I am so sorry I have been so behind on updating this blog.
My China trip was... well, it was hard. I got sick twice. I helped with the music, though I'm not sure how much of a help I truly was. I sang a lot, ate a lot of good home cooked Chinese food, climbed to the top of a pagoda, and I found a love for tea eggs.
China was hard. I really, really was unhappy there, to the point of wanting nothing more than to come home. Thankfully, by the last day, my mood went up. Probably because I was leaving, but I had fun at least! I shared a room with Laura and one of our Chinese helpers, Mandy. We talked in the evenings (at least when I was not ill!), and it was quite fun. Being sick really took the wind out of my sails, so to speak, and I think that contributed greatly to my depression. Two of my other team members also fell ill, Luke and Kristen. I was the only one who fell ill twice. :(
On our last day in China, I got a massage with the rest of the team. I chose a foot massage, since I don't like massages at all and thought a body would be too close for comfort. Little did I know the foot massage involved shoulders and back, and that the masseuse would pound on me! I should have asked for the lady to be gentler, but I was too busy trying not to cry from pain! I hurt for two days afterwards. The only part I really liked was soaking my feet in the tub and getting my feet and legs wrapped in hot, wet towels.
As far as teaching, it was okay. We taught ages 5-18! The younger kids were eager to follow along actions, while sometimes the middle kids were disinterested. The older kids, it was harder to get them interested in younger songs, so we had to switch it up. I am so grateful to Laura for being so inventive and encouraging. She was great! I felt pretty bad compared to her, but I hope I helped in some small way.
It was hard, because there were a lot of rules we had to follow in China. We had to be careful what we said in emails, and even what we said in the streets. IN the church, where we lived, we could say anything. That was better. :D And our helpers, Mandy, Hilda, and Gloria were wonderful. We went to Hot Pot one night, and it was significantly better than my first experience! It made me want to go again. :D
Coming back from China was such a relief for me. In China, we had to climb five or six flights of stairs to get to our rooms! I sure missed being on the second floor, and our elevator. It was like coming home to see our PRIVATE common room!
While China was the worst part of this trip so far... the best was BY FAR the past two weeks. I ended up being Kristen's aide. We taught P1 and P2, which is essentially 1st and 2nd grade. The children were SO adorable. I had such a good time. I helped Kristen keep order by going around and shushing kids and helping them with their writing or if they needed to go to the toilet or something. The relief I felt after the first day was so immense. I finally felt like I was really doing something. Like I finally found what I was good at, and what I came to Hong Kong to do.
The past two weeks was amazing. It really was. I finally felt like I'd grown. I've changed, I can tell. I'm more comfortable with myself. I've discovered my boundaries, and I've come to realize that I am a much stronger person than I ever thought. God's grace has shone so strongly on me that I was in a constant good mood for a week and a half. Which, considering how up and down I've been on this trip, was amazing! The work was hard,a s keeping children's attention for two and a half hours is difficult, but I loved the work. I really think I could be a teacher's aide in the future. I enjoyed working with Kristen SO much, and I just loved the kids.
There was a lot of difficulty with the language barrier, as our children didn't know much English, but when Kristen and I realized they were actually retaining what she taught them, it was an AWESOME moment. It was very fulfilling.
And then, MANDY came to visit us! It was amazing, because while we talked in HK, we REALLY got to talk Friday night when we went to the beach after our farewell dinner. It was great. :D
My birthday was on Saturday. As a celebration, the girls had Henna done by a very nice lady who moved here 13 years ago. She did an amazing job, and it was so fun, if hot and sunny!
Rebecca and Laura left this morning, and it was very sad. I ended up crying. :( Luke and Mandy leave tomorrow, and then Kristen, Adam, and I all leave on Tuesday.
It was such a wonderful trip. I think it was the most important experience I've had in my life so far. God really taught me a lot, and I've learned so much. I think I've grown as a person, learning how to live as God wants me to be. I'm so happy with where my life is going, and I am very blessed.
Pictures!
More Pictures!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
Busy
I'm sorry for the lack of updates. Things here have been... crazier than I ever bargained for. Emotionally draining is putting it very lightly!
