Thursday, September 30, 2010

The Joys of Squash Soup, Russians and Farts



Today is a national holiday, which means I can sleep in! But this morning, I automatically woke up right at 6:15 am and couldn't fall back to sleep. Why does it always happen that I want to sleep in, I can't, but on the days I need to get up for work, I can? Ahh...the torture! =p I guess it doesn't help when the first thing I woke up this morning were all these things I have on my "To-Do" lists. Sometimes, I see my mind as this bag gigantic ball of colourful post-it notes with reminders and action items. It's quite sad picture actually. Haha. But anyways, one of the mental post-its reminds me to 'blog.'  So, here I am!

Yummy! Taste like mom's
This week, my sister made soup for me and it was oh, so good! She made pumpkin and fish soup. (Mom and dad, aren't you proud?) She also made soy sauce chicken wings with mushrooms and this broccoli with minced meat and tofu. The photo doesn't do it justice, but trust me, they were good. I was just grateful to come home with home-cooked food!

At school, my grade 4s have been a lot of fun to teach! We got to do some fun activities in class. Just yesterday, for our Science unit on "Waste and Our World," our librarian dressed up as a Russian who barged in with a huge bag of garbage. He walked up to a student's desk and plopped it right in front of him. He told the class he was sent by the Russian government to distribute garbage to our class. The scene provoked the class to ask many questions, which was what we wanted! "Why here? Why this class?" many students asked. Hopefully, it will provoke them to think deeper about the politics in our global system of waste 'management.'

So, teaching has been quite enjoyable. And I am learning how to be more strict when necessary. At the end of the day, I am not their friend. I am their teacher, someone whom they should respect. I can be friendly, but I am not their friend. On the note of discipline, there is a story to tell. One morning after recess, I decided to have them practice lining up in front of the class. They lined up and sat down at least 3-4 times. On the last time, some kids started to squirm a bit. Several had their hands cupping their nose and mouth. I had no idea what's going on, until one student came up to me and said, "Miss Koo.... 'Bob' farted and it really stinks. He farts when he gets nervous or scared. That's why we were all covering our mouths." I had to keep a straight face, but inside I couldn't help but laugh a little. It was pretty funny. I was surprised I had the power to cause a kid to be that nervous of me. I felt pity for him for having an uncontrollable flatulence condition. I really hope that it doesn't continue as he gets older. But I guess everyone has a different way of reacting when they get nervous. I learned in my Language Arts unit, that when a puff adder snake gets nervous, his head puffs up to the size of an orange! Crazy, eh? Imagine if we all had puffed up faces when we get scared, wouldn't that be a funny sight?!


Anyways, apologies if my updates are all about teaching, because in actual fact, teaching does consume a lot of my time and headspace. Alright, time to go.  For those who are interested, I will leave you with a video tour of how my classroom looks like.







Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Mid-Autumn Festival

Michelle and I finally got our iphone 4's after 3 weeks of waiting and our last day has been a blitz of messaging and discovering new apps and functions on our phones. I have to admit that it's neat to finally be organizing my life, and having a camera AND facetiming with Michelle certainly doesn't hurt.

Today is mid-autumn festival and we get tomorrow as a holiday. I don't have any memories of Mid-Autumn from my time in Hong Kong as a toddler, so I'll say that this one is my first. It is intriguing to watch how excited people are over this holiday. I took a couple pictures with the phone.

unlit lanterns


lots of people congregating


















 


look at the boat in the ocean!


Tsing Ma Bridge



I love Hong Kong

Saturday, September 18, 2010

TST

Ahhh, Tsim Sha Tsui.

So good...

TST is such a happening place! For those of you who don't know, TST is right at the tip of the Kowloon Peninsula, and arguably the heart of the city. For years, it's been a tourist and export center with stores lined along Nathan road. It is a busy place. We normally don't prefer to go there, but it's nice to take in the lights and crowds once in a while.

Tsim Sha Tsui

Just wanted to share a brief story with you about a guy I encountered in TST last week.

Last week, I had dinner with a former teaching colleague of mine who was visiting from Vancouver. Yvonne and I were at TST having a very nice donair meal and decided to walk around for a bit after our dinner. Sure enough, as it always happens, we both had to go to the bathroom. So where else to pee than the wonderful FREE restrooms at the golden arches?

After relieving myself at McDonalds, I sat down at a table to wait for Yvonne. I suddenly realized that someone's food was still on the table- actually uneatened. I stood up abruptly just as I noticed a man walking towards me, and I began apologizing. "I'm really sorry, I didn't see your food there. So sorry about that," I kept saying. But the man was super nice and mentioned I could sit with him.

