Commoncole

I woke Liz up on Wednesday morning this week thinking that the world was coming to an end - my own personal world, not the world generally - I was SICK!!! Fever, runny nose sore throat, nausea... and the headache to end headaches. She graciously didn't kill me on the spot for waking her so early (must have been how patheticly sorry for myself I looked) and herded me into the bathroom for a cold shower. Then put me back to bed with pain killers and arranged for a doctors appointment. At 9am we walked over the road to my first encounter with Chinese Way of Medicine. The clinic was tiny and as it had only just opened, was also empty of patients, (much to my relief as I was drenched in sweat and had no great desire to sit in a room full of other sick people waiting forever to see a doctor as you do in medical clinics in Sydney).

There was a friendly Chinese lady, behind the counter of a booth full of medicines, who smiled cheerfully as Liz told her I was working at Crossroads, and that I was unwell. Shortly after giving her my particulars, I was called in by the doctor. His room looked like any western doctors' room (except for being half the size), so I sat down and told him my woes. He looked at me through his spectacles and I was relieved to hear him ask his first question in English, even if it was heavily veiled by a Chinese accent and struggled to make it's way through the protective breathing mask he was wearing. After copious notes and a thorough examination he was ready to declare his diagnosis. "Yoo ha commoncole". Feeling rather common I supposed his conclusion must be right enough and watched with interest as he made a copious list and spoke in rapid, mask-muffled Chinglish about the medicine he would prescribe me.

At this point I thought I was either completely off his topic of conversation or had mis-translated his diagnosis, as the list of pharmeceuticals he handed to the friendly booth-lady through another door gave one the distinct feeling that one must be gravely ill indeed. I was told I could wait in the waiting room. Liz lifted her eyebrows and I announced I had 'commoncole'. Finally, the friendly booth-lady beckoned me to her and she handed me enough drugs to start my own drug store. I was wide-eyed with wonder as she expertly went through (in hasty Chinglish) what each one was and how often to take... I kept looking at Liz and she just smiled and nodded knowingly. So, we had cough syrup - for cough, obviously - an anti-inflammatory for inflammation, ponstan for pain, something else for 'sleepy', something for bloating, antibiotics, paracetamol for pain and fever and finally something incase the stomache bleeds (from all those pills presumably) "ba no happen offen". Wowsers, a doctor's visit and all that medicine for the grand total of only AUD$23! I have to admit that although it felt like extremely good value, I decided to just take the paracetemol and antibiotics and leave the rest to the One Who Heals. Especially with the image of bleeding stomache still fresh in my mind!

Needless to say, as I'm at my computer and blogging, I am mostly better now. Yay!! The world hasn't ended and hopefully I'll be well enough to be back at work tomorrow. Unfortunately the timing of my being sick meant I largely missed out on enjoying Craig and Paige visiting Crossroads from Australia this past week. I met them at Vicki's church on the Central Coast and they brought me a great number of the ear plugs I like that don't seem to be available here. Thanks again guys! I don't even have one picture of them... : ( but here is the panarama I took in Macau that I mentioned in my last posting... (Click on it to see it bigger).

Mo May Jing! (and other things)

I'm a bit behind in my postings and now so much has come to pass that I'm not sure where to start... so I'll start with thanking everyone who has sent their well wishes and prayers for me here in Hong Kong and for the extended Hopkins clan during this week of sadness at losing the much loved patriarch of our family (father, Pa and great-grandfather) and also in our celebration of the man he was and the life he lived. Certainly having skype and emails makes the world seem a little bit smaller and all of you to seem a little bit closer so thank you once again!

The panarama above consists of about 7 photographs I took in sequence of the view from Hong Hum ferry pier - very close to where I went to church last Sunday - looking over to Hong Kong Island. If you click on the image hopefully you will find that a bigger version of it appears on your screen.

To some exciting news... the Ranger's Apprentice website that John and I have been working on for some months now is officially UP!! So please go and visit and learn more about our Araluen friends and enemies and other Ranger's Apprentice 'stuff' that you might not have known... eg: what John looks like on his scooter and more! There's a link under "links" to your left or just click here.

Now to "mo may jing!" which means "no MSG!"... Yes, so being a bit 'delicate of stomache' as it is, I was rather effected by a particular meal of which I partook last week in which there was rather a lot of 'may jing'. As the Chinese find no great need to add vegetables to most of their dishes, Kathryn and I decided a plate of broccoli was in order and as it wasn't on the menu we went to great charading lengths to acquire such a thing... It came as requested and it was very green and VERY tasty. I should have read the signs there and then. But no... 2 days of feeling ill and not sleeping later, I had a conversation with DJ in which he retold a story relevant to my case. He went somewhere remote in Hong Kong with 2 people visiting the country and where-ever it was that they were, they stopped at a little eatery and ate some food. Shortly there-after he was calling emergency to come and get his 2 sick friends who apparently had MSG-poisoning and couldn't walk. The ambulance boat had to come and get them from that remote place and take them to hospital. DJ's theory is that since broccoli on it's own is a boring dish, they felt the need to make it brightly coloured and extra flavoursome so probably went all out with the may jing and hence my suffering. So, since that time I've learned the appropriate Cantonese and will be using it when required and eating with a certain caution. Thankfully that quantity of MSG seems to be the exception rather than the rule and in future it may benefit me to stick to the menu and have my vegetables at home.

