Back Streets

Hello Most Excellent Ones,

This week I am doing something very different.  Mainly I will let the pictures do the talking.  Hong Kong also has an ugly side that you will not find in a travel magazine.  There are lots of little back alleys or side streets and as you will see, they not are not very pretty, but I still find them rather interesting and worthy of a picture.  Have a great week and God bless you!

Love adios and peng on!

Dirk

A Few Sights Around Hong Kong

My Dear Great Ones,
Sorry about my tardiness last week getting the blog in on time.  I certainly appreciate your comments about my blog and I am glad I  have a few followers.
This week was headlined by the tragic ferry accident off Lamma island.  A boat load of people were heading from Lamma island to Victoria Harbour to watch the National Day fireworks when another ferry crashed into them causing the boat to sink quickly.  There were about 140 people on board and 39 lost their lives including children.  It was the worst boat accident in Hong Kong in over 40 years.  I ride the ferries all the time and yes Hong Kong waterways are busy, but their safety record is impeccable.  So pray for the families who lost loved ones.  It is a really tough time for them.

I have included some pictures that I took this past week.  Hong Kong continues to amaze me with its diversity.  City/nature, sophisticated/simple, animal life, etc.  It is an amazing place and I am grateful to be here.  God bless you and have a great week everyone.

Love adios and peng on!

Dirk

 A condolence book on Lamma Island for the families who lost loved ones.

 Swank, sophisticated Hong Kong.  

This display, Terra Cota Warriors?  was set up on National Day.

The simple life on Lamma.  Old couple sorting out wood.

A lady selling her wares (dried fish) on Lamma.

Fishing boats on Lamma.

A praying mantas on a beach at Lamma.  Cool.

It is a little different here

Hello Incredible Ones,
Sorry a little late this week getting the blog updated.  I am enjoying a long weekend and got a little distracted.

I went to a mall, Festival Walk, very briefly on Saturday morning to get a few things and was astonished to see hundreds of people lining up at the Mac Store to get the latest iphone.  All that effort for a phone?  Still don't really get the iphone thing.  Seems people spend an ordinate amount of time on a phone these days.  People laugh at my "old" two year phone and say I really need to update.  Man how did we survive living without an iphone in the old days.  Very well I say, very well…

  At the Apple store.  Store workers were giving the customers high fives as they came in the store.  Yeah I would to if they were willing to spend 100's on a phone.

A massive crowd waiting for the opportunity to spend 100s on a phone.  Get a life dudes!

After my quick trip to the mall I headed to sweet Lamma, where I journeyed to a new undiscovered  beach called Lo So Shing.  It must mean Excellent Secluded Beach.  It is awesome and is now officially my favorite beach of all time.  Big Wave ranks a close second.  Lo So Shing had barely any people, even though it was Saturday, the water was clean, and there was a shark net and facilities.  Perfect.

Lo So Shing Beach.   Awesome.

Later that evening I was at my apartment complex and spent some time in the garden, that is located by the pool on top of the car park, with hundreds of kids and their parents.  It is mid-autumn festival and the kids got to stay up late carrying lanterns and glow sticks.  It was fun to watch and I later fell asleep to the excited murmuring of the kids voices.  Cool.

A mid autumn festival display.  Rather garish and weird, but hey its kinda fun.

Kids playing with glow sticks.

Glowing in the dark

Finally I ended up at Festival Walk mall again this weekend on a mission to get a book and lo and behold I came upon a Germany display.  I  will let you make your own judgements about it.  Kind of weird would be kind…

The Brandenburg Tor?  With soldiers in front…? huh what?

The black forest with Neuschwannstein in the background.

Neuschwannstein


Well thats it for this week.  Not a day passes by here in Hong Kong where I am not left amazed at something.  Have a great week and God bless you all.

Love adios and peng on!

Dirk

Kids

Hello  Excellent Ones,
Kids are great.  I think what I like most about them is their lack of cynicism about life.  Their outlook is positive.  Naive, but positive.   I like the fact that there are many things that still wow them.  When I throw some skipping ropes, hula hoops, or balls into the sky they are awed.  I like their energy, smiles, and the fact they have a hard time hiding their emotions.  I like the trust and faith that they have in adults.  The kids faith in me is incredible a gift that I don't want to lose.  Finally I like kids because they are basically amusing.  They make me laugh.  They are so creative and it is fun to watch them play and transfer to another world of make believe.  When they learn something new it is great.  When kids learn to read it is amazing.  Thank God for kids.  Life would be so boring and mundane without them.

                                                   Issac

                                                   Beverly

                                                    

                                                  Ernie

                                         Kotoha

                                         Darren

                                         Kunwhee

Have a great week everyone.  God bless you all.

Love adios and peng on!

