journal entry #3

Here is the third installment of my reflections journal that we are required to do during our time here. There are questions posed to us that she wants us to take time to ponder. I took a little EXTRA time this week. I just handed it in now even though she wanted it last night... oops!
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Early Childhood Education in Canada is approached quite differently from Hong Kong. In the west, children spend the day learning through play and the ECE’s observe them, note their interests, and set up activities based on those interests (ideally… it doesn’t always happen that way, of course). The basic idea is for children to become independent individuals who are able to problem solve to find the answers for whatever situations will arise. In Hong Kong, children are taught from a very young age how to conduct themselves in a large group and learn vast amounts of scholarly type knowledge.

Explaining it this way is difficult. Anyone reading that will probably immediately think that Canada is much better, but I don’t believe that is true. Both ways have their merits and downfalls. In Canada, over the past decades, we have moved away from rote learning and valuing academic skills in favour of teaching children how to think for themselves. It is great for children to be able to do that but I see a lot of people graduating from high school with less than basic knowledge of core subjects (especially grammar) and with a lack of respect for others in general. It seems like the move to reach one goal has gone too far and things have been ignored that need attention.

There are a lot of people in Hong Kong. It’s just a city, but there are over 7 million people. The population density is estimated at 116 people per square kilometer. In order to create a cohesive society, children must be taught early to live and work in close proximity to others. The strictness of the rules and the height of the expectations reflects this reality. It might seem almost militaristic (the children walk along yellow tape lines on the floor from their classrooms to and from the toilets), but it’s all for a purpose. 

I was speaking to the director of LHK this afternoon and he asked if I could imagine what would happen in a small classroom such as I was in and swapped out the students for the same amount of students from back home. I could imagine. Absolute pandemonium (not to mention the multitude of accident reports that would have to be filled out). There are 28 students in my classroom at one time. The classroom is about half the size of a classroom in Canada which would have only 18. The self-regulation of the Hong Kong children amazes me. The still quite still for long stretches of time. They fidget of course, and they need reminders to cross their legs, keep their hands to themselves, etc. but as I was watching all 28 children today listen to a story being read, actually looking at the teacher and paying attention, I couldn’t help wishing kids back home could do that too. Not that I totally mind being a human jungle gym, but to feel like you aren’t reading a story to yourself while 10 children climb the walls (and you) is a nice change.

The idea that children are future citizens in regards to Early Childhood Education is the same in both places, but the approach is different.

Another difference is how teachers are viewed. As ECE students, how many times were we prepped to answer the question, “So, you’re just a babysitter”? We, as ECE’s and people in the field, know what we do is important… fostering young minds and all that. In Hong Kong, it’s a highly respected position. The whole of society seems to know and understand the contributions you make. Although no one explained the reasoning for this beyond that it’s how it is here, I know from my previous cultural studies that teachers have always been highly respected in Chinese culture. It’s ingrained in the collective mindset.

Another manifestation of the importance of children and their education is how extremely competitive entry into schools is. Parents do not want their children to go to public school. There, they will still receive education, but the rank and prestige belongs to the private schools. At every single level, children are interviewed and tested for acceptance. My cooperating teacher was telling me how our PN’s are interviewed practically when they are infants for entry to LHK.  She told me there were 800 applicants for the 60 spaces available. That is mind boggling. She was also explaining how the K3’s were under a severe amount of pressure to perform. They need to be top notch is all areas – academics, behaviour, deportment, etc. – to be accepted into a “good” primary school. (*NOTE: LHK has 4 “grades” – PN (pre-nursery) and Kindergarten 1, 2 & 3.)  She told me that she was glad she had the PN classes because, although there is the responsibility to mold them into children who can sit still and pay attention and follow direction (the main directive of PN’s since hard-core academics come later), she didn’t have to deal with the stress of her students AND that of their parents. Apparently, K3 teachers are practically harassed by parents worried about their children’s futures and their upcoming primary school entrance assessment interviews. And if the child is not performing at a high enough level, it is the teacher’s fault. (Parents here do not want to accept their child might have any kind of exceptionality. That’s ANOTHER difference.) K2’s have mock interviews that they prepare for so the teachers can assess their abilities and see exactly where work needs to be done. PN’s and perhaps K1’s still get to be “just kids”… at least for a while.