At this point, I figured there was nothing to lose since this man was being so nice, so I sat down and tried to make small talk. I asked him where he was from, and he told me he was from Ghana. "Ghana!" I exclaimed, "I've been there!" The man seemed excitedly intrigued and asked me why I had gone there.

At this time, Yvonne had come back and sat down with us at the table and the man invited us to continue chatting with him. So we went and ordered some coffee and sat down again. When I sat down again, the man put his hands on the table, looked me in the eye and said, "So, you say you believe in Jesus, right? I want you to convince me why you think actually died on the cross because I'm a Muslim, and we don't believe that."

"What?!" How do you even begin to answer that? You can't just ask questions like that...

So that began our super-meaningful dialogue about faith. The guy was very cool, by far one of the nicest people I have met so far in Hong Kong. We talked about the similarities of our faiths, the differences, how we lamented they were poorly represented in our world, and how they were misunderstood by others. We weren't out to convert each other, we simply wanted to talk and learn. At the end of our conversation, we exchanged contacts and promised to meet up again.

I left that night with this overwhelming sense that God really wanted me to be here- right here in Hong Kong. Yes, at first, I didn't want to come back. And yes, it may have taken me leaving the comforts of home and friends in Vancouver, but if the reward is to see and meet one person and have a meaningful conversation about Christ - and to know that God was behind all of it and purposed every fragment of that discussion- then I am happy. I am happy to know that God brought us here.




Here's a random video of the rain in HK.



And the "egg-sons" (dan-chai's) we bought at a food stand. Sooo bad. Note: do not get dan-chai's at street meat-stands. We watched the food lady pour pig intestines into the cooker and then bag our snack into a bag without washing her hands. So gross. I guess we shouldn't expect them to... Man, we were so stupid.

boooo... made our tummy's mangry

  

ok. goodbye for now.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Hi everyone,



It's Michelle again. So, I have been MIA for awhile. You're probably wondering whether or not I'm actually enjoying life here in HK. Surprisingly, I have been liking it. The smog, crowdedness and the busyness don't phase me much anymore. Maybe, I'm just used to people shoving me on the MTR stations or used to finding black boogers because of the air pollution. Or maybe it's because I am finally finding a routine in my week. 

This is how my day looks if you're interested:
6:15 - Wake Up. Brush my teeth. Make my peanut butter and ham (yes, ham, not jam) sandwich and wear teacher-looking clothes.
6:45 - Speed-walk to the mini-bus stop and wait for #13. Some days, I phone my parents on their HK line while I"m on the bus. On the bus, I also eat my sandwich quickly because my school is a nut-free zone.
7:20 - Arrive at school.
7:40 - Attend staff devotions and prayer time. I really value this time every morning.
8:05 - The day of teaching my class of 24 sweet kids begin. 
3:15 - Teaching ends.I stand at the door to give kids their daily "high fives."
3:15-7 - Planning happens!
8:30 pm - I am back at home and eating home-cooked food made by my wonderful sister! She has a knack in cooking!!!!!!!
9:30 - 10:00 - Phone Tintin Time.
10:30 - 11:00 - Sleep Time.


  The weekends have been relaxing too. I really want to leave work at school, so I make an effort to finish everything before the weekend comes along. And I have been able to keep it up for 2 weeks. I just want to rest and sabbath. I need to walk the talk, especially when I told my students to do likewise. I told them that's why I don't give out homework over the weekends. (It's also a school policy that we have not to give out homework for the weekend, so that quality time can be spent with family). So, weekends have been great.  Last weekend, Tintin and I attended a four-day conference given Gary Thomas, the author of "Sacred Marriage." His talks on marriage and how the spouse can influence the husband positively were all very convicting to both Tintin and I. Hopefully we can apply what we have learned in our imminent marriage. We have also enjoyed going to church at Island ECC, even though it's quite like a mega-church. The sermons are stimulating and the worship is so reviving to the Spirit. I have yet to find a small groups to get plugged into though. It'll take time.

So, all in all, it has been an positive experience. God has really paved the way for me and is affirming me that I am supposed to be here in this point of my life. There are lots of people in HK who need to know God, even at my school. Actually, I had a neat conversation with a janitor lady the past week. She usually comes into my room to clean. They love talking to anyone who can speak Cantonese.  However, our conversations went from her ranting about how she wants to be served in  the next life to me sharing about the hope of heaven. She is a Buddhist. One thing led to another and I ended up sharing my testimony to her. All this was spoken in Cantonese as she didn't understand a word of English. I thanked her for listening to my story and she left the room with a smile. Looking back, I realized that it was totally the Spirit speaking and using me to reach out to her. It was in such most unlikely of times that God spoke through me to her. So, I was really encouraged by this divine appointment to just continue to love and make connections with all types of people, from my students to the janitorial staff.