I have been part of a project the past 2 weeks which has involved turning 7 of our team into a Russian family participating in different family activities for one of the AIDs Life Xperience sets here at Crossroads. You can read more about the AIDs Life Xperience here. There are about 10 photos all up but here are 2 to give you an idea of how they turned out...





Last weekend I had the opportunity to spend the day in Macau which is just an hour's ferry ride from Hong Kong. It was quite strange to have to take my passport for a day's outing as that's not something we do living on the big island of Oz. There were 7 of us and as Kathryn had been to Macau before, she was wisened to the fact that we'd be best off hiring a mini-bus and tour guide to show us around and to make the most of our 5 hours there. So we found Mario!! Turns out he was the most obliging and servant-hearted guide a group could want, showing us the sights, telling us the history and providing us with umbrella's for shelter and banana's for afternoon tea. Check out the "Macau" album under 'My Pics' to see some of what we did and saw... I have a Macau panarama in the making... will try to have it done for my next posting...

A Tribute to Pa – 93 and 3/4 years old...

This is my favourite photo of Pa... Following is the tribute I wrote for his funeral today...

As I reflect on my time living with Pa last year, I realise what a privilege it was to have the chance to get to know him, really for the first time. It was a full and rich year with many challenges, but also so many wonderful moments that I will treasure in my heart with much thankfulness.

What I discovered about Pa - the man he was beyond the aches and pains and moments of confusion or forgetfulness that go with being 93 - was that he was a real gentleman. The "ladies-first, door-opening" kind that is a rare breed now-a-days. He was a kind-hearted and generous man with a wonderful sense of humour. Despite each day being a great effort for him just to rise and deal with a wearing out body and mind, his humour would constantly surprise me and make me laugh.

He had a great collection of sayings. After breakfast each morning he would get up, dust the crumbs off his shirt and announce with satisfaction that "the prisoner ate a hearty meal". Every now and then he would test me and instead of the announcement, it would be a question... "and what did the prisoner do??"

Pa loved to be out and about. Sitting at home all day was only for the worst of weathers. Each morning after a cheery "GOOOOD morning!!" and a hearty breakfast, he would enquire as to what was on the program for the day. As long as it wasn't a boring blood test or doctor's appointment I would receive an approving "good." I think we saw around 60 movies together last year. Pa loved a movie. If I chose a good one, that was a bonus, but if not he saw it as the perfect opportunity for quick nap. As we always went during the day time, we would often have the entire cinema to ourselves, at which point Pa would lean over and whisper in my ear: "glad we booked".

We had a collection of favourite eateries... number one being the Harbord Diggers where they serve the best salmon steak lunch around. Pa would usually polish off the lot, despite declaring half way through that there was way too much and he couldn't possibly eat it all. After which he would wipe the tartare sauce from his lips and say: "take me out and kill me but don't bend me"... which I think just means he was very full.

Shortly after moving to Manly with Pa, I asked him if he missed living at Woy Woy to which he quickly replied, "not even one woy". This had nothing to do with Sandy & Ian because he often spoke fondly of his time there and how well they cared for him, but more because Manly had become part of who he was. Having lived there since 1964 he was deeply attached to his home and to Manly itself. As they say, you could take the Pa out of Manly but you couldn't take the Manly out of Pa.

He loved going on the ferry and would always insist on leading me up the steep flight of stairs to the upper deck and sitting on the hard wooden seats at the back outside, in order to give me the wonderful open view of Manly fading in the distance as we headed to the city. And that was even if I forgot the boney-you-know-what-cushion!

One of my fondest memories of my time with Pa is sitting on the swing with him at home and listening to stories of old... about South Africa, and his parents and siblings, about growing up poor in Eastwood, about being a young man and going dancing at the Trochadero, about being there at the opening of the Harbour Bridge when de Groot rode up and cut the ribbon before it had to be re-tied and officially re-cut, about working as a cutter and later starting his own business... about his love of fishing and his hole-in-one that wasn't recorded... and about a brother-in-law with no nous.

After explaining to me what 'nous' meant, I realised that if anyone had nous, it was Pa. One thing that really struck me over the year with Pa is the way our whole family love and care for him so much, especially his four girls - Sandy, Leonie and Judy-Vicki-whoever-you-are. They made every effort to keep him at home for as long as possible and to make sure he was happy and had all that he needed.I realised one day that that was a real reflection of the person he was. A solid rock in their lives - a real man of nous - steady and constant, a good father and provider who loved them dearly.

I feel so blessed to have an album full of photos of the "things I did with Pa" and that even though he has been taken from us for now, those memories are something I will always treasure.