Arrived

Parents have arrived! So far we have done so much stuff I can't begin to write it down as my Monday in the office is just about to start. I have taken lots of pictures and things though so will put something up when I have the chance.

One highlight however was the first meal that I took them to... We found a catapillar in my duck curry... it was dead though.

I have heard of a high protein diet but that's crazy!

bx

Topsoil

My parents could be arriving tomorrow, or they could be arriving next week. This uncertainty is all down to the British Airways strike.

What is certain is I need to clean the flat in preparation for their visit, once I get past the topsoil it should be fine...

Yow Lok

Yow Lok is the nearest way I can spell my latest Cantonese word that I have learnt. It basically means "stop".

I decided to try my new word on a packed small green minibus when I recognized our stop coming up. I was with a new employee who has just arrived in Hong Kong and was taking him to his school for the first time.

Sitting right behind the driver I cleared my throat and, hoping I got the pronounciation correct announced "Yow Lok Um Goi" (stop please).

Suddenly the driver slammed the breaks on and came to an abrupt stop at my request, opening the doors we stepped out. So far so good. A problem soon emerged though when it was realized that we were smack bang in the middle of a roundabout, with cars going past and getting odd looks from passengers.

We navigated our way off the roundabout and eventually to the school. Later I asked Ronald, our Cantonese speaking accounts guy what I said wrong. I repeated the phrase to him and he said it was fine, what caused abrupt halt we think is that my tone sounded too urgent. Perhaps the driver thought I was going to be sick.

Bx

Temples and tourists

Today we took a visit to the main financial center of Hong Kong which is a 5 minute tram ride away and known as the 'central district'. Our little trip was to go and explore a temple which is very popular and well known called the "Man Mo Temple". It is a temple which is devoted to two of the most popular gods, the god of war (Kwan Yu) and the god of literature (Man Cheung).


One of the first things that hits you when you visit the temple is that it seems so out of place. Having been built in 1847 it is smack bang in the middle of a busy financial district side road, Hong Kong has been built up around it, but the temple has not budged an inch.


Before you walk into the temple itself you are met with its lion-type guards glowering down at you. Apparently there is always two, one male and one female.


With the upcoming Chinese New Year, the temple itself was packed. You walk in and the first thing that strikes you is the smell of the incense. There must have been thousands of burning sticks placed everywhere round the temple, some the size of cigars. The smoke stung your eyes and made them start to water, there were giant fans trying to pump out the smoke as it rose to the ceiling, but there was simply not enough fans to cope with the amount of burning taking place. Women barged past with huge bunches of flowers and knelt before the god of war and the god of literature, then placed the flowers on a table before their statues. There was also an abundance of food. Fruit and vegetables were laid out on the table, as well as entire cooked meals, bakery goods and meat. The belief is that the gods and ghosts can consume the food through its essence, so eventually it gets thrown away intact, but has still provided sustenance to the gods. It was not the normal quiet state of affairs which some temples have been that we have visited, it was loud, bustling and a hive of activity with people whacking gongs... and in one room a man offering to tell your fortune. (for a price of course)

What annoyed me the most was the tourists though. Now i am aware of my tourist status, and it was others like me that I had no problem with. What really made me frustrated and ashamed was the amount of visitors taking pictures inside the temple, in particular of the shrine itself. I watched as one Chinese woman was trying to pray and actually got shunted by a Gwei Lo English woman trying to get a good shot of some candles. As far as I'm concerned it was the height of rudenenss and made me want to shove the camera somewhere rather rude. Whilst there was no sign saying you could not take photos, its common sense that you just need to show a little respect when you are allowed in a temple of a religion that you are not a part of.

Right, my rant is now over and I am going out for some much needed dinner. Night x

Bx

Population

Hong Kong now has a population of well over 7.2 million people. Where we live in Wan Chai covers a space of only around 10 square kilometers, or 3.87 square miles. This is not that much space at all.

Living in this tiny area is 192, 200 residents. That means there are...
19,182 people living in Wan Chai per square kilometer
49,680 people living in Wan Chai per square mile

And we all live in high rise blocks of flats on top of each other like termites in those big mounds you see on the discovery channel.

