I Live in China

I made it! Unbelievable. I flew into Hong Kong from L.A. on Thursday. The flight was surprisingly easy and fast. As soon as I got off the plane they handed me a cell phone and a list of errands I had to run that night. We slept about 5 hours and the went straight to school for our first day. They told me to just prepare a 15 mintue game to learn names. I ended up teaching a full day and was at the school for 11 bloody hours.

The school/job is very different from what I expected in a good way. I actually work at a private school called Pegasus Philip Wong Kin Hang Christian Primary School. It is a very expensive and recognized private school. We aren't really English teachers. I am actually an elementary teacher that teaches in English. I really fooled them. My home room is full of 26 adorable first graders. Some speak and read English very well and some speak to me in Cantonese. We rotate classes and I'll be a math teacher for the most part. I think I actually teach a Bible class too! The staff is Christian and at least half the teachers are too. There are 15 english teachers and about 20 Hong Kongers. As for the english teachers, there are a few Americans, a Canadian, one Brit, one Dutch/Asian, two Ausies and a Turk. They seem very cool. I'm actually on my way to a party to get to know all of them. The invitations says there will be 'chicken wings and 12 dozens beers'. I don't know what that means, but it sounds yummy.

We haven't spent very much time getting to know the city, but from what I can tell, it is exactly what I expected. Weather just like Houston, bleh. The streets look exactly like the pictures and feel just like New York only filled with Chinese. The subways are spotless, quiet and air conditioned. We went to a hip area called Lan Kwai Fong in Central Hong Kong last night and hung out in an expat area filled with a ton of American and Brit bankers/students/people like us. It felt amazing to sit there and realize I am in China. It really doesn't feel that far away from home. I think I'm gonna love it here. The next step is to find an apartment today in a sweet neighborhood and make some expat friends.

My ride to the party is here now. Stay tuned to hear about the weekend and first few days of school.