Hello,
Today I have a rather simple theme. I am going to talk about my neighbourhood! While this may not seem a big deal, my neighbourhood is rather unique. First of all it is right smack in Kowloon, one of the most densely populated places on earth. There are seven million people in the Hong Kong territory total, and Kowloon must have over half of them. Once in a while I am struck by how crowded the sidewalks are and how tight and narrow everything is in the stores, but I am getting used to it. To pack so many people in such a limited space, since Hong Kong is 70% natural, they have tons of high rises. Some are really high, high, high rises. Apartments are small and expensive. My little flat, 710 sq feet, actually one of the bigger ones around, can be bought for $350 000 Canadian. Rent is $2500 Canadian. You can buy or rent a decent house in Red Deer for that kind of money. But if you are careful, food and transportation are cheap. Buses, subways are less than a dollar as is the ferry to Hong Kong. Taxis cost two to five dollars for a fairly lengthy ride. A decent meal at a decent restaurant $4 or $5 dollars Canadian. My neighbourhood has plenty of restaurants, a laundry mat, 4 or 5 dollars for a heavy load, grocery stores and open air markets where you can find decent prices on many items. So except for the housing, you can, if you are careful live on the cheap. Yet there are plenty of high end stores especially over in Hong Kong.
Now back to the neighbourhood. Kowloon is noted for having several buildings built in the Bauhaus mode, which was popular in the 50's. Many of them are being torn down to be replaced by high end apartments. My neighbourhood is so typical of what is going on all over China. The economic boom has caused cities to become a mish mash of high end first world buildings, next to middle of the road structures, across the street from a slum. One building in my neighbourhood is first world on the ground level, middle class on the second floor and third world slum at the top. This mish mash of buildings and people, mainly chinese, mixed with indians (real ones from India) and the occasional white guy( me) makes my neighbourhood interesting. Yet there is a quaintness too. The vendors at the open air market know who I am and great me like an old friend, waitresses at the restaurant know me as well and great me with a smile and something in Chinese, I hope hello, its all kind of quaint now, but never boring. Yet, despite all the choas of my neighbourhood I feel quite safe. The police are always on patrol and people tend to be gracious and concerned about making a living rather than trying to mug you. So all in all a great place to be.
Till next time.
Adios,
Dirk
Big Wave Bay
Not just another beach!
Friday, November 26, 2010
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Amah Rock Lion Rock Hong Kong Soccer
Hello Everyone,
Had another interesting week here in, do I dare say, warm Hong Kong. My parents say it is rather cold and snowy back home. Here it was a little cooler today, the temperature plunged from plus 25 yesterday to plus 24. Oh no. Time to get the parka out. Christmas decorations went up at the school. At plus 25 or 24, with plants and trees green and blooming and kids and everyone wearing shorts it is hard to wrap Christmas around in my head. Christmas without snow and cold just doesn't seem right. I'll get over it. There I just did.
A little observation about how people handle the constant heat here. At school the kids always have a water bottle as do the teachers. Kids will literally fight over shady patches on the courtyard to play in during recess and gym. Kids stand in open doorways to get cool from the air conditioners blasting cool outside. Most kids here have zero concept of what a snowsuit is and none have worn mittens. Hmm. As for me I've worn my coat maybe twice, and taken it off within a few minutes. As for long pants, I may have worn them twice since I arrived. My legs are getting hairy and brown. Its rough.
On Wednesday night I went to see Hong Kong's national team (ranked 137 in the world, even lower than Canada) take on Paraguay ranked about 20th. The Hong Kong stadium is nice, but most Hong Kongers, stayed away and there may have been 2000 people in a 45 000 seat stadium. They obviously had no interest in watching a slaughter as the poor Hong Kong team got outclassed in every department and were destroyed 7-0 by Paraguay. The South Americans looked like men among boys vrs. Hong Kong. Yet, it was fun to watch Paraguay show off their skills. Their ball handling and passing was amazing and me and the other fans yelled our appreciation. In the second half I stood by the hardcore Hong Kong fan club. They cheered anytime their team gained possession of the ball, which was like 10% of the time. That was all they really had to cheer about. Kinda sad, but it was an experience.
On Friday morning under a blue sky and a calm plus 26 I led a grades 1-3 sportsday. This is November? It is summer, like the 10 days or so we get back home end of July or start of August. Oh yeah I already mentioned the weather, sorry I'll move onto my hike which I did today, Saturday November 20 on a rather crisp plus 24 day.
