where is heather??

print from california

2012-02-15T03:22:00.001-08:00

i promise to write later about how awesome the Vaccines concert was...but until then here is something i received in the mail today.

as part of my decorating challenge i had this print made with lyrics from the Vaccines song Family Friend.
On the left is a photo I took in Koh Samui, Thailand :)

Will link the esty shop I bought the print at later.

you want 'immigrants'?

2012-02-12T03:28:00.000-08:00

I've had a wicked migraine headache for most of the weekend. I was in tears on Saturday morning when it was at it's worst.

(Luckily it subsided long enough for me to see the fabulous Vaccines last night)

This morning it was back in an angry way. So, my friend took me to a pharmacy which would have more than paracetamol or Panadol - (those are alternative versions of acetaminophen).

We asked the pharmacist what he had for migraine headaches. He said a name back to us that we didn't know.
He responded with what sounded like "you want 'immigrants'?"
Sure, ok.

He gave me Sumatriptan Succinate. It cost 250 HKD or 32.28 CAD.

I thought whatever it is I hope it works because there were only six pills in the box. I googled it when I got home to discover it is the generic version of Imitrex.
So, what I thought was "You want 'immigrants'?" was actually "You want Imitrex?"
Last I heard to buy the name brand version was 30 CAD a pill. So the generic version is a real steal.

Thanks for that. And without a prescription to boot. Hong Kong rocks.

Mostly my headache is gone :)

i have two broken toes

2012-02-10T23:25:00.000-08:00

really. I am certain, in my non medical professional opinion, that i broke my toes. Both of the second smallest toes, one per foot.
Here is the proof:

Crazy enough, the best I can surmise is that I broke them in late November in a very long MacLehose trail hike of 18 kilometers or so. At the end of that hike, I arrived home to find a pool of blood in my running shoes from my rather grotesque, ripped apart toes.
(note to self and you the reader - running shoes are not an alternative to hiking shoes - particularly for serious hiking. Even if the shoes are new!; which they were)
So, I finished that hike with very sore feet, bruised toenails (red flag) and a need to buy proper hiking shoes.
The next anecdote: while I was in Koh Samui over Christmas holiday, I took a stroll in the water out about 200 meters from the shore to get a better view of where a crest of waves indicated the water depth changed. On my way back to shore, after an awe inspiring moment with nature, I was attacked by a big boulder that made a series of scratches on my shin that could easily be mistaken for the scratches of a ferocious wild cat. So I had to seek medical attention. There was blood streaming down my ankle.
But my shin repair was not the greatest trauma I would suffer. At the same time as the fresh wound was being bandaged, my toenail which had been hanging by a piece of skin fell off.
Having never lost a toenail before I was surprised at the intense mourning I immediately felt.
To me, nothing feels quite as inadequate as being 1 toenail short of a full set of 10.
The toenail-less toe happens to be the one that I think broke earlier in November.

gluttony

2012-02-04T19:45:00.001-08:00

yesterday i enjoyed 3 hours of 5 star food at the Island Shangri-La brunch @ Cafe Too.
Still recovering with a stretched stomach :)
Here is a few shots of the well displayed grub.

no SAD for me

2012-01-31T02:06:00.001-08:00

one reason i picked Hong Kong as a desired location to live and work (aside from being a big fan since my first visit as a teenager in 1994) is geography.
More specifically, the latitude puts the city in band of sub tropical climates which do not experience a typical winter.
Whether I was in Canada or Beijing, I found winter a real druggery. January was an insurmountable mountain to climb. Not true here in HK, I have not felt the Seasonal Affective Disorder (mild, though it was) I used to feel in other climates.
so. yipee for that :)

from vancouver cold to sun kissed faces

2012-01-28T18:04:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, I hiked with 3 workmates on Lantau Island. For those unfamilar with HK, it is a large island in the northeast of the region, where the airport is located. Besides the airport, the island also has a few communities, many hiking trails and the big buddha. Though we only went for a hike we ended up at Ngong Ping at the buddha location.
It was a great sunny (and sweaty) day for a hike. The temperature topped out at about 18 degrees celsius.
What a difference considering that Wednesday of this week I was forced to buy a space heater for my apartment.
Photos ~~to follow.~~

The world in which we live

2012-01-22T06:24:00.000-08:00

Early Saturday morning while catching up on blog reading, I was shocked to discover that I am not the only one recently separated from her husband. Heather B. Armstrong, blogger extraordinaire and one of the first blogs I ever read (perhaps even inspiration to write one myself) has put the news out that she and Jon are separated. The twitter universe is all abuzz with news of the separation of @dooce and @blurb.

I was really in a fog at hearing this news (I have followed her and her family since 2005) but even more in a fog while thinking how quickly the world changes and how communication is carried out and how many people just get right up on the internet and share their lives.

I have also been thinking about SOPA and PIPA alot.

I like these two "learning" resources. 1. 2.

But the reason that I started this post by talking about dooce is because I wanted to review a few books I have read lately and one just happens to be something that she wrote.

It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita

Heather can only write in hyperbole. Well, maybe it is beyond hyperbole. I can also write with such extreme exaggeration...though it really is her trademark. This book is no different. It is a brave and realistic telling of her first pregnancy and postpartum depression that she was hospitalized for. I liked it. But, of course, it is not a book for everyone. If you want to know whether or not you dig her writing style I suggest you become a reader of her blog. Give it a go that way and then you will have a good idea.

The White Tiger

I haven't finished The White Tiger yet. I am almost at the half way mark. It is a story told in a series of letters from an Indian driver who is hiding from the authorities in Bangalore to Chinese Premier Wen Jia bao (perhaps my most favourite of all Chinese Senior officials). I will try and comment more on the middle and end of this book once finished, but so far I am pretty into it. It has an element of Slumdog Millionaire in it and I feel like it lends the essence of life in India well. (I'm not so sure that I will ever travel there to experience it in person)

All Families are Psychotic

This Coupland novel is the first of his that I have read in a while. There is a good used bookstore in an area of Hong Kong called Sai Kung, where I picked it up.
I was on a real Coupland kick when I came back from Canada in 2008 but hadn't made much effort to seek out his other stuff since (Or was it that I had read through all his newer titles??)
Anyway the narrative is great and as the title implies it follows a rather challenged, afflicted and strange family. Told from a few different characters perspectives, it deals with everything from thalidomide birth defects, false HIV diagnoses, gangsters, NASA launches and depression...to name a few. I read most of it in Thailand and had trouble putting it down despite being in paradise. The setting is divded between North Vancouver, Canada and various locations in Florida (including Disneyworld :)

everything in its place

2012-01-18T04:39:00.000-08:00

thanks to thoughtful blog comments and a night out of window shopping, I feel like I have an idea of where I will begin my quest to decorate my apartment (at least, partially)

so the big pieces that I will budget in over the next two months are a remade asian inspired tv hiding cabinet/ storage space (but not in red/ black...I have my eye on something in blue or maybe teal)

and a storage cabinet (but I couldn't find the photo of the one I wanted...basically it kind of, sort of looks like this)

For my very, very white walls I am scoping out a mirror, which I hope will add some 'space' to my dining room/ living room.

In terms of art, I am slowly sorting out some unique DIY pieces. I bought some super fun patterned letters that I plan to spell a message and frame but I will let you see that when I finish. I also picked up some woodland inspired animal decals (back in October...) that I thought I would do something with and I still plan to but not quite sure what yet so I will practice some patience and see where I go from here.

just a few more notes since the ideas seem to need to be written down or I may forget them.

I would like to see

a plant big enough to sit on the floor in my living room or at very least in my bay window
some sort of shoe receptacle, thinking wicker baskets from IKEA
getting rid of/ changing my POANG chair
fabric headboard?
bedroom art, my old enlarged photography framed, perhaps?
need to consider hanging frames/mirrors/heavy things on my walls...not sure if that will be an issue

Happy to feel like I am headed in some direction with all of this decorating. Hoping to scour craigslist/ http://hongkong.asiaxpat.com/ for used furniture that I can get for cheap cheap over the Chinese New Year holiday

whose got tickets?

2012-01-15T00:21:00.000-08:00

I got tickets to see the Vaccines in HK on Saturday, February 11th.

so i guess i will start with...

2012-01-15T00:15:00.000-08:00

last night i was reminded of the importance of home as a comfortable and inviting place.
but i am still living in a shell of an apartment with minimal furniture, white walls, and the decorating charisma of a dormitory.

Though I have had curtains made for my bedroom and the living room.

so I want to do something about that...

two problems present themselves
first, I am trying to not spend money. So to furnish it costs money and buying things would make this difficult to uphold. Frustratingly, I suppose that in reality it means that I have to try and find bargains and deals. I am not so great at shopping in this way. I do not epitomize thrift and frugal living.

second, I have no concrete plan. I have a million ideas see my pinterest.com board here and such a tiny, teeny little space that I will have to be 'creative'.

I must have a case of the January-ies cause these two minor problem (barely hitches) stop me before I even get started...