When I think of my own views of educating young children, I can see the merits of both ways. I think children do need to be taught to be independent thinkers but also to learn how to work as a cohesive group, acting with respect for others rather than to always look out for personal interests. Children’s education needs to be approached with the idea that you are influencing future members of society and the values and ideals of the particular culture they are raised in need to be taken into account. But I also think there needs to be a balance. There is a place for “free play” and fun, silly behaviour, and also for following direction, regulated behaviour, and academic study.

I think being here in Hong Kong and witnessing firsthand the differences in methods and values has strengthened that idea. I often thought in the past that time should be divided between focused attention with concrete learning involved and creative, free flowing activity. I can see for myself the value of what we are missing in Canada.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what I have learned during my time here in Hong Kong. Due to my laid-back nature, I think I absorb information without really realizing that’s what I’m doing. Maybe I tend to think I always knew it and it’s not a new way of looking at things. But I think what I will take away from this experience isn’t necessarily views on education of children in Hong Kong vs. the west but more a self-discovery type of thing. You never know how you are going to react in certain situations until you are in them. Many things about this trip have been… eye-widening (maybe they weren’t “closed” previously, but I can see it more clearly now). I know I am a shy person. I do not assert myself or my opinions and ideas easily. That is definitely true when teaching here too. I feel as though if I am put in a classroom with children by myself, I can be quite energetic and engaging (at least I hope!) but when there are other teachers, I take a backseat and do what they want me to do. I ask what I can do to help out and that sort of thing, but I don’t really ever say, “Hey, I think we should try…” This makes me feel inadequate and like I don’t really deserve to be here. All my classmates seem to be doing this.

But I also realize that I do put ideas out there and do what I do well, just in a different way. I have a reserved approach and I HOPE it’s still effective and purposeful. I’ll just assume I’m doing an okay job until someone tells me otherwise. J It’s difficult because my cooperating teacher (the PN teacher in the classroom I work in who supervises me, in case you forgot) is a Chinese woman raised in the UK and fits every stereotype that just popped into your head just now. She is also quiet and reserved. Stoic, I’d say. And not much for undue praise. So, it can be very difficult for me to gauge exactly what she thinks of me and my performance. And I am already an emotionally needy, unsure, praise junkie. Haha. Unless she tells me, how can I know if I am doing something wrong - or right, for that matter? I do ask for feedback on activities I’ve performed. She gives suggestions for possible improvement but so far, the general remark I get is that they were “okay” or “good”. I’m a little jealous of my classmates who get comments like, “Wow, that was really great. The kids loved it.” Then of course, I immediately think that it wasn’t good enough to warrant any sort of praise. It can be a stressful position to be in.

There is only one week and two days left teaching. I wonder how many things I could actually change about my approach in that short amount of time. I’m not going to let myself worry about it too much. If I see an opportunity where I can assert myself more, or if I get a brilliant idea I want to try out, I will. But I’m just going to continue to keep my eyes open and soak up as much as I can about this fascinating way of life as I can. (Maybe I should have become an anthropologist instead…)

journal entry #2

This is something I had to do for school. The second entry of our reflections journal. This starts off about Hong Kong in general and my impressions of it and what I've done so far, but ends up more to do about the style of education for young children here and how it relates to what I am used to back home. If you aren't interesting in child care, feel free to skip it. I won't be offended... much.
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As soon as I arrived in Hong Kong, I think I fell in love. I knew with as much as I am interested in all things Asian, I would feel this way. I’m not surprised. It was pretty much what I was expecting it to be. Not to say I had any concrete expectations coming here. It’s just the vague picture of what was in my head feels realized somehow. My first impression was that I was in an endless Chinatown. Perhaps having a Chinese extended family and spending time with them out in various Chinatowns did give me an idea of how it could be. But, that seems somewhat ridiculous to me…

Overall, Hong Kong at first seems big, loud, overwhelming to the senses, and completely awesome. We are told that, in fact, it is not that big, but it still seems like it is. We’ve trekked all over and haven’t covered even half of what there is to see. It has the feel of a huge city. The urgency in crowds, the sheer number of people, etc. And like most cities, there are different feelings for various times of the day. As with any other place I’ve been, I like the dead of night when everyone else is asleep and things are dark and quiet. You can explore so much this way. As I keep saying to everyone, I didn’t come here to sleep. Plenty of time for that when I go home. I also love early morning, when things are still somewhat quiet but everyone is starting their day. The people that are around at each of these times are different too.  (I love seeing the old ladies doing t’ai chi in the parks on my morning walk to the MTR station.)