I first took the train to Lion Rock park and once there clambered through the lush green jungle up to Amah rock where several people were having lunch to the wild beat of Chinese folk music blaring through a transistor radio. That is weird. Many Chinese hike with a little radio blasting all the latest Cantonese hits. Talk about killing a mood, yet I have learned to move on quickly and am soon enveloped in the quiet of the dense forest. From Amah rock I climbed for about another half hour up to Lion Rock which dominates the skyline of Kowloon. There are great views from Lion Rock, too bad the air pollution was kind of thick today. Hopefully next time it will be clear. Most of the path today was a meticulously laid rock path, but up on the top near Lion Rock it was pretty steep and rough and the flimsy rope, I think it was a safety feature, to prevent you falling several hundred meters into the jungle, is what makes China so interesting. Some rules and some parts of it is so overdone, yet when you drive a car or climb up to certain areas on a hike it is wild and unregulated.
Nevertheless, and I hate to admit, but I am starting to like this hiking thing. It is really interesting here and the views are amazing. So for the next while until the weather gets hot and humid and the only thing you can really do outside is hang by a pool or laze at a beach I'm going exploring.
Have a great week everyone. Till then:
Adios,
Dirk
Had another interesting week here in, do I dare say, warm Hong Kong. My parents say it is rather cold and snowy back home. Here it was a little cooler today, the temperature plunged from plus 25 yesterday to plus 24. Oh no. Time to get the parka out. Christmas decorations went up at the school. At plus 25 or 24, with plants and trees green and blooming and kids and everyone wearing shorts it is hard to wrap Christmas around in my head. Christmas without snow and cold just doesn't seem right. I'll get over it. There I just did.
A little observation about how people handle the constant heat here. At school the kids always have a water bottle as do the teachers. Kids will literally fight over shady patches on the courtyard to play in during recess and gym. Kids stand in open doorways to get cool from the air conditioners blasting cool outside. Most kids here have zero concept of what a snowsuit is and none have worn mittens. Hmm. As for me I've worn my coat maybe twice, and taken it off within a few minutes. As for long pants, I may have worn them twice since I arrived. My legs are getting hairy and brown. Its rough.
On Wednesday night I went to see Hong Kong's national team (ranked 137 in the world, even lower than Canada) take on Paraguay ranked about 20th. The Hong Kong stadium is nice, but most Hong Kongers, stayed away and there may have been 2000 people in a 45 000 seat stadium. They obviously had no interest in watching a slaughter as the poor Hong Kong team got outclassed in every department and were destroyed 7-0 by Paraguay. The South Americans looked like men among boys vrs. Hong Kong. Yet, it was fun to watch Paraguay show off their skills. Their ball handling and passing was amazing and me and the other fans yelled our appreciation. In the second half I stood by the hardcore Hong Kong fan club. They cheered anytime their team gained possession of the ball, which was like 10% of the time. That was all they really had to cheer about. Kinda sad, but it was an experience.
On Friday morning under a blue sky and a calm plus 26 I led a grades 1-3 sportsday. This is November? It is summer, like the 10 days or so we get back home end of July or start of August. Oh yeah I already mentioned the weather, sorry I'll move onto my hike which I did today, Saturday November 20 on a rather crisp plus 24 day.
I first took the train to Lion Rock park and once there clambered through the lush green jungle up to Amah rock where several people were having lunch to the wild beat of Chinese folk music blaring through a transistor radio. That is weird. Many Chinese hike with a little radio blasting all the latest Cantonese hits. Talk about killing a mood, yet I have learned to move on quickly and am soon enveloped in the quiet of the dense forest. From Amah rock I climbed for about another half hour up to Lion Rock which dominates the skyline of Kowloon. There are great views from Lion Rock, too bad the air pollution was kind of thick today. Hopefully next time it will be clear. Most of the path today was a meticulously laid rock path, but up on the top near Lion Rock it was pretty steep and rough and the flimsy rope, I think it was a safety feature, to prevent you falling several hundred meters into the jungle, is what makes China so interesting. Some rules and some parts of it is so overdone, yet when you drive a car or climb up to certain areas on a hike it is wild and unregulated.
Nevertheless, and I hate to admit, but I am starting to like this hiking thing. It is really interesting here and the views are amazing. So for the next while until the weather gets hot and humid and the only thing you can really do outside is hang by a pool or laze at a beach I'm going exploring.
Have a great week everyone. Till then:
Adios,
Dirk
Saturday, November 13, 2010
I actually do work
Hello,
Believe it or not, even though the blog might give you a different impression, I do spend the majority of my time here in Hong Kong going to work at the Christian Alliance International School. As with any new job there has been challenges figuring out school protocol, organizing and planning classes, deadlines, getting to know the kids, establishing routines, etc etc. Yet slowly things are starting to settle and time, like in any school year, moves along quite briskly. For the first time in a long while I am teaching straight physical education. I even have a title: Physical Education Director. Not only do I teach full time PE, but I also am to promote it, run school wide sportdays, get equipment, and make sure the other PE teachers are aware of what the Alberta PE curriculum expects. I also do some coaching. It is a pretty busy job, but CAIS has given me quite a few prep periods so for the most part I can manage most of my duties during a regular school day without going overtime. Pretty good. CAIS runs on a six day cycle.