Maybe over the Chinese New Year holiday I can make some headway.

more on what i want to see happen in 2012

2012-01-13T04:52:00.001-08:00

i have been emailing back and forth with a fantastic highschool friend about plans for the coming year.
so now here i can write a wish list of experiences and events for the coming year：
1. surf camp in morocco in october
2. an april visit with my dad, cindy and erin
3. a meetup with darling Diana
4. canada summer: the condensed version - late july in the okanagan & early august in van city
5. another Thailand trip
6. more HK swimming
7. more HK hiking
8. running, and maybe in the fall i could commit to running a race (but nothing crazy...maybe a 10 km)
9. more MTR daytrips to the far reaches of HK
10. more walking tours of anywhere in this city. to avoid being lost mongkok nights like tonight.
but that is a topic for another post!

mtr enabled

2012-01-09T02:02:00.001-08:00

wowee with my phone i can post from the HK MTR

(that is the subway for you out of towners)

procrastination breeds blog posts

2012-01-07T02:46:00.000-08:00

I'm very nearly finished writing report cards...at about 65% complete.
after a little nap, this afternoon I felt the initial feelings of a cold...sore throat/heavy chest

which unfortunately breaks my "haven't been sick all winter" streak.

Since I am being a bit of a whiner about reports and a scratchy throat...what better time than now to get my beginning of year plan posted.

which means that I will not be doing a year in review post first, if at all. Would rather be forward looking :)

2012 is going to be my year of NOT spending money.

I will also pay off my student loans...in full. Only $14,284.64 left to go and well, thanks to some careful pencil scratched out budgets and lots and lots of subtraction...then I will be student loan debt free!

I have no other resolutions...more of the same that I have been doing -- take care of myself: physically, mentally, emotionally and of course financially!

but I did like this picture, too!

the end's not near, It's here. goodbye 2011.

2011-12-30T19:58:00.000-08:00

probably against the official blog rules of blogging...but can I post my year in review in the New Year??

a healthy vacation of firsts

2011-12-28T16:25:00.000-08:00

On my inaugural (not quite the right describing word...but) trip to Thailand [that I had thought about planning then thought about another country instead] I was in need of some TLC.

That didn't stop me, however, from being super brave and trying a whole host of new foods and activities.

My Koh Samui Kristmas is difficult to describe. But I can attempt some description.

After a long night in Bangkok...

where I didn't actually go into the city but rather waited out seven long hours wasting time in the airport,

I took a short domestic flight to Koh Samui. I immediately felt that the island was moving at the pace I needed. Beautiful morning sun, palms, tropical flowers and flight companions drunk from the night before began my stay.
I was a little strung out from little sleep in Bangkok.
I arrived to the sanctuary, the paradise which would be my home for a week. As I had arrived before check out time, upon check in I was given an empty villa which I could stay in until my room was ready.
Here are some pictures. This is not the room I stayed in (just the empty villa I was loaned) but maybe it will be next time (wink, wink)

Stay I did! I had a drool worthy nap without air conditioning so woke up confused and hot. But even that was a lovely feeling.
Next I toured the property and took over the hammock at the beach for a while.

As for all the firsts which I had in Bangkok and Koh Samui, here is my list:

ate ostrich. (which looked like it was cut directly from some poor ostriches neck...needless to say I ate it mostly eyes closed. I prefer my animals to look like cuts of meat not discernible body parts)
snorkeled
got acupuncture.
stayed in, not one but two, airport lounges
did pilates (an official class (not a DVD I bought from amazon.ca) with a wicked funny instructor
enjoyed endless tropical rain and drizzle
ran on the rural back roads of Koh Samui
had an Indian Head massage
went on a 30 metre long Turkish wooden boat
had my Bio impedance Analysis run.

I have many more stories but I also need to fill my Christmas holiday with some marking (sigh!) -- a teacher's job is a conveyor belt of jobs to be done.

Merry THAI Christmas :)

2011-12-24T21:14:00.000-08:00

Lazy afternoon in Koh Samui. Beautiful Christmas so far and a big dinner buffet scheduled tonight.

I'll write the rest of the story later.

taipei: touch your heart

2011-12-18T07:46:00.000-08:00

my quick weekend away in Taipei happened at the end of November.

Let me share a few photos from my second journey to the little isle of Taiwan - perhaps the perfect place to have a getaway from bustling, cramped Hong Kong.

After the 1.5 hour plane ride, where I chatted with my German seat mate (a fellow Beijing expat), I arrived to my hotel to discover a bed that can be best described as sleeping on clouds. The Best Sleep of the Year award goes to the two nights and one nap I spent on that King size bed that you see below....

After some lap pool swimming in the hotel on Saturday morning, I took to the streets to see what was what and do a little shopping. After hitting an ATM, I chuckled when the first thing I saw a Hong Kong restaurant :)

Not a great shot of Taipei 101, but I wasn't super focused on picture taking. Note the relatively quiet streets on a Saturday afternoon.

Some street art/ advertisements where I was contributing to the Taipei economy.

I eavesdropped on this guy and his girlfriend at the intersection to test how well I can still understand Mandarin. I also thought that it was funny he had his jacket on backwards...it was a balmy 19 degrees Celsius.

Cute animated walking man and timer to help you cross the road.

Thumbs up for the Justice Department. So cute!

Here is how I got my blog post title -

On the return flight home (that means to HK) I got to wait at the Hello Kitty boarding gate...which blew my mind.

practicing patience

2011-12-13T03:05:00.000-08:00

can't seem to find any time for a new post.

There are topics galore on my list.

my recent trip to Taipei
plans for the Christmas break
a new solo life ;)
how wonderful my HK life is
my two favorite internet babies (thanks to their mommy bloggers)

Hoping to do a Sunday post, after I've packed my bags for Koh Samui :)

more than a month absence

2011-12-02T19:05:00.001-08:00

why I haven't blogged since the end of October:

i used to think changes are slow. China changed that for me.

changes are fast.

in more than a month the changes in my life have completely altered my future. So much so that I have stayed away from blogging about them because I wasn't ready.

I have separated from my husband.

The relationship is over. He chose to communicate with me using violence. It is an easy decision to remove yourself from a relationship that involves physical abuse.

I am blessed to be surrounded by a great support network both locally and from around the world.

Everyday I am asked "Are you ok?"...and I think that I really am.

Time will help, i know.

The future that lies ahead seems to have unlimited potential. I just can't wait for whatever adventures present themselves next.

I haven't had time to miss my former best friend/husband and he was cut out of my life so suddenly that I don't think I have been able to take stock of that yet. But I will deal with it as it arrives. It doesn't scare me.

and on a lighter note.

2011-10-27T03:20:00.000-07:00

some things that I found around the internets..

is this me? well sometimes. Are you always wanting what you don't have? I think that I am generally happy with current circumstances, but I did identify with this TPFD cartoon

I was so excited to see these washable apple labels. No longer would I be pressed to choose between the hand soap and dish soap in our staff room.

Do you read the blog of Nat The Fat Rat? You should as her fabulous New York baby is about to celebrate a milestone.

I sent out for a care package

2011-10-25T05:07:00.000-07:00

Cute, eh?

Would have thought about making this but we just ran out of Q-tips :)

photo graciously borrowed from this sweet website.

from nothing to triple booked

2011-10-23T04:01:00.000-07:00

I've decided that I want to enjoy all of my non-teaching time in Hong Kong.
Not that it was so much a decision that had to be made rather it is me being pro active to make sure that I don't let the internet or laziness steal away a chance to get out and enjoy the awesomeness of the area.

Thanks to the kayak/ beach clean-up that I did one week ago, I learned of meetup.com. I am now in 5 different groups including a non-fiction reading club that is currently reading this
book-->

for discussion on November 2nd.

mid semester break

2011-10-19T03:54:00.000-07:00

i am down right in love with mid semester break. I think that this love affair is most punctuated with common place things like sleeping in, coffee after 5, and book reading but I know the icing on the metaphorical cake which is my holiday mostly comes from the day trips.
Sunday was an awesome beach clean up with kayaks to get to the messy beach. Some photos here.
Yesterday was another notch in our Lamma visit counter. Plus we packed an awesome picnic of thai green curry, seedy bread and mixed olives.

A few random shots from the break

strange stylized bathroom women

what happens when my name is turned to chinglish

on the boat to Lamma, moments later that little boy over my left shoulder got seriously seasick all over the deck.

oh and we saw John Lennon on Lamma.

a room at the top of the world

2011-10-16T19:39:00.000-07:00

last Saturday, J and I took the bus from Central up the rather narrow and windy route to HK's Victoria Peak.
But it wasn't the Peak as an attraction that we were headed for. One of my favourite HK websites: Discover Hong Kong (especially the Great Outdoors HK section) had info about the many walks/hikes in the area.

So we chose the Peak circle walk.

here is a peek at the other opportunities on the peak. (click to enlarge)

Beautiful walk with beautiful views.

