Sai Kung

I went hiking yesterday with the Yip sisters. I couldn't remember the last time I had been out of a city setting, so the fresh air was welcomed. After a 90 minute trip out into the New Territories, we found what we thought was our trail and set off. I am just now realizing that we were on a completely different part of the trail than we thought.

Our hike was expected to be along a nice beach for a few hours, but instead we climed up and down four mountians over 11km and ascended up 400m to a peak. There were stairs along the steep parts, but they almost made it worse on my ageing knees.


Our trail ended in a great fishing village, Sai Kung. Its quite touristy, but for a reason. Along the docks there are plenty of restaurants that put their fresh catches into large tanks. When you're ready to eat, you walk over and point out what your craving. Then, the chef prepares your 'catch' however you like. The three of us easily put away a 6lb. fish, two crabs and a pound of shrimp.

All in all, the views were terrific and the setting serene. Our dinner was fantastic too. It felt great to get out of the city and hopefully I'll find some time to do some more treks.

Sick Games

I left work early on Thursday with a fever and I've been in bed for 48 hours since. I'm feeling much better now, but I'm fresh out of '24' episodes. My sinuses are also clearing and everything is coming up. I've taken a few steps to cure the boredom. I'm on my bed, window open to the cool breeze and 21 floors below is; not sure and don't want to check because...Whenever I cough something up, I spit it out the window and wonder where that gooey glob landed. Then, I write about it on the internet.

Gross? Not until you've tried it.

Mr. Jack Hammer

I remember walking down the streets of New York multiple times and feel the sidewalk begin to shake, or at my desk 21 floors up and hear the building rumble and think to myself, “It would not sadden me if I never hear the pneumatic sound of a jackhammer ever again.”

Alas, not fifty yards from my desk in Hong Kong, two 40 story apartment buildings are being constructed. Outside the school, the air is constantly filled with sound waves of whining cement trucks, swirling cranes, and of course the abhorrent jackhammer.

I am sitting in the garden on the roof of my school, trying to escape the chaos of the classroom, but even my iPod cannot rescue me from the machine gun battle that rages in the construction zone across the way. Neither can the book I’m reading which is ironically describing a scientist’s efforts to control the sound of the universe and turn all of its annoyances off. Until this fiction becomes a reality though, I won’t be able to concentrate enough to even finish the chapter.

Whoever invented this beastly tool should be imprisoned for disturbing global peace. I think his sentence should be lying on a bed with a jackhammer constantly drilling next to his head, 24/7. I doubt he would survive a week before he lost his mind and was crippled with internal tremors for the rest of his quaking days.

The rattling of the jack hammer outside or the Chinese chatter in the classroom; which one should I choose?

Attack of the Chinese Students!!!

I decided today, amid the chaos of my classroom, that a good illustration for my job would be a four-hour Chinese horror film. Imagine the constant rambling in Chinese with errant screams. Kids running around, bloody noses, people bumping into each other and falling onto their faces. Objects flying through the air, mass confusion, everyone lost in their own world and the only interaction with each other results in a fight of some sort.

Then, there is me in the middle, trying in what ever way possible to pacify the situation; urging everyone to keep calm. But no one understands a word I’m saying or even bothers to try to listen. Instead, they glance at me when I shout their name and the carry on shouting as they run across the set of this Asian horror flick. On any given day you would think that Godzilla had crawled out of Victoria harbour and was standing outside the school.

Lamma Island

I found my new getaway spot last weekend. They guys and I all retreated to Lamma Island for the laid back scene instead of the usual rush. The island is only a twenty minute ferry away, but it seems like you’re thousands of miles off. Set just to the southwest of Hong Kong Island, it is rumored to contain the earliest evidence of Chinese society from over 5000 years ago.

There isn’t much to Lamma, and that’s the beauty of it. The ferry arrives at the terminal and you follow the gangway onto the sole street on the island. Seafood restaurants are separated only by small bars and food shops. We dined on a balcony overlooking local fishing boats in the South China Sea. We ate everything from squid and garlic shrimps to ginger crab and grouper. The meal was fantastic and cheap.

Afterwards, we sat by the bay and had some drinks while playing cards into the wee hours. A hotel room steps from our table cost us each about $12 USD. In the morning, a local restaurateur cooked up an American breakfast special for us with eggs, bacon, sausage and plenty of coffee.

For about $50 USD we each had one of the best weekends we can remember in Hong Kong. Lamma is definitely a regular spot for us now to escape the ruckus that is Central Hong Kong and to relax the right way.