The downside, which I do feel like I was prepared for at least, are the heat, bugs, and pushy people. All three are annoying but it’s not the type of thing that would ever sour my liking of a place. Hong Kong is a unique place and, even though I haven’t travelled much, I doubt there is anywhere else like it in the world.

One thing I wasn’t expecting was that sometimes I feel really sad thinking about my mother-in-law. (For those that are unaware, she passed away last month.) She was originally from Hong Kong and I kind of always thought we would travel here together. It seems to hit me at strange moments, like when I’m out at a restaurant for dinner or walking various temple grounds. I suppose it’s natural.

The first week was amazing. I have never packed so much into so little time. As soon as we landed, we began “adventuring”. Our first night was pretty much just getting settled in our respective rooms and walking around Tai Kok Tsui (our neighbourhood). The second day, we ventured a little further and went shopping in Mong Kok. Day 3 was exploring the Peak, Wong Tai Sin temple, Chi Lin Nunnery and Gardens, and the Hong Kong Museum of History, finishing with dinner with the LHK staff at the Cricket Club. Day 4, we went to Macau and wandered around a really cool temple called A-Ma (which was built into a huge rock) and day 5 we went to the Big Buddha. On day 6, we went on a tour of the LHK campuses and then my roommates and I went on an epic mission to find a Pizza Hut that we had been craving since others had brought it up a few days earlier. Day 7, 8, and 9 were spent with the kids at LHK. And today, we went to an island called Cheung Chau to see the Bun Festival. (All of this will be explained in detail on my blog, day by day.)

It’s hard to say exactly what it is that I have learned about the people and culture of Hong Kong. I feel that my existing knowledge has been reinforced throughout my first week. I knew that education and academic success was highly valued in this culture, and that has definitely been apparent. The fact that two and three-year-olds are speaking three languages and reading already is a reflection of that value. It is also interesting to me to note that the culture seems to put the collective ahead of the individual. It shows even in the lack of what in Canada we would consider manners. People here are pushy and cut in front of you in line, bump into, step on your feet, etc. and they hardly ever say sorry or excuse themselves or any of the other things we think of as considerate. It was explained to us that this is because there are so many people here that it is never expected because it is inevitable for those things to happen. It may not be how I conduct myself personally but I don’t judge others for not behaving that way. You can’t really be mad at people for not valuing the same things you do. And maybe I appreciate it even more when they do go out of their way to apologize.

My first impressions of LHK specifically can be summed up as “wow”. I know most of (if not all) of the group I am travelling with prefer the child-directed approach to learning. In school, we were taught about the benefits of that style and not so much for the teacher-directed methods. In Canada (western countries, in general), highly regard freedom, choice, and independence. Here, it is more necessary to mold children into the citizen that will eventually comprise this society. The job market here (not just Hong Kong, but East Asia in general) is highly competitive and demanding. Preparation for their lifestyle must begin very early in life in order for individuals to become successful. Parents have high expectations of the schools their children attend. They rely on the school to prepare their children for the next stage of their education. The teacher-directed, academic focused style makes sense for this culture. And the benefits are apparent. I can see the pros and cons of both different ways of educating young children. In my own future practice, I would like to take the aspects of each and use them in working with kids. Although many of my “classmates” have claimed strong opinions about LHK’s methods, I am not here to judge or asses them. I am here to learn. And it’s fascinating. I think a parent of a Canadian child would freak out if there were lines on the floor that the children had to follow when lining up and walking through the halls. Here, it just makes sense (and you have to admit, it’s really cute). The way the teachers speak to the children may come across as harsh, but it also reinforces their expectations of the child and lets him/her know exactly what the desired behaviour is. There is something to be said of the western way of encouraging children to problem solve and think for themselves but there is also the benefit of scholarly success. I am in a pre-nursery classroom at LHK (what we would call toddlers at home), but they conduct themselves more like the older preschool children at home (Kindergarten or JK). When I taught in a toddler class in Canada, the classroom was chaotic. The discipline and consistency that leads to behaviour modification and measureable results was not there. (This could be just the location I taught in, but speaking to others, it seems a consistent observation.) At LHK, they are like a well-oiled machine. Watching the children at snack time is a perfect example. When they finish eating, they take their bowls and forks to the cart and put them away in the right place. Then return to their seat, take out cloth from their school bags and wipe their hands and mouth, then place it back in a container in their bags along with the drinking cup they used, and replace their bags in the cubbies. All without any prompting. I find that toddlers in Canada go to child care to “be looked after” (ie. babysitting). It may be with a focus on encouraging development but it is a natural type of development that would likely happen whether they attended the child care centre or not. (The potential of the child may be more fully realized. Maybe not. It depends on the quality of the centre.) At LHK, the children attend to learn. It is not for being looked after. They could stay home with their nanny for that. It is a school. The things they learn there are things they will not learn outside of that environment.