We have a couple across the hall who can often be heard shouting, screaming and swearing. Also available is an inconsiderate b*****d who insists on starting renovation work on his flat above us at stupid o'clock in the morning. Across the road there is a market seller who has a voice that can be heard for miles. And there is a frequently used alley beneath my window which seems to be a congregation point for cackling old women at 5AM. With a population density like Hong Kong, the chances of finding housing near quiet and considerate people is substantially lowered.

bx
if you want to check out my source for my population statistics click (here)

Tourist no more

Hey, it's Friday night without much to report. Just got back from a day at a school event which has been rather exhausting. Anyway, yesterday I went on an adventure to try and find my parents somewhere to stay when they come to visit me next week. This invloved trekking across to various different hotels around Hong Kong (7 in total). After a journey from Wanchai to MongKok (and everything in between) I gave up, came home, went online and promptly found a place for them both at the Ramada Hotel . 35 quid a night. Just up the road. Bargain.

Whilst on my little pointless trek i was suddenly hit with the realization that I have lost every ounce of tourist in me. This happened when I crossed from Hong Kong island to the mainland on the Star Ferry, and did not look at the view or skyline once. Instead I just read my book quite contently crammed between a woman with a screaming child and a man who clearly worked in an occupation involving fish.

Once, I arrived in Kowloon i realized this fact and promptly took a photo with my shiny new camera. So here it is.


Anyway, not sure what the plan is tonight but i'm sure it will involve food or drink or both.

Bx

food poisoning

Although I only work with secondary students, somehow I got roped into helping run a primary student day camp. I was under the impression that i was going to just be there to lend a hand, i soon realized at 9AM as the camp got underway that this was not the case. 12 Hours later we were just wrapping up our day, my throat hurt, my legs hurt and I never wanted to see a hyperactive primary student again in my life.

The camp itself was on Hong Kong island. I took this picture from one of the classroom windows. Its easy to associate Hong Kong island with the classic urban skyline that you see on all the pictures. On the other side though not more than 2o minutes away there are some stunning beaches and forests. If it was not pouring with rain the whole day I would have been tempted to go for a swim during lunch break.

The students themselves I can only describe as being like hyperactive lemmings. This is a snap of some of them releasing some energy (thank god) during a 15 minute break outside. It was such a difference in comparison to the usual sleepy and overworked secondary students I often meet.

As this picture demonstrates they were also all totally barmy... :)

Now, there is a story to this picture. I sent a text message to a friend during the "end of camp BBQ" with the students saying the following.

You can tell you are in Hong Kong when

1. Teachers give students fire starting tools and have a race to see who can light their BBQ first
2. Students cook chicken for ten seconds each side and go to start eating it.

-End of text message-

I honestly spent most of my time trying to stop students from catching a raw food related illness. They looked at me like I was insane when I explained that the pork chop they were about to consume needed to be placed back over the fire for at least another 10 minutes before it is ready to be eaten. "Why"? they would ask with confusion... "Because its so raw it's almost still oinking!" I replied. At first I banned all meat except for beef to be cooked, because they could eat that a bit raw with not as much fear of being horribly sick. As you can see, in the picture above i wimped out. Rather than cooking the meat (from probably questionable background,) I stuck with a toasted cheese and ham sandwich.

Bx

I'm still bored Part Two...

After just speaking to some of the other teachers I've realised I've never blogged about the wonderful array of "compliments" I recieve at school on a daily basis. My favourites so far being...

"Miss Greaves, you could be our school's Next Top Model...except for your belly"

[whilst stroking my forearm] "Ahhh, you have many fur"

"You can tell Robyn is so young because she still has her puppy fat" (this was technically not said in school. Nor was it said by a student.)

Female student: Miss Greaves? What do you prefer cola, coffee or cocktails?
Me: Ummm cola?
Female students: That means you want to have sex with me!!

They are also obsessed with my hair. Once, while my guard was down one of them swooped in and stroked my hair. This caused mass hysteria amd cries of "Arrghhh so soft! You could model shampoo! Ahhh sooo smooth!" etc etc (for those of you who don't know I have very fine hair that has in the past been affectionatly likened to a hamster...) I very firmly told these two girls NOT to tell anyone else to stroke my hair. They chose not to hear me.
You've got to love it (last post today, I promise),
R x

Yes, I'm still bored...

