Meeting the others in Yuen Long

Yuen Long Strip

Jenny

Zoe

Eban Dan Joel

Joel

Joel Julian

Tuen Mun

Post office

Town Centre

LRT station at Tuen Mun town centre

Boats

The last few days (big update)

Me and Jenny

Ok, update of the past 3 days. On Sunday, our first full day in Hong Kong, Jenny and I had a long lie in as we were shattered. We decided to try and make our way to the town centre by taxi. Our co-ordinator gave us a post it with our address and the town centre in Cantonese so we can just point at it to ask where to go. LOL. The Shopping centre is huge, there was so much to see and we didn’t get round all of it. But we bought a lot, we’d hit sales season. I bought a handbag, sim card, skirt and cardigan. We went to a chinese restaurant and managed to order everything OK. They had an English translation underneath as well. We ate pork stomach and ears which was so gross I was almost sick, but the diced chicken with sundried octopus on bamboo rice was delicious. The strangest thing was, was that we thought we were eating lunch, but it wasn’t until later that we realised that it was 6 o clock and that we’d actually eaten tea. The jet lag was confusing us.

Maccy D's

More Chinese fast food

Petshop

Stationery store

Complex shopping centre

My first day at school was on Monday, as it was parents day at the Kindergarten. The journey wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. One of the teachers came to pick me up. The LRT rail is just outside the apartment complex and it’s two stops to the Ferry Pier and then change for another four stops to the school. Is very easy, although it was a task remembering which two train numbers i need to get for each trip. I also bought my Octopus card which if i’m correct, was the original Oyster card. The school is really nice. Very bright, lots of colour and lots of toys around the place. The school has a really nice atmosphere. The day consisted of greeting the parents as they arrived and then about an hour later all the teachers in the school (there’s about 50) had to stand up in front of the parents and say who they were and what they taught. I was terrified, was so nerve racking. It didn’t help that they all laughed at me afterwards. Apparantly they were just interested because I was English. I had to do this in the afternoon as well as there are two sessions each day, so there was a new set of parents to introduce myself to. They didn’t laugh at me that time. LOL. There are 3 other English speaking teachers from South Africa. We had a English teacher meeting and I found out I would be teaching K3 drawing on weds and thurs and on monday and tuesday, i will be teaching story to K2. I felt pretty comfortable by the end of the day. Monday evening there was a really amazing thunderstorm. I haven’t seen anything like it. Even with the curtains closed my whole room lit up and it was quite blinding. It went on for quite a while. I must admit it scared me to begin with but I got used to it. I’m going to have to.

Supermarket

Tuesday was pretty much the same as Monday. Had another two sets of parents to meet. Me and Jenny didn’t do much in the evening as we were shattered after the the first couple of days at school. Neither of us will now be going into school until Monday when school officially starts.

Hairdressers

Electronics

Chinese restaurant

The fountain in the courtyard at night

Today we went down to the Ferry Pier has had a stroll down the promenade which was lovely. We then found the post office and the town hall where there is a theatre. Me and Jenny are very tempted to go see the Cinderella ballet at the end of the month. We then went with one of the teachers to HSBC to try to open a bank account.but we didn’t have the correct documents, so me and Jenny will be going on Friday and will open them on our own. I’m pretty amazed that we will get our cards right there on the spot. We then had another look round the shopping centre and we bought some swimsuits. Has been a lovely day today. The sky has been clear since the thunderstorm, so it hasn’t been so humid. Still hot though. We managed to go swimming in the complex’s pool, which was a bit of a mission due the language barrier. It’s a really nice, heated outside pool. I felt like I was on holiday.

The ferry pier


Moi

Our apartment and SHOPPING!