Hopefully tomorrow I can post up a bunch of pictures and bring everyone more up to speed! I spent 10 exhausting days in China (including getting sick twice), and we saw some pretty cool places. Now we're just finishing up our last assignment at LCK. I'm helping Kristen teach the six and seven year olds, and I'm loving it!
Pictures to come!
Hopefully tomorrow I can post up a bunch of pictures and bring everyone more up to speed! I spent 10 exhausting days in China (including getting sick twice), and we saw some pretty cool places. Now we're just finishing up our last assignment at LCK. I'm helping Kristen teach the six and seven year olds, and I'm loving it!
Pictures to come!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
A Tour of Hong Kong
Yesterday was crazy insane! My students picked me up at Siu Leun School at 8:30 and from then on it was just non-stop motion I got to ride the MTR to Kowloon, where the first place we went was the Hong Kong History Museum. It was really cool, because I got to learn more about the history of the place. The students were very enthusiastic about me taking pictures, otherwise I probably wouldn't have taken as many as I did in various places. I'm very bad sometimes at starting conversations with people I don't know well, but the boys in particular would explain various things to me about the exhibits and things like that.
After the history museum, we walked around Kowloon which seemed to be forever, looking at the clock tower near the Star Ferry and all that. The Star Ferry was pretty cool, but definitely not as cool as the Peak Tram. When we got to Hong Kong Island, we went to Man Mo Temple, which is a cool Buddhist Temple. No photography was allowed inside, though. There were a couple actors and a video camera filming a TV show, at least that's what one of the girls said. After that we walked around in the Western Market in Central. It was just what I imagined a Hong Kong Market to look like, lots of stuff on tables in the alleyways. Except there was a lot more hills than I bargained for!
We ate lunch at this neat ourdoors place, and I got chicken sausage and noodles, which to me looked (and tasted) exactly like a hot dog in a bowl of ramen. Considering I like hot dogs and I like ramen, I wasn't disappointed. I dropped one of my chopsticks even before getting it into the bowl so the waitress brought me a fork. I just rolled with it. :D
After that we went to St. John's Cathedral (i fail again at getting pictures, but it was a nice Western Church. I liked the stained glass). Then we did my favorite part. We went onto the Peak Tram up to the Peak. It was so fun going up on the tram, and it was much cooler at the top. We looked around the gift shop for a bit then went to look outside onto all of Hong Kong. I wish I could see it at night, I bet it's completely gorgeous.
After walking around the peak for awhile, we went back down by minibus, which was a fun experience. The bus driver is totally hardcore, let me say, or "very strong" as the Chinese say. We ate dinner inside, thankfully, which was similar to lunch. Hot dog pieces (though very tasty sausage!) in A VERY DELICIOUS soup. I didn't even eat half of it, though. I guess I'm not used to eating Chinese portions, not that I eat much at home either. The kids taught me to use chopsticks properly, and they applauded when I managed to pick up noodles.
Then they all wrote their Facebook information down for me, and presented me with some gifts. They bought me a little Luck Charm, which is basically a little stuffed red pillow with the Chinese symbol for "Luck" sewn on it with a tassel and some jade beads. They also gave me a pretty fan, which will be nice in the hot outside, and a postcard with a very sweet message written onto it. I was very happy, and touched that they would think of me.
They brought me back to the school, where I was only the second one to get back at 9:15 PM! It was a very long day for everyone, and I got sunburned, but I got to see a lot of Hong Kong.
And then I slept very, very well from all that walking!
Very, very picture heavy!
After the history museum, we walked around Kowloon which seemed to be forever, looking at the clock tower near the Star Ferry and all that. The Star Ferry was pretty cool, but definitely not as cool as the Peak Tram. When we got to Hong Kong Island, we went to Man Mo Temple, which is a cool Buddhist Temple. No photography was allowed inside, though. There were a couple actors and a video camera filming a TV show, at least that's what one of the girls said. After that we walked around in the Western Market in Central. It was just what I imagined a Hong Kong Market to look like, lots of stuff on tables in the alleyways. Except there was a lot more hills than I bargained for!
