Mid-Autumn Festival

We just finished a very full weekend! Our friend Mae came to visit from Korea, and although Mike had a PD day on Monday (so Annie was home), today (Tuesday) was a public holiday in HK. I am posting tons of pictures of what we all did. It was tempting just to upload them to FB, because that is so much faster than blogspot is, and it's then rewarding to get comments on individual pictures... I can't decide which is better! So don't feel shy to leave a comment, (but I won't take it personally if you don't!) :) Anyway, this top picture is probably the most beautiful view you'll ever have at a McDonald's restaurant! On Saturday, we decided to go to "The Peak" where you take a tram up a mountain and can enjoy a spectacular view of the city. In typical Mike-and-Sarah fashion, we somehow messed up and instead of getting on a bus that took us to the tram, we got on a bus that took us all the way up to the top of the peak. The whole point was taking the tram! Oh well... it was still a scenic drive and eventually we realized where we'd gone wrong. So we had lunch at a mall that's at the top (there are malls everywhere in Hong Kong) and noticed a playground just outside that also had a great view!
















The girls were having fun with some kids and their helpers.



























Then we paid to go to the highest point of the peak. It was really windy, and I'm sure there are days when the view is clearer, but it wasn't tooo bad.

This picture makes me laugh... it was so windy and Annie was trying to look at the camera, but her hair wouldn't cooperate!

We took the tram down the mountain, which was pretty cool because it's such a steep ride, and then we went to another mall to meet up with Mae. We found each other easily which was a relief because she had no cell phone. After we settled her in at home, we

walked to an area close to the school where there there is a good Vietnamese restaurant that we like. On the way home, we discovered a little festival happening, so the girls got their picture taken with a "Chinese princess". It's Mid-Autumn festival right now, so people celebrate with lanterns and parties and eat moon cakes (from what we gathered but I think there's more to it than that!).

On Sunday, Mae spent the day with a friend. We found out we could get home from church by taking the ferry and ended up walking the whole way home... which was a looong walk, but gave us a better sense of our neighborhood.

We noticed a little temple right in between some buildings (up the road from where we live).

I got in trouble after I snapped this picture. There are lantern stands everywhere, but apparently I wasn't supposed to take a picture. I have no idea what that's about... maybe it's linked to superstition, or maybe something was lost in translation!

On Sunday evening, Mae still wasn't back and we thought we'd take the girls down to the play area before bedtime. To our surprise, the playroom was closed because our building was having a lantern festival. We bought tickets for about $2, which gave us popcorn, food, door prize entry, and a "ritual", which apparently we couldn't do because we're not Chinese, but we "could still enjoy the atmosphere". And enjoy the atmosphere we DID!

Mostly it was just kids running around with glow sticks, burned popcorn, and a second supper of the night, but it was fun to interact with neighbours from the building.

And here is a bad picture of the adorable Katelyn with her grandma.

On Monday night, we celebrated Mid-Autumn festival again by heading to South Bay beach. This is Annie with her new friend Sean (the little boy she had hit it off with at church a couple weeks ago).

Friends on the beach.

It was 30 degrees when we arrived (at 6:30) and went down to 29 where it stayed all night. It was the perfect temperature. I was in heaven!

I hadn't wanted to pack swimsuits since we would just be there for the evening, but I should have. The girls would have gone swimming if they could have. Next time!

(beach beauties!)

Annie & Mae

(lovely)

(fun on the beach with glowsticks.)

Sean gave Annie that flower and she acted like a girl in love. She clutched it all night!

After we said our farewell to Mae, we decided to see if we could find the Kowloon Walled City. It was walking distance from where we live, and if you visit us, we'll take you there! It has a really interesting history. This walled area of Kowloon was not under British rule during the time when Britain occupied Hong Kong. A crazy little city established, and basically there was no police or government control. Lots of opium and prostitution and all that other bad stuff took place until it was torn down in the 1980s and turned into a beautiful park, with some old remains of how it used to be. We were fascinated by some of the monuments dedicated to missionaries that ministered to the people living there. Google it if you're interested because I'm not explaining it well. But we thought it was a spectacularly beautiful area to explore and photograph.

(we haven't seen sky this blue for a while- it was a beautiful day!)

(So interesting!)

