a first draft of my personal mission statement

I am reading The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. As a result I have been challenged to write a personal mission statement. Here it is, my first version.

I want to draw close to God and hear his voice.
I want to be a best friend to Anthony, and a support to help him grow.
I want to help students experience and explore mathematics with the end of understanding and appreciating it. I want to empower other teachers to do the same with their students.
I want to bless others with friendship and be mutually encouraged and loved.
I want to bless others with whom I interact by listening to them and valuing them.
I will do what I say I am going to do.
I will look ahead to tomorrow's work today.
I will solicit feedback, be reflective, and seek to grow.
I will seek to maintain my health and fitness.
I will be grateful.

things for which I am thankful today

1. A friend brought me a pot of Marmite Gold from his trip to England last week. It's a gimmick but I think it's great. It made me smile all morning!

2. We got a new washing machine and it is so quiet! Our old one was so noisy that even with the kitchen door closed we couldn't talk to each other without shouting. It also didn't spin properly about half the time, which meant that a lot of loads of laundry had to be washed through two cycles. That made laundry take a lot longer than necessary. I am so happy that we have this new one.

3. I complain a bit about the many passwords related to online banking, but I am really very grateful for connected global bank accounts that allow me to shop online in several countries! heehee.

4. Talking to my Grammie on the phone is like a warm hug. I love chatting with her.

5. Having coffee and dinner with my best friend in Hong Kong - she always brightens up my day. I love our mid-week meet-ups.

What are you grateful for today?

reasons to keep running

I was reading in Runner's World this month that the best way to stay motivated to exercise is to enjoy it. Well, duh, that sounds a little obvious. But the more I stop to think about it, the more true I see that it is. I can think of four things that I have found really enjoyable this month:

1. I love the fresh air feeling when I run. I am fortunate enough to live in a part of Hong Kong where the air is quite good and I have a sea view as I run. Being outside with the breeze and the water is wonderful and it's a feeling that I can sense as I get out of bed to lace on my shoes.

2. I have found a great source of fun music for my runs: Rock my Run. The DJ-produced mixes that I have downloaded there are upbeat and motivating. They are full of positive and fun songs that make me look forward to running. Sometimes I want to sing along as I run.

3. Running a race recently makes me want to continue training. I ran my first 10 km two weekends ago and it was so fun. My training went really smoothly in the six weeks leading the to race and I managed to pace myself on the race. Anthony came out to congratulate me with a tiny bottle of champagne (and take these pictures). It was such a thrill to finish the race and I felt great. I want to feel that way again!


4. I do a group exercise sessions twice a week and the friends who exercise with me are such fun to be with. Exercising with them is fun like hanging out together. And recently I have been texting Sonya about my running and that's fun, too, because she is also training for a race (20 km!) and we have been encouraging each other.

So I think I am inclined to agree with Runner's World, it's motivating to enjoy your exercise. So find something you enjoy or take steps to make your current routine more enjoyable.

What do you like about exercise?

new year's resolutions

I found it a bit harder to bring myself to make resolutions this year. It seems harder than usual to do something every day. Work has been busy since the school year started and I took on an extra responsibility. But I am aware that in the past my resolutions have been very motivating and have usually helped me accomplish a lot. So it's time to just go for it, and make some decision, darn it.

1. Run in a 10 km event - I have my heart set on the 10 km component of the Great Wall Marathon. It's in May, which gives me plenty of time to actually gain enough fitness to run 10 km. In the back of my mind there is a feeling that this may or may not happen since I have had a few injury problems since starting to run. As a result I have been reading about how to avoid injury. Cross training, for instance. Any other suggestions are gratefully received! At school there is a once-a-week zumba dance exercise class starting up, and I'm looking forward to that.

2. Read through the Bible. The two other times I have done this I have found it to be so heartening. The first time I read the whole Bible in a year was in 2000, and I was amazed by how God was working in history as a whole and that it all really did point to Jesus. This year I want to make it more fresh for me and so I've decided to read in The Message version. (Read it yourself for free on Bible Gateway.)

3. Reflect on what I read. I have a little diary that I use to pray in writing and note thoughts down. (I got it from Dad's church and it's published by The Bible League of Canada.)

4. Keep in touch with family and friends more regularly. This is a recurring theme for my resolutions. This year I plan to keep track my success (hopefully) in my diary. I will try to email, call, or write to someone each day. As a side note, I realise that keeping this blog more regularly updated will probably help, too. (Thanks to Sarah for her encouragement. I am glad someone still checks it!)