Here are some of my best photos...

new sofabed

2011-10-10T07:15:00.000-07:00

Here she is! Our new couch/ sofa bed :)

A new post soon to catch you up on a recent stroll we took around the peak circle walk and other recent happenings

Action Tracker by We Are What We Do

2011-10-04T21:27:00.000-07:00

Action Tracker by We Are What We Do:

I like this!

'via Blog this'

our couch/ sofa bed arrives FRIDAY!

2011-10-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

I reported months ago of our intention to buy a Karlstad couch from IKEA.

We changed our minds however and choose the Manstad.

Here is a lovely youtube video introduction.

2011-10-01T19:19:00.000-07:00

At the end of month and beginning of a new month, things have gone a little off kilter.
The entire city had a day off, unexpectedly on Thursday, for tropical cyclone Nesat to head from the Philippines to Vietnam and hold us hostage as it made it's way through the South China Sea.
On the bright side, I was able to have a chat with my Dad.

J and I have been out of commission this weekend. A stomach bug, I guess. Which has meant lots of sleep to recover.

Yesterday we missed all the fun? of China National Day. Were there fireworks??

2011-09-24T19:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we spent some time, northwest of our home, in a further out "new town" in the New Territories.
Jules had gone to see the Made in Britain exhibit at the HK Heritage museum a few days earlier, so he took me along to discover what he found. We also found some of the permanent exhibitions interesting!, particularly the one on Cantonese opera and New Territories history.

However by far the best part of a HK museum is the price. HK 10 dollars per person = $1.32 CAD...so even if you have no interest or hate the exhibits it all cost you less than a cup of coffee.

A little more on spending money...thanks to the internet and a great site called Kickstarter I was able to give my friend Catherine's husband a donation to help with an album that he is in the process of making.

It is very Kiva but a gift, not a loan(which I still have not given myself enough time to properly go through) except that it is people nearby. So think global (use Kiva), pay local* (use Kickstarter)

*except, of course, it is no way local for me to help a Brooklyn project while here in Hong Kong. But that is the glory and ease of the internet, nonetheless.

Photos from here and here.

I'm ready to take this new philosophy back to school with me on Monday

2011-09-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

Just discovered this video, on Chris Wejr's blog...

I think that I need a philosophy change. Not sure why I ever believed in the "kids don't wanna" philosophy. Not sure where that came from.

learning activities

2011-09-16T18:33:00.000-07:00

Back in April, I wrote about areas of my profession where I felt my personal practice needed improvement . I reflected on the mistakes I was making or saw myself making and really hoped that in this new school year I would be able to address some of these.

So here is what I have done so far...
I have put an emphasize on getting to know my students ahead of curriculum and lesson plans. This is almost a necessity as in a new school everyone is new.
Blank slate. There are 59 individuals who I get the opportunity to educate this year, but before I am able to do that properly I better find out who they are, what they like and how best we can work together.

This past week, in my Humanities lessons, we did a balloon activity to practice working from a map projection (an atlas) to a globe (the balloon) back to a map projection (the deflated and cut out balloon pieces). It was great to see 100% participation. It was also interesting to discover that about 20% of my students had never had the opportunity to blow up a balloon and did not have the lung capacity to do it on their own.

"it's good for you"

2011-09-14T04:18:00.000-07:00

loose ends and folders in folders

2011-09-12T18:20:00.000-07:00

we have a day off for Mid Autumn festival. A mid week break from the flurry of excitement which is my first month at a new school.

Hong Kong, unlike Beijing, celebrates this moon cake eating, lantern holding celebration of the full moon. Last night we took a walk around our neighbourhood to discover that everyone else in our neighbourhood was out on the streets. Like a block party. It was awesome to see so many families out and about late into the evening.

Our plans today are to get things done. For me that means working on some long term planning for work. But we also plan to jet off and finally get me a cell phone contract for international calling and texting. I have been making due with a loathsome pay as you go card. I thought that I could plug the communication gap with email and occasional skype (i am so bad at being consistent with skype) conversations. But in particular for my Dad and oldest sister these methods have meant weeks of being incommunicado.

I hope to blog very soon about this wonderful list of design blogs from over on Maggies's website Mighty Girl. I'll save that for the weekend. (and hopefully remember to come back and write about it :)

humidity is not one's best friend

2011-09-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

I thought by summers end I would have acclimatized to moving to a sub-tropical climate. Ok, actually I think I originally gave myself six months to be more "comfortable" in such a different climate.

but I think that before I go off and google how to adjust or take the time to plot out on a calendar my steps to acclimation, i think rather I will tackle this in a whole new way.

i'm going to try acceptance...because so far that seems to be the least stressful approach. As it has been my body has shown a few signs of unhappiness adjusting but taking those in stride really seems like the only common sense solution.

So now, when I sweat, I sweat. I have been trying to drink enough water to make up for this.

Let me clarify, I am not talking about mild Canadian summer sweat or a brisk walk up a hill sweat. Or anything that a stick of antiperspirant can take care of. I mean hard core, bootcamp jungle sweat. A thin film on all body surfaces. A beaded upper lip moustache of sweat. Head to toe. Swollen feet and hands to match the amount of humidity and heat that the body is trying to deal with.

That's what I experience just by going about my daily life

things don't always go right

2011-09-01T05:49:00.001-07:00

tomorrow is Friday of our first full week of teaching and my workmates as well as my students all look worse for wear. It is a challenge to come back to work (or school) after the summer break.

My teaching load is reasonable. I am also a House Tutor and adjusting to a new curriculum hasn't been impossible.

I read this blog post here then decided it was 100% appropriate that I share my Tuesday sophomore-ic tale of a new teacher at the school tries to teach simple Humanities lesson and simply fails at each possible turn.

(On the bright side, I have had two dazzling days since so all is right in the world).

So here it is (I will try to keep the drama queen in me quiet and the exaggeration to a minimum)

I was late leaving the 20 minute afternoon reading period with my tutor group. I can't remember the reason but my tutor group is Grade six level so I imagine it was a issue with a lost locker key or help reading their schedule. Our school has NO bell system, so it wasn't so much an issue that I was late. We are less Pavlovian without the bells and I like this :)
Then I had to get up to the 4th floor and the slowest way to do this is to take the teacher elevator but that was what I did because I was already a bit rattled to be late as it was only the second time that I would be teaching the group that I was on my way to see.

I arrived to see my class still lined up outside! in the 34 degree celsius weather (our hallways are "outside" since it is a sub-tropical climate) so that was a plus for them in terms of following school rules. I hurry everyone into the cool temperatures of the air conditioned classroom and at this point we have lost 5 minutes of class time. I must stress that most of what went wrong after this was due to some false assumptions that I had made. For example I had taught in that same room earlier that day so I felt I had a real "lay of the land". The problem with this was in my earlier class I had not tried to connect my laptop to the projector...which was the start of a very long list of things going wrong.

I incorrectly tried 3 times to project using the wrong cable.
I could not find the remote control for the projector but tried my best for seven minutes to not let the 23 Grade 7s in my class know this. I got them busy doing some things but after seven minutes I had pushed my bluff too far and ran from the room to a neighbouring classroom to borrow theirs. Bless the teacher who I borrowed from who was willing to share as she didn't plan to use her projector.
Then once I could project, I lost my internet connection and at this point we were pushing 17 minutes of wasted time. I think that tears may have momentarily welled in my eyes but I acted quickly and grabbed the wired internet cable and connected it.
Cut ahead to where we were going to write some information down on the paper...which was still sitting on my desk in the staffroom rather than being with the things I had brought. In the end I had the students unfold the name tags that they had made the day before and write on them.
Thoroughly rattled and wanting the rather frustrating experience to end, I rose my voice to speak over the air conditioner that steadily and loudly kept us cool since I could not adjust it to a quieter volume.
Finally when I thought I could wrap it up and go sit quietly in a corner, I misread the schedule and dismissed the students 10 minutes early from their already shortened lesson --remember there are no bells :(

so that was my panic--breathe deep--FAIL lesson...but I laughed when I got back to the staff room later and was pretty happy that I had not been too physically flustered in front of my students even if I was crying on the inside.

as my summer comes to an end

2011-08-17T02:13:00.000-07:00

so I began my MYP (Middle Years Program) training today as my school is an IB (International Baccalaureate) school. The training will last for 2 and half days to round out the week. Monday I met all the new teachers = 20 in total! and Tuesday we all headed to the x-ray clinic for a chest x-ray.
It has been a GREAT first week at work and next week I will meet the remainder of my colleagues.

We are adjusting to our new apartment. The landlord installed a new air conditioner in the living room - so it now feels like Siberia rather than the jungles of Vietnam.

All is tickety boo.

I have seen this before as a list but here it is a stop motion. To Lucy and my Dad - pay attention to #8. Is it the best advice?

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.

and now for #4 let me step away from my computer.

sights and sounds of a small temple on Peng Chau

2011-08-13T20:28:00.000-07:00

one more video from my birthday island adventure.

i heard some music so headed off in the direction that I thought it was coming from.

