2010-2011 School Year in Review

We moved to Hong Kong because I got my first teaching job after graduating from BYU. I was scared to death! The first few months were quite stressful and I had no idea what I was doing. I continued to work hard and I finally started to get the hang of things.School in HK can be pretty intense. The kids start attending school at a very young age and they push them hard. So here I was trying to make learning fun for the kids while trying to finish all of the silly workbooks I was supposed to have them do. It was tricky but I worked out a system. We were able to fly through their workbooks and have lots of extra time for the fun hands on learning I wanted to do. We had lots of sensory activities, dramatic play activities, games, crafts, P.E. activities, and the kids favorite Show-and-Tell. The kids learned a lot and I was amazed at the improvement they made in their English speaking skills. It was awesome to think that I helped them learn all those things. Teaching really is such a rewarding career. I really fell in love with all of the kids in my class. I will always remember my first year of teaching. I learned so much and had a blast. Here are some pictures I took throughout the year.

Jeff and Suz Visit HK April 2011

When we moved to Hong Kong I hoped that my family would be able to come visit us. I knew it was expensive to fly that far but I still hoped. I was so excited when my sister Suzi and my brother in law Jeff said they would be coming to visit!!! We did lots of research and planning for their trip. We wanted to be able to show them as much of Hong Kong as we could. So they came for a little over a week and we had a blast. Even though we had been in Hong Kong for almost a year, we hadn't explored much of the city. So their first time experiencing everything was our first time too. We also took a trip up to main land China to a city called Shenzen. There we did a lot of shopping. I ended up buying like 8 pair of colorful glasses for a super sweet deal. We also met up with David's friend from when he lived in mainland named Linda. She took us out to eat to get some very yummy Chinese food. It was delicious. We ran around like crazy during their trip. We would leave in the morning and would not get home til late at night. Needless to say, we were exhausted by the time they left. It was well worth it though! We had a BLAST. Here are some highlights: Click on the collage for a larger view of the images.

Lion Dance Wake Up Call and Karaoke Night

I think it was the morning after we saw the fireworks (Feb 2011) that we woke up to the sound of drums. We went outside and some people doing a lion dance and playing the drums. They walked all around our village. It was so awesome! They even came right up to our house. I decided to do a little dance of my own and David just happened to get it on video. hehe Check it out: Sometime after the Chinese New Year Parade (I think it was then because the pictures are after the parade pictures on David's Ipod) we had a Karaoke night with some friends from church. Those in the party were Michelle and Matt Wright, Laura Sirtonski, a few of Laura's friends, and us. It was fun to just be crazy and be ourselves. I especially loved when David and Matt sang Chinese songs... even if they didn't know the lyrics. We got some of the fabulous night on video! Warning: I cannot guarantee we will sound that good but hey karaoke is meant to sound this way!! HAHAHA

Chinese New Year Fireworks

During Chinese New Year in Hong Kong they shoot fireworks over the harbor. They have 3-4 boats lined up in the harbor and they shoot the fireworks from them. They go all out and they really do a great job. David and I decided to go out and watch. I forget which station we went to but we found a good spot that wasn't too crowded and had a fun time watching the display.

Chinese New Year Feb. 2011

One of my favorite things about living in Hong Kong was celebrating Chinese New Year. They have lots of cool things to do around the city. They have a parade and awesome fireworks over the harbor. The first Chinese New Year we experienced in HK was so fun. We met up with a bunch of people from our branch (congregation at church) and watched the parade. The parade was a little cheesy and slightly lame but hanging out and making new friends was super awesome! Of course I loved watching the kiddos have a fun time. Especially since little blonde kids are like celebrities in HK so we attracted a lot of attention. Here are some collages and a video from the fun night:

Trip to Macau and Cirque Du Soleil

During the Christmas holiday (2010) David and I took a trip to the island of Macau. A small island about an hours ferry ride away from HK. Its an island that used to be a Portuguese owned colony until it was handed back over to China in 1999. So it has a lot of cool Portuguese inspired buildings. They also have a Venetian very similar to the one in Las Vegas. We decided to go out to see a Cirque Du Soleil show that was playing at the Venetian called Zaia. We didn't get to explore Macau as much as I would have liked but I sure LOVED seeing the show! It was so amazing! Exploring the Venetian was pretty fun too!