Apartment complex

View from my room

Hurting my neck to take this photo

Kitchen

Lounge

Dining area

TV

Jenny unpacking

My bedroom

Wardrobe

View from our apartment at night

Tuen Mun Shopping Centre is far bigger than this photo

Jenny

Buildings

Mountain view from our complex

The complex court

The lift

Arrival

The flight was long. Very long. 11 hours 20 minutes. It was very boring. As it was a night flight, all the lights were off so the only thing to do was to sleep (which was impossible) or watch movies. There was quite a selection but i just wasn’t interested in any of them. Although i did watch Alladin twice. Once we arrived the weather was overcast, but it was still amazing seeing all the tiny islands and seeing all these skyscrapers surrounded my mountains. It really was beautiful. We were met at the airport by Pet and Cat, after getting through customs very easily even if we were the last to go through. They were lovely and we got a coach (with only the four of us on) to Tuen Mun which took about 45 minutes. The scenery was lovely. Was amazing. The apartment complex is amazing. Is so much better than I expected it to be. It’s got a swimming pool, mcdonalds, supermarket, shops and some Chinese restaurants. The English department at the two schools that me and Jenny will be working at took us for dinner in the complex and it was really lovely. Daunting. I managed the chopsticks quite well. We then went and bought lots of food for the apartment, was really nice to see food and brands i recognise such as Cadburys. :-)I haven’t found any monster munch as of yet. As for jet lag, officially my body should be feeling like its 3.30 in the afternoon but it’s 10.30 and all i want to do is go to bed. So hopefully, the jet lag won’t affect me this end. Whoop!! xxx

Gatwick

So me and Jenni are sitting in Gatwick departure lounge waiting to board. We are leaving from departure gate 33. It’s been a pretty stressful day but we made it in the end. Wasn’t as tearful goodbye as I thought it would be, we were in a bit of a rush. But was all good. Thanks Dad for driving, I forgot to say thank you! Oh and thanks Mum for not crying cos it would have set me off. Right i best be off, got a plane to catch!

two laptops, a blankie, a t.v and a quilt

One day to go! I woke up this morning with an ear infection which is just lovely. Never had one before in my life, so it’s just typical that i get one the day before I fly out to Hong Kong. Hopefully my ear won’t hurt too much when they pop on the flight. Been to the doctors and they’ve given me drops, so hopefully it will clear up soon.

I had a bit of a disaster last night. Me and Jenny had booked seats next to each other on the plane and well, it was a good job i double checked, because for some reason my booking doesn’t exist. I wasn’t hallucinating, i did book it, but it doesn’t seem to have gone through. I knew something would go wrong. At least it was only the seating arrangements, not the flight. LOL. It’s all sorted out now anyway. We were able to re-arrange our seats today. Sorry Jenny for the hassle.

I received an email from Bo Bo (head of the English department.) She let us know that Pet and Cat, fellow English Teachers will be collecting us from the airport and let us know that we will be going out for dinner as a department with the Principal. Hope I’m not going to be too tired.

Everything’s all packed now, freshly ironed (which will probably prove to be a pointless exercise.) I’ll probably forget something. Theresa has come home this evening for a family dinner. We’re having cajun chicken, cous cous and a mango chili sauce. Is yummy. Theresa’s given me a really nice journal to write my adventures down in. Is nice the family all being together, in the living room, on our laptops, watching t.v, with the dog sucking his blankie and Mum making my quilt. Lovely. xx

am i ready?

Brief: On Friday 24th August 2007 at 8.40 pm, I am flying from Gatwick South to Hong Kong. I will be working at Siu Lun Court Kindergarten Church School for 11 months teaching English to the kids. Exciting stuff. I will be living with a girl called Jenny in a 27th floor flat. Hoping the number 27 is lucky as I was born on the 27th!!

So thats the brief. How I’m feeling about it all is strange. I should be thinking about it all the time and it’s not like I’m not ready to go. I’m almost packed. But I should be excited beyond belief. I should be terrified to the point of passing out if my nerves are anything to go by. But.... i keep pushing it to the back of my mind. It STILL doesn’t feel real and I’m leaving in what? less than 4 days. I am excited don’t get me wrong and I am terrified. I know I won’t be able to get ANY sleep on Thursday night. I think this is just my way of coping. It’s just not very helpful. So that’s how I’m feeling today.