This is what we found...

peng chau birthday adventure

2011-08-12T05:38:00.000-07:00

another birthday has come and gone...yeah for one year wiser :)

my birthday began with breakfast in bed, a coffee run for americanos and an amazing Hagen Dazs strawberry ice cream cake and some beautiful flowers :)

we took a ferry to the small island of peng chau to do some light hiking as our legs were still recovering from the section of the MacLehose Trail we had done three days prior.

I captured our mini hike and time on Peng Chau with some short videos. Hope that you enjoy them. I will also post photos to Flickr :)

leaving hong kong island, near sheung wan and kennedy town

near the trail start

the jungle part of the trail, so many mosquitos

we made it!

As it always seem, the more day trips that we make around here the more that we want to live in all of the quaint, quiet rural areas we explore. Peng Chau was no exception!

summer to the extreme

2011-08-03T21:42:00.000-07:00

will be back with a real update oh so soon.

as mentioned in my last post, we are here and there and setting up the internet and assembling our bed frame and getting sunburns at the beach so our plate is quite full, shall do another picture update soon.

As for days of fun there have been many which have passed that I didn't write about...to be honest I wasn't really planning to do a post for each.

I mean it is summer vacation after all :)

everybody has got to learn sometime

2011-07-27T07:26:00.000-07:00

oh tragic tragedies!

I wanted to come and write a quick post while I am all busy with exciting things, like my one year wedding anniversary, and mundane (but exciting) things like buying furniture and setting up utility accounts.

So that was what I came on my blog to do...

But I thought that I better be honest and tell you that I am currently madly addicted to the television show MasterChef Australia Season 2. I was a huge Marion Fan until she left the contest. We are two weeks away from the Season Finale. Since I wanted to link the previous sentence to it's wikipedia page, I went to open it.

That was when it happened....my eyes scrolled cautiously down the page...I was wanting a SPOILER ALERT...but alas...I ruined it. I know the winner.

boo hoo. but I suppose I better still watch the rest to see all the cooking drama.

Stanley: promenades, stray cat colony and beaches not located

2011-07-18T22:31:00.000-07:00

I've driven by this apartment building in 2009 and now again in 2011 it is not the only place that I have seen my maiden name around town, but it was an easy-ish place to snag a photo.

Jules said "Stanley reminds me of White Rock"

An overcast day at the beach

So we bought a soft serve ice cream...busy vendor even with the dreary weather!

Yeah for ice cream!

little boats bobbing...except if you look at the one on the far left, that little boat is sinking.

Apartment and restaurants in Stanley village, photo taken from the Maritime Museum

Then this little black cat popped out of nowhere to eat some food left behind on the promenade. We watched this little kitten for quite a while thinking how strange it was to see a cat here.

This is where we sat.

Until we went to leave and discovered that we had been sitting 10 meters from a cat colony. There appeared to be two different families -- the black cats and the brown cats. A few were cute, many were scrawny and a few were quite fierce (and sort of scared me) (More than 5 cats in a given location usually makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.)

The Cat rocks

Brown cat with prime ocean view

Jules and the white wall

So green!

almost crushed this guy!

Off to find Stanley Beach....we went the wrong way and then it got dark :(

Auto-timed shot.

All in all, we had an awesome day trip to Stanley. It was full of dreary drippy rain, fish and chips, cats galore, random wandering, feet in water that was too cold and long lines to get a mini bus home at the end of the day :)

The Sampans of Aberdeen

2011-07-17T07:13:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday we embarked on a journey to the south side of Hong Kong Island to the seaside area of Aberdeen. Neither of us had been before but we have seen it from the ferry travelling home from Lamma Island.

Besides we got to take the Aberdeen tunnel which cuts through a mountain just off of downtown...which is pretty awesome :)

Here is a map (for your reference)

View Larger Map

Aberdeen was truly an escape from the city what with it's feral cats (but wait until I tell you about our Sunday trip to Stanley) and old Grammas shouting at us from their Sampans hoping that we would catch a ride on their tour.
Like most of last week, we were under constant threat from big black rain clouds so spent most of our Aberdeen time in shopping malls, bookstores and drinking coffee to avoid getting rained on.

++We have finally bought a spare umbrella that we can easily take with us, so hopefully this won't be a problem much longer++

Here are some shots of our Aberdeen day.

the waters between Aberdeen and Ap Lei Chau

See that little boat in the foreground...with a red flag in the middle...that is a sampan

Fishing vessels sitting around

baby palm on a palm tree

Fat Happy Red Bean popsicle mascot

Coffee and smiles

The blurry bus ride home...we had some less blurry shots but we look like mega dorks in those pictures. This picture is the best that we could do :)

sunday FUN day - the movie marathon i wanted to watch is on STAR MOVIES but we only have Star World :(

2011-07-16T21:01:00.000-07:00

picture posting catch up

Day 2 - 5

cooking grilled cheese sandwiches

off to grocery store at 8 pm

_________________________________________
Day 4

Our new neighbourhood

We will live in the second tower from the right

A roundabout near our new neighbourhood

off to Kowloon area to visit HK Polytechnic University

Palms from the bus and ominous black clouds

My flip flops match the bus seats...an hour before we got caught in the torrential downpour

______________________________

Day 5

cloudy Wan Chai

walking back from applying for our HK ID's

HK fire truck

toasted black and white sesame to be ground and applied to the pork cutlet

delicious pork cutlet at awesome Japanese restaurant

Pork Cutlet and shrimp combo

“The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain.”

2011-07-16T05:36:00.000-07:00

The FUN! continues.
Though to be honest, we were side tracked at the beginning of the week when we found out the first apartment that we had signed a provisional contract for could no longer be ours :(

Two days later and we were back on track with a very similar apartment in the same development. So no sweat, except that it was a bit of sweat. Relocating your life can be stressful.
Now we are back to vacation mode. Here are our last six days which i will update with some photos, probably tomorrow

day 2 - coffeehouse and all you can eat sushi/ Thai food for dinner

day 3 - saw movie at the theater, sorry I refuse to reveal the name, but it was really popular and patriotic, but also cinematically lame. (spell check says cinematically is not a word, i disagree)

day 4 - signed new provisional agreement for different apartment, floor 32, still with ocean view. We pick up the keys on July 21st.

day 5 - ID cards in Wan Chai

day 6 - Aberdeen

day 7 - Stanley

quote found here.

Many, many days of FUN!

2011-07-11T20:47:00.000-07:00

administrative note - until you have a Hong Kong ID card, establishing your life in HK is less easy. Luckily we have an appointment on Thursday to apply for our cards. After that the status of our bank accounts change, our real estate agent will be happy and we can get permanent cell phone packages rather than the prepaid kind that you buy at 7-11. (so if you are waiting for me to send you my new phone number, i will...after 10 business days.)

now onto what this blog post is really about.
Mighty Girl is currently doing a 30 days of fun project....I have more than 30 days...maybe 36 so I am aiming for 30+ days of fun.

Here is Day 1

In February I read an article in HK Magazine about travel trips to the "end" of subway lines.
The day before yesterday we wanted to give it a try...but i hadn't located the HK magazine article at that point. So instead we picked a line - The Island line and a direction - west and discovered that we would be headed for Sheung Wan and then in google I typed "sheung wan walking tour" and thanks to National Geographic what follows is what they offered and what we did.

we photo captured the map for the walk and I wrote down the nine stops shown...they are listed at the Nat'l Geo link above.

i love the design of the subway interior here--sheung wan is in shades of brown

First stop a building from 1906, the Western Market--sells mainly fabric. More interest though is it is right beside the HK Jockey Club betting place which was really busy as it was the last raceday before September.

We toured the Ginseng and Herbal medicine area --80% of the shops are closed on Sunday. We toured on Sunday :(

Now this will sound weird but this area really feels like 'Chinatown'-- I think that it is a five senses thing--all the smells, sights, sounds etc.

jules is a giant ginseng.

We met this turtle at Hollywood park. This happens to be the same piece of land that the Brits planted their flag on in 1841 to declare it for Britain.

Beautiful big tree at Hollywood Park.

Then something bad happened. We got tired maybe it was the 33 degree Celsius weather or the 80 % humidity but after the park we had to drag ourselves to finish the tour. We missed the Museum (see link) and we barely glanced at the Man Mo temple. Lame, I know but you have to understand we were sweating buckets AND it was mid day :(

exhausted jules!

Awesome black and white building :)

Here is the temple...

Near the end of the walk we also skipped most of the Antiquing street cause we live in 300 square feet and don't have much space for other furniture right now.