Jet Lagged New Year

From the time I left for home three weeks ago up to now I have been very jet lagged. In Texas I was sleeping for five hours a night and then a marathon nap in the afternoon. I’m finally getting over 7 hours of sleep at night now that I’m back in Hong Kong.

After my recent travels in the States, I am realizing how much I really miss my friends. I really hope to go back to New York after my stint in Asia. Hong Kong is a good city and I am satisfied, but I feel like I have seen all it has to offer me and now I’m ready to shake things up again. My job has gone from extremely stressful to very easy and boring. I use it simply as a source of money and vacation time for my travels.

I booked my ticket to Bangkok last night. Andrew and I will spend Chinese New Year in Hong Kong and then spend a week in Thailand. In April some friends from the States will be in town and we’ll tour the mainland for two weeks. A couple months following, school will be over and I will hopefully spend quite awhile traveling west from here, crossing multiple continents, to get back to the U.S.

I do spend a lot of time thinking about the future, but that’s what keeps me going. Teaching was just a means to make these journeys happen. Already half way over, Hong Kong hasn’t disappointed, but it feels dull now and I’m ready for more adventure.

Holiday Wrap-up

Its been awhile since I've posted anything. Things were pretty quiet leading up to Christmas and all I could think about was getting on the plane to go see family and friends.

I was in Texas over Christmas and spent some good time with my family. I also met Selah Wolf in her first week and had some good guy time with Micah and Lucas.

After Texas, I spent a few nights in New York catching up with some more friends. Lauren was in town to see a friend too so I got to be part of her first New York experience.

New Year's was a blast at Collin's apartment. We had a good group of old friends and I think everyone rang in the new year in good fashion.

On my last night, I met Andrew and the old crew at McSorley's. It was as if I never left. All of the bartenders were curious to know about Hong Kong and later that night we all went out for karaoke. What a fun crowd!

Four of my students were waiting for me at my office this morning to say how much they missed me. I'm still happy in Hong Kong, but I miss the states now and really want to go back to NYC. There is some more travel coming up soon, but I would like to end up in New York later this year.

Quotes

I've been keeping a log of my favorite lines people around me have said over the past few years. Its usually just one sentence at the right time that makes me laugh so hard that I never want to forget it. Friday provided two gems:

"I know I'm mentally unstable, but I'd rather be that than married."
-Phil, 40

"Vegas Baby, Vegas!"
-Westley, 6

May I have this Riverdance?

For the second week in a row, my friends and I turn down the hill on d'Aguilar street with a growling appetite. The neon sign glows overhead, "Stormie's Upstairs - Open for Drinks and Snacks". And so, for the second week in a row Dave and I go up stairs and ask, "Is Stormie's upstairs open for drinks and snacks?" The bartender again tells us that he is closed, although there are two people at the bar.

"Sorry, we've been here awhile," say the guy and girl at the bar.

"The sign outside says you're open," Dave declares to the bartender.

"You did this to us last week too!" I added.

The girl at the bar spins around and proclaims "We're Irish and we're actually famous. That's why he's serving us."

"Famous and Irish?" I ask, "Does that merit special treatment?"

Defensively, the girls replies, "We're not very famous here, but we are in Ireland. We're in Riverdance."

And so we danced.

Vive Les Frenchies!

Things were less than stellar in Hong Kong for the first two months (see On Edge). School was overwhelming and that brought on other worries about my current situation and the future. In the past three weeks things have turned drastically for my favor. I gave up on trying to change things at school and learned how to just show up and have fun with my kids. My friends and I enjoy each other more now that we don’t have dramatic situations at work and instead are strengthening our friendships on other basis. The future looks bright.

This weekend was certainly one of the most enjoyable I can remember thus far. I spent time with my good friends here and even met a great new group of people afaffectionatelyeferred to as 'The Frenchies'. Andrew plays on a few soccer teams in town and on Thursday I met some players from the French team. They are all right at our age and are loads of fun. They fulfill every French stereotype in the book. From ‘ze way dat dey speak’ to the wavy-haired guy from Bordeaux with a sweater tied around his neck.

I haven't spent much, if any, time in my life around the French so my Southern grown ideals about them are certainly askew. I learned something about the real French this weekend and they are one of the most fun groups of people I have ever been around. I laughed so hard with them that I may have developed a hernia.

Most of my new amis will be here the entire time I am in Hong Kong and I am so grateful for so many new friends. I’m sure that there are many great times to come and a plethora of stories to tell.