Time flies
Today marks my ten year anniversary in Hong Kong. I landed May 31, 1996 on a 90 day Visitor Visa. I spent a few days in Hong Kong then headed to Singapore for two weeks of training. Shortly after my return my visa was switched to employment. In honour of this occasion, today is a holiday in Hong Kong. Okay, maybe I am not quite that important… it is a Chinese holiday when the Dragon Boat Festivals are held.
Coincidentally, or maybe not, last Friday the Hong Kong Immigration Department issued me "Permanent Residency" status. The application was processed in record time… three weeks. This gives me the Right of Abode in Hong Kong. As long as I touch down in Hong Kong at least once every three years, from now to The End, I have a guaranteed safe haven on this Barren Rock. (Term used to describe Hong Kong to English Monarchs in 1800’s.) Also coincidentally, or maybe not, tomorrow I go into the Immigration Department again to handle all the formalities associated with receiving my PR Identity Card, which will also be a Smart Card… a piece of digital wizardy allowing me to enter in and out of Hong Kong by flashing the card and down the road will probably contain anything from my name to my DNA map.
Ten years… it has been quite a ride. I travel so much I am now on my fourth passport since arriving. (That will change as the passport no longer gets stamped going in and out of Hong Kong… the Smart Card gets zapped through a machine.) I have visited numerous countries in Asia. It’s getting to a point where I count the countries I haven’t visited, not the ones I have. Three jobs, four flats, one university degree, Tess, four kids, one handover, another one next door in Macau… the list goes on.
When I first landed in Hong Kong I really had no idea how long I would stay. I unconsciously thought I would be in Hong Kong for three to four years and then return to Canada. For now we have no plans to leave, although Jasper’s asthma is a little worrying. But we do have plans to re-assess our priorities as we embark on the next decade… slowdown, more time for family, more time for God, more time to stop and find these things called roses. Apparently they smell nice? I am sure, though, in no time it won’t look as if we’ve slowed! What do you have planned for the next decade?
On a side note, this last week had an added note of sobriety due to the passing of numerous distant people. At our Union Church Small Group last night we counted five deaths within the group’s extended circles. The first happened last Thursday night when a distant drinking buddy, Richard, (about 37 and by all outward signs looked in excellent physical condition) dropped dead during a work-out at The Footbal Club after suffering a massive heart attack. Tess knew his wife and two kids (2 & 5) from one of the triplets’ playgroups. We learned of further deaths throughout the week. Then yesterday while exchanging e-mails with a colleague (Dawn) in Singapore, she told me of a missionary friend who had just been killed. Her friend had been walking through one of South East Asia’s many jungles when she was hit and killed by a small boy learning to ride a 350 cc motorcycle. Didn’t mean to put a damper on my auspicious holiday… er, the Dragon Boat Festival, but I’ll sign-off now to go find those roses.
