the daily grind

I realize I haven't written much about my job, which is really the main reason that I'm here. A fair warning: this is going to be mostly Education-talk...

I'm teaching at the International Christian School of Hong Kong, which is an ACSI school. The school is located on two main campuses (secondary and elementary), but next year we are joining forces into a brand new building, which will be a 10 minute walk from where I live.

At my campus, FoTan, the school is spread out across two buildings and four floors. On the 4rd floor, the school has rented out space for the kids to have a lunchroom. On the 5th floor is where the elementary school is housed, on the 6th floor is where the Admin offices, library, and Mandarin classes are, and on the 7th floor is the Kindergarten. Kids are going up and down escalators all day. It's also in an old shopping mall, so there are a lot of businesses and restaurants all around, too. The other building is the basement of an apartment complex, and it houses some storage, the art and music room, and a small workout room for staff.

I'm the brand-new Special Education teacher, which means I'm the first. It's been interesting to create a program that hasn't been in existence before. I feel supported and well taken care of, but there's a lot of work to do. In some ways, I feel a lot of autonomy and independence in what I do and how I create the program. I like that. No more Pres. Bush (NCLB) policies to worry about. Part of my day is spent doing administrative work and developing policies, procedures, manuals, etc. I also am part of the Admissions Team, so I test and screen kids who are applying and then make recommendations on whether or not they should be accepted into the school. Special Education is an interesting factor when the school has strict academic qualifications for admissions.

Many of the teachers haven't worked with a Special Ed teacher before, as many of them have only been in International schools. There aren't a lot of kids identified, yet, but I think I will have a big job ahead of me in working to identify those students who are struggling, and then figure out how they should best be serviced.

Autism is one of the major disabilities I'm encountering here. Some kids have been identified as having "lead poisoning" or "mercury poisoning", which evidences itself in autistic traits. From what I've learned, this is due to the high levels of fish that people consume here during pregnancy. It's hard to tell about the validity of certain disabilities here, though, because a lot of the doctors aren't really qualified to make such assessments, and the public schools don't really have a clear diagnostic process either.

I'm learning a lot and am having to give myself a crash course in Gifted Education as well, which falls under my job title here. I think I'll like it, but it definitely brings a whole different set of challenges.

Behavior problems aren't really an issue here, or at least in comparison to what I have experienced before. This might be a nice change.

If you aren't in Education and you've stuck with me this long, congratulations. I really do love the job and the opportunities for growth that it provides. It's one of the strongest reasons that I was drawn to coming here, and I think my intuition was right on.

old friends, new friends

Yesterday after work I went to the airport to see Cicely (http://www.cicbangladesh.blogspot.com/), a good, good friend from college. She had a long layover here on her way to Bangladesh, where she will be doing mission work for a year. It was amazing and normal and SO, SO good to see her. Talking and catching up and laughing (at the same inside jokes of Calvin College, me being efficient, and her un-organizational systems) with someone who I knew well was such a welcomed and a comforting feeling.

I took a direct bus to get to the airport, about a half hour ride, and sat on the top level of the double decker so I could see more clearly and watch the streets, the lights, the hills, the water, the bridges pass... It was a month to the day that I was at the airport, just arriving in Hong Kong and taking the same route to my new home. I listened to some sentimental music on my ipod, which made me reflect on how my comfort level, my understanding, my faith, and how my perspective has changed in just a month. I am still trying to figure out how to best express those feelings in words.

things that are becoming routine...

This weekend I went shopping in MongKok, to the "Ladies Market", where I had a chance to practice my bartering skills. My original intent was to buy a birthday gift for my mom, but the cheap "designer" (ie..knockoff designer) purses and wallets caught my attention. Soon, I'm going to get my visa to head up into China and do some more bartering, and go to a tailor to get some clothes made.

On my way home from work this week, I stopped by CitySuper, a Whole Foods like Westernized grocery store to get a few things, with the main item being dairy products. I was stopped by two middle school girls who asked to interview me for their English class. I felt like a celebrity when they asked me to take my picture with them.

My life was also made all the more exciting when I discovered that they are showing one of my favorite shows, Arrested Development, here on TV, which was canceled in the States.

I have NOT seen any monkeys lately. This is a good thing.

dancing with the monkeys

Today I went to my first-ever dance class. One of the teachers at school was a professional dancer for 10+ years and is now starting a dance/excercise class after school. We'll see how long I last. The only thing I learned is that I have essentially NO balance.