We ate lunch at this neat ourdoors place, and I got chicken sausage and noodles, which to me looked (and tasted) exactly like a hot dog in a bowl of ramen. Considering I like hot dogs and I like ramen, I wasn't disappointed. I dropped one of my chopsticks even before getting it into the bowl so the waitress brought me a fork. I just rolled with it. :D
After that we went to St. John's Cathedral (i fail again at getting pictures, but it was a nice Western Church. I liked the stained glass). Then we did my favorite part. We went onto the Peak Tram up to the Peak. It was so fun going up on the tram, and it was much cooler at the top. We looked around the gift shop for a bit then went to look outside onto all of Hong Kong. I wish I could see it at night, I bet it's completely gorgeous.
After walking around the peak for awhile, we went back down by minibus, which was a fun experience. The bus driver is totally hardcore, let me say, or "very strong" as the Chinese say. We ate dinner inside, thankfully, which was similar to lunch. Hot dog pieces (though very tasty sausage!) in A VERY DELICIOUS soup. I didn't even eat half of it, though. I guess I'm not used to eating Chinese portions, not that I eat much at home either. The kids taught me to use chopsticks properly, and they applauded when I managed to pick up noodles.
Then they all wrote their Facebook information down for me, and presented me with some gifts. They bought me a little Luck Charm, which is basically a little stuffed red pillow with the Chinese symbol for "Luck" sewn on it with a tassel and some jade beads. They also gave me a pretty fan, which will be nice in the hot outside, and a postcard with a very sweet message written onto it. I was very happy, and touched that they would think of me.
They brought me back to the school, where I was only the second one to get back at 9:15 PM! It was a very long day for everyone, and I got sunburned, but I got to see a lot of Hong Kong.
And then I slept very, very well from all that walking!
Very, very picture heavy!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Reminiscences of Summer Camp
Yesterday really took it out of me. It was a lot of fun thought! We went to the YMCA here, which was pretty cool. We got to the gymnasium with 600 loud teenagers. Well, this was after we walked half a mile to a shopping mall for Starbucks only to find out there was no Starbucks in said mall, so we went to 7-11 which was right down the road from the YMCA. You can't tell me I'm not getting my exercise here!
Anyway, we got back and listened to some other musicians sing and play before Lynnette introduced us. It was kind of like a rockstar introduction. Lots of loud music and running on stage and jumping around. It was really fun. We taught the kids some songs with hand motions. Old camp standbys like "Praise Ye the Lord" and "Lord I Lift Your Name on High." There were a couple other songs we sang that I hadn't heard of before the night before. "I'm Trading My Sorrows" and "Blessed be Your Name." Since I can sing, I was handed a microphone. I wasn't sure on the melodies of the latter two, but I just made it up as I go. I was pretty sure the kids wouldn't know the difference. It was a lot of fun though there was a lot of jumping around. It reminded me very strongly of being a camp counselor.
Several students then took us around the campus, showing us around. One of the boys who walked with us is in my tour group tomorrow, so it was very nice that I got to talk to him more. At one point, Luke, Adam, myself, and to of the boys were talking about deer hunting. For like half an hour. It was pretty funny. When we were walking back to the canteen, the boys asked us if we liked computer games. I said I liked Playstation more, which they thought was pretty cool, and asked which game. When I said Final Fantasy... well, let's just say that it was the most enthusiastic reaction I've ever had to guys finding out I'm a gamer (seriously, they have nothing on the gamers I know). It was pretty funny.
After dinner, we took a nice long bus ride home. I was VERY tired from being in a group of 600 people for a few hours (they played games for awhile before our YMCA tour), so I spent the ride home praying and reflecting on the day. It was really nice to kind of be by myself in my own head. I'm very much an introvert, and it's very tiring on me to be around people all the time.
