Things I'm Thankful For

I'm not trying to be cheesy or maudlin or anything like that, but as I'm just finishing my first year in Hong Kong there are a LOT of things that I feel thankful for, and I'm going to mention some of them in the hopes that -- maybe -- it will give some tiny glimpse into the things that mean a lot to a guy from the States living in HK.

These things are in NO particular order, I'm just typing them out as I think of them. And by the way, I'm NOT going to mention "family and friends" because that one's so obvious and deep and primary that to even put it on the list would be stupid -- of COURSE it's the most important thing I'm thankful for, apart from Jesus and all, you know what I mean. So "family and friends" (both "at home" and here in HK) are not on this list, but they are a given... Now for the OTHER things... 

Things I'm thankful for:

    -- E-mail and the internet. I honestly can't imagine being here without it. Ten years ago I spent 3 months in Taiwan and spent all my free time writing letters and postcards to people BY HAND with a pencil and paper, and YES, there's something nice about getting a handwritten letter, but guess what? E-mail's faster, cheaper, and it allows me to get almost INSTANT response from anywhere in the world. So I'm VERY thankful for e-mail.
    -- Air conditioning. I've been to Africa, so I feel like I know what "Africa hot" is -- and brother, it ain't as hot as HK in May, not to mention HK in JULY and AUGUST! I know I could "survive" without air conditioning here, but I wouldn't -- I honestly think I'd just LEAVE if suddenly I had to do without. I'm spoiled, and I recognize that, and it's why I'm so eager to express to God how thankful I am for a/c... I AM TRULY THANKFUL FOR A/C...
    -- Smucker's preserves. I only recently got into this one, but they sell Smucker's at the grocery I usually shop at, and since I bought a jar of strawberry preserves and a loaf of bread last week, I'm in heaven. Think about it -- it's breakfast, it's a snack, it can be dessert, and throw some peanut butter on there and it's the whole stinking meal. 
    -- Windows XP. Actually, this one is also on my list of "things that clearly are from the depths of Hades" because I love it AND I hate it. But it boots faster than any OS I've ever known, and that, at least, is very cool.
    -- A clothes washer. What a life-saver -- but unfortunately most HK people do NOT use clothes DRYERS, so in the HK humidity you have to think ahead like 48 hours if you need to wash some clothes to wear -- it just takes too long to line-dry stuff. I won't go into my "why don't you use a stinking DRYER?" tirade (my main arguments revolve around the fact that you'd actually SAVE space in tiny HK apartments if you had a clothes dryer instead of having to use an ENTIRE ROOM of the house to dry your stupid underwear), but suffice it to say that if I had the money one of the FIRST things I would purchase is a clothes dryer. Whatever, I'm still thankful for the WASHER...
    -- Campbell's soup. It's the main food item which I am able to "cook"... And it doesn't have even ONE GRAIN of rice in it.
    -- Cable TV. Put it this way, I get Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, MTV Asia, Channel V (which is a "local" copy of MTV), BBC World, CNN, and Star World (which is a network out of India which features almost NOTHING but American TV shows from last season). I don't watch TV that much except for news, but it's cool to have it when there ARE things I want to watch. Which brings me to:
    -- The Simpsons (on the Star World cable network weekdays at 6pm). I love the Simpsons, my parents will tell you it's one of the few shows that actually makes me laugh out LOUD constantly. I'm pretty sure that they used to HATE it on Sunday nights when I'd watch it and then just laugh the whole time. Well, now I get to watch it more than ever, and I'm thanking heaven that they are almost all NEW EPISODES to me, ones that I've never seen. Every day that I'm home at 6pm is like Christmas.
    -- My digital camera. Yesterday at school we were all saying our "goodbyes" because it's the beginning of the summer holiday, and reflecting on that this evening over dinner, I realized that it made me feel unexpectedly sad to pack up my things and clear out my desk and locker at school. And I just was thinking how it MAY be that 2 years from now I'll be packing things up for GOOD, if that's what God wants from me (stay tuned for the next 24 months)... But then I thought about how I have all these hundreds of photos from the school, and how happy I'll be to have those and look at them and remember all the students and stuff. SO I'M REALLY THANKFUL FOR THIS CAMERA, it's really a gift for me.
    -- My "Ummo Glenn" Swiss Army pocket knife/keychain. This was a gift from my godson Peter Hayes, and it is one of the most-used items that I own. Not a single day goes by that I don't reach into my pocket and pull that thing out for something or the other. And I promise, EVERY TIME I think of Peter and his parents (my friends Chris and Michele) and Peter's brother Benjamin. If I ever lose or break this knife/keychain, I will -- without shame -- contact Peter and tell him to get me another one!!! ("Ummo" is Lebanese for "Uncle").
    -- My LL Bean book bag. It goes everywhere I go in HK, and I mean that LITERALLY. I used to have a Ford Explorer before I came here, and it was my "home on the road" -- well, now this blue book bag is my portable home. Everyone always makes fun of me, "Why do you carry such a heavy bag?" -- but I'm like, "Sheez, I carry all my stuff in here!" -- I have an umbrella, a waterproof jacket (very nice, worthy of mention itself!), my phone, a notebook, a bandana, a map of HK, a pocket knife, a towel, a small mirror, a garbage bag, all my spare change, a pen, a book to read, my little MP3 player and headphones, extra t-shirts, my Octopus card (the "stored value" card you use to pay for busses and trains in HK), some breath mints and gum, some tissues (HK restaurants don't always give you napkins, sometimes you have to bring your own -- it's true!)... well, and all this is on TOP of whatever I need for where I'm going, like to church I throw in a Bible, or to school I throw in more clothes or books, etc., etc. You get the idea, this book bag is really important to me, and I'm thankful for it.

. . .

Now, just in the interest of "balanced coverage" let me give you a short list of things from the States that I really miss -- again, these are not in any order, and I will not even mention "family and friends" because that's pretty obvious. You'll notice food is prominent -- I'm not like some Dom DeLuise character who is all absorbed into food, but still... (and actually, if I really looked I'm sure I could find some of this stuff here in HK anyway, though it might cost an arm and a leg... so whatever)...

Things I really miss:

    -- chips and queso dip at Tumbleweed
    -- Mystery Science Theater 3000
    -- my truck that I sold before coming here
    -- the "white" pizza from Hometown Pizza
    -- the calamari appetizer from Ramsey's Restaurant
    -- the "Chicken Lexington" from KT's
    -- SHALIMAR LUNCH BUFFET!!
    -- the Golden Dragon Chinese restaurant, my favorite in the WORLD which has gone out of business!!
    -- my churches, Hillview and Forest Park -- great musicians and singing songs in ENGLISH
    -- MUSIC in general, and going into the studio every month or so for recording projects... I really miss that...
    -- all my CDs and books and magazines
    -- fried fish
    -- being able to find XL size clothes that are really XL size
    -- playing the bass -- I've played a total of about 5 times in the last 11 months... unless you know me you will have no idea how weird that is...

. . .

Well, I'm sure there are other things for both these lists -- as I think of them I'll add them...

This article was first posted: 19 July 2002

Here are some of the things I think about:

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