So, the floor is open to you. What are your resolutions? Do you find them encouraging?

more things that made me happy

Things that go well need to be celebrated, since negative things take up so much of our mind-time. In contrast, I want to be a thankful person. One of the best habits I ever had was to write each night a prayer to God thanking him for (at least) six things that day. This made a great impact on me, and helped me see my blessings much more clearly.

Here are a few things, then, for which I'm thankful. Ant made me this delicious coffee the other day. It's tasty and beautiful, and it represents how grateful I am to have Ant in my life. He's a great support for me and always so encouraging.

I'm happy that I reconnected with all my amazing friends this summer. And I am blessed to be finding new friends in Hong Kong.

I'm grateful for the time I spent at the beach today with friends from church. It was relaxing and it was good to chat with them.


I have been taking my camera pretty much everywhere lately and this has led to some nice pictures. I am helped a lot by my new camera handbag, which I looooove. I am very grateful that Ant let me buy it!


I'm grateful for the authentic, informed, and open preaching at church. Our pastor talks a lot about how he has wrestled with the passages in the weeks leading up to each message. He often comes to tears or sniffles in the sermon as well. I am amazed by his openness and insights. He always has something to say that the Holy Spirit uses to impact me. For this I am very grateful.

I am thankful for the technology that helps me keep in touch with all of you. (Although I probably don't need all three of these laptops to do it!)


What are you grateful for today?

my summer holiday in numbers

34: days away from home



5: cities and towns visited:
Kelowna (BC, Canada)
London (UK)
Halifax (NS, Canada)
Miramichi (NB. Canada)
Ann Arbor (MI, USA)
Shanghai (China)

14: take offs and landings


14 hours 52 minutes: longest flight, from Chicago to Hong Kong
1 hour 3 minutes: shortest flight, from Detroit to Ann Arbor

17: sleeping tablets used in the avoidance of jet lag
12: times I went out jogging in the avoidance of jet lag
6: jogging partners: Pari, Judith, Claude, Nyarku, Andrew, and Katie

4: farmers' markets visited



21 kg: luggage with which I left
37 kg: luggage with which I returned
900: the number of snack-sized zip lock bags I brought back to HK to use in my classroom
1.2 kg: mass of 900 snack-sized zip lock bags

1: wedding attended, for Sarah and Eric


1: bridal shower attended, for Dawn
2: baby showers attended, both for Helen


3: pregnant bumps I stroked, and 1 smaller one that I admired: Sonya, Helen, Sara (below), and Carolyn


1: happy-you-finished-your-PhD party attended, for Micah


1: baby baptism attended: Julia Iris



5: novels read: Room by Emma Donoghue, Who Do You Think You Are? by Alice Munro, Safely Home by Randy Alcorn, Still Alice by Lisa Genova, Little Bee by Chris Cleave
0: airline movies watched

1166: photographs taken

October trip to the UK

Ant's Nan, Etta, and Rachele's daughter, Kaitlin. She is our first niece!




Rachele helped Kaitin model her Hong Kong fashion.


Helen and I chatting--it was great to visit with her again, and Pari and Geary.


Pari and Geary both liked their new Hong Kong newspaper classified aprons. Early Christmas presents. :)

yacht trip

Since I last posted, I have gone back to work and it's going well so far. But instead of writing about work, I want to show you some pictures from the other weekend when Ant and I were invited with our care group from church on a yacht trip. We met up with the yacht and our friends--one of them is an employee for the company that owns the yacht. He had arranged to borrow it for the day and invited the group along. There was a crew provided, and our care group members provided lunch and snacks as well.


We sailed west from Causeway Bay, going around Hong Kong island to the south side. We dropped anchor in Repulse Bay and jumped in a for a swim.


The motor boat came along to pull the tubes behind it. Both Ant and I went out for a tube ride, which was really enjoyable. Just the right amount of thrill for me: not too scary but definitely exciting! We had some lunch and relaxed and chatted. After lunch the boat took us further round the island on a tour, and then back past Lamma Island. We saw this little row boat nearby.


Ant and I went up to the top deck and looked out on Stanley, while others were sitting on the front of the boat enjoying the ride.


Just before docking, we went by the floating restaurants in Aberdeen. I've been told that although they are all a bit cheesy, the Top Deck is worth visiting, so I hope we go there soon. You catch a little boat at Aberdeen that ferries you across to the restaurants.


After we went home, I was a bit "land sick". But that didn't detract from how great a day it was. We both had a fantastic time. It was really relaxing and enjoyable.