Of course, they are still children. The similarities between Canadian children and children in Hong Kong are the same as they would be anywhere in the world. They cry when they are upset. They get tired. Their attention span is not endless. They like to play and have fun. They are naturally curious. Etc.

When it comes to my own interactions with the children at LHK, I have to use different strategies than I would at home. Of course, my core nature will not (cannot) change. I can’t act in a way that does not come naturally. Thankfully for this experience, my personality suits the environment. I think my attitude helps me as well. I am not approaching this with a negative view of their methods. I came here knowing things would be different and am open to learning about the strategies the teachers here use and their benefits. So far, I haven’t acted any differently than I would at home. It is not my style to just jump right in and be engaging with the children right away. I appreciate that we were given three full days to observe. I feel that my interactions are inauthentic when I rush into things. It feels forced and I think the children respond to that. When I deal with children, I have more of a quiet nature than a lot of my classmates did. It never seemed to be a detriment to my relationships with children and it doesn’t now. Most children seem to like me and I believe it is because they can feel the sincerity and caring in my approach. It has never been something I had to think about though. It is just how I am.

So, that will not change. What I will have to be mindful of here is the actual way I have of speaking. Since English is a second language to the children and the range of understanding is quite varied, I have to be more aware of the things I say. For instance, I realized I was saying “yeah” instead of “yes” and using a lot of contractions and not annunciating properly. This could get in the way of being understood.

Since it has only been three days so far, I don’t know what else I will have to modify. For the most part, I will try to model the behaviour of the classroom teachers. The teacher-directed way of leading activities actually comes more naturally to me than what I was taught to do in school. Maybe this is because I am older than my classmates and grew up with those kinds of teachers myself. Or maybe it’s just part of my personality. I like structure and details.

For the upcoming week, I would like to focus on individual interactions with the children. When I spoke to my other fellow travellers, they all said they had been doing this right from the beginning, some even leading activities already. I felt really bad. Doing that went against my nature to sit back and acclimate first. When I observe, I actually observe. I sit and watch, listen, and absorb. I like to know the children’s names and get a feel for their personalities before I interact with them. Just like how some children need time to warm up to you, I need to feel comfortable with them too.  I used the first three days to do that. (By the way, between the morning and afternoon classes, there are 56 children in pre-nursery. I know mostly all of their names and have a grasp on many of their personalities as well.) Not to say I didn’t interact at all, but I didn’t force myself to make conversation when it felt unnatural.

The other thing I want to focus on is being more verbal with my co-operating teacher. I always ask what to do if I have a question and I tried to ask for general feedback as well, but there was not a lot of information shared between us beyond what was asked. Two reserved personalities, I think.

These two things are, of course, on top of the five activities that I have to implement. Nerve-wracking, to say the least.

Day 3 ~ Anthony's Tour of Hong Kong

June 26th, 2016 - I'm not using this blog anymore since I moved everything over to Wordpress. Even though it's 3 years later, I am still slowwwwwwwly trying to complete posting about Hong Kong. Day 3 just went up over there, so rather than duplicating it on a "dead blog", you can just click this link and see the real one.

Day 2 ~ part 2

After the meeting at our supervising teacher's apartment (which btw, is WAY nicer than ours!), the 4 girls that we HADN'T hung out with earlier, and my roomies and I went out for dinner. Much like in the morning, we wandered around until we found something that looked like it had edible food. It was on Mong Kok Road (which Anchor Street turns into after the Tong Mi Road intersection), not too far from where we were earlier. The staff spoke little to no English but there was an English menu. It was a noodle restaurant. It took us a bit to figure out how the ordering system worked (pick a broth, a noodle type, a spiciness factor, toppings, etc.). Since our one Cantonese speaking classmate didn't join us (and hates being delegated to translate), I was the only other one who had any knowledge of the language at all. And I know next to nothing. I can say please and thank you and apologize and count. That about sums it up! Still, they asked me to help. Fat lot of good that did them. Haha.

