We arrived in Hong Kong!

Despite our moms trying to ground us at the last minute, Kelly's dad trying to miss the exit for the airport and our dog Elbert trying to guilt us into not leaving (dog people know what we're talking about), we caught our flight from Denver!

After a 16 hour flight over the north pole in complete darkness - as well as sitting in the middle seat which did not recline - eating 3 dinners because we never - technically, saw morning, we finally made it to Hong Kong! Adjusting to the 15 hour time change has been a bit demanding on our minds and bodies - as we write this it is Thursday morning in Hong Kong and Wednesday evening in Denver! Which also means we will be celebrating the New Year when our friends and family in the Rockies are just waking up! If we find out any secrets from the future, we will send them along...


For doing nothing except walking around, our first day in Hong Kong was quite interesting. Starting off our day with noodles and beef satay was new! 

From there, we made our way through the markets and learned about many new delicacies including sparrows nests, dried oysters and sea cucumbers. Although Hong Kong has two national languages  - Cantonese AND English, we had a very hard time trying to communicate about some of these treats - though Angry Birds seems to be a universal truth, as well as the New Orleans Saints - who for the last two days have graced the front page of two local papers! Despite my occasional nay-saying about machismo sports, so far on our trip seeing the Saints in local papers has made us feel not too far from home. AND Tim Tebow has made us relevant to a new friend who was not sure where Colorado was until we mentioned the Denver Broncos!

Although the food was fascinating, what has perhaps been most interesting is learning about Hong Kong's revolutionary history marked most notably by Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Although he was not alone in his pursuits, and he passed away well before his vision was fully actualized, his ideas about anti-imperialism and national self determination seem to be what ushered in an independent Hong Kong. When we arrived in Hong Kong we read in a local paper that mainland China had just canceled a very popular TV show based on life in Hong Kong because the show was deemed "too controversial" by the Chinese government. Hong Kong still stands out from mainland China because of its independent ideals and progressive politics.  A statue of Dr. Sun Yat-sen now sits in the middle of one of Hong Kong's many urban parks overlooking a small portion of the vast skyline. 

Today (as y'all back home are falling asleep) we will be heading to Tsim Sha Tsui where Amnesty International Hong Kong is located to meet with some community organizers about life without parole for juveniles in the US. AI Hong Kong is currently campaigning to end the death penalty in Asia and support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in the workplace. 


Happy New Year!