A Moveable Feast

A Moveable Feast is the name of a book by Ernest Hemingway.  His idea that life can be a moveable feast resonates with me. I wondered when I left Steinbach to move to Hong Kong whether life would be as rich somewhere else. I had lived in Steinbach for nearly four decades and much about it was unique and wonderful.

        I could visit the farmer’s market on a warm summer evening and buy the freshest produce. I could sit in the plush reclining seats at the back of the Keystone Cinema eating red licorice and holding my husband’s hand during a movie. I could walk through AD Penner Park and stop on the bridge across the pond to be entertained by a beaver. I could have a bowl of thick vegetable soup at Main Street Bread and Butter, a spicy omelet at The Green Tree or a supper of farmer’s sausage and verenki at MJ’s. Entering the church I’d attended since I was eight years old I could recall nostalgically the Sundays that marked my sons’ dedications as babies and their baptisms as adults. I could leave for my teaching job every weekday to work in a diverse learning community with interesting kids and friendly colleagues.

          Dave and I could walk out our front door at twilight and go over to the eighth tee box at the Fly In with a couple clubs and a golf ball to get in a few holes before darkness fell. We could bike together on the path around town. We could drop in on the Neufelds to sit in their hot tub, the Nikkels for a drink on their deck with its great view of the Manitoba prairie, warm our feet around the fire pit at the Giesbrechts or pop in on my parents for some of Dad’s garden grown tomatoes or Mom’s homemade buns.

      Life in Steinbach was pretty great. Friends, entertainment, great food, faith community, meaningful work- a veritable feast! Then we moved to Hong Kong.

          Here I can visit the local wet market to see my meat killed and cleaned for cooking right before my eyes. I can reserve seats at one of the city’s foreign film cinemas and view movies produced in countries around the world.  I can walk a wooded trail in a wilderness park and be entertained by wild monkeys.  I can visit the tiny Vietnamese diner on our street for rice paper rolls, pop into the Thai restaurant nearby for tom yum soup or go to the Indian place around the corner for naan. I can enter the Mountain of the Christ Wind temple on Sunday night and pray for my children in the company of people from around the world who share my faith. I head off every morning to a teaching job with interesting kids and friendly colleagues from twenty different countries who have many things to teach me.

              Dave and I walk out the door of our apartment building and we’re right on the ocean. We can enjoy the sea breeze and watch the old fashioned Chinese junks on the water. We can ride a ferryboat, a double decker bus, or a tram all around the city. We can head on over to the Lawrenz’s for a glass of wine, the Gohs to play with their two little girls, the Lemonds for a chat around the kitchen table or the Thompsons for some home cooked food.

          Life is Hong Kong is pretty great. Friends, entertainment, great food, faith community, meaningful work- a veritable feast! I wonder where we should move next?