On days one, three, and five I start out my day with the grade 10's, followed by two kindergarten classes, then grade 7, a decent break, followed by two more kindergarten classes and ending with PE20 grade which is made of grade 11,12 students. What is the difference between kindergarten and PE 20 classes you ask? Besides an obvious size difference, not much. Everyone needs to be managed and inspired somehow. On days two, four, six, I run a grade 9 class, nice break, grade 7, grade 2, then two grade one classes. The grade 2 and grade 1 classes are at another campus, due to the fact that the main campus is filled to capacity. Except for the grade 2 class, which has way too many difficult kids, the rest are relatively easy and fun. As far as facilities go CAIS is not that great. It is all outside, which can be difficult when it is hot or the air pollution is bad or when it rains. When it rains we have to go into the dining hall, move the tables and play floorhockey or other games. Not great. Yet, we manage and the kids, like all kids, love PE and we have fun.
The staff at CAIS is interesting. A wide spectrum of Christian views, fundamental to more liberal are represented. Yet, the morning devotions and prayer times that we have with each other at 7:40 am every day! are always good and gets us in the right frame of mind.
Classes start at 8:10 and go to 3:40. It is a long day, but we get a little fall break at the end of October, Christmas 2 weeks, Chinese New Years 10 days, end of January, Easter 10 days, plus a week off for discovery days where the kids from the higher grades and teachers travel to different parts of the world. Some are going to Africa and Russia. I am staying here cause some kids can't afford or want to go any where and am offering a Discover Hong Kong Sports week. I'll be taking kids biking, windsurfing, body boarding, and on a survival course on a little island nearby. Not bad.
In a few years CAIS will be moving to a brand new multimillion dollar campus which will include three inside gyms, a swimming pool, theatre, soccer pitch, etc etc. Right now the population at the school is @500 kids, the new place will accomodate 1500. Who is paying for this you ask. The school board is run by a billionaire who is very supportive of CAIS. I'm booked here for two years and so we will see, if they want to keep me, I may be in for a tough decision. But till then I will keep pressing forward, grateful for the job I have and trying to enjoy every moment in this strange, but interesting place.
Finally, I went for another bike hike up to Kowloon Hills and came across some wild monkeys. I also got some great views.
Till next time.
Dirk
Believe it or not, even though the blog might give you a different impression, I do spend the majority of my time here in Hong Kong going to work at the Christian Alliance International School. As with any new job there has been challenges figuring out school protocol, organizing and planning classes, deadlines, getting to know the kids, establishing routines, etc etc. Yet slowly things are starting to settle and time, like in any school year, moves along quite briskly. For the first time in a long while I am teaching straight physical education. I even have a title: Physical Education Director. Not only do I teach full time PE, but I also am to promote it, run school wide sportdays, get equipment, and make sure the other PE teachers are aware of what the Alberta PE curriculum expects. I also do some coaching. It is a pretty busy job, but CAIS has given me quite a few prep periods so for the most part I can manage most of my duties during a regular school day without going overtime. Pretty good. CAIS runs on a six day cycle.
On days one, three, and five I start out my day with the grade 10's, followed by two kindergarten classes, then grade 7, a decent break, followed by two more kindergarten classes and ending with PE20 grade which is made of grade 11,12 students. What is the difference between kindergarten and PE 20 classes you ask? Besides an obvious size difference, not much. Everyone needs to be managed and inspired somehow. On days two, four, six, I run a grade 9 class, nice break, grade 7, grade 2, then two grade one classes. The grade 2 and grade 1 classes are at another campus, due to the fact that the main campus is filled to capacity. Except for the grade 2 class, which has way too many difficult kids, the rest are relatively easy and fun. As far as facilities go CAIS is not that great. It is all outside, which can be difficult when it is hot or the air pollution is bad or when it rains. When it rains we have to go into the dining hall, move the tables and play floorhockey or other games. Not great. Yet, we manage and the kids, like all kids, love PE and we have fun.
The staff at CAIS is interesting. A wide spectrum of Christian views, fundamental to more liberal are represented. Yet, the morning devotions and prayer times that we have with each other at 7:40 am every day! are always good and gets us in the right frame of mind.
Classes start at 8:10 and go to 3:40. It is a long day, but we get a little fall break at the end of October, Christmas 2 weeks, Chinese New Years 10 days, end of January, Easter 10 days, plus a week off for discovery days where the kids from the higher grades and teachers travel to different parts of the world. Some are going to Africa and Russia. I am staying here cause some kids can't afford or want to go any where and am offering a Discover Hong Kong Sports week. I'll be taking kids biking, windsurfing, body boarding, and on a survival course on a little island nearby. Not bad.