Sydney

I have just come back from a week in Australia. What a nice surprise--I asked my school if I could get some International Baccalaureate training and they booked me on a three-day course in Sydney. I stayed on a few days more so I could visit Micah & Anna and Chris & Tam. I didn't do too much sight-seeing this time, instead I visited, ate food, did some window shopping, played games, drank wine, went to church, and read books. What a nice holiday!


Micah and I spent a day in Newtown, a shabby and hip suburb of Sydney. There is a shop there that sells only buttons (above). We browsed at the used book stores and the antique stores. I bought a few pieces of old cutlery, since food styling seems to be one of my main hobbies at the moment. Micah bought a book and we ate some excellent Mexcian fast food. But it was really just the time chatting and wandering that made this a memorable day out.

I went with Anna to her work and saw the offices that she is soon to leave for good as she takes a break. We ate food, which is actually my main hobby, I admit. I got a tour of the complex in which she works. Since I have never worked in an office I was quite interesting in how noisy it was (not that much) and how friendly her co-workers were. I think it would be strange to see everyone else making phone calls or working on their computers while you were doing your work.


I had dinner at Chris and Tam's place and saw Ethan--now a big boy who can almost walk and has learned a few words. He also knows baby sign language. Wow--what an idea! I had never heard of it but I guess it's quite well known in Australia. Ethan can communicate that he is thirsty, hungry, or done eating using signs Chris and Tam have taught him. Tam says it keeps him calm and less frustrated and that it also helps toddlers learn to speak more confidently in time. What a great idea.


After meeting Tam for coffee at her work, I wandered around downtown Sydney and saw the Queen Victoria Building, with its beautiful floors and windows.


The QVB is a very upmarket mall; the main attraction for me was the building itself. I love the tiling on the floors (and took more pictures so I might be able to turn them into a lesson activity one day).


The rest of my time was taken up with relaxing with Micah & Anna and meeting Norman & Natalie, their flatmates. Anna has started a blog, Anna's Ambles, and we talked blogging a bit. Please have a look at it: each post shows a beautiful image from Anna's travels and she shares the story behind each memory.

visit to Cheung Chau with Victor & Viviana

It was a treat to have Victor and Viviana visit us from London. One day we went over to the island of Cheung Chau and walked everywhere.


It's a fishing community, and there were fishing boats moored all along the harbour and fish drying and for sale along the paths. It was quite a smelly walk!

Anything will grow in Hong Kong, it seems, due to the favourable temperatures and vast quantities of rain. These tree roots astounded me!


We walked all over the island: along the shore and also up the streets to the hill in the centre, past the homes of the residents.


There were two temples which we saw on the island, one of which had this lion outside. It and the stone ball inside its mouth was carved from a single piece of stone.


There were a lot of little eateries along the main paths and this was the back kitchen entrance of one of them. I asked this lady if I could take her picture and she posed for me. I am amazed by how frequently I see roasted poultry hanging up--do people order a whole one? I think it's to take home for later.


Outside the other temple there was a fruit tree--orange Victor said (he should know, he's from Spain). I sat next to the tree and took its picture while the others roamed about nearby. My feet hurt after all that walking. It was a great day out with friends.

quiet Saturday

After a long week it was a relief to not do too much today. In fact, looking out over the balcony was as close as we got to actually going outside for much of the day. Ant and Mum and I pottered around the house--I started some files of all our recent paperwork and Ant called (over and over) about our TV installation today. In the end the TV and some cable were hooked up and Ant is much happier.


Matt and Bree came over in the early afternoon and we sat around chatting and eating. It is sad that Bree is leaving soon--but we understand since she is keen to get home to her family before Baby J is born. (Funny aside: We now have the same couch in our flat that Matt and Bree have in theirs; it is a very comfy sofa bed.)

sight-seeing and walking

I have been spending the last few days getting ready for work on Monday and walking around Hong Kong. I spent two mornings at school, organising mostly. And I've been meeting up with Bree and Ant and Matt for coffee or meals. The building with the triangles (above) is the Bank of China, which I've mentioned before as one way I check where I am in the city.

I have been meeting Bree near her work--in this little fountain area in Hong Kong park. I find that Hong Kong central area has a surprising number of parks and they all include fountains. The trees here are very lush because of how rainy it is.


While walking yesterday I found a Catholic cathedral in the central area--quite a strange departure from most of the architecture around it. I went in and sat for a few minutes and listened to someone practising the organ.


Lastly, I am impressed with how frequently I can find a public toilet when I want to. I was shocked to see this inside one ladies in an office/shopping building: Romans 5:8 on the wall! I think the English words look cool, which may be why it was pasted up there.