Farewell friends

Tonight we say farewell to two of our dear friends Holly and Donna as they start a new chapter in their lifelong adventure. We celebrated their time in hong kong throughout the weekend and have been saying goodbye for hours.

In other news, I have volleyball tryouts on Tuesday... yikes

Volunteering

The photo below is where I've been spending my afternoons volunteering. My first job was to double check the yet-to-be launched website's 13 country listings to make sure none were doubled... a few were and it tool me 15 hours to get through all of them. Now I'm writing small articles based on recent Eco news to bulk up the website before it launches in december. Look forward to a link soon. Until then.

Much love, green love.

A new year, an old goal

This year I have big dreams of keeping you all better updated by posting on my blog at least once a week. By the way, this counts as my first blog...

Exciting news this week includes adopting five fish and a turtle. (Alex and I dream big.) Outside of that we started something called documentary Sundays and tonight watched "sharkwater"... epic yet very sad. Tomorrow I start work again for the kindergarteners orientation until noon and then will be going volunteer at EcoVision Asia before they launch the new site by year's end.

Ok... I did it
Goodnight

Ps... the photo is from a restaurant a few of us went to on my first day back

"A Wonderful Spell": The Magic of 8

I am responsible for the success of 8 students' acting carriers. To better explain, I am directing a play called "A Wonderful Spell". Yesterday marked one of the last practices we have before our big performance on December 4th. One student, commonly skips school. One teacher has noted that he teachers her class 3 times a week and she is there only one or two times while he is there. Emily, as we'll call her, has missed the last two practices. This obviously does not bode well for the company's opening day.

The play is about a girl who likes to litter, a fairy that casts a spell on her that makes everything she touches turn to rubbish and for rubbish to chase her. Needless to say, it's captivating. About 1 or 2 of the students consistently enter the stage when they're meant to and only one other can actually speak loud enough that anyone can hear him. I try to tell them to do things differently but they typically don't know what I am saying and continue to run around chasing lost ping-pong balls.

At the end, we sing a song to the tune of, "If Your're Happy and You Know It" with the lyrics

Put your rubbish in the bin not on the ground (3x)

Put your rubbish in the bin, or it's trouble that you're in

and we'll always have to follow you around

We put our rubbish in the bin not on the ground (3x)

We'll be clean and make sure that our worlds green

We put our rubbish in the bin not on the ground

Although I had a major part in deciding the actions that would go along with this musical number, I can honestly say that Disney should consider coming to Taikoo Primary for their next big hit, "Primary: The Musical". I think it could be big. Really big.

As long as we can remember when to start...

We will find out soon enough if all the hard work we've put into the play pays off. My fellow CNET and I have been coming in on a few Saturdays to help make costumes and learn songs about a greener Earth.

Please, remember that you should all be crossing your fingers on your December 3rd and be watching facebook for a new video soon after.

BWCA: Beach-Wildness Camping Adventure

I love the BWCA... the actual Boundary Water Canoe Area in Northern Minnesota. I have been camping there every summer since I was two years old, have traveled to all 7 continents and yet it is my favourite (notice the Lobster Tail's influence in spelling) place in the entire world. However, when the idea sprang fourth to go camping in Hong Kong and other CNETs learned I had brought my tent with me, many laughed, then a couple agreed and soon we had about 10 CNETs headed for a beach to celebrate someone's birthday.

What started with great anticipation for a rugged, outdoor hike headed to the most rural part of Hong Kong soon became the gross realization that half of the commute was by bus and the second half was on a concrete trail. Upon arrival we found two bustling restaurants filled with westerners and more tents than are in the BWCA at any one time. And while the beach was filled with folks that I was not expecting, it was remarkably clean while the sand was postcard-worthy.

The first night was a late one.

The first morning was not far behind. Two hours after we had fallen asleep, we were awoken too watch the sunrise. It was completely worth it...

The day seemed unbearably hot and all of us were kissed by the sun, but some got more red lipstick than others. When night finally fell, all we could show for the day was sand in our hair, salt on our skin, hemp bracelets around wrists and ankles and a new appreciation for shade.

The second night was just as late as the first one followed by another early wake up call. I had a meeting with a professor I had at my university who was visiting Hong Kong while on sabbatical. I had to get up at 6 to be in Taikoo (the same location as my school) by 11:30. Ed, my roommate, and Donna came with me. Luckily for all three of us, we avoided awkward glances from other campers and what has been described as the scariest rides of a lifetime on a boat traveling from the beach to a bus stop. The boat ride was filled with laugher, tears and vomit. I probably would have jumped out halfway through instead of trying to survive a crash coarse in speed boating.

Along the hike we ran into MASSIVE spiders. Upon further research they seem harmless and unaggressive... but try telling that to the skull on the back of it's thorax. Take a look...

However, if you still don't believe me, I found a primary research article talking about these guys.

Click Here for additional information about scary spiders.

With this update I bid you a good night...