In a few years CAIS will be moving to a brand new multimillion dollar campus which will include three inside gyms, a swimming pool, theatre, soccer pitch, etc etc. Right now the population at the school is @500 kids, the new place will accomodate 1500. Who is paying for this you ask. The school board is run by a billionaire who is very supportive of CAIS. I'm booked here for two years and so we will see, if they want to keep me, I may be in for a tough decision. But till then I will keep pressing forward, grateful for the job I have and trying to enjoy every moment in this strange, but interesting place.
Finally, I went for another bike hike up to Kowloon Hills and came across some wild monkeys. I also got some great views.
Till next time.
Dirk
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Kowloon Hills
Hello Everyone,
Over the past two weeks two good friends of mine died, Doug H and Bernice K. I am sad and a little shocked about both. They both blessed me in their own unique ways and I will miss them.
Time is moving along quite quickly. There is talk of Christmas at the school, but it is hard to wrap your mind around the concept when the high today is 26 and all the trees are still green and lush. There are a few plants that have some yellow leaves on them, but it is certainly not like home. I had parent teacher interviews and spoke to quite a few junior high parents on how to motivate their kids to do better in PE. Parents of junior highs are the same all over the world, a little perplexed and not sure how to handle their young teenager. The only difference from the parents here to the parents back home: The parents back home speak English a little better.
Talking about home the school board of CAIS feted us teachers on Friday night at the posh Hong Kong Golf and Country club with a dinner buffet that included steak, fish, pork chops, veal, corn, potatoes, a wide variety of salads and scrumptious desserts. When your leaders feed you that well it is a pleasure to work hard for them.
Since the weather is getting a little cooler, the humidity is gone, praise the Lord, and it is now @ 25 instead of @35 I went hiking up a small mountain called Kowloon Hills that I can see from my bedroom window. It took me about twenty minutes to bike to the base of this little mountain. The narrow road leading up to the peak was called Lung Yan Road, which translated probably means; "Cough up a lung road," cause it was steep and nasty. I am not much of a hiker, but I enjoyed the quiet, the lush semi-tropical forest, and the fresh air which had the mild scent of a tropical green house back home, of course.
It was a rewarding hike, too bad the air pollution over the city was bad because there were some spectacular views. The hike is also famous for monkeys. There are supposed to be hundreds of them lurking in the forest, but all I saw were some stray dogs.
Anyways I enjoyed my little adventure so much that I plan to bike hike or just hike next week. The British did a good thing, putting trails throughout the wilds of Hong Kong. Yeah I really like it here. I thought Hong Kong was just a big city, but it is so much more. Seventy percent of it is natural and so there are lots of trails, jungles, and beaches to explore yet.
Well have a great seven days and I will try to post something next week.
Adios and much love,
Dirk
Over the past two weeks two good friends of mine died, Doug H and Bernice K. I am sad and a little shocked about both. They both blessed me in their own unique ways and I will miss them.
Time is moving along quite quickly. There is talk of Christmas at the school, but it is hard to wrap your mind around the concept when the high today is 26 and all the trees are still green and lush. There are a few plants that have some yellow leaves on them, but it is certainly not like home. I had parent teacher interviews and spoke to quite a few junior high parents on how to motivate their kids to do better in PE. Parents of junior highs are the same all over the world, a little perplexed and not sure how to handle their young teenager. The only difference from the parents here to the parents back home: The parents back home speak English a little better.
Talking about home the school board of CAIS feted us teachers on Friday night at the posh Hong Kong Golf and Country club with a dinner buffet that included steak, fish, pork chops, veal, corn, potatoes, a wide variety of salads and scrumptious desserts. When your leaders feed you that well it is a pleasure to work hard for them.
Since the weather is getting a little cooler, the humidity is gone, praise the Lord, and it is now @ 25 instead of @35 I went hiking up a small mountain called Kowloon Hills that I can see from my bedroom window. It took me about twenty minutes to bike to the base of this little mountain. The narrow road leading up to the peak was called Lung Yan Road, which translated probably means; "Cough up a lung road," cause it was steep and nasty. I am not much of a hiker, but I enjoyed the quiet, the lush semi-tropical forest, and the fresh air which had the mild scent of a tropical green house back home, of course.
It was a rewarding hike, too bad the air pollution over the city was bad because there were some spectacular views. The hike is also famous for monkeys. There are supposed to be hundreds of them lurking in the forest, but all I saw were some stray dogs.
Anyways I enjoyed my little adventure so much that I plan to bike hike or just hike next week. The British did a good thing, putting trails throughout the wilds of Hong Kong. Yeah I really like it here. I thought Hong Kong was just a big city, but it is so much more. Seventy percent of it is natural and so there are lots of trails, jungles, and beaches to explore yet.
Well have a great seven days and I will try to post something next week.
Adios and much love,
Dirk
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