Our day 2 of FUN is to go and visit HK Polytechnic University and Day 2.5 will be a ride out to the end of West Rail Line to the Tuen Mun station.

in the land of caffeine

2011-07-09T17:57:00.000-07:00

ok, my no drinking coffee goal ended.
rather I should say that I am not caffeine free. Since arriving in HK, I have drank a plethora of caffeine containing drinks - vietnamese coffee, pacific coffee company iced americanos, Starbucks hot americanos, milk tea**, lemon tea and actually many more..

but the goal was broken before I even left Beijing. I suspect that the biggest weak link in my plan to quit caffeine was that I thought moving was no big deal. (mostly it was)

Lifestyle changes however should probably happen when life is settled and stable rather than when you are about to start living in a new 'country' (and by country I mean - new Special Administrative Region)

I can always try again....but maybe next time I won't pick a time when there is so much change happening around me

**my defences for milk tea are just as weak as the girl in this story

photo credit

week 1: smooth sailing :)

2011-07-08T23:46:00.000-07:00

Does four years in the Mainland cause you to forget how easy everyday life can be? Or have I simply hitched my wagon on a lucky star...I'm not sure.

Since we arrived 5 days ago life has been vacation like. But we have also accomplished so much.

Bank accounts - check

Apartment found and provisional lease signed - check

This coming week - will be some hiking, getting our HK ID's and checking out the University that Jules will attend.

Well, if the weather holds out. Thunderstorms are forecast all week (Our first 5 days have been HOT!)

So here is our couch...at least the one we picked at IKEA last night....It is a Karlstad. (and a guest bed :) as it is also a fold out bed.

we've arrived!

2011-07-05T18:04:00.001-07:00

lots to do...will be back with an update soon

let's find out if that grass is greener

2011-06-30T17:44:00.000-07:00

school is finished. my contract with my previous school is complete. our apartment is packed up. let's go...go...go...

we are close to departure...our flight is Tuesday morning. The last of our to do's are getting done. Today we are off to the Bank of China to pick up Hong Kong Dollars and drain my account.
Saturday and Sunday are the last days we will be at our apartment for final packing and clean up.

Our last day and a half will be spent out near the airport with Jules' sister and family.

so what does all of this mean for this blog. I guess I might not have a chance to update until this time next week.

I also need to change the banner picture and title at the top of the blog.

Once my countdown clock is counted down down...I will remove it.

However, it is also SUMMER VACATION beginning today...so I would really like to enjoy some downtime :)

(so how did my JUNE goals work out? -
Meditation = 27 days @ 15 minutes/ day ! and my no more coffee goal is in phase 3. It is day 2 of no coffee. I am ok...I think the headache I have is from humidity (currently experiencing thundershowers!) not caffeine withdrawal.)

June update #2

2011-06-24T19:18:00.001-07:00

June Goals

meditation (once daily for 15 minutes) I have missed two days, but hope to extend this practice beyond the end of June (and maybe increase the amount of time I sit)
It should be noted that I just gave my meditation cushion away..so there is that too. On Thursday night, we unloaded lots of furniture and things that we will not take to HK onto other teaching staff who will stay for the 2011-2012 school year.

no more coffee - I am currently in phase 2 of 3. Phase 2 is where I am allowed one cup of caffeine in the morning (that's it) but green tea is ok during the day. Phase 3 begins June 30...when I am no longer allowed caffeine (except trace amounts from green tea) but can drink loads of ginger and peppermint tea.
I am hoping that Phase 3 lasts the first two weeks of July...we will see what happens. I am not sure what will follow phase 3.
Overall, phase 2 is not painful. I do notice some withdrawal feeling of 'stepping down' from 4(ish) cups of coffee a day to 1 cup. I am a little sluggish and sleepy. I take care of those feelings with a nap. (Luckily since we are near the end of the school year, a few after school naps fit perfectly in my schedule)

i am my father's daughter.

2011-06-19T05:27:00.000-07:00

There he is. The man on the left hand side of this photo is my father.

Although an entire ocean separate us, I don't feel so far away. Thanks to email and text messages, despite a time zone difference, we are only moments away from each other.

Besides in some ways, I could be mistaken for him.

we are both tall and lanky
habitual coffee drinkers and candy eaters
strong readers
not talkers but thinkers. (my dad could best be described as "the strong silent type")
enjoyers of music

So, HAPPY Father's day, Dad.

I would have just popped a card in the mail...but neither of us trust China Post, so I thought that this was a better option.

it's on the fly

2011-06-17T16:14:00.000-07:00

sometimes as teacher, I think of my job as actor, as entertainer and hook..line...and got your attention...great!
and this is true..to read to students, to introduce a new idea or concept you need some passion and a persona that might be a little larger than your day to day personality. (However some teachers are truly 'on' all the time)

but then I read this blog post by Mr. Chase and realized that my analogy was a little off. Actors (generally speaking) act to a static audience. An audience that does not take part in the show nor interact.

Rather I should think of myself as lead member of an IMPROV troupe that is my class and together we collaborate to produce something as a team.

For further evidence, look at a few basic rules in IMPROV...

Show, don’t tell.
Never negate.
Yes, and… not No, but…
Always support your scene partner.
Approach every interaction from the mindset, “My idea is good, and your idea is better.”
You can pull anything out of your pocket at any moment.
Agree.

(The rest of the list {written by Mr. Chase} can be found by following the above link)

21st century learners do not need me to be some orator, lecturer or spotlight hogger. They need me to engage them, empower them and include them.

My teaching goal for the 2011-2012 school year is to have this analogy in full force in my new classroom.

(and second (and slightly contradictory) goal is to improve how I model things-- whether it is giving feedback, social skills, persistence or the writing process, I need to be able to give students a clear picture of expectations)

happy panda, angry panda...how do you view China?

2011-06-15T15:07:00.000-07:00

These photos (actually advertisements) do such a great job of showing the comparative attitudes about China.

The Ads are from HERE.

If you have trouble reading the text, it is transcribed here.

So how about you, what is your view of rising China?

what does a puppy say? wah wah wah

2011-06-12T06:06:00.000-07:00

while my half sisters have both given me new nephews to dote over...I am too far away to actually dote.

however my niece right here in Beijing is my BFF. Here are two shots from yesterday, right we had another set of family portraits done.

she was one sweaty baby...the humidity is really high these days and our day time temperatures are like 32 or more degrees Celsius DAILY !!

playing with pagodas

2011-06-12T02:43:00.000-07:00

last weekend we joined Jules' trial bike BFF and his gf who was about to celebrate her birthday and we went to the Pagoda Park, 20 minutes west of our place.

We also went there last year, in April-ish, with some other friends. The park is still under construction but so much work has taken place in the last year.

Here are photos from last weekend.

updates

2011-06-09T15:49:00.000-07:00

Goals to date:

meditation - yes, each day since I set the goal

drawing - abandoned, not that inspired....

coffee plan for June 30 - psyched and ready!!

a confession and another June Goal

2011-06-06T05:08:00.000-07:00

i am a caffeine addict.

It is important that I start with that because acknowledging that you have a problem is an important step on the road to recovery.

I don't want to be tied to addiction. I want to wake up each day without a gnawing desire for anything; each day and every day.

I think that enough is enough. I don't know the hard facts but based on some rough math I have drank some coffee every day since I was 16. and if that is not a serious problem, well... this is a serious problem. That means a year short of half my life I have dosed myself with caffeine daily.

Flicker photo from Sheda Mb

I can make a short list of the times when I was able to not drink coffee they are:

following my appendectomy '06
the week long cleanse I did '09
and my 10 day vipassana meditation '08 (though I did fill my coffee void with as much black tea as possible, without drinking levels that would be considered socially unacceptable)

Other people have encouraged me not to drink coffee everyday or to consume less.

but it really has to be my decision or I don't think that it will stick.

So, yes I will abandon my daily coffee habit. In order to prepare for this momentous task, I made a gradual reduction schedule which ends on June 30th.
Actually, honestly I also bought some coffee (some Balinese stuff from Starbucks) because I feel like this is my last kick at the addiction can so I better have some really awesome (and expensive) cups before I hang my hat up.

So, yes!, as of June 30th I will consume no coffee. In order to afford the head achy withdrawal (that I accidentally experienced a month ago while spending the night at my sister in laws) I will still drink green tea (one cup only and of high quality-- at least that was a recommendation that I read on the internet).

I have also coincided my detox/ withdrawal time to right before we move but just after I am finished work. If it happens that I get blinding, head-splitting aches, chills, fever symptoms or some massive irritability I will stay home and fight it out on my own.

This is the beginning of the end.

June goals

2011-06-01T15:39:00.000-07:00

Last month of school, last month in Beijing.....so much to do.

Actually, we set the wheels in motion to get organized and moved months ago so, in fact, my to-do list does not seem so long.

I want to finish living in Beijing in a positive way, so my goals before I leave Beijing for the month of June are

1. to meditate for 15 minutes every day.

2. to participate in the 30 day drawing challenge (which I will do based on the Pacific timezone in Canada).
(Challenge was posted by Vicki Davis on Twitter- see her blog link)

musically devoid 2010/2011

2011-05-28T18:02:00.000-07:00

The music scene in Beijing is not what it used to be....Jules and I met thanks to a burgeoning, healthy rock/ alt. rock scene that spanned venues likes D22 and Mao Live house. This past year, we watched for shows that we would like to see....we keep our eyes peeled....all for nought. At least in the genres we search there has been little action in our local music scene. The end of an era, I guess.

