Happy in Hong Kong

Year-end kindergarten show

our kids worked hard on the dance and drama for weeks before the ceremony, and it all paid off on the big day.  they did "Footloose" and as you can see everyone loved it!  See more pictures in the Kindergarten album.

video blog 1.0

living the fast-paced Asian life.  kindergarten, mass transit, tourist destinations, shopping, and heaps of info on how to come and thrive in Hong Kong. we're a family who is doing it and want others to benefit from our experience. God called us to this place, and we know his plan is majestic and worthy of following with all our hearts...enjoy all Hong Kong and Asia have to offer

  Quicktime video -- Download here 

  Windows Media Player DivX video -- Download vlog_intro7.avi 

Dancing & English in Hong Kong

if there are two things you can come and do for work in HK it's definitely these two.  just so happens that my wife is qualified and experienced in both.  I guess my special skill would be cooking -- that is, if you would consider using a blender as cooking.  it was "Healthy Week" for our kids, so I made fruit smoothies and chicken burritos with my students, and Sonia made salad.  these are all dishes that average HK families don't eat very often at all.  they cook their veggies, and that's about the only way they eat them, strangely enough!

Ok...so here's the stuff I don't like....

You all know how much we love Hong Kong.....now here's the other side of the coin.

1. Men that have stuffed toys hanging off their bags and cell phones......( WHY?????)

2. grown women wearing Hello Kitty and having ten sparkly clips stuck all over their heads and still going (visibly) gooey over the stuffed toys in the toy shop ( Again why????)

3. The humidity!!!

4. People insisting my baby boy is a girl...because his hair is getting longer......these same people are also the ones who are comfortable with men having handbags and having little toys hanging off their cell phones...should I be openly questioning if they are sure their boyfriend is a boy???

5. Men who spend longer on their appearance than I would spend on mine in a week.

6. People pushing to get past me into a lift, while I have a baby buggy and toddler and they can use the stairs.

7. oh and here's the cliche....the pollution......although I don't care too much about it except when you've gone three weeks without a blue sky. At the moment we're okay cause it's sunny and clear today.

8. Rule obsession.......no common sense in this place, rules are read out over the intercom on all public transport and other services. Although it's more funny than annoying. I was committing a crime worthy of punishment when recently I ate a choclate bar whilst waiting for my train to arrive. I thought I had gone unnoticed until I heard IN ENGLISH 3 TIMES the repeated warning of a fine for eating in the stations.
I ate it anyway. Some days a girl needs chocolate!

9. work ethic......work till you drop dead from exhaustion and if someone in authority tells you to do it you do it without questioning the sensibilities or necessity of said task. ( us kiwis don't do too well with that I'm afraid.)

10. The open racism I have seen from Chinese towards my helper and other helpers I am friends with. To the point of serious abuse in some cases. One friend is only allowed to sleep 3 hours a night and her employers constantly call her fat and lazy etc. grrrrrr. Oh and I hate nanny cams...many households here have them.

Okay, that's all been said just so no one gets any crazy ideas that life here is perfect and we haven't had to get used to lots of weird and difficult things.

HK kindergarten interview

time to take her two-year-old to a famous and established local kindergarten for an "interview".  and what did the Chinese teacher and English teacher do?  the Chinese teacher put all the toys on the table and ordered the little girl to play.  no interaction, no instruction.  just a stare.  then the young expat teacher came by.  she started to read a storybook loudly and word-for-word.  no imaginative illustration or kind interaction.  when is it that teachers reach out to little toddlers and actually help them to develop instead of just treating them like little adults?
this is a picture of what teaching kindergarten is like here in HK.  I know what this woman means after having taught in a local kindy for 9 months now.  i think we need to make our own kindergarten and go into business.

Beijing Olympics and pollution

just read in South China Morning Post of HK today that the Chinese government will ensure the horrid air quality of Beijing improves right before the 2008 Games begin.  only just, though.  for 17 days in August 2008 every factory and car within a 1600 km radius of the capital will be shut down to bring out the blue skies. 
wish we could do something similar to this every 6 months here in HK itself.  it was reported and photographed for the recent Standard Chartered HK Marathon that chief executive Donald Tsang could hardly see the runners as they passed by his podium during this race.  now that's a serious air quality problem, and everyone seems impotent to change it.

missing New Zealand and loving HK!

--picture of Lake Tarawera, N Island, NZ.

recently, we've encountered other aspects of Hong Kong that make us think back to the simple life in NZ.
...when I forget my keys or my wallet, it takes me going thru two security gates, waiting for the lift, standing in a crowded Asian-size lift, then doing the reverse.
...always second-guessing the way I think in this context, and the assumptions that are second nature in NZ don't exactly play out well here in Asia's World City.
...having to negotiate prices and contracts or else get ripped off
...seeing a beautiful sunny afternoon, but knowing that you can't just open the door and sit down in your lawn chair outside
...not having the freedom to go out driving when you get stir crazy with toddlers gnawing on your leg
...dealing with crowds no matter how much effort you exert to get the opposite

We love Asia and all its complexities.  Of this we are sure.  There are sacrifices, but the daily surprises, the bright and lively people, the local amenities, the modern way of life, and the endless opportunity to put your dreams to work are undeniably wonderful!

Who are you??

Who are you? I saw you today sitting on the side of the pavement begging for money from the thousands who rushed past you. I cried for you today cause I saw in your eyes that you knew exactly what people thought of you, or rather the fact that people didn't even think or even take a look at you. I watched someone step over your hat and I felt the pain of that. You only had $10 and I was the only person out of the hundreds to stop and talk to you and give you some money. When I touched your knee your leg was so thin. God I hope he doesn't go hungry tonight please don't let him go hungry anymore.
Burnt from some dreadful accident and left too ugly to work or be productive in this society, thrown out to be stepped over and left in isloation.
What makes him different to all you suits that walked past him today? You tourists who didn't even look twice what would your fate be if his story had happened to you?
Only God can save him and help him, but only God can save us and help us from being eaten alive on the inside with the greed that is destroying our love for those in need.

Who is worse off? The man with nothing? Or the man with everything but who can give nothing?

But for the grace of God that could be me.......

Flat Stanley in kindergarten

for all those kindred spirits....(family or those desperately looking for children activities)....my most recent kindergarten video is ready to view.  you can view it and read info about the activity on my video page

happy chinese new year!

Okay so I have to post the little things I'm learning because otherwise I'll forget them all!
Chinese New year:
they put little mandarin trees everywhere because the mandarin symbolises fortune and luck for the new year. They put blossom trees in certain auspicious places and walk around them three times to find a husband and have luck. They give little red pockets of money to the younger people in their family especially unmarried people, but this also is done at work and our boss will apperntly give us a wee pocket of money too. We'll let you know!
oh yes and I'm meant to wear all new clothes on News Years day, and RED underwear for luck.

I asked my Chinese supervisor, who is lovely and has great english, if she believes in this luck....
Her reply was that she wore red underwear last new years day and did not have a good year so she's not sure.

It's so much fun to be around this time of year everyone is buzzing around getting themselves ready for the new year. I'm still trying to understand the concept that the new year starts now and not in January. Oh and it's officially spring hooray!