PS: Brief update since last time: found a flatmate, found a flat, started school, like it, had an awkward meeting, joined a gym, I've learned 6 out of 500+ student's names I help teach

What the Bri'ian's lack in "T's" the Chinese make up in "Teas"

Wow, I can't believe it's been a week. It seems like 2 or 3... maybe a month. After fellow CNETS (Chatteris Native English speaking Teachers) arrived on Monday things were set in motion. Last Wednesday we went to an orientation camp on a "rural" island which houses the airport, Disneyland and thousands of people. Not "rural" compared to Mora, Minnesoata. Camp was great, and quick with accelerated lessons to prepare us to interact with students. Students ranged from 17-20 years old and typically spoke English well. The other, hidden agenda, for the camp was to better get to know fellow CNETS as this is key bonding time to find a roommate for the next 10 months. One week is hardly enough to get to know anyone...

Below is what I learned in the last week:

1. British English is harder to understand than Cantonese English (the Britts don't pronounce T's)

2. Knackered means tired or worn out

3. First impressions are the longest lasting and the least helpful

4. Apartment hunting is a dangerous game yet the sketchiest parts of Hong Kong remind me of Parkland and I find it comforting.

5. Stealing a room service cart from the hallway to flip on it's side for a beer pong table is not acceptable. Cameras can prove it

6. Paying by octopus does not involve a fishing trip

7. A seductive "Mmmm", 3 double takes, refusal to help me find an apartment and countless questions and stares are all part of being 6'5" in Hong Kong.

8. Stealing internet should be considered an Olympic sport.

9. Don't drink the water.... just trust me on this one

10. McDonalds is so good it hurts... literally. Too many $2 McFlurry's are not good for anyone

11. Eating peanut butter out of a jar with a finger is "one of the most American things I've seen."

12. A visa picture of you with long hair and plaid shirt qualify you as an "all american"

13. Harry Potter books are not limited to JK Rowling's books... http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.11points.com%2FBooks%2F11_Amazing_Fake_%2527Harry_Potter%2527_Books_Written_In_China&h=4a6f6wBQZpKK330Berx3HygDXHw

14. I still can't understand what anyone from the UK is saying.

15. Stars have been replaced by windows left on in skyscrapers

16. Wan Chai and Chai Wan are different by about an hour

17. It's not rain, it's water dripping from any of the 20+ floors above you

18. I'm probably going to end up living in the red light district

19. There's a Hermoine Granger in every class

20. PBJ is now considered soul food

21. Man Fuk and Mang Kok are common places in Hong Kong

22. Both Harry Potter and Ron Weasley are CNETS

23. Sometimes it's more sanitary to not wash your hands after using the toilet.

Hopefully pictures will be up soon to better explain the above. Especially number 5.

Talk to you all soon. Don't forget skype!

Love

Tyler

A new adventure started by a walk down memory lane

I left on Wednesday at 4:15pm from Parkland, WA and landed in Hong Kong on Friday at 6:15 am. It has been a long trip but absolutely worth it. A friend of mine from PLU, Jeremy Zee, met me at the airport and skillfully led me through Hong Kong via the public bus system. About an hour later, we arrived at his home, an apartment on the 7th floor of a complex only half a block from the hostel I will be staying at for the next 3 weeks. After dropping off my luggage we headed for downtown. Taking bus, minibus, subway and ferry, we set out on a detailed tour that didn't even scratch the city's surface. I saw many familiar landmarks and memories rushed back from the last time I had visited Hong Kong in 2008. Running through the tsunami-injured park, pictures by sculptures, ferry rides, "please mind the gap" and life in a different YWCA closer to the water...... (some pictures from these adventures may be found in a previous, but not distant, blog post)

Afterwards, I was able to check-in to my hostel, connect to the infamous world wide web and update friends and family on my whereabouts. However, due to jet lag, I fell asleep around 7pm only to wake up again around 3am. Yet many great ideas come about while sleeping! The sun was still fairly high when my eyes fell low so it was a surprise when I awoke and needed to find the light switch. After finding it, I discovered another switch on the wall... for air conditioning. I thought I was in the room with the broken AC but in actuality I misunderstood how it worked and did not look closely enough to its operation.

The next day (today), I did not do much at all. In the morning I found a McDonalds and supermarket (to pick up peanut butter and bread) after a skype call with my family. I went back later in the afternoon to pick up some watermelon, wandered into a park bench and continued reread The Man Who Stayed Behind by Sidney Rittenberg. Judging by the average age of park goers, I think the bench I found was close to a retirement apartment. Ironically the building's name was Sik Man. It was a great way to spend 4 hours.

On another note, I am finding myself anxious for others to show up for training on Monday so I have some peers to go on adventures. With them it will not be too terrible if I get lost as I am at least with good company. However, a friend from PLU, Teal Flanigan, will be joining me tomorrow on a layover on her way to Sri Lanka.

For those of you interested in funny street signs/the street sign to which the hostel belongs, please see below.