sunset

The view from our balcony is so beautiful sometimes. A few days during my holiday I have sat on the couch looking out there, reading a bit, drinking tea, and enjoying it. This was what Ant and I saw a few nights ago when we were eating our dinner.

I feel grateful to God for the peace that he gives us through his faithful upholding of the days; sun rising, and sun setting.

It was St. Thomas, I think, who pointed out long ago that if God wanted to get rid of the universe, He would not have to do anything; He would have to stop doing something.... Do you see what this means?... God made the world out of joy: He didn't need it; He just thought it was a good thing. But if you confine His activity in creation to the beginning only, you lost most of the joy in the subsequent shuffle of history. Sure, it was good back then, you say, but since then, we've been eating leftovers. How much better a world it becomes when you see Him creating at all times and at every time.... He has no use for [the world]; only delight.

--from The Supper of the Lamb by Robert Farrar Capon

our living and dining room

Our living and dining area is one big room, divided by the couch. At one end is Ant's new TV (bought just in time for the World Cup) and our bookshelves. On the left you can see the doors to our balcony. (Our landlady left us those curtains; what do you think of them?)


On the other end of the room you can see our new painting, which we got as a gift from Jeff's Mum when we went to Shenzhen with Mum and Dad. It's amazing! At the back you can see our front door and the kitchen door, going off to the left.


And I've started a picture collage on the wall--some family photos and some postcards. I am now looking for new postcards, so why don't you send me one from your next outing? ;-)

flowers and rain

Anna, my sister-in-law, has started a photo blog that I love! She posts a photo each day from her travels and experiences and the stories are memorable. Today's photo is one that I took!


When we both lived in the UK I got to visit them more frequently and I visited on Easter weekend when both Micah and Anna got confirmed. This is Anna's hair on that beautiful day. Click through to her blog to read more about it.

Yesterday I stayed in the flat for a quiet day in as there was a torrential downpour outside. This kind of rain keeps Hong Kong very lush. I sat in the window nook of the guest bedroom and ate yoghurt and read my book. It's so nice to be inside when this is going on outside. The view from the nook is a steep hillside covered in trees and a few buildings down the road.

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.

questions? and Ant's birthday!

Hello, a few of you have been urging me to blog more often. And I want to. But I have been finding that every time I sit down at the computer my mind goes blank. Sometimes I look through my pictures and try to think of something that way. But it doesn't seem to be working. Please tell me, what do you want me to write about? :-S


Here's one important happening: Ant's birthday last week! We held a little party last night. Our new table got good use. We bought it last weekend. It seats six in its normal state (below).


And here it is pulled out to its full size: for ten people. It has an in-between size as well (for eight, duh). Ant invited round a handful or his colleagues and we also had a few friends from church over. We don't have too many friends yet, but Ant was still celebrated by all in attendance!


(When the party starts I always forget to take pictures. I am the one pouring drinks, passing napkins, ferrying food, and so on. But let me assure you that a good time was had by all.)

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.

Ant's new suits and shirts

Hong Kong--the place for tailor-made suits. Ant and I each had a suit made when we were here last summer, and I've encouraged him to use some of his first salary payments to get a couple more. He has been wearing only the one suit for the last few months and he's due some new ones. Aren't they smart? He had two white shirts made as well.


The suit he has made last year is navy with light pinstripes (not shown here) and his two new ones are charcoal (at the top of the post) and medium gray (above and below). Now he has three suits and I'm going to suggest that he gets a new one every year (or so?) from here on.

happy father's day

It was so good to have Mum and Dad visiting recently. I'm glad they made the long journey to see us and also Micah and Anna in Sydney. A big thanks to Dad (and Mum) making me a confident adult by taking me around Europe as a child and including me in decisions. I remember more than one occasion being consulted on where to live and being taken to house viewings. They urged us kids to pray about our move to Romania before we went there, and I was impressed that all our views were taken into account.


My Dad is inspirational in his care of others. He is willing to help anyone at any time (perhaps this is one reason why he is so good at his job). He has helped me out of a few rough spots, like when I crashed the family car as a teenager. I called him on the policeman's phone, "Dad, I've had an accident." "That's fine; are you alright?" he replied straight away. He didn't even ask about the car, which was totally destroyed.


He's always been supportive of me (and of Paul, Micah, and Mum). His example as a hard worker during his PhD undoubtedly inspired me to work hard at university and has made a success out of me. And he's inspired me in his Christian faith. He shows dedication to studying the Bible day by day that reminds me of the book title: "a long obedience in the same direction". (Together with my Mum, the prayer woman, I have pretty good role models to look up to.)

Thanks to my Dad, for his unfailing love over the years. Happy Father's Day!

at the mall with Anthony

Ant and I went over to Kowloon to do a few errands. We walked around all afternoon and happened to end up at the Haagen-Dazs store! Ant ordered this impressive item. I had some raspberry and mango sorbet scoops with almond slices. Then we were walking around the mall and I went into the ladies toilets, which included this fantastical mirror. It was all velvety and colourful.

visit from Mum and Dad

Here are some photos taken my Mum when she was here with Dad for a visit. They were so useful to us to arrive just when we were moving into our flat. They helped build the beds the first night they arrived. And everyday when we went off to work, Mum came back form her adventures with another little item to make life better at home.

Dad was away for a bit more than a week teaching a course in Indonesia. Mum spent most of her days traipsing around the city, armed with her Octopus card for public transport. On her quieter days she looked out the windows of our apartment and watched the ships going by.