While Adam was here I took him for a sneaky look at the outside of my school one evening (I would have taken him during the day but he would have been eaten alive). He seemed faintly suprised at what it look like, so although these pictures don't really show it in its full glory, I though I'd post these ones I found on the school albums. At somepoint I'll try and get round to taking some of the English Zone and the Staff room where I spend my days...but don't hold your breath!

As it is now winter this is somewhat more "flowery" than it looks at the moment...

The Main Hall, where the Karaoke magic happens...

The Annexe - this is across the "road" (more like a stone path that taxis hurtle up at 100mph), from the building in the first picture.
There's not much else to report, as you may have gathered from both mine and Ben's posts yesterday, things are pretty quiet at the moment - it's that January feeling!
R x

Robyn, Matt and Andy

This is Robyn, Matt and Andy my three pieces of bamboo. I purchased them from Ikea when they were just small vulnerable saplings 4 months ago.

It is somewhat of a tradition that I give the plants in my care human names, this makes me feel bad if I don't look after them and generally seems to improve their lifespan. My mother will attest however that despite good intentions my green fingers never last long. At the end of every holiday at university our house was like a plant hospital, then I would take them back with me and have another go.

I am proud to announce though that at present I have lasted a full 4 months and Robyn, Matt and Andy are still green and going strong. Andy was a bit touch and go for a while but pulled through. Matt is the tallest of the group though, this is because it seems to drink more than the other two... A case of plants immitating life then I guess :)


Sorry for this rambling, I have taken a sleeping pill and it is clearly having an effect.

bx

The mysteries of school...

As we are still in exam period (nearly three weeks!), I'm only teaching, at most, one lesson a day which is with the Form five and so is only exam practice, which is both easy and dull. Not having to run about like a crazy person has lead to me noticing other things around school and given me (possibly too much) time to puzzle over some of the more bizarre things about the place, which, owing again to too much free time, I though I'd share...

1. All china mugs have an accompanying china "lid" - since September I have been using mine a a kind of saucer however, I have found out the proper purpose is to protect against "dust". It is unclear whether this is for when there is a drink in it or when the mug is empty or both...this lead to me thinking why don't they have this anywhere else? is there more dust here? is this just another odd Chinese cleanliness thing...?

2. There is a box of A4 scrap paper on the back of every toilet cistern. Now I can only think of one possible use for it but it would seem a little redundant as there are stacks of toilet roll everywhere and would also seem to go against the aforementioned cleanliness thing...it would I suppose, give you something to read in there if you're that way inclined but I'm guessing that can't be it's main function...

3. The one I have spent the most time and energy pondering...since Christmas quite a few female teachers have started sporting what can only be described as arm cover-ers. They go from wrist to elbow and cannot be for warmth as they are made of cotton. What makes it more bizarre is they are all brightly coloured and usually feature some kind of cartoon character and subsequently completely clash with everything else the person is wearing and look, well just odd. It is more bizarre as the female teachers here really go all out to look well-groomed. One theory was that these are to protect long sleeves from chalk dust (as long sleeves have only recently been necessary) but as we're in exam period and so not teaching that would seem redundant. Also my teachers wear them in the staff room and sometimes only on one arm...I think they must be to protect against some kind or "dust". I have tried to find a picture online to show you just how odd these things are but I'm not to sure what to search for...and yes, I have thought of asking someone but I suspect my intense intrest in these things is a bit, well, odd.

Too much free time? I don't know what you mean...
R x

Umm Sai La

Having my office in Causeway Bay and living in WanChai has its advantages. If I need to be in work at 9AM for example I can roll out of bed at 8.15, stumble into the shower, fall into my clothes and as long as am out of the door by 8.50 still be on time. This however involves walking like one of those funny looking speedwalkers that you see in the Olympics, frequently bashing into slow elderly people or men carrying smelly fish.

Today was one of those Olympic walking days. I took my usual route of traffic congested streets, car horns and market sellers when suddenly I felt someone tapping on my shoulder. I turned around and there was this small man insisting that I take a pamphlet or whatever on earth it was that he was selling. I could not hear him over the background noise but I just shook my head, turned and carried on quickly walking. Moments later he was tapping me on the shoulder again! I turned and he held out the paper for me to take. With crowds surging round us I looked at this persistant seller and decided to try a bit of Cantonese, I gestured for him to keep whatever it was that he was holding and said "Umm Sai La" which translates as "I don't want that".