It is not only our opinion...most of our other Beijing music listening friends agree.

Last weekend we did see some live music though...at a place we had never been before called the HOT Cat Club, tucked away neatly in a hutong near bexingqiao subway station.

3 bands played: a Guns and Roses tribute band,

uvb76 (punkish band with girl bassist)

and yan tiao (that is chinese for when your eye has a spasm) Jules is friends with the lead singer Shen, who grew up in Xinjiang! (but has Han Chinese parents)

where we've been

2011-05-26T05:01:00.000-07:00

(most photos taken by Jules)

some photos from near our neighborhood, Yihai Gardens.

Around Beijing.

With Jules' Mom's Mom.

where I stand

2011-05-23T15:28:00.000-07:00

my cumulative experience as teacher is 2 years in the public system as a Teacher on Call/ Substitute and now, I am finishing my 4th year in a private school that exists through a partnership among owners, Chinese Administration and an agreement from the province of British Columbia. My total experience is 6 years as teacher/ as educator and having surpassed the notorious 5th year (where attrition snags many teachers from the profession) I feel that I know a few things that don't work in education. Of course this is not an exhaustive list and pertains directly to the experiences that I have had.

Here are my 3 observations.

1. Education DOES NOT work as a for profit model. Education as a business does not serve its students nor value its teachers. Businesses should be run as businesses, schools should not.

2. Top down models of leadership are outdated, ineffective, tyrannical and frustrating for those working within them.

3. Transparency and Communication are the two most important virtues in the ethos of a school AND must exist between admin and educators, parents and the school, and Leaders and Partners. Transparency and Communication can not simply be in name only, they must exist in practice, in reality...

I have hope that my own journey as educator will be slightly different in the coming school year as I move into a not for profit school....I hope leadership models, transparency and communication also improve :)

Everyone has a story....this guy and I have something in common

2011-05-19T15:32:00.000-07:00

Well almost, he left China. I will soon be leaving.
My story doesn't end with horrible medical problems (that I know of), but lately I've been feeling less than lusty about living as laowei in this great windy dust bowl.
I think I am just worn out, end of year cranky....but it also might be worn out end of four years abroad cranky.

Check out his story here. (Scroll near to the bottom to see T-shirt logo'd "I survived Mainland China", mine would read 2007-2011 :)

in preparation for moving...

2011-05-18T15:22:00.000-07:00

we have started to learn some basic cantonese....last night we practiced numbers 1-10, days of the week and a short phrase or two.

Following that my tongue had grown twice it's size and I was forced to stop talking. Language learning is such a challenge but so rewarding as you acquire, remember and successfully repeat sounds, words and tones :)

(and in case you are keeping track: this is the 701st post to this blog!)

do you back up your blog?

2011-05-16T15:24:00.000-07:00

before i give some tech advice, did you notice that my countdown clock has broken 50 and currently sits at ONLY 49 more days before we are adios, amigos.

anyway, without too much concern (I'm not sure why-- Buddhist detachment, I guess), when Blogger went down a few days ago, I hardly flinched. Really...oh it s not working, well ok. I saw lots of panic on Twitter and then I started to read that people discovered posts were missing.
So, in read only mode, I arrived at my Blog to find the very last post, "let go" was gone.

still no panic

so once Blogger was back in full capability mode, I went to check if the let go post still existed somewhere...which it did...and i republished and that was the end of that story.

Ok...back to my original question.

If you need info on how to back up your own blog, go here. (Instructions for Blogger and edublogs)

let go

2011-05-13T16:58:00.000-07:00

those who know me personally can attest to my personality: I am organized, prompt and hardworking. However that is because I am also controlling, stubborn and, at times, inflexible.

That is where my job and my personality clash. Teaching is excruciatingly demanding (in terms of time, energy and creativity-- all aspects that I strive to "keep up") and when it comes to flexibility and adapting to new situations, people and circumstances I CAN sometimes massively FAIL.

So let me tell you a little story of how last semester I valued being a reputably strict teacher and this semester have abandoned that and made inroads to becoming a more effective, caring and (can I say it?) human teacher.

Actually first I should say that I was being held up as an example teacher at our little school, so at first I didn't see any problem either. If the Principal is showing me and my classroom off, then it is all tickety-boo, right?

But last semester, I started to see it all from another perspective. For two reasons, I began to despise my strictness...I didn't want to be that anymore.
the first reason was a first year teacher that had joined our staff.She had simply used kindness as a method to reach some of the most unreachable students...and it seems to be working. I couldn't see it for a few months. At first I was a little smug and thought "they will eat her alive" because part of my old mentality was that being nice meant being vulnerable and if you are vulnerable you will lose all the tight control and management that you have built into the classroom. Wrong...I am not a corrections officer.
Yes, classroom management is necessary in healthy measures...as long as the rules and expectations are for the good of the students not simply rules that do not aid nor create learning opportunities . Also having trust in students to do the right thing was a difficult shift...but if that trust is given, the majority of students seem to rise to the challenge.
The second reason I began to rethink and then abandon my old teacher self was seeing a look of fear on a few of the grade 10 faces I taught in late 2010. I see all types of expressions throughout my day usually two in particular: happy/interested/excited or bored/sleepy/ not interested. Yeah once in awhile other emotions present themselves but last semester on a few particularly rotten days (when I was trying to use control to keep students "in-line during an admittably boring lesson) I became a tyrant. This is my teacher self who tries to get what she wants through fear, intimidation and punishments....surprisingly no one like the tyrant...not even the tyrant herself. So well delivering harsh criticism and anger back at a class that was not responding to me, I saw it. This look of few in the eyes and faces of a few of my students. Not all, mind you. Some looked annoyed or passive, but it was those few faces of the students who earnestly try their best as often as possible that broke my teacher heart.

it is our HK computer room, no?

2011-05-09T02:17:00.000-07:00

when i saw this picture...i thought I MUST recreate this awesome desk area in my hong Kong apartment....

thanks, apartment therapy!

(jules thinks that we should substitute a more comfortable chair)

the old steel mill

2011-05-07T19:06:00.000-07:00

driving to a BBQ, west of the city two weeks ago, Jules snapped these photos of an old steel factory that is no longer used (relocated -- probably to somewhere in Hubei)

(oh and I attached one power plant photo, too)

googled or so it would seem.

2011-05-03T15:08:00.000-07:00

i should preface this rant by saying i'm moving soon so all in all this doesn't matter...i should just relax and get through the next 60 something days until we are off to HK.

But...china internet you have stepped on my last nerve.
It seems to primarily be a google products thing...as in they don't load and if they do I age significantly in the process. Ok, fine. I've heard from all over that this is a problem.

But it doesn't stop there. So I flip on a VPN (virtual private network) to climb over the Great Firewall and ...and... those same google sites load at the sammmme sssllloooww speed.

um excuse me? how does that work.

Facebook and Twitter operate at their usual (pretty quick) rate but all google products (and yes my life is intrinsically tied to google products) REFUSE to work as they used to.

i'm off to sit down and take deep breaths until this is over.

My sketchbook says for me : Let me introduce myself

2011-04-30T04:44:00.000-07:00

Remember when I started creating a sketchbook for The SKETCHBOOK project?

It was a winter activity that I committed myself to so that I would have a purpose when creating art. Here was the post when my blank moleskin sketchbook arrived.

The sketchbooks are on a tour across America. Today I received notification that another person has "checked-out" my sketchbook.

(s~~creenshot to be posted here when the internet becomes more agreeable)~~

Every email I get saying another person has viewed what I created really makes me feel super special. It is so interesting to think that people are learning about my China experience on the other side of the ocean :}

2011-04-28T03:48:00.000-07:00

More than one year ago, when trying to convince a local friend of what a mecca Hong Kong truly is I wrote this list.

50 reasons to move to HK S.A.R.

milk tea
foreigners "blend" in
compact city
better (and more) English spoken
Repulse Bay
Lamma Island
40% of HK is parkland
AVEDA stores
suburbs LESS than 1 hour to downtown
cleaner air
tougher (and enforced) smoking regulations
7 11 stores
major centre of embassies
the Airport express
the money doesn't smell
wide open internet
better TV and newspapers
better public public manners -- especially lining up and NO spitting
toilet paper provided
Kowloon Park swimming pool
easier access to information
better shopping!
babies don't pee on the ground
maybe, more of my family would visit
HK is trying to be known for growing GDP only
dim sum
Timeout HK
close to many SE Asian vacation spots: Thailand, Bali etc!
people litter less
air conditioning exists when the temperature is high
Mai Dou lives there
it's fun to ride STAR ferry
we didn't go to Ocean Park yet
or ride the trams in Central
if we ever miss the Mainland, Shenzhen is less than one hour away
HK has pandas
awesome views
beside the ocean
has a concentration of International schools
good electronics
government seems just
people are allowed to voice their opinions about things that they don't like
jules' mom and family can visit relatively easily
subway is less crowded
there are palm trees there! [sub-] tropical for 7 months of the year
BURGER KING!
Marks and Spencer
walking the streets is soooo interesting
"green" city
my renren account already says that it is my hometown

so in the year that has passed, a few of these have changed or could be argued. But I thought that I would post this list….

