School life has been really good and really busy. Teaching in a private Christian school in Hong Kong has been great. I am quite glad to say that working (teaching gr. 4 - 12 art) with the staff and students has been nothing shy of great.
Much of this last month was spent in a mad scramble trying to pull together semi-cohesive long-range, mid-range, and short term plans (lessons and units) for each of the grades. I'd like to think that after a month of being here I now have a fairly good handle on things as far as teaching goes.
Due to the fact that I've been at school and working late most nights I've found myself dining out most nights. A decent meal will run you about 35 - 40 HK$ (5$ Canadian). The best bargain I've found so far has been at a small local place called The Dumpling King. For 38 HK$ I can get a big bowl of noodle soup, 5 fried dumplings, a plate of veggies and a Coke. Sometimes some of the food that is served at the local noodle shops can be a little suspect. One day I ordered a Rice and Shrimp dish at one of the noodle shops next to the school and was served a big plate of rice with shrimp, pieces of deli meat, chopped up hotdogs and a mysterious (and slightly spicy) red sauce. It looked like something I would have made when I was 16 and my parents weren't home. Needless to say there was a violent surprise Shrimp and Rice encore at 3 am that same night. I have been a little more discerning in my meal choices since then. Recently I saw "Explodes the hors d'oeuvre" as a translated option on a menu outside of a Thai noodle shop.
I am continually amazed at the incredible pace of this city. Every day of the week things are going full tilt. At the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum the pace seems to be one of necessity and survival. If you're higher than 'survival' status a person's high speed work pace seems to be based on a materialistic/$ fixation. For one reason or another everyone in this city seems to be chasing money. However, I have never seen such a diverse mix and interaction of class in one place. It is not uncommon to see a rich person pull up in their Bentley or Porsche, get out of their car (double parked of course), walk over to the 'hole-in-the-wall' juice stand and buy a drink. There are upscale cake and pastery shops immediatley next to scrap metal shops where shirtless men can be found welding. It is an amazing sight to see a 'truely' free market society in action. In some ways I think the close physical proximity and frequent interactions between rich and poor here actually helps make this such a safe city. I am still amazed at how safe it is here.
Recently I purchased a visa that allows me entry into China. Apparently it's the place to go if I want reasonably priced custom tailored clothing. Shopping malls around here are rediculous. Armani, CK, Ralph Lauren, etc. are the primary clothing stores in the local shopping malls. I don't know who can afford it. I certainly can't. Apparently though, there's enough of a market here that every high end brand name that ever existed has to have a store in every shopping mall. It's actually quite amazing because you'll see people shopping at these places. Lots of people. ALL THE TIME. It's the same thing with jewelery stores. 2 in the afternoon on a Tuesday and your local Swarovski will have 12 people in it buying diamonds or things that are more expensive than diamonds. Rediculous.
Here are some pics.
I'll have some pics of my 'hood posted soon.
I promise.
Enjoy.
1. While cleaning my classroom at the start of the school year I got into a turf war.
2. My classroom
3. Night view from the 53rd floor.
4. During the day.