Dirk

Lai Yiu

Hello Most Excellent Ones,
This school year I am working full time at the second CAIS campus, called Lai Yiu, teaching kindergarten to grade 3 PE.  Lai Yiu is pretty far from where I live, but I carpool in a taxi with fellow teachers in the morning and get there in reasonable time and expense.  The school is a vast improvement over the second campus from last year.  Bigger and better classes, but for me the courtyard is big and great for gym.  There is also a covered playground and chapel on the 6th floor.  So big step up from last year.

There are however a few problems.  Lai Yiu is on top of hill, parking is a nightmare, there are six floors and lots of steps.  Lai Yiu teachers and kids are going to be in excellent shape by the end of the school year.  Yet the biggest problem is that for some reason kids arrive at the school by 7:30 am.  And they leave at 3:00 pm.  That is one long day. We teachers have to be there by 7:15, which sadly kills off my Lamma dream.  I simply won't make it from Lamma to Lai Yiu in time.  I have a plan B, to go to Shatin, which would not be bad either.  Anyway I think the school day starts way too early, kids are arriving half asleep and they are eating breakfast in the car while coming to school.  Not good.  I plan to file a complaint.  Sleep deprived students are not a good thing.  Teachers too.

While the facility is much better the new teachers at Lai Yiu are even better.  They are really fun and excellent.  And young!  Many are younger than my own kids the four E's.  Gulp.  I am feeling rather ancient especially when it comes to computer knowledge.  The new teachers are amazing with them and they laugh at my old, two year old push button cell phone.  It's a relic they say.  I've been advised to upgrade to a touch screen.  Great.  And then they say,  "way back in the 90's, when I was still in elementary school"…  Yet there are still a few of us relics hanging around, so I am not totally alone in my age bracket.  Anyway here are a few pictures from the new campus.

Lai Yiu Campus

Happy kids on the courtyard.  School kids in Hong Kong all wear uniforms.  Not a bad policy at all.

View from the road beside the school

Another view of the courtyard.

Darren is quite the guy.

Before school.  Kids lining up their backpacks in the row they will be picked up by their teacher.

Kids at chapel time.

Gym class.  Plenty of room.  Great improvement.

So that is it folks.  Keep praying I really appreciate it.

Love adios and peng on!

Dirk

Mountains and Forests

Hello My Dear Great Ones,
The second week of school went a little smoother and faster.  Lots of things to worry about, lesson plans, unit plans, growth plans, this thing needs to get on the school server, as does this, as does that, and oh yeah there are classes that need to be taught and teams that need to be coached.  Wow I am one busy hombre these days.  Yet the kids always make me smile so life is good.  I am grateful for the past  several months.  I was able to see and experience some wonderful hikes and bikes in four different countries and three different continents.  I am grateful for my health, grateful for family and friends, grateful I have been able to see and experience so many great things.  I especially like going being near, on, in, mountains and forests.  So without further ado here is a small sampling of some of the forests and mountains I have seen so far this year.

High up on Lantau island, Hong Kong.

Heading down to Tung Chung, Lantau, island, Hong Kong.

Der Wald bei Wald Oma.  The forest by Forest Grandma.  Freidersdorf, Germany

Bebenhausen,  Germany.

Glacier Park, Montana, USA

Hidden Lake, Montana, USA

Kananskis Country, Alberta, Canada

Have a great week everyone and God bless you all.

Dirk

Going up Lai Yui Hill

Hello Fantastic Ones, 
My school CAIS is growing and needed more room for all the new students.  So they now house the students in two campuses   The new building is in a place called Lai Yui  (Lie You) and that is where I have been assigned this year.  It is about an hour away from Skytower and 50 minutes from Lamma.  Hmmm.  I think there is a good chance a move to Lamma is in the works.  In fact lets say its 90% sure I will be heading there by Christmas.  Anyway Lai Yui is located high on a hill, with a great view of the mountains and docks. As with all hills in Hong Kong that have inhabitants, great care, work, and expense has been put in to insure that the hills do not slide away during the heavy rainfalls that can occur here.  Hong Kong has a sad history of mud slides that have destroyed and killed much and many.  As a result engineers have literally cemented hills together and created elaborate drainage systems that channels the water away from potential disaster.  Some of the drainage systems create waterfalls like in the Rockies.  It is quite spectacular, but again the water gets channeled away from people and buildings.  Engineers have also created massive reservoirs for  rainwater insuring that Hong Kong never has to experience droughts that used to plague the city.  The pictures I have included in this blog show the walk up to my new school.  The cliffs on the side are either all covered in cement or by a massive steel net.  From an engineering and architectural standpoint Hong Kong is a marvel.  Amazing what men will think up when there is a lack of space or potential for a landslide.

Have a great week everyone!

These cliffs are held together with nets and cement.

Held together with cement and steel nets.

An overpass for pedestrians.  Amazing!

The cliffs of Lai Yui.

Hills of cement.

Have a great week everyone.  God bless you!

Love adios and peng on!

Dirk