There are a lot of fountains in Hong Kong (water is a big feature in Feng Shui.) Here is Mum standing inside one of the fountains in Hong Kong Park.


Mum took a bus to central that she loved because it curved along a very improbable route. Such steep, winding roads the bus goes on! The ramp in this picture is about ten stories above ground level. It's amazing that the bus careens around these corners right outside someone's living room window.


Mum and Dad were quite taken with the juxtaposition between the tall, shiny buildings and the packed lanes between them. The lanes are really interesting to explore, with little market stalls of food, clothes, and odds and ends.


I'm a little behind with posting about the last few weeks. Thanks for your patience. :-)

clubhouse

Our new building is actually part of a development of about 20 towers that share a name. We also share two clubhouses--with gyms, restaurants, pools, and the like. We haven't really made use of them much (yet!). But we went in to sort out some paperwork and I got my photo snapped in the chair in the lobby. It's like a huge red velvet flower made into a chair. "What for?" you ask. Who knows. But it's pretty cool looking. Or so I think. Do you?

wild weather

You know you live in a country with bizarre weather when you see this. What is it, you ask?


Well, first let me say that the weather here is very changeable. Rainy season is just beginning and the rain can come quickly and with fury. In fact, rain is categorised to tell you just how severe it is going to be. "Amber rain" means 30 mm or more could fall in an hour. "Red rain" means 50 mm or more in an hour, and "Black rain" means 70 mm or more. Since I arrived, we have had two incidents of Amber rain. I stepped out of the flat to go to the bus one morning, and though I was wearing a long jacket and carrying an umbrella, I was soaked to the skin in seconds. I held the umbrella touching the top of my head, and by the time I got on the bus, only my face was dry. The rain pelted down, making my shoes into swimming pools for ants. I looked as though I had stood in the bath under a power shower, fully clothed.

When I got to school that day (and changed my shoes, thankfully), one of my colleagues remarked that in the case of Amber rain, kindergarten students are not required to go to school. She told me to watch the news, because if we ever have Black rain indicated, school would be shut. I can imagine that it would be insane to go outside during Black rain. In fact, at this point, I can't even visualise how heavy Red and Black rain must be. The Amber rain I have experienced was intense enough.

The photo above was taken by my parents, who have also experienced Amber rain. It shows a vending machine for umbrellas! Though if you find yourself already caught in any of these coloured rains, I doubt that an umbrella will make much difference by the time you get your money out of your pocket.

visit to the Peak

Ant and I took Mum and Dad to visit the Peak today. We also met up with Matt, Bree and Jo Beth there. We had a nice lunch at one of the restaurants overlooking the city. The views were really great even though there was a bit of a humid haze over the city.

Matt and Bree left with Jo Beth to go do some shopping and we headed out on a walk around the Peak Circle Walk. We looked out over the lush south of the island and the city on the north side. It took us about an hour and a half to walk around, stopping frequently to take pictures and marvel at the scenery. (Mum, Dad, and I all brought our cameras.) It was hot and we didn't go very fast.


I can see why the Peak is a definite must-do for all visitors to Hong Kong. I am looking forward to being there on a more clear day and also riding up on the tram next time.

football match

Ant got some free tickets for the Hong Kong Football Association Cup semi finals last weekend. We went with Mum to the Hong Kong Stadium. It was quite empty when we arrived, but as the first game progressed, more and more fans arrived. I brought my camera with me (the first time out of the house with it) and Ant managed to get some great action shots.


The games were both quite interesting, with three goals in each and lots of action from end to end. We were in an executive box in the upper level of the stands, so we had a great view. (The food was still the same limited choice, though!)


I had to take along my marking, and Mum totaled the tests after I marked them. I managed to get through several hours of my most hated task this way. It was so nice to be outside enjoying something different.

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.)

race course

My colleagues and I went out to watch the races at Happy Valley on a Wednesday night. It only costs $10 (less than £1) to get into the stands area. I had some cheap and cheerful beef noodle soup, and we ordered a jug of beer and a jug of wine while we watched the races. The horses ran right in front of where we were standing and their hooves threw up grass and dirt as the roared past.


As you might expect in a group of maths teachers, we were keenly reading the newspaper and investigating the odds, the form of the jockeys, and the stats of the horses. I placed three $20 bets and won a little back each time. In the end I was up by $12.50... but of course that doesn't take into account the taxis, entrance fee, the soup and the drinks! But it was a really good night of entertainment and chatting with my colleagues.

new classroom

Above is the view from my classroom window! My classroom is on the first floor and the valley stretches out behind the school. This view is on the less inhabited side of the school. I love that although Hong Kong is a very built up area, there are still parts with trees, and all the greenery is very lush, thanks to the huge amounts of rain and sun.


I spent two days last week at work, meeting my new head of department and tidying up my classroom. I did some organising and labelling and planned some introductory lessons for my students.

So far this week of meeting my students and colleagues has been going well.

Things I like about my new school:
My colleagues from lots of places and backgrounds.
Free tea and coffee in the staffroom means people spend time there.
The maths department is NOT housed on the eighth floor--thank goodness.
The school is really safe and the students are comfortable--I have not seen any bullying.
I have been issued with a Macbook and a Wacom tablet!


I am surprised by:
The students can be a bit messy and careless--I hope they are not spoiled.
I rarely see the Principal around the school.
My lunch duty is only ten of the forty minutes for lunch.
My Octopus card pays for my train or bus fare, lunch at work, and takes out library books (and who knows what else).
A lot of the stairwells are open to the outside, so they can be very wet when it's raining.
There's a florist who sells things outside the staffroom on Tuesday mornings.