I could also add #51 - My niece xuanxuan is going to come and visit so we can go to HK Disneyland together!

breaking up with Beijing-- reflections on the past four years

2011-04-24T01:37:00.000-07:00

A blog post that I have been considering writing for sometime is a summary of the last four years in China. Sometime in the first week of July we are jetting off to HK so I thought I would record my thoughts as we make this transition.

I haven’t written the post to date because I want it to reflect all of the good that has happened to me personally and professionally. The hard times, the frustrations learning to be an expat and the china rants that I could let seep into this post would be a shame as I think that it serves no purpose to relive those moments. (Instead I’ll tuck them neatly away into a folder labeled “lessons learned” )

so one thing that Beijing has given me is an opportunity to meet amazing, kind people...many from abroad and some from right here in the capital. Many have relocated to New York (lucky ducks!), others have gone home...some have left and returned...whatever their current whereabouts I really am thankful for the companionship and zany adventures that came from these relationships.

Beijing has given me travel...which is strange. How can moving to a new city enable better and more frequent travel? Partly because of the closer vicinity to other southeast asia countries and now I am a jet-setting globetrotter (at least during school holidays).

I have been subjected so often to changed plans that Beijing has pleaded with me to adjust my expectations. I have slowly been more open to letting whatever happens, happen.

Beijing has given me so many experiences. Some I could have predicted, others never in my life. Some full of frustration but most a process of learning that has been so beneficial in my private and work life. Dealing with everyday and unique situations...while in another country...especially one where they don’t speak English (and my Chinese never progressed quite as it should have) as they say “it builds character”.

I’d like to think, rather, that living abroad in a developing nation has helped me shed a whole lot of my entitled western notions. I’ve been humbled. (This also relates to my teaching practice--my ego has been humbled and I daily strive to be a better teacher...and consistently improve :) Yeah me!

Before I left Vancouver in 2007, most close friends tended to describe me as calm. The 2011 version of calm Heather extends to situations beyond my personal life. I think that in the classroom, I am more calm. I have begun to listen better, anticipate, plan and present lessons in better and more effective ways.

I think I need to thank the FlatClassroom conference for giving me the push I needed to incorporate more technology into my classroom. Web 2.0 and technological components have refreshed and revived my teaching practice. Lastly, Beijing will always be the place that I began to build my PLN - whether on twitter, through RSS feeds or other social networks...it all seems to be the beginning of something awesome !

cutest earth day ever! thanks google.

2011-04-22T03:31:00.000-07:00

10 photos of my (current) school

2011-04-19T04:12:00.000-07:00

Many teachers in my PLN have been doing a 10 photos of my school post (I'm a little late to the game....but here are two examples)

My thought at first was "oh, I'm leaving so no need to post"....Later this changed to "yeah, but you just spent the last four years of your LIFE here :)"

So here we go:

low tech display of all that we do web 2.0

screen shots of our favourite websites

rather tired looking civilizations timeline made last year

some of the faKebook pages that we made of Egyptians Gods/ Goddesses and Pharaohs

rather lonely hallway after the last Canadian program class of the day

For four years I have travelled these stairs...to get to class in the morning, lunch and sometimes dinner and even to go home....they have done works for my quadriceps

the hallway of our primary wing

sorry, NOT the school but an after school shot. A fruit salad I whipped up to enjoy while finishing Mad Men Season 4.

Two shots of a windy day with some of our flags furiously flying!

what i've been interested in lately

2011-04-15T17:19:00.000-07:00

here is the sked of dear Benjamin Franklin. see source below

Two things are quite prominent for me on the schedule.

First he asks himself two very important questions each day...I hope I can adopt this too.

Also I think that he was early to rise and late to bed....that doesn't really work for me.

sked found here…on teach paperless.

I was also interested in this blog post about getting feedback from students....and the associated ideas of having students take charge of their learning.

found here...over @ What Ed Said.

a little pick me up

2011-04-12T15:27:00.000-07:00

there has been this personal situation at work lately that has been getting me down. I'm not going to discuss the details here but wanted to add this cute little picture to remind myself that this, too, shall pass

found here: http://riflepaperco.com/item/_Better_Days_Print_Set/5/c2

tweet, tweet, tweet

2011-04-11T05:42:00.000-07:00

spring is blossoming around me...yeah for warmer weather.

i'm back on twitter as @duckoutofwater. it is the best Professional Development that I've had all year. (Minus the FlatClassroom Conference)

I wanted to tack a few inspirational design photos up...just because I can.

photo credits via websites at the bottom of this post :)

first two photos: http://www.designspongeonline.com/2011/03/whats-in-your-toolbox-jocelyn-warner.html

third: http://www.designspongeonline.com/2011/04/mini-sneak-peek-lena-corwin.html

a break from marking courtesy of a new band that Jules found

2011-04-10T04:31:00.001-07:00

taking responsibility for my own mistakes

2011-04-08T04:13:00.000-07:00

my teaching philosophy is in a flux between what i used to believe as a teacher and what I am coming to believe, as I discover the awesome benefits of online PD through my own PLN or PLC......now in laymens terms those as PD= Professional development and PLN/PLC= Personal Learning Network/Community.

and it makes me so much more excited to come to work each day...and try new things...and further excites me about the possibilities that lay ahead in HK

but before moving on I thought that I would create a list to own up to where I've gone wrong in the past. It is, of course, our mistakes that we do learn so much from.

i've given boring assignments
i ploughed through curriculum because I thought that was the point
i've tested because i thought it was necessary...in ways that were neither appropriate assessment nor effective measures of my students ability
i tried to control, control, control...where I should have reconsidered what I was asking of my students and if their behavior was a reflection of what was being asked of them
i tried to re-invent the wheel...more times than I would like to acknowledge...no more I say
i've been ineffective
i let my mood get the better of me
i did not stop and give time to build a relationship with the student...too focussed on my aims and goals with lessons

not an exhaustive list but this is a start

qing ming memories

2011-04-06T03:28:00.000-07:00

despite my gripping about the holiday being over sold as a three day...when it is really not (see April 1 post) j and I ate and walked (and shopped) ourselves through a restful three days

human traffic jam over near HouHai lake

eating some fantastic vietnamese food near Gulou Dajie

then we went on a very long walk on Chang'An Ave....(I was going to show the distance with a Google map...but the website is having trouble grinding through the great firewall)

so instead here are some pictures from our walk

in an underpass

then we had Hong Kong food for lunch!

colour enhancing

2011-04-01T15:06:00.000-07:00

source: www.apartmenttherapy.com

we are working on a saturday. Holidays are done a bit differently over here. See Tuesday is a holiday....but they want to give people more time with family (is that the reason?) so they also give us Monday off...but not for "free" we work on Saturday because we will not on Monday. Sunday is always a day off so it doesn't figure into the mix....But by the end of it all they proclaim that they have given us a 3 day holiday.

checking the math one more: sunday= always a holiday, monday= work saturday in lieu of and tuesday = holiday....hmmm

alas I love the above picture and will do my darnedest to appreciate the pleasant things in life. Like that blue shade of paint or the lovely shape of old wooden furniture....

naBloPoMo day 31- the march edition

2011-03-30T14:59:00.000-07:00

march 31 ++ drapers

I started watching Mad Men again. Since J is away 4 nights a week right now, I have almost finished Season 3.

The Drapers truly have me puzzled. I can't always put the look on their face together with the appropriate emotion that they are feeling.
Almost like their emotions are too complex a combination of too much hurt, pain, disappointment etc. I love to watch them act.

Also the day before yesterday,I caught my reflection in my laptop at work. I was having a particularly bad hair day. I reminded myself of Miss Sally Draper.

naBloPoMo day 30- the march edition

2011-03-29T15:02:00.000-07:00

march 30 ++ laughing

i think that I already mentioned that my Grade 11's are blogging while we study Canada's confederation.
What a learning process that this has been. Seriously enriching and my students are 95% interested (which is GREAT) but ridiculously frustrating and oh have I mentioned that I teach English as a Second Language Learners. Needless to say..each day is a new host of challenges.
I couldn't stop laughing last night when for the second time I got an email that had been forwarded from tech support of the blogging platform that we are using. Apparently, my student thinks I am somehow responsible for the day to day operation of the blog because she sends all of her email to me via support@ classblogs.us....rather than my email address :)

UPDATE: I didn't find it so funny this morning to discover 4 more forwarded emails...I will have to have a chat with my students. My email address is listed at the bottom of their assignment which means some people AREN'T reading instructions. This is a common problem in my classes and a source of frustration.

naBloPoMo day 29- the march edition

2011-03-28T15:07:00.000-07:00

march 29 ++ planning

wow, i am a whirlwind of planning for next school year. Since I will take a significant jump from teaching senior level to early middle school level in a new curriculum, in a new school, in a new city and in a new S.A.R. I want to be as prepared as possible.

