November 24, 2004

more pics

I added about 15 more pics, only like 30 or so more to go until I take new pics and post them more spaced out. I took some pics of the 3 year olds and wow, they are such hams for the camera ;-) I wish I could post them here since they are so adorable but I feel weird about posting pics of children so publically without permission so I won't. I know no one is going to come out here and stalk them but still, they are children and I just feel their privacy at a private, safe place like a school ought to be respected.

I'm still unsure about how I feel with the whole school mess. By nature I am optimistic and my friends are too. It is so hard for me because I feel I need to understand more of HK life/culture to make wise decisions and it is hard for me to properly access the situation with this cast of characters and the drama this job has turned into. I don't feel like I trust anyone or what they say. Still, I feel confident that the tao (way/ the universe) has lead me here for some reason, that I have already learned what I need to handle things wisely, just need to apply those lessons. I am using a guiding principle that as long as love is in my heart for the kids and I treat my coworkers and bosses as I'd like to be treated, all will be well.

I only have 2 weeks vacation in North America but that is fine because I have more vacation time in HK. When they last gave me 4 weeks, I kind of felt bad staying away from HK for 3 weeks because I felt the kids shouldn't be away from English class that long. It is amazing how well they are getting used to me and my instructions in English, after just 3 weeks. They greet me so happily and maybe it is my ego but it feels like they enjoy my presence in the school. I know all their English names now and their are 60 kids, as well as some of their Chinese names too which I am trying my best to learn.

Next month, I'll begin to survey the parents and see if any of them are interested in learning English, computer/internet skills or just about American culture or any other skill I have they may be interested in. I figure I can devote about 15 hours a week to the kids, 15 hours a week to the parents and like 15 hours a week to do administrative stuff and lesson planning. I ran this by the bosses and they seem to be fine with this work load and it feels now that I can do that without overextending myself.

I really need to work on studying Cantonese in my off time. After my b-day on the 30th, I'll schedule myself an hour a day, 7 days a week. It's a big hurdle I have here, not being able to communicate in the language everyone here is most comfortable with and besides, I've always wanted to learn a second language fluently, especially Cantonese.

I do have some entries about my first few days in HK that can be accessed by looking at the Nov archieves, if anyone cares. At some point, I want to organize a subsite that just has all the pics with my explanations.

Posted by Christine at November 24, 2004 08:26 PM