It was then that the honking car next to me moved and the man suddenly became audible, with a strong London accent he said "Mate, you dropped this out yer bag". I went a little bit red, accepted my dropped peperwork and thanked him. Even faster than normal I then walked to the office and looked for some sand to bury my head.

bx

Cold

Hong Kong has got quite cold rather quickly. I am considering having to purchase a jacket! If you told me the weather was going to be like this 4 months ago when I was dashing from one air conditioned habitat to the other, I would have laughed at you.

A few more pictures from the archives

I found a few more pictures that have yet to be placed out there for the world to see.

This is Andy and Nikki bracing themselves as they flew down the log flume at the fair we visited the other day.

On closer inspection it becomes clear that they were both terrified.

And I took this from my recent Star Ferry trip. Just in case you were not sure who was rescuing you from the murky polluted water of Hong Kong harbour the good people at the Star Ferry print the information on every one of their life rings.

Nothing new to report really, i'm pretty busy at the office organizing my recruitment trip to the UK. This involves me being back in the homeland between the 10th of February and the 12th of March. Part of this time I will be staying in hotels or sleeping on the floor of kind hearted friends, stopping every so often at a university to do seminars and interviews and other boring things. Good news is that the boss has given me some days off as holiday whilst i'm there, so it wont be all work work work!

bx

An evening with the Mayor

This evening the ex Mayor of Poole (aka Lou) stopped by Hong Kong with his family. My dad used to work with him so he gave me a call and we arranged to meet. I picked them up from the Star Ferry in Wan Chai and we walked to the tram lines. They had yet to go on a tram so I took them to Causeway Bay. Once there we went to the most local Thai place for food that I know. It was quite amusing to see some of the familys reaction and it was quickly decided that I should order for everyone.

At first I thought I was in deep trouble as the reaction to the establishment, (reflected in my guests faces) was quite rightly dubious. However once the food arrived it became clear that they were on safe ground as it was really tasty and soon everyone seemed happy knowing they were not consuming dog. It is also worth mentioning that none of them had used chopsticks before and they were all very fast learners! After this very nice meal (which for 6 of us came to 13 quid) we headed back to Wan Chai for another taste of Hong Kong on a vastly different scale.

I took them up to the 66th floor of the only revolving restaurant in Hong Kong for drinks (click here for their web site) It shows off stunning views across the whole of the city and Kowloon and is rather swish. We sat back and chatted and joked and had a really great time. After this I took the whole gang back to their hotel on the Kowloon side via MTR. It is now 12.45pm and I am rather tired and going to bed, it was a great evening though. Below is a picture of us all revolving around Hong Kong.


Bx

Fat in Hong Kong

I just got back from a school visit that turned out to be somewhat pointless as I was not really needed. Whilst there however there was a little gem of a moment which took place whilst I was being given a tour of the school by the head of the English department. We were standing on the playground and my tour guide suddenly looked at her watch and realized that she needed to be somewhere else. She directed me to go and talk to a group of teachers standing on the other side of the playground to introduce myself to, one of whom I had apparently met before. This is how the conversation went.

Teacher: Go and speak to Eva, I believe you have met her before
Me: Which one is Eva? Sorry I don't quite remember
Teacher: Eva is the fat one
Me: Oh (looking at the group) The lady in the purple top?
Teacher: No thats Alice, she is fat but Eva is fatter

Being fat in Hong Kong does not seem to carry the same weight (ahem) as it does in England. Robyn and myself have been in similar situations in schools when we have been doing lessons on child obesity. One girl stood up in fron to Rob and the class and announced quite simply that.

"I am fat, because I eat lots, If I did not eat as much then i would not be fat"

She was not shy to announce this fact, and the class applauded her and agreed with her rather profound statement. In some ways Hong Kong students are very similar to students in the UK. But there are great deal of differences as well.