So far, we are loving Hong Kong and the variety this city offers. In one weekend, we experienced a beautiful beach, Chinese history, big city malls, multiple trips on ferries, great food, and we got to see an old friend and meet some new ones. We miss our family and friends back home, but right now we're doing "pretty alright".

Helpers

There are some things I had no idea about until we moved here, which is why I think it's such an eye-opening experience to move to another country! For example, I wouldn't have known that in Hong Kong, it is extremely common to employ "Domestic Helpers", otherwise known as hired help, maids, nannies, servant... SLAVE???

The helpers are mainly from the Philippines, but some are from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Nepal and other poorer countries. When I was considering working here, this was suggested as the easiest way to have childcare for Leila. I just couldn't wrap my head around having a complete stranger move into a 700 square-foot apartment with us, and then leave Leila with her five days a week. It is actually very cheap (like $500/month?) and they will do your cooking, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, etc. Still, it's a bit of a process to even hire one. From one we know, you need to interview and do background checks, and then there's a lot of paperwork and visas that need to happen... too complicated for us!

So it's been fascinating to actually see this in action. We know other teachers who do have helpers and it's such a mixed range of experiences with them. Some are good, some are bad, we know one family whose previous helper is trying to screw them over by making false claims in hopes of squeezing more money out of them, and they're feeling hurt and upset that she's doing this. Especially when they feel that they always treated her really well. We've also heard stories that helpers prefer to have "western" families because some Chinese families do not treat them very well. You're supposed to give them their own room, but some are made to sleep on the floor of the room of the children, and get up with them in the night, and basically work 24/7!

I went to a new friend's apartment this week and it was interesting to see her helper make supper and bring us a snack and drink. It's so normal, but so foreign for me! She grew up being raised by helpers and said that she recently reunited with the one that helped raise her... who is now in her sixties!

When I take the girls to the playroom during the day, it is not uncommon for me to be the only Mom and the rest are all Filipino (but definitely there are some Chinese stay-at-home moms with their children. And also grandmas). Same with when I pick Annika up from kindergarten. There are some Chinese mothers there, but the majority are Filipino helpers. Many of these helpers have their own families and children back home and come to HK to work and try to send every penny back home. You can see that in some cases, they are the ones raising the children they're taking care of!

I've started to get to know a few of the helpers in our building and there is one in particular that is friendly to me. She takes care of a little girl named Katelyn. Katelyn is three and speaks perfect English. She has the cutest little face and wears pink glasses, and I just always want to bring her home with me... she's so adorable! Tonight I was visiting with her helper and I was asking a bit about Katelyn- if she has siblings, etc. This helper said that Katelyn's parents divorced when she was only one, and she only sees her mom once a week. She lives with her dad and the helper. They only speak English to her, so her Cantonese was actually suffering! I met Katelyn's grandfather, and he said the same thing to me- that he was worried about her Cantonese. I asked the helper if she thought divorce was common in Hong Kong (this was the first I'd encountered so far), and she said that she thought it was common. But not in the Philippines if you're a Christian, you aren't allowed to get divorced. And she is a Christian. Then this helper shared with me that she is married she herself has a nine year old who is being raised in the Philippines by her husband. She will get to see them for two weeks when she goes home at Christmas. Otherwise, she only sees him once a year. She was only 20 when she had her son, so she's just a bit younger than me.

Last week, when I was feeling emotional that these last five years have gone by so fast and now Annika's in kindergarten, the thought occurred to me that I should just be so thankful that I even got to spend five years with her. I know there are lots of working moms who wish they could be home with their kids but need to work and I should be glad I've had the time with Annie that I've had.

But then today, my friend Karla was over, and she was saying basically the same thing... only that she had been thinking about Filipino mothers and how heartbreaking it must be to be caring for children that aren't their own while they have to be separated from their own kids. A whole other reason to count my blessings! Tonight was the first time I actually heard that story with my own ears... I'm sure I'll hear more. It just doesn't seem fair!

Weekend update

Well, all in all we had a good weekend. Friday night ended up being grilled cheese and soup for me and the girls, rather than mac and cheese, but apparently Mike's night consisted of snails, fish head and other interesting seafood delicacies that they went and chose at the wet market right before eating. Has anyone heard of Meyer cookware? The owner of that business (enterprise?) is the gentleman who wined and dined the new teachers on Friday night. Mike got to go to his factory and see all the cookware he makes and shop for 40% off the discount price, so he came home with a wok pan and one of those grill pans and some utensils for us.