(yes, i am a little intense)--(yes "a little intense" is probably an oxymoron)

Anyway, I feel like I run dual thoughts right now, one part of my brain is doing all the stuff to get me through the day; the here and now; while a second part of my brain is off - planning, imagining, questioning, considering and dreaming.

We work a six day work week this week and then have 3 days off for Qing Ming festival. I can turn off some of my excess thinking then!

naBloPoMo day 28- the march edition

2011-03-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

march 28 ++ baffled
the students who attend the school I work at can have some very different values and work habits than what I have seen and am used to in Vancouver

Reading this article brought a lot of it to light: http://www.ministryoftofu.com/2011/03/contrast-of-chinese-and-u-s-student-disciplines-becomes-red-hot-topic/

Here is the comparative list from the article-->

Disciplines of a U.S. elementary school

1. Always refer to a teacher by title and last name.
2. Get to class on time or a little earlier.
3. Raise your hand when you want to ask a question.
4. You may speak to the teacher from your desk while you are seated.
5. When you are absent, you must make up the work you have missed. Ask either the teacher or a classmate for the work.
6. If you expect to be away from school because of an emergency, tell your teacher in advance and ask for the work you will miss.
7. All assignments you hand in must be your own work.
8. Never cheat on a test.
9. If you are having difficulty with a class, schedule an appointment to see the teacher for help. The teacher will be glad to help you.
10.Students must bring a note for a parent explaining any absence or tardiness.
11.The only acceptable excuse for absence is personal illness, a death in the family, or a religious holiday. It is illegal to stay home from school for any other.
12.When a teacher asks a question and does not name a particular student to answer it, anyone who knows the answer should raise one hand.

Chinese disciplines for elementary school students

1, Have deep love for your motherland, for the people, and for the Communist Party of China.

2, Abide by laws and rules. Improve understanding of laws. Abide by school rules and disciplines. Act in line with social morality.

3, Have passion for sciences. Work hard on study. Think diligently and have a questioning mind. Be fond of exploration. Participate vigorously in activities that build social experience and/or are beneficial.

4, Love life. Protect yourself. Do physical exercises. Pay attention to hygiene.

5, Respect and love yourself. Be confident and strong. Keep civilized and healthy living habits.

6, Engage in labor. Be frugal and pristine. Depend on yourself to do things you are capable of.

7, Be filial to your parents. Respect your teacher. Be polite to others.

8, Have deep love for the group you are in. United with your classmates. Help one another. Care about others.

9, Be honest and trustworthy. Match your words with your deeds. Correct your mistakes once you are aware of it. Be responsible.

10, Love nature. Take good care of you living environment.

Most Chinese netizens find the U.S. version detailed and executable. Its everyday language and simple and understandable requirements can help children cultivate good habits.

In contrast, the Chinese version is very abstract, dogmatic and hollow. Some net users think that based on their half-baked vocabulary and limited perception, schoolchildren can barely comprehend what these disciplines really try to say.

but go read the whole article for a more balanced view

naBloPoMo day 27- the march edition

2011-03-26T17:43:00.000-07:00

march 27 ++ important
yesterday was a fabulous internet free day. In fact, computer free! Jules and I have decided that every Saturday until HK will be the same.
No internet for 24 hours did make me squirm once or twice during the day...when that part of my brain that compels me to compulsively check email, google reader etc.

Yesterday was also our 8th month of marriage !!
We had a lovely day of downtown Beijing, then manicures and a fabulous dinner at Hatsune.

so I guess that taking a day off has shown me what is important in my life: a full day of enjoying time with my husband was thoroughly enjoyed.

and as a side note: I finally started to read The Book Thief (lent to me by a work colleague) and I am loving it...

naBloPoMo day 26- the march edition

2011-03-25T14:49:00.000-07:00

march 26 ++ offline

I have set this post to publish (fingers crossed) on time. Today is a day of no internet for me. I am spending the day with my husband but no internet....I used to do this last year (or was it the year before??)

anyway, I am in desperate need of unplugging for the day...be back tomorrow :)

naBloPoMo day 25- the march edition

2011-03-24T14:49:00.000-07:00

march 25 ++ Friday (again)

naBloPoMo day 24- the march edition

2011-03-23T15:30:00.000-07:00

march 24 ++ ....
the(russians) are coming to my blog

my usual statistics for this blog have broken recently by a large number of visitors from the Russian Federation.

This sort of perplexes me. The visits are always less than 60 seconds (although I have been posting very short entries lately)

So, my question is: Who are you, visitors from the Russian Federation? Are you English speakers??

naBloPoMo day 23- the march edition

2011-03-22T15:05:00.000-07:00

march 23 ++ {i agree to these} (terms)
That you will try to be a better person today than yesterday.
* That you will exercise your body as well as your mind.
* That you will tell the persons dear to you that you love them.
* That you will defend the rights of those who are unable to defend themselves.
* That you will not hurt your family members emotionally or physically.
* That you will respect your elders and care for them in time of need.
* That you will respect the rights of others in their religious beliefs.
* That you will respect the rights of others in their sexual orientation.
* That every man, woman and child has the right to be here and is equal regardless of race, creed or color.
* That you will act honorably in all aspects of your personal and business life.
* That your family is first and foremost the most important thing in your life.
* That when you make a mistake, that you admit it and make amends.

I found these here....oh btw did you see my awesome new countdown clock!! ...right there at the right hand top of this blog right below the header :)

naBloPoMo day 22- the march edition

2011-03-21T14:59:00.000-07:00

march 22 ++ (this song makes me) happy.

like I can't sit still when I hear it

only 10 more NaBloPoMo days left

naBloPoMo day 21- the march edition

2011-03-20T14:51:00.000-07:00

march 21 ++ windy (but I would prefer some spring showers)

naBloPoMo day 20- the march edition

2011-03-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

march 20 ++ wedded (bliss)
but not mine :) (though mine remains)

Yesterday morning, I attended my first Chinese wedding here in the suburbs of Beijing (like two minutes from my apartment). My husband's mother's high school friend's daughter was getting married. I was the lone foreigner invited and due to the degrees of separation between myself and the married couple (Had actually never met them before) It was like attending a play... feeling quite far removed for anybody...just watching the whole scene unfold in front of us....

here are the happy couple entering the ceremony.

table settings when we arrived

decorated ceiling

main stage and LOTS of bubbles

the happy couple lighting some candles

Hey, that's me! and my mother in law on the right.

....it's...the MC

naBloPoMo day 19- the march edition

2011-03-18T17:48:00.000-07:00

march 19 ++ credit

yesterday I posted a computer tech flow chart. Today is a flowchart for giving credit to a photographer or website when posting others' photos.

Photo credit - see here: http://www.designformankind.com/2011/03/lets-talk-photo-crediting/ ...~~oh i lost the proper link~~..~~.pretty sure it was from apartment therapy. (and here~~ I was going to go and set a goal for myself to be more consistent in properly giving image credit :(

naBloPoMo day 18- the march edition

2011-03-17T15:05:00.000-07:00

march 18 ++ strategy

naBloPoMo day 17- the march edition

2011-03-16T15:00:00.000-07:00

march 17 ++ set-up (to include many Web 2.0 tools in my everyday teaching, having been inspired by Flat Classroom {and realizing fear from failure is ridiculous} so this all begins

our staff wiki is humming along, as a resource collector and general information gatherer
Friday my Grade 12 history class will begin to use a wiki to track their research for Final Projects
next Monday my 2 grade 11 classes will begin using a shared blog to chart their discoveries as we tackle Confederation

Aside from Prezi, which was my new favorite presentation tool, I now, also love Popplet and Wordle...sounds like I am speaking another language, eh?

naBloPoMo day 16- the march edition

2011-03-15T15:25:00.000-07:00

march 16 ++ mid-week

(if you don't understand why these posts are sooo short, it is because I am currently keeping with the NaBloPoMo March blogging theme "in a word")

naBloPoMo day 15- the march edition

2011-03-14T14:45:00.000-07:00

march 15 ++ watched (not last night, but the night before)

Never Let Me Go is a sad movie based on a book by Japanese author Kazuo Shiguro. It is about organ transplant donors and love not given a chance to have happened.

Yes, very sad but I was much more appreciative for what I have and had in life, so think it was worth a watch.

naBloPoMo day 14- the march edition

2011-03-13T14:49:00.000-07:00

march 14 ++ adore (this photo)

from here

naBloPoMo day 12- the march edition

2011-03-12T16:54:00.001-08:00

march 12 ++ lunch date (with a work colleague from 2 years ago)

naBloPoMo day 11- the march edition

2011-03-11T17:00:00.000-08:00

march 11 ++ watching (the aftermath in Japan and beyond)

here