As we headed back to our respective apartments, we made plans to meet up on the rooftop patio of the hostel building in a few hours. By the appointed time, some ended up being to tired (still recovering for jet lag, I guess) and some weren't feeling well. Roomies and I met Tumblr Girl and her roomies up there and we waited awhile for my location buddy (I'll explain that later)/Rob fan and her roomie to show up. (The other two hostel residents were the ones who had passed out, I think.) They were all sitting around, drinking, admiring the rooftop view for quite awhile. Eventually, we decided to leave and check out a bar in the area. The night was still young. But apparently, only my roomies, Tumblr Girl, and I felt that way. The rest called it a night.

We went in to Bar Pacific (the one Boy Roomie had already graced with his presence the night before - the one I can see from my window). Those that know me know I DO NOT drink beer. Or really anything at all. I only really ever drink Coke and Amaretto. This sucks when going to foreign countries because most places don't have it. Bar Pacific was no exception. There was a special on a Korean beer called Blue Girl (They even had Blue Girl reps dressed up in what I would describe as old school flight attendant costumes.) so that is what the other three had. I was determined to have SOMETHING so I scoured the menu for anything I thought I could choke down. I ended up with a Long Island ice tea. ...I forgot how much alcohol is in one of those. I think I had 2. ....It was a fun night.

painting that was in supervising teacher's apartment - I LOVE it

what I had for dinner

everyone else enjoying their noodles

hanging out on the rooftop patio -
top: Rob fan, her roomie, Tumblr Girl
bottom: TG's 2 roomies, Girl Roomie

Long Island ice tea

taken by a Blue Girl

note: Pocari Sweat totally negates a hangover
I swear by this system.

Day 2 ~ Shopping

I woke up at 6:45am this morning. Just sort of popped awake. Which NEVER happens. Awesome. Maybe sleeping with the curtains wide open is a good idea.

It had stopped raining sometime during the night but was pretty overcast. Since today was our only true “day off”, we decided to make the most of it and start early. I knew it had to be done but I wasn’t looking forward to the inaugural shower use. You can’t see clearly in the picture I posted yesterday but it’s literally a powder room with a shower head in it. And so weird with the toilet on the same side of the (useless) curtain. And the toilet paper! (We have to take it off the wall each time we use the shower.) Also, there is a switch for the hot water on the wall outside the bathroom. And apparently, it takes 10 minutes to heat up. Which we keep forgetting.

light switches here are different - up is off/down is up,
and most of the electrical sockets have switches to turn them on too

All-in-all, it wasn’t that bad. The water did heat up as I was using it. And it is a removable showerhead, which is preferable. I’m sure I’ll get used to the water spraying all over the toilet and bathroom floor as time goes on.

As I was getting ready, my roommates had an impromptu yoga lesson in the living room. Girl Roomie is a yoga instructor. I’m sure it will happen again and I already informed them photographic impressions of their morning living room yoga sessions will end up on my blog. (She even had another girl (Tumblr Girl) doing yoga with her at our gate in the Toronto airport.)

When we were all ready to go, we decided to go in search of food. Two steps out of our apartment is a tiny bakery. Boy Roomie and I both bought cha siu bao. It was yummy but not quite as good as the one from last night, but definitely edible. It wasn’t enough to fill us up though, so we weren’t done. On our way, we wanted to pick up 2 more sets of keys for our place, so we stopped by the main location of YesInn. The office wasn’t open yet but we did run in to the three girls who are staying in the other other location. So, while two of them went… somewhere (I forget where), the other (tumblr girl) joined us for food. We ended up walking a bit down “our” street (Anchor Street) and around a corner at some tiny hole-in-the-wall type place.

Anchor Street and Tong Mi Road intersection
looking back towards our temporary home

But this was only after walking in to what looked like a nicer place that would probably be out of our price range and turning right around and leaving again. As soon as we walked in, the lady said, “no English”. Nice. Very welcoming. We stayed anyway because she gave us a menu that had a few pictures on it. I saw sticky rice next to a cup of tea and ordered that. I asked for milk in it. I don’t understand exactly what it is I actually got, but it was orange and very oily looking (the picture does not accurately depict the horror of the situation).

turns out, this is "Hong Kong style milk tea"

I tried a sip and it tasted like creamy metal. The rice wasn’t too bad though. The typical nub of wiener was present but also most of a full chicken wing (skin on), which I have never encountered. Needless to say, both were picked out. At first, I was the only one who was going to order, but Boy Roomie and Tumblr Girl saw a girl eating noodles and beef and ordered that to split. Girl roomie is vegetarian and didn’t see anything palatable. They enjoyed their meal much more than I did. I learned my lesson. Never order milk tea in HK again.