I was sorry I had missed it, but not sorry to have missed out on the crazy food. I'm not sure I could have handled it!

On Saturday we decided to check out an area of Hong Kong called Stanley since it was recommended to us by a few different people. It is located on the very south part of HK Island, so it took a while to make it out there (it was two bus rides, so between an hour and two hours). We could see why people like it- it has a resort-like feel to it with beaches and restaurants along the water. There are some nice areas to walk around, and a temple and some historic buildings. Oh yeah, and a market that sold clothes, bags, souvenirs, art work, shoes, etc. I would have liked to have spent lots of money there, but I refrained.

I was disappointed when we got there to find out that we had lugged our big camera there and the batteries were dead! So Mike took a couple with his cell phone and that's all we have! We'll have to go back... we thought it was really nice, and of course I kept seeing photo opts everywhere since I didn't have my camera.

While we were there, we ran into a family from our building, and also that "new-to-HK" family that we'd been out for lunch with at church the previous Sunday. That's crazy! Doesn't Hong Kong have millions of people that live here? Maybe it's not that big after all...

(Annie in the door of a temple)

This Sunday we went to our third church, Kowloon ECC. It was a good service- not as flashy maybe as the other two. We're getting a bit tired of church shopping. I think now we'll go back to the first two one more time, and then hopefully we'll know what's right for us.

After church we were looking for somewhere we could go for lunch and ended up in a mall, and went up to the third floor where restaurants were located, and who did we see but.... Mr. Maker! This will only mean something to you if you watch Treehouse. He has a show (called Mr. Maker) where he makes cool crafts. It's produced by the BBC, so I think it's popular in Britain. Although evidently it's also popular in Hong Kong? We could see that he was doing a little show and kids were making crafts, so we watched for a bit, but then a guy approached us and said that you have to register for the show, but he'd be doing another one in half an hour, and there were some empty spots if we were interested (no cost either). So we went and had lunch, and then the girls made a spider with Mr. Maker! Haha... I didn't think that's what we would be doing today! They also got some loot bags with some great craft materials that kept them busy all afternoon when Mike went back to the school to get ready for this next week.

Next weekend we have our first visitor coming all the way from South Korea... Miss Mae Polloway! Or should we say MaeDawg? We're looking forward to it!

Happy September!

Well Hello, September! I like September, I like fall, but I also always go into September with a feeling of dread that summer is over and winter is around the corner. This time, I'm feeling soooo happy that I won't have to endure a prairie winter. It's still really really hot, and if anything it will be nice if these next few months have a bit of a drop in temperature so we can really enjoy being outside.

As far as I know, Annika's second day of kindergarten went fine. I think I forgot to mention that only half the class went to school on Monday and Tuesday, and then the other half went on Wednesday and today, and then tomorrow everybody goes from here on in. So she's been at home the last two days. I decided yesterday that we should check out the Science museum on the recommendation of our neighbour. She said that it's much better than the Space museum, and her son Julian goes every weekend. Julian is ten and is a real character. We can often hear him practicing his oboe, and he's amazing at it. He says that he's designing a computer game with Tyranosaurus Rex robots and he'd like our girls to try it out when he's finished. Well, we'll humor him if that actually happens!

This museum was also free on Wednesdays, so since I had two grouchy girls on my hands, we ended up opting for afternoon naps and then went once Mike was home.

We found some Korean food for supper. It wasn't all that cheap, so I don't know if we'll go back, but I'm so proud of how adventurous Annika is at trying new foods! She really liked it. Leila... she could use some work on her "restaurant behavior", but she tried a bit of bolgogi.

Julian knows what he's talking about. The Science museum is waaaaay better than the Space museum. It was huge and there was lots to do. We didn't see it all, so we will have to go back sometime.

Not a very good picture, but this lever made bubbles... it was kind of neat.

And then today we had a playdate in the morning, and then in the afternoon I went for a long walk hoping that Leila would fall asleep in the stroller. I discovered an area that we hadn't been to before, as well as a big playground, so we went again with Mike after supper. When we were there in the afternoon it was empty except for one girl playing, and then two cleaning ladies. They were a sight to see with masks and long sleeves and an umbrella hat contraption. I should have had my camera with me! They had buckets of water and and cleaners and were washing and scrubbing down the whole playground! I couldn't believe how much time they spent on one of the slides. How comforting to know that my kids would be playing on such a clean playground! Anyway, when we went back in the evening it was crowded and full of life! And not so clean anymore..

