the transportation services were shut down for the day thus trapping our students here. So we finished the course and watched some big rain squalls and winds gusts, though nothing stronger than what comes down the valley towards our house in Lander. At dinner time we had the eerie experience of being in the eye of the typhoon and feeling the calm. Some of our students were able to make it home, others were trapped here for the night. Now the wind and rain have picked up again, but we hope the storm has moved inland tomorrow in time for our noon flight to Chicago.

So after 12 months this MAY be our last night in China...

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