Boy Roomie and Tumblr Girl splitting their noodles

Afterwards, we hit up 7-11 for a “real” drink and I got bottled milk tea. Like what I subsisted on when I was in Japan. Ah, the sweet taste of familiarity. (I’m am still dying for just a regular cup of tea though.)

We met back up with the other two girls (the four from the main location had left earlier to shop before we got there) and headed back to see if the office was open. It was. I discovered when we were in there getting keys that they have the washing machine there. And, oh happy day, a dryer as well. People here all hang their washing out their windows to dry. There are metal racks attached under the windows just for this purpose. No thanks. I will be carting my laundry over to that building to wash AND dry pretty soon. (The drying cycle apparently only takes 23 minutes.)



closet space is at a premium here

After that is when the day’s true adventure began. The six of us headed to a nearby shopping area called Mong Kok. That’s where the Ladies' Market is but we started at a mall there first (no idea what it’s called*). It was niiiiiiice. And expensive.


shopping buddies for the day



fancypants mall

We didn’t realize that stores don’t open until 11am here and it was still before 10. Our actual purpose in going there wasn’t really to shop. Roomies had looked up nearby gyms online to use while we’re here. Boy Roomie is into working out and weights and stuff, and Girl Roomie, obviously, does yoga every day. So we wanted to check it out. Its crazy expensive (the top gym in all of HK, we were told) and they don’t do free trials unless you have a HK ID (as in, you are a resident), monthly fees are around $350, and day passes are $50ish (Canadian… not HKD). This is a no. But you know how gyms are… A guy named Joe sat the two of them down and gave them the whole spiel. They had to fill out this form just to take a tour. I wanted to see what the fuss was about so I filled one out too so I could join them. (The other three waited for us in the “chill out” lounge.

It was easy to see why it was so expensive. It was a gorgeous club. I want to move in to their change room. It’s almost worth the $50 just so I could shower there.

We headed back out into the mall just as stores were starting to open. Tumblr Girl works at Teavana, which is owned by Starbucks so she gets a discount and wanted a drink. I don’t really drink anything from there, other than green tea frappuccinos, but I went with her because I had an idea… When I was in Japan (I promise I will stop saying that soon.), they had this vanilla chiffon cake I was in love with. Every single location. So every time we hit ‘Suta-ba’ in Japan, I had a piece. Hubby insisted I could get it at home. Needless to say, I haven’t had it since leaving there. So~ I thought, MAYBE… And this is what I found. I didn’t buy it, but I was very pleased.

We walked around a bit of the mall for a bit. Not much. The other girls were looking for a particular area, but I wasn’t paying much attention and have no idea what it was specifically they wanted. We ended up going in to only one place. A Japanese style arcade. UFO catchers and purikura!

Of course, I demanded that they all do purikura with me. (Boy Roomie declined.) For those that don’t know (which is likely everyone except hubby, who I also dragged into several), purikura, or “print club” is a Japanese photobooth that prints out tiny pictures on sticker paper that you can cut out and put in special albums or decorate… whatever (usually your cell phone). They all have themes or gimmicks. The one I picked for us today featured the San-X character Rilakkuma. Because hubby loves him. <3

From the mall, we headed out to the Ladies' Market. It’s known for being cheap, but we were told that the vendors will jack up their prices because we are tourists and they think we will pay it. You are SUPPOSED to barter. …I don’t like that. So we didn’t stay there. We went to another street with another market… I think. Again, I was not really shopping for anything so I was just following the others around not really paying attention to where I was going. (Not the wisest way to sightsee!) But before we left, we ran in to our flight attendants from the way here. So bizarre!

I didn’t mention in that post a few memorable things about the flight since I passed out and then did just a quick update at the end… We really only dealt with the 4 of them that we ran in to. (They must be assigned separate sections, I guess.) They were all really nice. And young. There was 3 girls and a guy. We were joking around that the guy was hitting on Boy Roomie. (I’m pretty sure that was the case!) But, BR was also downing a lot of free wine and is very sociable so was giving it right back.
Also, the one with short curly hair had asked about my tattoo. She actually said, “Is that Weezer?” Then told me she liked them and asked if I was going to the Downsview Park show July 10^th. (I’m not, but I am seeing them in Windsor on the 11^th!) It was basically right after talking to fellow-Twi/Rob fan girl about BD2, so I was all thrilled about being able to talk about both my loves in one situation. That never happens.
I’m sure there is even more about the flight I wanted to remember, but am forgetting it already. :(

So~ the market… It was one long street of mostly women’s stuff. We spent a few hours walking up and down. We kept splitting up into various groupings. Boy Roomie left us completely to go off on his own for a bit. I wish he blogged too cause he has hilarious encounters all the time. But they aren’t my stories to tell (if I’m not in them). I pretty much continued to follow along. I did end up buying one shirt though. Everyone needs to buy at least one good Engrish article while in Asia.