Annie wanted a picture with her favorite inflatable toys that are sold at this stand.

Watching the action at the playground.

A new "non-Chinese" playmate. We were surprised to see that there were lots of kids and adults at this playground who seemed to be from India or Pakistan. Maybe they live in the housing complex near it?
And some good news is that it turns out that teaching grade 6 (in Mike's option) is indeedy easier than teaching music, band and a million other subjects! Hooray! Tomorrow the head of the board (sound familiar?) is wine-ing (I don't know...maybe?) and dining the new teachers. They first go visit his cookware factory and then go for a fancy meal. Sadly, we have no babysitters anymore (oh how we miss Grandma and Grandpa!) so I will be eating mac and cheese at home with the girls. But if I'm lucky, I may get some new cookware out of the deal. We'll see...

First day of Kindergarten!

Last week there were moments where I could hardly wait for Annika to start kindergarten! But I admit, I've been very nervous about how she'd do, and if she's ready for such a big step. At CAIS they go every day, all day. They like their kids to be smart in Hong Kong, we've noticed! So we've been anticipating this day with lots of prayer and apprehension! But this morning, Annika was very excited to wear her uniform and go to school. I knew that they wanted parents just to drop them off and leave... not go up to their room and get them settled the way (I'm guessing) things would be done in Canada. They weren't going to be holding our hands through the process the way they did in preschool! So I knew it would be a quick good-bye, but I wasn't prepared for how it happened. We got to the entrance, and an EA at the door took Annika's temperature (?), squirted some hand sanitizer into her hands, and she was off. I gave her a really quick squeeze, and said good-bye and that was it! I didn't know if she had been prepared for such a quick exit either, so I turned and headed home... and cried the whole way! And then when I got home, I called my mom and cried a bit more. And got some reassurance from her and from FB that I'm not the first mom to be emotional on the first day of school. I also texted Mike to please check on her and let me know how she was doing.

I didn't hear from Mike until lunchtime, but he had seen her a couple of times and talked to her once and said that she appeared to be just fine.

Well, 3:15 finally came and I went to pick her up. She came out of the school with a big smile on her face and lots to tell me about her day. She TALKED to her teacher (and I heard it for myself as we waited for Mike to finish his class so we could say hi to him), and she made friends with a girl with "a beautiful face and black braids". She gets Mandarin every day, and it sounded like she had a lot of fun with that teacher. Mostly I was just so relieved to get the sense that she felt comfortable in the classroom. It's a lot to ask for a little girl who isn't even five yet, who has some social anxiety issues, who's moved to another country, and looks a bit different than the other kids in her class class to go from preschool two mornings a week to kindergarten five days a week! But I've been hoping and praying that she would rise to the challenge, and now I am really optimistic that it will be a good year!

a little surprise

Today I was reminded again of how God is taking care of us here in Hong Kong...

When it became official that we would be moving here, Annika's sweet preschool teacher told me that she had a family friend that she should put me in touch with. She wasn't even sure where exactly in Asia this friend was, but knew that she and her husband worked at international schools and that she was someone I should be in touch with.

So she checked it out and came back with her email address and said that as it turns out, Karla was in Hong Kong with her husband and two young kids- the oldest one being Annie's age. I was very grateful for the chance to correspond with someone already living there, so I emailed Karla, and for the next few months we emailed sporadically. She was a great resource, especially for questions about things like what to expect with finding kids clothing, and I remember one email where she provided a lot of encouragement exactly when I needed it!

I wanted to email her when we arrived, but I wanted to wait until we were more settled and I had a better sense of how to get around the city. And I also wanted to wait until she'd be back in Hong Kong from her summer in Canada. And then I wanted to wait until Annika was in kindergarten. And I think I also got a bit chicken.

So this week for church, we kind of randomly decided to try a church called Island ECC that we've heard other teachers mention. One teacher had invited us last week already said that she attends the 11:30 service. Last night we looked at how we would get there, and then decided that if we were up early enough (and we usually are!), it might be better to try the 9:30 service so that we'd finish earlier.