I went to bed somewhat early last night, and got up at 6:30, which is my standard time, apparently. We got dressed and waved at the children coming into the Siu Luen school. It was the last day of school, so the younger grades (2nd and 3rd grades, I believe) had sort of game days. I helped with Megan and Adam with the music, and coloring little booklets in the Gospel Colors. It was a LOT of fun. The little children were very cute, and I'd say they have almost as high a level in English as I do of German, only with a larger vocabulary. Speaking of which, I need to start reading German websites again. I'm REALLY lacking in my vocab, and I probably couldn't carry on a conversation about something other than the weather or my hobbies anymore.
I sadly didn't get a lot of pictures since I left my camera in my room, but it's not a big deal.
This evening, we had a barbecue in the pits by the beach, since it wasn't nearly as busy on a Wednesday night. It was SO MUCH FUN. At first I was kind of leery of the food since it was mostly pork chops and chicken wings, and I'm not fond of either. But I busted out the cheesy weenies (which were really good!) and barbecued some bread (also really good!) and we had a wonderful time. We all got to hang out and talk. It was just a good ol' Lutheran barbecue with good meat and beer. At one point the six of us and Adam's friend Brittany (she's lived in Hong Kong for 9 years! She goes to Concordia Seward though) went down to the beach to dip our feet and hang out in the sand for a bit.
I had way more fun than I thought I would. I didn't have BAD expectations, I'm just not a barbecue person. I'm glad my expectations were wrong.
Tomorrow is my tour! And Friday Brittany's taking us clubbing, Hong Kong style. :D It should be a good time! I really want to go to the Russian Bar and get in touch with my roots. If I do I promise to get a picture of me in a fur coat. :D
PICTURES!
Anyway, we got back and listened to some other musicians sing and play before Lynnette introduced us. It was kind of like a rockstar introduction. Lots of loud music and running on stage and jumping around. It was really fun. We taught the kids some songs with hand motions. Old camp standbys like "Praise Ye the Lord" and "Lord I Lift Your Name on High." There were a couple other songs we sang that I hadn't heard of before the night before. "I'm Trading My Sorrows" and "Blessed be Your Name." Since I can sing, I was handed a microphone. I wasn't sure on the melodies of the latter two, but I just made it up as I go. I was pretty sure the kids wouldn't know the difference. It was a lot of fun though there was a lot of jumping around. It reminded me very strongly of being a camp counselor.
Several students then took us around the campus, showing us around. One of the boys who walked with us is in my tour group tomorrow, so it was very nice that I got to talk to him more. At one point, Luke, Adam, myself, and to of the boys were talking about deer hunting. For like half an hour. It was pretty funny. When we were walking back to the canteen, the boys asked us if we liked computer games. I said I liked Playstation more, which they thought was pretty cool, and asked which game. When I said Final Fantasy... well, let's just say that it was the most enthusiastic reaction I've ever had to guys finding out I'm a gamer (seriously, they have nothing on the gamers I know). It was pretty funny.
After dinner, we took a nice long bus ride home. I was VERY tired from being in a group of 600 people for a few hours (they played games for awhile before our YMCA tour), so I spent the ride home praying and reflecting on the day. It was really nice to kind of be by myself in my own head. I'm very much an introvert, and it's very tiring on me to be around people all the time.
I went to bed somewhat early last night, and got up at 6:30, which is my standard time, apparently. We got dressed and waved at the children coming into the Siu Luen school. It was the last day of school, so the younger grades (2nd and 3rd grades, I believe) had sort of game days. I helped with Megan and Adam with the music, and coloring little booklets in the Gospel Colors. It was a LOT of fun. The little children were very cute, and I'd say they have almost as high a level in English as I do of German, only with a larger vocabulary. Speaking of which, I need to start reading German websites again. I'm REALLY lacking in my vocab, and I probably couldn't carry on a conversation about something other than the weather or my hobbies anymore.
I sadly didn't get a lot of pictures since I left my camera in my room, but it's not a big deal.
