First week in Hong Kong

The first week has passed in a blur of activity. Every day has been filled up with official stuff, poor kids!!! We have tried to add some stuff in for them but the rainy weather has stopped most of our ideas. One thing that has caught both of their attention is travelling on the trains - India hates being confined to her backpack, but if she can hold onto something like daddy then she is happy (most of the time).

Noah just loves using the poles to practise being Fireman Sam, much to the amusement of the people of Hong Kong as I am quite sure that none of the other children every act out their own imaginery scene from Fireman Sam all on their own in the train carriage - with the finale always being a big jump and slide down the pole - never sure whether to be proud of his creative imagination or slightly embarrassed at his lack of awareness of how very different that sort of behaviour is here.

The water shooters have provided hours of fun for our kids. They are on each day for 3 hrs down at the park. Great when the weather is muggy. The first day Paul took them down while I went to buy exciting things like rubbish bins etc....that night I asked what had happened to Noah's back (it was all red) - apparently Paul had been dragging him around the water park and both of them thought it was brilliant fun until later on when we saw the fake grass burn on his back - poor little guy, looked quite sore.

Both of the kids love the big couch we have bought, they play squirrels with the sleeping bags, do massive belly flops, use the cardboard boxes to slide off it, conduct crawling races etc...hours of fun for a very small second hand price. They can be great friends when all the stars and moons align themselves - if they aren't quite all lined up then Noah tries to convince India to do any number of naughty deeds - or India squeals and shrieks as only women can when Noah takes her dolly for a rumble on the couch (the response is just so dramatic no wonder he does it numerous times!)

Departing is always a challenge....

We got through the family goodbyes, we got through closing the suitcases, we even got through weighing the darn things (only 30kg over weight, nothing a pregnant woman looking flustered can't get for free though) - it wasn't until we actually got on the plane that the challenges of flying with little ones struck!

One hour delay on the tarmac as they fixed the airconditioning in the baggage hold - just to make sure all of our potions and lotions didn't melt away I suppose...just try to get your 2 yr old to sit on their seat for an hour, go on, I dare you, its actually really hard!!! Only so many games you can play, songs you can sing and things you can point out to them with that awestruck wonder adults adopt when trying to distract them. Oh, and did I mention that Paul had been moved up to business class, so he was lounging back in his private bed having a snooze while I monitored how many kicks to the back the person in front of India received.

Well eventually we took off (all of us munching gummy dinosaurs, bet they didn't offer those in Business class!) and then the reality set in - 11 hours of kids on a plane....hmmmm.....no phenagan......interesting. Paul finally made an appearance to see how we were doing, my face being like thunder urged him to offer his seat for a couple of hours while he manned the kids. Before I left I took a couple of shots of both of them playing - India being a cover girl for La Leche League and Noah playing with his Bob toys he got on the plane.

I skipped off to Business class, and what a shame, a meal was served while I watched the movie. After that we took it in turns of 2 hours on, and 2 hours off, so you can't really say it was all bad (but 1 1/2 hours sleep for two preschoolers out of the whole 12 hour ordeal does sound pretty bad if your babysitting shift didn't happen at that time).

We got to our apartment midnight local time (4am NZ time) and Noah was amped, he was bouncing off furniture and whizzing around the place chatting about it all. India thank goodness had finally given in to sleep and was conked out in her car seat. We popped her into the porta cot, Noah got put on the bed roll Paul had been using, Paul was lucky to get the portacot mattress and I lounged around like a whale on the couch! Bring on the shopping spree at Ikea I say.

New Beginnings

Hi Folks

Well it has been five weeks since I touched down in Hong Kong and I feel it is time to update you all on what has been happening. I have set up this blog with the hope that when Donna arrives she will take it over and provide updates on a regular basis. Her writing ability far exceeds mine. So watch this space.

Where to start? At the beginning I suppose. I had the first week in a hotel room not far from the new school. It was nice and comfortable and extremely convenient for the first week that I was here. Which was good because although the sights and sounds of Asia are not unfamiliar to me, there was the need for a certain amount of adjustment. Smells, noises and other cultural quirks which now seem completely normal were in the first few days quite noticeable. Top of the list of barriers to “normal” living is the language difference. Many Hong Kongers have good English - but not all. In the first weekend that I was here I was invited by a ‘friend of a friend’ to lunch. This was in an area that could be best described as “local”. It was an hour travel by train to a place called Tai Po. Then I decided to brave the local minibuses. Bad move. I ended up at the terminus of one bus route with the driver looking at me saying, “Out, out.” Yeah, well I didn’t have the foggiest idea where I was and it didn’t look remotely like the area I was told to go to. Anyway, the driver plus two others looked for someone who could speak English. Meanwhile I slowly curled up into a ball chanting the only words that I knew in Cantonese - “Tai Wo tin chu m’goie.” This means “Take me to Tai Wo Bridge, please.” Eventually, I was bundled onto another minibus where three people provided translation services until I finally arrived at my destination. It will be a taxi next time!

I was given the chance to go and check out the Hong Kong “country-side” by a colleague at work who has a self contained flat under her house. So week two saw me heading to rural Hong Kong. Many expats live in this area which is known as Sai Kung. It was nice to get out for some runs in the clear(er) air. As well as loads of expats there are copious numbers of dogs in Sai Kung. In the afternoon Filipino helpers can be seen with two or three dogs “being walked” (not taking them for a walk) up and down the road from one end of the town to the other.

From Sai Kung I made the pilgrimage to Yau Mau Tei. Where I am currently staying with a friend called Lee. Lee is probably best described as Church Pastor. But he wouldn’t want that title. He works in the Kowloon Vineyard Church doing all number of things. His apartment is spacious and it is a great launching point for me to scope out flats in Hong Kong for our family. The location of Lee’s flat is unreal (see the photos). My room overlooks Nathan Rd (the busiest street in Hong Kong). There are two huge neon signs either side of my window and earplugs are essential. The great thing is that it is easy to save power by turning off the lights and opening the curtains.

So the first few weeks flew by and last weekend was a fleeting visit back to New Zealand for less than four days. It was great though. Kissing and cuddling Donna and the kids, reading the kiddies books, teaming up to mow the lawns with Noah, seeing my mum, Lisa, Connor, Charlotte and Si. Fun times.

Since being back it has been more serious flat hunting. I don’t even want to talk about it right now because I have been hard at it all day today. School folk are really helpful though and everyone seems to be keen to lend a hand where they can.

Oh nearly forgot to mention last night. BBQ for all New Zealand teachers at a family from school’s apartment. It is an annual event and one that certainly needs encouraging. Apart from the lovely apartment there were NZers everywhere so it was good value. Rugby talk, more rugby talk, steak, sausages, more steak and sausages. Good times!

So that is a little insight into my time here so far. I am back in New Zealand at Easter (so that is just 12 days from now), which I am sooooo excited about. Although talking to the family most days on Skype is great I miss them heaps. Please drop me a line if you can.

Paul

Room with a 'different' view - from the Hotel

...and my current accommodation.

Ocean Park - Year 3 Field Trip
...someones got to do it!