On New Year's eve today (2nd) we had lunch with the young coworkers at church. They were excited to meet Wife for the first time and we were just as blessed by their presence. All laughed as they recalled how many interviews they had, usually five or six, before they were hired. Tomorrow we are heading to Macau, part of the visit was to help Wife to bring some teaching materials there. I expect to eat a lot there the next few days.
The new year began with swimming. Wife wore a new swimming suit. I wore a new vest getting out of town. It was an extremely busy day at the ferry with many folks unexpectedly getting out of town on the first day of Chinese New Year. We fell asleep on the ship but caught a local bus to the apartment. I was surprised today the Hong Kong queue is longer than the international line at Macau Customs. After two hours of sleep we headed to our favorite Italian restaurant by bus, but we could not get a seat because of the crowd. The replacement dinner at BF was average for the price, but the Gelato dessert from a stand was good. At night we could see Macau's fireworks in full display from the apartment.
My Macau New Year ended today (5th), highlighted by a big lunch at a posh Italian restaurant in one of the major hotels. By that time I was sick of eating, so I ate noodles for early dinner before I took a taxi to the ferry, putting myself on standby for the earlier 630p instead of 645p ferry home. I was the last five onto the boat. I got the ticket three days earlier, which was the last available ship home until next day's 5am morning ship. It was that packed over the new year. I think this may be my last new year in Macau.
Hng Kong has been cold lately. Nevertheless for two Saturdays now, including today
(19th) I have been swimming ten laps instead of the three laps last year that progressed to five this year. I felt fine; in fact, my pants are less tight, but it could be wishful thinking. The Chinese New Year has been good to me, so far I have been sticking closely to my plans and resolutions, including sleeping early. I have started to look for summer fights to Los Angeles to fulfill my domicile requirements and to see old friends. Pray that it will be quickly settled.
I was surprised to receive an invitation this week (24th) to speak at an evangelistic meeting on March 12, which I am not an expert at doing, but it is hard to turn down evangelism, so I am trying my best to prepare myself to face hundreds of people, expecting to convert some. The next two weeks is nervous time, that's for sure. On top of that I am not given much time since the event is 16 days away. I guess I am a standby. The advantage is I have less time to feel queasy.