This evening, we had a barbecue in the pits by the beach, since it wasn't nearly as busy on a Wednesday night. It was SO MUCH FUN. At first I was kind of leery of the food since it was mostly pork chops and chicken wings, and I'm not fond of either. But I busted out the cheesy weenies (which were really good!) and barbecued some bread (also really good!) and we had a wonderful time. We all got to hang out and talk. It was just a good ol' Lutheran barbecue with good meat and beer. At one point the six of us and Adam's friend Brittany (she's lived in Hong Kong for 9 years! She goes to Concordia Seward though) went down to the beach to dip our feet and hang out in the sand for a bit.
I had way more fun than I thought I would. I didn't have BAD expectations, I'm just not a barbecue person. I'm glad my expectations were wrong.
Tomorrow is my tour! And Friday Brittany's taking us clubbing, Hong Kong style. :D It should be a good time! I really want to go to the Russian Bar and get in touch with my roots. If I do I promise to get a picture of me in a fur coat. :D
PICTURES!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
First Day of "real" work
Yesterday, we went to the secondary school to sit with some Form 6 students (essentially twelfth graders) and talk to them about Hong Kong to give them a chance to converse in English. They're taking us around Hong Kong on Thursday, each of us with a group of about 8 students. I was really nervous talking to them, and they were a bit nervous too, so we were kind of awkward, but I think on Thursday it'll be easier making conversation when there's more stimulation and things to point at and ask about. At one point the boys asked me, "Which of these three ladies (the 3 girls in our group) do you think is the most attractive?" and the girls were like, "NO, which of the boys?!" And I said, "I'm not answering that question!" with a smile. It was pretty funny. They also asked if I had a boyfriend. They also asked if I was a Christian or Catholic.
I answered that I was a Christian, and a Lutheran (their school has Lutheran in the name, and even though they take religion classes, a lot of them aren't Christians).
After that, we invited some of the students to go to lunch with us, and about 8 of them took us to their favorite Indian restaurant. The waitress brought out glasses of water for everyone, and the Americans, being used to this at home, all promptly took a drink or two (or downed the whole glass). The Hong Kongers didn't say anything, so we were just chilling and talking about what we should order (I got the beef curry and actually bit the bullet and got sprite because they gave us the fishy tap water). When our food came out, one of the boy dipped his silverware (we had forks and spoons) into the glass, and then the other students started grabbing our silverware and dipping it into their glasses (not ours, by the way). All the Americans were just like, "Uhm... whoops". That was our first major gaffe. :-P No one said anything so it was even funnier when we realized we all drank dishwater.
In the evening, we went out for a welcome dinner. I was under the impression that it was going to be a big event, with a lot of administrators and stuff, but it was our group, the GEOs and the Seminarian Adam, Ken and Monica (the couple that picked us up from the airport), Albert (who is the only sarcastic Chinese man I've met), and a translator and teacher, Mary. It was a very swanky place, and it turned out everything had some form of seafood in it (I only eat fish). I got extremely embarrassed because everyone was making a big deal about me not eating, and I'm used to everyone just kind of not paying attention or not caring. When they finally served fish, Mary gave me practically half the thing. She also gave me both of the fish cheeks. Giving someone a fish cheek means your honoring them, and giving me BOTH of them was a very big deal. And I felt horrible because I could barely eat any of the fish (though it was quite delicious) because eating fish scales is almost on par with eating mushrooms for me. It just FREAKS me out. I've been trying a lot of new things here, but some things I just can't get over my inhibitions. I'll try very hard when we go out on Thursday, if for no other reason than to entertain my students by an American trying things that are totally normal to them but crazy to us.
They also, thankfully, had fried rice so I was a happy camper. They also had fruit slices (dragonfruit, kiwi, oranges, and watermelon, so I was even happier. I love dragonfruit!) for dessert, and these weird jelly coated egg custards, which weren't too good. At least not nearly as good as the egg custard we had at yum cha.
In the taxi on the way home, Victor, the team leader of my group of students called me to tell me he was picking me up at 8:30 here at this school. He told me some other stuff but I didn't get it and I don't like talking on the phone at home, even. He sent me a text message soon after (but I missed it until this morning), telling me that they're all eating breakfast beforehand (I eat breakfast at 7 here so I'm good). I tried to reply, but either the phones they gave us don't support text messaging, or his phone or something was unavailable, so I couldn't get it through.