Anyway, onto the pictures

I took this photo chugging along on the Star Ferry

I spotted this and could not help myself as the latest edition to "Funny Signs of Hong Kong"

When Andy was here some of the gang went to the fair. Here we are outside the Ghost Train

Hannah and myself went on quite easily the freakiest ride in the world

Being hurled round and round was not so much the issue. The problem for me was when we were kept motionless up in the air whilst ant like people on the other end of the contraption got off. I was tipping forward and frightened fartless as I looked at the drop below. My knuckles were white and I was imagining what landing splat on the floor would be like, I was not about to let go. Hannah meanwhile, as you can see was waving and looking around and rather enjoying the view. It has sealed my opinion that the woman is deranged.


Bx

Bird Flu case in Hong Kong

It has started to be reported in the news that a case of Bird Flu has been discovered in Causeway Bay, which is just up the road. It has only been found in one bird but I have noticed a huge increase in uniformed health officials taking away produce for testing when I walk through the markets.

My route to work involves walking through the Causeway Bay market and often ends with me haggling with a little fruit selling lady over the price of bananas. No matter how many times I go there I always indicate that I want two bananas largely using had gestures and pointing. Every time this happens she at first tries to flog me two bunches of bananas. This is a process that happens every time I go there and she seems to now find it quite funny.

Anyway if the bird flu story gets reported over there in England don't worry too much, Robyn does not eat chicken as a 'veggie' and i tend to avoid it as well. We do eat eggs here but they are imported from the USA. Oh and whilst we do live in the 'market area' of Wan Chai our section is a fish market, so until there is fish flu we should be ok :)

If you want to read the news article click here

bx

Back to normal... Pictures part 1

Right, as the picture below demonstrates we have been having some problems posting etc online. Luckily things seem to be back to normal. This clump of pictures are taken largely from New Year, and may depict scenes of a disturbing nature.

We never felt a thing. The last one that happened the other month was felt by some people but again Rob and I missed it...

We went to the peak to check out the view over Hong Kong

We also had an amazing dinner whilst we were up there too :)

It came to our attention that we have never shown Hong Kong style scaffolding. They use bamboo to make skyscrapers here.

And now we are starting to get to the New Years pictures...

You know it's going to be an interesting night when a member of staff jumps on the bar and starts offering tequila :S This is a pic of Adam accepting the offer... Then then next day wishing he had not.

Robyn, Nikki, Andy and Neela in true tradition all got on the bar with the rest of the customers and had a dance. Here is Rob striking a pose.

And towards the end of the night everyone was posing as if their life depended on it! :)

It was a really good, but somewhat hazy New Year :)

Bx

Back to normal... Pictures part 2

Here is the second installment of our pictoral account of what we got up to over the holidays .

As you can see Christmas eve was quite a merry time, here is a snap of myself and one of my partners in crime Danielle dancing on the underground...

Christmas day resulted in eating so much food we could barely move.

And here is a picture of the offending material... It was V nice though!

We went to Ocean Park and went on the rather small and scary cable cars.

Here is a snap of Robyn and Andy looking scared in the cable car :)

And I think this picture justifies why...

We went to see the Panda (which still reminds me of Dad in front of the TV)

And we saw a sealife show which was really good.

Bx

Back To School...

Well, it's 2nd January and I'm back at school (personally I think this is unreasonably early but there you go) but on the plus side the first 2 1/2 weeks of term are exams and I've been saved the pleasure of invigilating (thank God) so basically have nothing to do as there are no lessons! Technically I'm using this time to plan and prepare basically everything I need for lessons and extra-curricular stuff from now until I leave in May (scary) but I've decided to ease myself in slowly and thought I'd treat you to some more classic pictures I've found on the school albums...

The English Crew at the Staff Christmas dinner

A very camp Christmas...At the last assembly all the staff had to
get on stage and sing "We wish you a Merry Christmas" - I was given
the mic because I "do Karaoke"...

It was then time for each staff member to do a solo, I had been out for my birthday
the night before and had no voice...but I think I pulled it off!

I also found this one of me and one of my stars, Kelly, rocking the English Cafe.
On my birthday she and some of her friends who I teach made me an amazing birthday
card, bought me a slightly odd present and created an "America's Next Top Model" style invitation to invite me to a suprise lunch (If you don't know what I'm talking about you're clearly
not down with the 15 year old girls) Anyway I'll try and get some pictures up because they put loads of effort in and it was rather sweet!
Happy New Year to all (I believe there are some atrocious NYE pictures on the way...)
R x