We found the church no problem, and I got a good vibe from it. Annie went to the children's program, but I couldn't convince Leila to go this week. When I dropped Annika off, I noticed that the boy she was sitting beside in children's church looked a lot like Karla's son. Karla had sent me a link to pictures of their family so I could see some pictures of life in Hong Kong. So then I looked around the service and was pretty sure I could spot her and her husband. I wasn't sure if I would actually run into them after the service, but I did see her again, so I approached her, and she immediately recognized me as well. She gave me a big hug and invited us to join them and another new-to-HK family for dim sum for lunch. And then they even treated us to lunch! Annika warmed up to their son right away and said she wants to invite him to her birthday party! Karla also stays at home with their baby daughter, so even though we don't live super close to each other, we plan on getting together.

Isn't God amazing? There have been so many little things all along the way of this adventure where it is so clear to us that God is right here with us through it all!

Beach Day

This was a bit of a long week. The girls were not always acting their finest (maybe Annika's just trying to make it easier for me to say good-bye when she starts kindergarten!). We think that they have both been short on sleep because of the adjustment to sharing a room. They think that they need to go to bed at the same time, and they are waking up at the exact time that the first one (Leila!) wakes up. So we've had lots of grouchy moments, and I was really looking forward to doing something fun this weekend!

Last weekend we met a family, K and J, when we went to church. J is who I had the playdate with this week and I'm enjoying getting to know her. So at church last week, K mentioned that they were going to be going to the beach next Saturday, and we could come along if we wanted to. I thought that sounded great- it would be soooooo much easier to find our way to the beach if we went with people who already know how to get there. I think he may have just been saying that out of politeness, but I still responded enthusiastically that we would definitely be up for joining them.

At the playdate I had with J, the beach plan was never mentioned, so before I left, I reminded her that we would still be up for going. She said that this was the first she had heard of such plans, but she would check with K and they would let us know. Ha! So maybe I got the ball rolling? In any case, they got it organized and invited another guy teacher and K's parents to come along as well.

Get this... K and J (and two year old daughter) have been in Hong Kong for five years. K's brother and his wife and two kids also have been here for a while... maybe six years? I haven't actually met them yet, but these brothers both teach at CAIS. So... last year, their mom and dad moved out here, and their dad teaches as well! He had retired as a teacher in Saskatchewan, but with both of their sons in Hong Kong, they decided if you can't beat em', join em'. Hmmm... could we get Sig out here teaching? And Lisa? Bring the Janzen branch to CAIS???

haha... Anyway, it was neat to meet them and hear about how they came about moving here a year ago. It's been really been a big adventure for them!

We had a really great day at the beach. It made up for all those tough moments this last week! Apparently there are quite a few beaches in Hong Kong. The one we went to is called Pui O, and is on Lantau Island, which is the same island that the main airport as well as Disneyland are located. It was a bit of a process to get there, but in the end, it only actually took an hour. First we took a taxi to the MTR station, and from their we took the subway. Then we took a nice air-conditioned bus that brought us to about a five minute walk from the beach. And on that walk we saw water buffalo!

They were a bit (in my opinion) uncomfortably close to the trail we were on! Apparently they did once charge at people, but it was because they were being provoked. They didn't seem to notice us.
It was a bit of a smoggy (and hot, of course!) day. But the sand was soft and fine, and the water was warm! It wasn't crowded at all, even though our guide book says that it's a very crowded beach. Good to know that the guide book isn't always right because K and J say that they like Pui O because it tends to have less people than some of the other beaches.



The girls LOVED it! They haven't been to the ocean before, at least not in their recent memory. They loved the warm water and soft sand, and looking for shells.

That was our little spot we had to ourselves under the tree.

Making sandcastles

There was a lovely restaurant where we had lunch that was right on the beach. It did not feel like we were in Hong Kong at all! We ate quesadillas and burgers and fries and the music that was playing was Buena Vista Social Club.

Playing with blocks at the restaurant with their new friend Rachel.

Back at home...checking out all the shells we collecting.

The favorite shell!

And finally, a quick "Mike update". He thought his first three days had gone well. His class sounds very "international". It's just been really busy for him since he hasn't been a grade 6 homeroom teacher before. There's lots to prepare, so he's been coming home later than he used to, and he's had do to work in the evenings and weekends. But so far he's optimistic that it will be a good year.