In a great twist of fate, I was the first in bed as opposed to the last, and I crashed pretty early. I don't know if it's the heat combined with walking everywhere and not eating much, but I've been sleeping like a baby these past several nights. Or it could be the fact that I've finally hit my real circadian rhythm? At home I never sleep well, and here I've just been falling asleep with no problems. I don't know the reason, but I'm certainly not complaining.
Shrimp salad. The little orange beads on the top are crab roe. No thank you.
My place setting. That green colored drink tasted like jolly ranchers, it was so awesome.
Mr. Grouper! (Pronounced 'GA ROUP AH!!!). I wish I would have gotten the chicken head they had in the next course. :P
Rebecca, Laura, Me, and Kristen. Please ignore my awful hair. Monica took these last three pictures.
I'm actually not too bad with chopsticks when I try. That thing was slippery and gelatinous (it also tasted pretty icky. Not offensive, just icky).
Ugh, awful hair.
I answered that I was a Christian, and a Lutheran (their school has Lutheran in the name, and even though they take religion classes, a lot of them aren't Christians).
After that, we invited some of the students to go to lunch with us, and about 8 of them took us to their favorite Indian restaurant. The waitress brought out glasses of water for everyone, and the Americans, being used to this at home, all promptly took a drink or two (or downed the whole glass). The Hong Kongers didn't say anything, so we were just chilling and talking about what we should order (I got the beef curry and actually bit the bullet and got sprite because they gave us the fishy tap water). When our food came out, one of the boy dipped his silverware (we had forks and spoons) into the glass, and then the other students started grabbing our silverware and dipping it into their glasses (not ours, by the way). All the Americans were just like, "Uhm... whoops". That was our first major gaffe. :-P No one said anything so it was even funnier when we realized we all drank dishwater.
In the evening, we went out for a welcome dinner. I was under the impression that it was going to be a big event, with a lot of administrators and stuff, but it was our group, the GEOs and the Seminarian Adam, Ken and Monica (the couple that picked us up from the airport), Albert (who is the only sarcastic Chinese man I've met), and a translator and teacher, Mary. It was a very swanky place, and it turned out everything had some form of seafood in it (I only eat fish). I got extremely embarrassed because everyone was making a big deal about me not eating, and I'm used to everyone just kind of not paying attention or not caring. When they finally served fish, Mary gave me practically half the thing. She also gave me both of the fish cheeks. Giving someone a fish cheek means your honoring them, and giving me BOTH of them was a very big deal. And I felt horrible because I could barely eat any of the fish (though it was quite delicious) because eating fish scales is almost on par with eating mushrooms for me. It just FREAKS me out. I've been trying a lot of new things here, but some things I just can't get over my inhibitions. I'll try very hard when we go out on Thursday, if for no other reason than to entertain my students by an American trying things that are totally normal to them but crazy to us.
They also, thankfully, had fried rice so I was a happy camper. They also had fruit slices (dragonfruit, kiwi, oranges, and watermelon, so I was even happier. I love dragonfruit!) for dessert, and these weird jelly coated egg custards, which weren't too good. At least not nearly as good as the egg custard we had at yum cha.
In the taxi on the way home, Victor, the team leader of my group of students called me to tell me he was picking me up at 8:30 here at this school. He told me some other stuff but I didn't get it and I don't like talking on the phone at home, even. He sent me a text message soon after (but I missed it until this morning), telling me that they're all eating breakfast beforehand (I eat breakfast at 7 here so I'm good). I tried to reply, but either the phones they gave us don't support text messaging, or his phone or something was unavailable, so I couldn't get it through.
In a great twist of fate, I was the first in bed as opposed to the last, and I crashed pretty early. I don't know if it's the heat combined with walking everywhere and not eating much, but I've been sleeping like a baby these past several nights. Or it could be the fact that I've finally hit my real circadian rhythm? At home I never sleep well, and here I've just been falling asleep with no problems. I don't know the reason, but I'm certainly not complaining.
Shrimp salad. The little orange beads on the top are crab roe. No thank you.
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