Love is in Stiles

Hey everyone!
I know, it's been months. Sooo sorry! Life just really gets you sometimes, you know? I feel like I am always so busy. But I have finally caught up on some stuff now that the holidays are past and wanted to post a bit about what we have been doing the past three-ish months. So here we go!

Me and Scott amidst the protest crowds

In September the Yellow Umbrella Protests (or the Umbrella Movement) started here in Hong Kong. I am not going to go into super detail about why, but it is a civil disobedience movement with the goal of democracy in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of China (SAR for short), which means there are lots of different laws here, about; trade, finance, religious freedom, more freedom of press (supposedly), and more democracy (supposedly). Anyways, the government of China ruled recently against proposed reforms to the Hong Kong electoral system. They refused to give increased democracy in the 2017 elections, as they had previously promised. So a movement was started, spearheaded by a high school student named Joshua Wong. While many people here support the movement the ones participating actively are high school and University students. In September they moved into three areas of Hong Kong, setting up barricades and flooding the streets with people. Just walls of people for blocks, shutting down the roads in important parts of the city, like the financial and government headquarters.
That is the really basic version of what has been going on.

Part of the cityscape from that night.

On the first night of the protests the police had a standoff with the protesters, and were spraying them with tear gas. This is where the protest gets its name, the Umbrella Movement, because the people used their umbrellas to stand their ground and create a blockage from the gas. Outcry from that first night brought many more protesters, comparing the event to Tiananmen Square. If the police had left them alone that night media coverage would have been minimal and the protests would have dribbled away pretty quickly, in my humble opinion. But alas they did not.
On the second night Scott and our brother in law, David, went to the protests for a few hours. Scott was so impressed he came home that night and asked me to come with him. I was pretty apprehensive and told him that it sounded much too scary to me. He said that it was so non-scary that I should come, and should even bring the baby.
The baby?!?!
My baby?!?!
No way, Jose!

Finally, I agreed to come on the third night of the protests. I did get a babysitter though. Partly because I still didn't believe it would be that safe, and partly because we weren't going until eight at night, so the baby would be very grouchy.

All of those tiny dots are people taking over the streets, and on an upper walkway. This went on for blocks in all three areas.

This song from the musical and book 'Les Miserables' has been a theme in the protests

It. was. incredible.
The atmosphere was spiritual. We went to the protest in Central, the financial district of Hong Kong, and in that area alone there were more than 200,000 people that night. People were packed in for blocks. They were in the streets, on the overpass, setting up sleeping bags on the ground. Everyone was so kind. You could tell they were all there for the same reason. I hope it's not sacrilege to compare it to a type of Zion. I have only felt that same type of cooperation and peace when my family participated in the Hill Cummorah Pageant in New York. People have called the protesters in Hong Kong "the most polite protesters in the world", and I agree. People were helping others over the   cement street dividers, picking up trash, sorting recycling, giving away water, umbrellas, and cookies to other protesters, even staying off grassy areas where they were asked not to step.
In America this would never have happened. It would have been so different. First of all, a few idiots would have come to the protests and started doing graffiti, or breaking into buildings, or harassing the cops, and the peace and cooperation would have ended. Or the main center of the protests would be in control but with so many people there, pick pockets would be going crazy and people would be getting mugged and raped in the dark alleyways. Not to mention the paraphernalia and souvenirs that would be sold with the umbrellas on them everywhere. It was a once in a lifetime experience. That many people in one place, that feeling, that peace. I really can't say enough about how much I enjoyed being there.

A road overpass filled with people

P.S. Please forgive my pictures. I am not used to shooting at night, and brought the wrong lens.

A man climbed up on a bus stop to paint over graffiti.

A close up of the road barricades the protesters put up, held together by zip ties and plastered with signs apologizing for the any inconvenience they might be causing.