New Student Interviews

This month, I've had the pleasure of working two Saturdays at my school. Yes, it is strange to say that a teacher would be obliged to be on duty on a Saturday, but it's quite common here in Hong Kong. I only share this with a better attitude now that I'm on Chinese New Year holiday. It's safe to say I wasn't so positive during those weekends.

This weekend, we had our new student interviews. Because I work at a private school here in Hong Kong under the Direct Subsidy Scheme, our school has to ensure that we have a new crop of students coming in every September. So marketing and promotion becomes a big deal. We try and get our name out there as much as possible. That's why we had our Open House Day a couple weekends ago.

I'm finally starting to realize just how important this school business is- and it is actually a business. During the open day, I overheard some parents talking to some teachers about why they wanted to apply to UCCKE, and one parent said quite forcefully, "I live around this neighbourhood and I always see your students commute to and from school. Never once have I seen them smoke or cut the queue line at a bus stop. So I know you teach your students well and I want my kid to learn this stuff."


I guess that's why the school cares so much about tidy uniforms and appearance. Because each student carries the school's reputation into the community and other people base their assumptions of the school's educational quality on how nicely their hair is kept and how neatly their socks are pulled up.

This Saturday, I had to interview prospective Form 1 students for September. This year, around 600 applied for the 150 spots we have. That's important to note because this year there are around 5000 less Form 1 students in Hong Kong. Schools and teachers have been freaking out because there is a projected decline in student population and less and less students are available to enter into schools. It's projected that by 2016, 21,500 less students in the school system here in HK. (source: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-09/13/content_11296851.htm)

So less students mean smaller classrooms, which is good until the school fires an obsolete teacher. And less teachers mean that quality goes down and the public doesn't enroll. Then more teachers get fired and then schools shut down and people are out of work. That's part of the reason teachers work so hard and promote the school. Their jobs are on the line.

The interviews went well- some students were quite well spoken, both in English and Chinese. I had no real highlights of the day, except for one student saying, "I want to come to your school because I pass by on the minibus and I see that your school is big and nice." When asked why she didn't choose the school next to ours since it's also on her minibus route, she answered, "Because I can see this one better."

My colleague Ricky had a more interesting one. When asked whether he had joined any speech festivals before, the student replied, "I will.... eat candy."

We have a long way to go if we end up teaching these kids.

More random sights

Merry Christmas to all of you. May the Lord bless you richly this season with his presence.


Here are some pictures of moments we've come across and tried to capture.

Wha??

Whoa. A new and genius invention.






















Monopoly HK style. This at the MTR station.
























Dinner with Emily before she left for home.






















Look who it is! Guess what kind of cuisine we ate at this restaurant?






















So which one is it?






















Timmy!! We were looking for shoes when our search lead us to a store with a "hourly" hotel above it. Hmmm. I didn't know they charged sleep by the hour.

 

We went to Shenzhen on Friday. At the last stop before the border, a posse of people burst into the MTR and started unloading wine. And when we arrived, they left their box and trolly in the train. I guess they can afford to buy new trollies each time.


Anyways, gotta go. Wishing you a merry, merry Christmas here from HK. Drop us a note!

Peace!

The New and Improved!

Racist much?

Thanks Anderson Silva lookalike! I think I WILL get that coffee!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Random Sights

Cheung Chau

We went to Cheung Chau yesterday with our sisters and Karen's friends. It was such an awesome day! We went to this pirate cave and a reclining rock that sat on the face of a slope.

Michelle will add the video of the cave later.

We miss you all!


















Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Library Argument

We were at the library when we heard two ladies arguing. Apparently one lady told the other lady off because she was talking to her husband too loudly. They, therefore, decided to resolve their conflict by yelling at each other - in the library.

This is the tail end of their argument. They had gone on for 5 mins and continued for a couple more after I was stopped for filming.

Rest

Today is sabbath and I am late for church. I keep glancing at my wrist to check for the time on the watch I intentionally didn't wear today, but it's no use. I am late. It's not as if having a watch would get me to church any faster. I go as the ferry goes.

And the whole idea is such a contradiction: rushing off to sabbath. There's something a little twisted about that.

Michelle and I have been busy here in HK the last couple weeks. Mostly with school, sometimes with people. But mostly we are busy because we feel a pressure to be busy. For me, life had been a whirlwind of assignments, announcements, and papers to push. I feel much like a robot who had forgotten how to feel. Perhaps thats why it was so nice to relax this morning and ride my bike and actually talk to another human being.

There is much to Hong Kong that we have come to not like. I mean, there's still a fascination about the place, but there's much to not like and much to miss about home. For example, the lady who is screaming into her phone beside me- that is not cool. Or the people that sprint from one side of the MTR platform to the other- that is not cool either. But as much as I have come to dislike this place, it has come to slowly change me too.

I find myself walking faster now, even on a Sunday morning, and I frown when I get stuck behind old people. It's so strange but I'm sprinting for buses and running from place to place even though I'm in no hurry. But apparenty I am because my heart can't stand still.

Today is a good reminder to rest and just chill. It's ok to be late for church because church hurried would not have nourished my soul, it would have stolen sabbath's essence. To rest is to trust. It is to be reminded that the world won't break down if I take a break ab life will continue if I take a rest. It is to remember that God holds everything in his grasp and it's right to let go and allow Him to call the shots.


Now to somethin kinda related but not really related, yesterday Michelle and I went to Stanley for the afternoon and we had so much fun hanging out there. It totally reminded us of Steveston with all the tourists and ocean side restaurants. Here are a couple pictures. We miss you all!

Stanley Market



Yay for home!



At Stanley

  

blowing those bubbles


















With Uncle Marcus