Hong Kong Christmas 2010

Christmas 2010 was such a fun holiday! It was my first Christmas away from the Foster family. I was excited to have our own little Christmas but also missing family a little. One of the best parts of our Christmas celebration was our first trip to HK Disneyland! We had a fun morning riding rides, exploring the park, and eating some yummy mickey shaped waffles. Unfortunately I got a massive headache and we had to leave early. At least we got some fun pics of the awesome decorations and us riding some rides:

Here are some pictures from our Christmas Eve/Christmas day celebrations. We bought a small tree and some cheap-o decorations. Gotta love our ghetto tree. So fun! One tradition David and I have is to get a coloring book for each other to put in our stockings. Oddly enough, coloring books are hard to come by in HK so we ended up buying each other the same exact Toy Story coloring book! Also, we had a fun time video chatting with family back in UT (Christmas morning for us Eve for them.) In the pictures below you will see David enjoying one of his gifts, a remote control helicopter.

An Outing- Dec. 2010?

I found some pictures from an outing David and I had. I think it was either a Saturday or during the holiday when we had a day off from work. First we went to the Chi Lin Nunnery in Diamond Hill:

Next we headed off to the Hong Kong Science museum in Tsim Sha Tsui. The museum was so much fun! We spent a long time exploring all the different sections of the museum. We played mind teaser games, saw old school machines, and laid on a bed of nails.

Class Picture

I heard during school that when you become a teacher you will have an amazing class that you will never be able to forget. A class that you just fall in love with. Even though you may love all the students you end up teaching, no class can compare to that one! This happened to me with my first class! I fell in love with these kids and will never be able to forget them! We had a blast throughout the year. They made teaching so much fun.

Exploring our neighborhood-Dec 2010

In HK we lived in a small village called Tai Po Tsai. Our apartment was on top of a small mountain. Down the road from our apartment was this hiking trail that we wanted to explore. So one day we decided to go for a hike and explore this trail. We hiked over the small mountain and ended up in Po Lam. To get to Po Lam on the bus it takes about 15-20 minutes to get there. Po Lam was one of my favorite places to go for shopping, movies, and to go out to eat. Instead of hiking back over the mountain back home, we caught the bus and rode that back to our village. It was a fun little hike. Here are some pictures of our outing:

Sunbeam Calling at Church and A Visit To Nica's

In Nov. 2011 after being in Hong Kong for almost 6 months, we finally got a calling at church. David and I both were called to teach the Sunbeams in Primary. I was excited to be able to team teach with David. I also love kids so it was an awesome calling. We had some awesome kids! We had three different groups throughout the time we were in the primary. I loved each group! Such cute kids! Plus we became good friends with some of the kids families. Awesome! Here are some pics of the cuties:

When David was on his mission in HK he taught an awesome Philippine sister named Nica. When we got to Hong Kong, she was one of the first people I met and of course we became friends. During one holiday (I don't remember the exact date) she invited us to come visit her in Yuen Long. Her employers were going to be out of town and the house, which was very large for a HK house, would be empty. (Except the other helper.) So we made the trek out there. The house was quite nice. Nica made us some yummy food and we had a good time. I especially loved seeing the very large tank filled with small turtles. Nica had to clean those tanks often and it was quite the job. I don't know exactly how many turtles there were but there were a LOT.

Halloween 2010

I was excited to find out that they celebrate Halloween in Hong Kong. My school had a fun Halloween celebration. The kids dressed up and we had a school Halloween parade/costume fashion show. All of the aunties (ladies who help in the classroom with taking the kids to the bathroom, snack time, etc) had set up tables to form a stage. Then each class walked across the "stage" to show off their costumes. My favorite costume from my class is the adorable Lok Lok shown here as Donald Duck. I don't remember why I am not dressed up??

Click pic to see image larger.

Mid-Autumn Festival Lantern Display

During Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong they put up cool lantern displays in parks, malls, etc. David and I decided to go out exploring to see if we could see any displays. We didn't want to travel to far so we went to Po Lam (one train station down from our stop of Hang Hau) and walked around to one of the parks there. There was a cool lantern display set up there so we decided to take some pictures. Also, there was a guy there who David started chatting with. I think it all started with the guy asking how he learned to speak Cantonese so well. Of course the topic of his mission came up. So they talked for a while about religion and God. Fun missionary moment for David.

Click for larger view of images.

Mid-Autumn Festival School Festivities

In September (2010) Hong Kong held its annual Mid-Autumn Festival. My school, Greenville, held an event to celebrate the festival. There were games, singing, and treats. Since it was still the beginning of the school year, I was still getting to know my students. It was fun to see them and their parents. I was reluctant to post pictures of my students on my blog but since its been a while since they were my students and there have been pictures of them posted on my Facebook I figured it would be ok. Aren't they so cute?! They look so young in these pictures.

After the school activity, all the teachers and staff went out for Dim Sum at a restaurant in the downstairs of the mall where the school is. Here are some pictures of me and some of my fellow English teachers:

Kate and I

Sue, Christy, and Christina