Because... Expec-tation... YI!

When Girl Roomie and I had exhausted the offerings of the street, we met back up with Boy Roomie and found a place to eat. This one we asked before even going inside if they had an English menu. I ordered “beef with pan fried noodles”. I have no idea that what I was ordering was a curry dish. That was the extent of the English description. Hubby is probably laughing as he reads this. I hate curry. But I was starving. So I ate it anyway. My esophagus was burning. But I soothed it with my (non-black) Chinese tea. And Girl Roomie’s. And Boy Roomie’s. (No one but me seems to enjoy tea with Chinese food. For me, it’s necessary.)

 By the time we were done lunch, we were exhausted and needed to go back home to rest before our scheduled meeting at 5 with our supervising teacher. I think it was about 2pm at that point. We walked back, stopping at a “Japan Home Center” store (remind me later to mention the overabundance of Japanese stuff here and how that surprised me), so that I could buy a hairdryer (which I paid $99HKD for – the equivalent of $13!), hangers, and some reallllly ugly rubber flip-flops to wear in the bathroom to keep my feet dry.

…This post is way too long already and I haven’t finished the day yet. So I’m going to break it into two parts. 

Two more notes before I end~ We were told that we wouldn’t need that much cash and that we could use our credit or debit cards practically anywhere we went. That is a big load of crap. Everyone pays with cash. For everything. Except when you use an Octopus card (more on that later).

I mentioned buying hangers. I had to get wire ones. Because there is no closet rod in our room. Boy Roomie has one. No fair! So I am hanging all my work clothes off the edge of my bunkbed. I needed wire hangers so I could bend the hooks perpendicular to the hanger. Ghetto much? 

*note: found out later that the fancy mall is Langham Place. It's right there on the picture. duh...

more pictures and stuff

one of the girls in our group has a tumblr set up for our time here. she's got some great pictures up so far. check it out @ thehongkongexperience

and just a little note~ apparently some people are having difficulties posting comments. i have no idea why. 
:( this makes me very sad. you can leave me love on fb or twitter then.

Day 1 ~ Arrival in Hong Kong

After we deboarded, went through customs (Okay, I know customs agents are not known to be the friendliest people ever, but mine actually shushed me!), and got our luggage, we were met by our supervising teacher (who arrived a day before us) and the heads of our placement preschool at the arrivals gate. The preschool (henceforth shall be referred to as LHK ~ Learning Habitat Kindergarten) had arranged to transport the 10 of us from the airport to our hostels in a chartered bus. Made the hour-ish long drive more enjoyable.

There wasn’t too much to see leaving the airport. It looks like any airport anywhere. And the highway was pretty boring too. Cars on the wrong side of the road, and scenery reminiscent of Jurassic Park, aside, of course. Once we headed into civilization, it struck me again, as it did when I first got off the plane in Japan three years ago, that the world looks like same everywhere (at least, everywhere I’ve been). There is grass, trees, bodies of water, roads, and people. It’s like I’m expecting to step out into some alien territory and surprised when that DOESN’T happen.

The buildings look the same as they do in any city, albeit, ginormous structures much taller than you would want to live in, and seemingly from that ugly 70’s era architecture style.

We pulled up in front of the first hostel and all piled out of the bus, scrambling, yet again, for our luggage. Between the 10 of us (11 if you count our teacher), we are all staying at different variations of “YesInSpace” hostel.

4 of the girls are in 2 rooms in the first building “YesInn”. I haven’t seen them but they all reported back that the rooms are extremely tiny. (Maybe I’ll get in one and get some pictures or something.)

So the remainder of us carted our stuff along the street and around the corner to the first building. We waited outside while the first group of 3 to get an “apartment” went up and got settled. Then, finally, my two roommates and I walked back around the corner and down the back street to another door that looked just like the first (and apparently, just like the one our teacher uses as well) and went up to our own apartment.