That's it from me...for now! =)


Lots of love to you all in the 604. I miss you all. Send me an email to see how everything's going.

-Michi

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

English Customer Service

So recently I had a few overseas cheques from Vancouver that I wanted to deposit into my bank account here in HK. I went to the bank and asked them to help send these cheques back to Canada to get them authenticated.

Dad had told me to speak in English at the bank, so I thought I was already being smart when I started conversing in English. The lady at the counter told me that they usually have a commission fee of 250HKD per cheque for this type of service, but that she was willing to change this fee to just 100HKD per cheque because I was a “valued customer”. So I went home pretty happy that day.

A few days later, I get a call from the bank telling me that there was a problem with my cheque. Apparently each cheque had a have a minimum of at least 200CDN on it, which one of the cheques didn’t have, so it couldn’t be cashed for me. They asked me to pick that cheque up.

So the next day I returned to the bank and picked up the cheque. I asked whether the 100HKD service charge would be waived now that my cheque had bounced. The lady at the counter said that they couldn’t do anything for me since they had already tried to send it. I went home pretty unhappy that day.

I told my Dad about it that night and he scolded me for not being insistent enough. This was Hong Kong after all. “Call up the customer service line and start speaking in English. You will get your money back.” So I called. And I spoke in English. I sounded indignant and dissatisfied. The lady not only gave me my 100HKD for the cheque back, she also refunded the other cheque’s service charge.


So the morale of the story?


Learn your English well so that you can take advantage of people in HK, because Eurocentrism pays off. At least on the phone.




 
Take care, and speak Engrish!
 
Tin

Monday, September 6, 2010

I am alive!

Hi everyone,

It's Michelle here! Yes...some of you are thinking, "She's actually alive!" It has taken me a while to write a blog! There are many reasons that I haven't blogged lately, first being tremendously busy trying to stay afloat for the first week of classes. Second, I haven't had time to really sit down and reflect. Third, I think I am a perfectionist and somehow, I need to create a written product that appeals to my audience. So when I think of writing a blog entry, it's a daunting task. Fourth, Tintin's blogs are amusing and he writes well.

Actually, the third and fourth reason is probably the real reason why I have pushed off blogging. But I should stop always thinking that I'm writing for others and just write for enjoyment and reflection. These two reasons are also why teaching has been busy and challenging. It's because I am indecisive at times as to what I want because I want to present the best lesson. But then, I end up wasting my time when it could have been used better to manage other tasks that are pressing. Worst of all, I end up with a mediocre lesson. Then, I don't enjoy it and my students won't enjoy it. So, the conclusion that I have learned is to just chill out and enjoy whatever I am doing - may it be blogging or teaching my students.

So, some of you are wondering, is she actually enjoying teaching? I am enjoying it, despite how much work and energy it demands from me. My students are great and they all speak their mind, which sometimes can be a headache. The staff is great and supportive. When I have time, I will post some photos of my classroom.

Anyways, when you remember me in prayers, pray that I would have the wisdom to teach clearly and love loudly to my students in my words and actions.


Love,

Michelle 

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Office Space

I've been hoping to share some pictures of my workplace to you, and I finally got around to taking some pictures. Yesterday I build a sweet chair cover for my chair, which I'll show in a sec. Super excited! Now I can work allergy-free! Anyhow, I'll update you on what a typical day look like at UCCKE.

I wake up at 5:55 each morning. I don't think I've ever woken up this early on a regular basis. Why 5:55 though? It's really just 6 except it compels more sympathy when I tell other people I have to commute a long way. I leave home at 6:30 and arrive (if I'm lucky around 7:30). Sometimes I get to school just before 8.


















At first I was pretty anxious about my teaching schedule. But the actual teaching is all planned out in terms of curriculum. Teaching here is mainly out of the textbook so I follow that and add ideas here and there. It saves a lot of prep hours, which I'm thankful for because I don't think I want to be spending my nights lesson planning.

The blanks are the prep blocks I have!
















For the first time in my life I'll be working in an office. I'm not sure what it's supposed to be like, so the whole idea of it is new and foreign to me. No more taking off my shoes and fooling around in my own classroom. I have to work now (or at least pretend to). Here's a view of my desk area.







 Oh, to the sweet, sweet chair cover I made:

When I first arrived, the school didn't have any chairs for my cubicle, so I was standing for a couple days. I then came across a broken, really nasty-looking mouldy chair that someone had discarded by the side. I was tired of standing so I took it.

For the last couple of days my throat has been hurting and I figure it was from the dust and deadskin that had accumulated on the chair. I made this:

It was originally a cardboard box


















yes!



































So that's my workspace, where I'm currently blogging rather than prepping lessons. But then, I don't really have lessons to make because they're all planned :P Sweet....


See you all soon!

Peace