The other new thing that happened today is that I learned that there are monkeys in the hills behind our house, which I previously HAD been looking forward to hiking in. I was a little nervous about the animal life in this tropical climate, seeing as how I don't exactly love animals, and this news confirmed my anxieties. My roommate actually SAW A MONKEY walking across the road in front of the shuttle bus the other morning. The only other wild animal I've seen since I've been here has been a cockroach, which has fortunately been outside, but was unfortunately quite large in size.

More pictures

To the far top is a picture of the busyness of Hong Kong island, where I was for a conference this weekend.

The nex top : the view from our school. It's hard to see, but the Hong Kong race track is below, which is so popular that it runs a separate subway line on race days. It is going to be the location for the 2008 China Olympics for all of the equestrian events.



The far top: one of the escalators that the kids take to the 5th floor of the school, located next to a grocery store.

The middle top: where I push and shove my way through the crowds when I get off the subway stop everyday.

Right above: Another view of the busy Hong Kong streets.

landscape views

Now that I have mastered the art of posting pictures on my blog, here are some from the archives. Two weekends ago I went to Victoria Peak with some new friends, which is the highest point on the island and from where you can see the cityspan of Hong Kong. Although it was quite rainy, it cleared up a bit for us at night. I was amazed by what I saw and actually gasped at one point. I find myself doing this a lot. Either I'm really easily impressed, or there's just a lot of great things to see.

Pictures of my complex

I finally figured out how to get pictures on here, but I can only do five at a time. Here are the ones of my apartment complex, The Castello, or "The Castle".







This is a picture of the pool and clubhouse that sits right in front of our building. The Castello is comprised of7 towers of buildings.

another new experience

This afternoon, after church I decided to go grocery shopping near my house and explore the wet market. There are wet markets in almost every neighborhood, which is a big open-air farmer's marketish place. Ducks, cows legs, chicken feet, and more unrecognizable meats were hanging from hooks, and other aisles were crowded with people searching for the best vegetable and fruit bargains. The smell of the open seafood and meat is a little overwhelming for me, so I think I"ll stick to the produce sections.

Most people here speak at least some English (the more educated people are, the more English they know), but I had a few communication barriers in the wet market. I tried to buy 1/2 a pound of cherries from one person, and 1/2 a pound of baby tomatoes from another. After talking on cell phones to these people's relatives and trying to look up the word "half" in my phrasebook, I gave up. I ended up with some bananas and Asian pears, (although I don't know the name of them here), which felt and looked familiar. Dragonfruit is also a popular fruit here, which is like a white kiwi, although without the taste.

I got a lot of free samples, too. I think because I looked a little bewildered, and because I might be a sucker to buy things. Hopefully after a while, the only thing that will separate me from fitting in with the crowd will be my blond hair.

Looking out my new window, watching the typhoon...

Today "Typhoon 3" signals were hoisted and posted everywhere. It was pretty evident by the blowing rain that something semi-significant was happening. When I hear the word "typhoon", I get a bit nervous, but was reassured that we would make it through alive. They classify typhoon levels by how far the city is away from the center of the storm, not the intensity of the storm. If we make it to a typhoon 7, school is canceled.

I am getting settled into my apartment, but I need to get used to calling it my "flat", and taking the "lift" instead of the elevator to my floor. We had a bit of trouble with housing at first because our landlord was quite suspicious about paying some sort of tax, so our principal, who doubles as the schools resident real estate agent, took us around to look for something bigger and better. Or, at least, cheaper. My roommate, Caroline, and I ended up choosing a place that cost the same, in the same area, but is much nicer. It's a small place, about 700 square feet, but is definitely livable.

We are living in a complex with indoor/outdoor pool, gymnasium and workout facility, tennis courts, bbq pit, video game room, play areas, badminton and squash courts, etc. It's quite a nice clubhouse. Our complex, The Castello, has 7 towers of buildings with about 30 floors each. It's hard to get a handle on how many floors there actually are in a certain place, because the number 4 is considered unlucky, so none of the floors have a 4 in them.

There is a shuttle bus from the complex that goes to a big mall (which most businesses seem to be housed in anyway) that has a KCR train station in it. Right down from our place is also a bus stop and taxi hub, which are both inexpensive.

Most of the flats here have large window seats, to make the space bigger. Chinese people seem to be very efficient with their space, and the use of space is quite a big deal here. I'm realizing just how much I DON'T need to have. Most of the places have a separate, closed off room for the kitchen, without ovens or hot water heaters for the sinks. The kitchen also has a small built-in washer/dryer combo, where I can wash about 2 shirts and a few pairs of underwear at a time.

So, home sweet home. I plan to make one trip to IKEA this weekend, which is one train stop away. It is one of 5 in the city, which makes me stop and realize just how big of a city I'm now living in!