At some point, I HAVE to get some video of the trek up here. The streetscape and hallway are foreboding. You think you are in BIG trouble… Anyway, we’re on the 14^th floor. You feel as though your life is in danger when you’re in the elevator. And when you step out in the hallway of the 14^th floor, you think you might be in hell. But then you unlock the door and breathe a sigh of relief. Yes, it is a very tight fit for three of us, but at least it’s liveable. (We get the one guy, so he gets his room and the other girl and I share bunk beds. How… campy.)

You walk in immediately into the “living room”. There is a tiny (and weird – cause there is no shower stall, per se) bathroom on the left. The “sofa bed” is on the right. (I use quotations because I don’t agree with using these terms to refer to them.) There are really nice, brand-new looking hardwood floors. The bedrooms face you, boy’s on the left, ours on the right. And the world’s smallest kitchen is on the other side of the couch. That’s it.

front door and bathroom

shower while you pee?



view from the door of the bedrooms

top bunk is mine

kitchen

seriously...

I’ll put some pictures here but I’m not sure that what you’re seeing will make sense to you. I’ll take video at some point and post it on youtube so you can get a better idea of what I mean.

After we had all deposited our luggage, there was still more they wanted to show us. We each got a cell phone, provided by LHK (so nice of them!) with, I believe $10 prepaid, so that we can contact them and each other.

We headed back out (btw, SO humid and gross. It was only about 25 degrees Celsius today but felt yucky. And now it’s raining.) and down to the bank, McDonald’s and a supermarket. I didn’t need the bank, since I am oh-so-prepared, and I wasn’t in the mood for McD’s since I can get that anywhere (and the menu was sparse and unappetizing anyway), so my roommate and I went down a few doors to a bakery. I got my usual suspects ~ cha sui bao, bo luo bao, and gai mi bao (bbq pork bun, pineapple bun, and coconut bun) and also bought a can of Pocari Sweat. (There are a LOT of Japanese products I’ve seen wandering around). It came to less than $20HK. We took our purchases over to McDonald’s and I ate everything I bought while I sat there waiting for the rest of them.

On our way over to the supermarket, we passed by a 7-11. I decided I need tea in the morning, so I went in to get just a tiny carton of milk. One of the girls, who has been back and forth to HK quite a bit, says milk here is gross. But I can’t very well have tea without it. So I’m going to try. I really hope it works! A month without tea…. ai-yah. I also bought a bag of Calbee pizza potato chips. The kind with the melted cheese on them. Hubby and I love them. Another Japanese thing. In fact, I think I may eat them now as I sit here and listen to the rain.

At the supermarket, the three of us (roomies) pooled ideas to see what we would need. Ended up spending $341.56HK which is roughly $45 Canadian. Things like towels, mildew spray, dish soap, toilet paper, etc. While I was there, I looked for sugar, which I found easily, and tea bags. Note: If you are ever planning an extended visit to somewhere far from home and you are particular about things like that, BRING YOUR OWN! It hadn’t even crossed my mind. Which is weird, because I take my own tea bags and sugar to my parent’s and sister-in-law’s houses when I visit. Maybe I just assumed… China, land of tea. Yeah, well… I ended up with a tiny box of no-name English breakfast tea. Sooooo not the same thing. What I wouldn’t give for just a couple of bags or Red Rose orange pekoe… Now, at least you can learn from my mistakes. :P

After that excursion, I think everyone’s nerves were shot. The three of us just left the rest of the group there and headed back to our place. I think it took less than 10 minutes for girl to pass out. Boy did a little unpacking first, then he passed out too. So I’ve just been sitting here, catching up on messages, twitter, and blogging. Can’t complain. Really need the downtime.

And, I don’t know if it’s the air or if this apartment is full of mould (cause the cupboards really stink) but I cannot breathe. I am superstuffed up. This will make for fun sleeping. But, I think as soon as I upload some pictures on this thing, and post it, I am going to call it a night. It’s only 8:30pm here right now. But travel really does take a lot out of you.

random Hong Kong pictures~

By the way~ I have no idea what posting here will be like. I’ll try to do it every day. But once I start “work” on Monday, I may be exhausted. I promise nothing. J But thanks for reading. If there’s anything you want to know about specifically, let me know. Or just leave a comment to say hi so I don’t feel like I’m talking to myself. I’m all lonely in a faraway country. *lip trembles* (And I know how to lay the guilt on thick, too.)