Smog and a typhoon

I was excited yesterday when there was a typhoon warning - my first one! I know that's really bad but I couldn't help it. But it turned out to be a dud. The typhoon was out at sea and there wasn't any change in the weather.

Today, however, there was a change in the weather. The typhoon apparently changed all the wind patterns and today was so smoggy half the city disappeared!

I found out today I have a roof on my new library! A roof with an amazing view, floodlights, chairs, umbrellas... what a perfect place for staff parties! The social club has plans to make it look a bit nicer, and since the access stairs are in my new library it means that the library is going to be the new party place :-)

Puppies

I was walking up the street to meet someone this afternoon and saw these cute puppies! Ok, some were a bit ugly but they were still cute. They do have pet shops here of course, so I found it quite funny that people just plonk down a little wire cage wherever they want, and sell puppies. I think Chris should buy one so I can have puppy visits.


I've had dinner at Wan Chi twice last week, once on Thursday after yet another Ikea trip (this time to price book shelves for the library since I have run out). I met Chris and Chris at Sabah, where they took me to last year and I loved it. I tried to take mum there but they were booked out. So I'm glad I got to go there again!

And on Friday night I went to the American Peking Restaurant which was absolutely beautiful. The principal and executive team invited all the new Bradbury staff. We had a great night, and it was really good for us newbies to get to know people a bit more. The bar afterwards had a great jukebox. When was the last time anyone got to use a jukebox??! How fun! I'm pretty sure the bar staff have now deleted the Glee CD due to overuse :-)

Today I met a friend of Chris', who happens to be the other teacher librarian in our cluster of ESF schools. Yes, there are 2 of us. It was great to meet her and talk shop, and I hope we see a lot more of each other. To have one other person who understands my job is a great support.

Meanwhile I was thinking of all my teacher friends last week during book week. For the last 16 years August has been my busiest month organising book week. I've only missed 2 dress up days, once when I was in hospital, and this year. It was a bit weird seeing photos on facebook when I wasn't part of it. I hope you all had fun!

Drugs in HK - the legal kind

I had my first visit to the doctor today. I actually was a bit nervous and was wishing I could just pop into my own Canberra GP. I'm not that sick, I've just had a terrible cough for a week and want to get rid of it so I can sleep again.

Anyway he was really nice! He spoke great english and everything he said made sense to me, and said he would give me cough medicine, and a perscription for my asthma if it gets worse.

I thought that was it, but when I went to pay the bill (about $7 Aussie dollars!) they also handed me 3 packets of pills, the perscription and a big bottle of medicine! Imagine never having to go to the chemist and paying huge amounts of money for medication!

Don't worry Mum, I'm about to google the pills before I start popping them.

I have books!

This is my new library space that obviously needs a bit of work doing to it. The boxes are the books all packed up from the old library, ready to be moved into...





the temporary library. All the boxes have now been moved down, ready for me to unpack onto the shelves. My trusty assistant Debra and I were book unpacking machines today.

Cat St Markets

I went to an engagement party today - some lovely friends of Chris. It was such a nice way to spend a stupidly hot afternoon.

On the way home, because I was walking home with Chris, we went a slightly different way. I'm finding my was around here ok, but I tend to stick to the way I know. Anyway we went down this little alley way and found this amazing street!

Lots of people have told me I should go to the Cat Street Markets, and I knew they were close, but I didn't know just how close! It looks like a really amazing place that I should go back to and explore more.

Crazy bamboo men

There is SO MUCH bamboo scaffolding here! Bamboo isn't that exciting, but it really amazes me to watch the crazy men who put up the scaffolding. These people climb up into the sky with no safety ropes or platforms or anything. They have normal little sneakers, and they just balance on one foot with the other leg wrapped around a pole.

I was watching these men putting up the bamboo opposite my balcony. I'm 7 floors up, so they are pretty high. One man was actually leaning his back on the building wall with one foot on the bamboo. It really sent shivers down my spine!

Friday - shelves!

A big achievement today - some nice people came in and moved and cleaned and built all my shelves for me. Even better, they will come back on Monday and start moving boxes of books down for me. It will look like a temporary library before you know it!

Even better than shelves was the after-work social drinks we had. We all went down to a bar for a few drinks, and it was a great way to get to know some of the staff better. They all seem really nice! It is a really big staff though, so I have a long, long way to go before I know everyone's names.

Day 2

My library still doesn't look like a library, but I got plenty of jobs crossed off my list today. Most importantly, we have organised people to come tomorrow morning to build all my shelves for me. And clean them! And after the shelves are built, I will only have room for 8 children to sit in the library to work! Ha ha! I'm sure the other 693 kids won't mind!

I discovered tonight that Hong Kong is not full of fabulous food, they sometimes get it wrong. I was still remembering that beautiful Vietnamese meal the other night, so I tried a little Vietnamese takeaway near me. It was so bad I ended up having rice crackers and ice cream f0r dinner.

My First Day

At last, the reason I actually came to live in Hong Kong!

What a hoot. I've never had a day at school like this one, with so little to do!

I should explain the situation for those I haven't yet emailed. The old library (every single little thing) was packed up into boxes and is being stored in what is going to be the new library. The new library has been gutted, and is a big empty shell with jackhammered concrete floor and feels like a building site.

Meanwhile another room has been refurbished as a multi-purpose room, which is what I will be using as a library for the next 6 months or so.


I walked in today and it was completely empty except for 30 computer chairs. My only achievement for the day was to find a desk and a computer - not yet connected. It will be better tomorrow when the library assistant comes to school, and I can quizz her about available shelving and so on.

So the first picture is of my new temporary multi-purpose room library, and then a couple of the new space that I can't wait to design, and the huge amount of boxes and furniture that needs to be sorted.

Modern vs Traditional

This is a picture of my post office building. It's probably a bit hard to see in such a small picture. I love going there on hot days because it's the coolest place in Hong Kong. There are lovely gardens and fountains and mist and lots of shiny glass, and I feel cool as soon as I step inside. It is ultra modern.

Right across the road is the wet market I talked about before, where it doesn't get much more traditional. I like that about the area where I live - it is such a mixture of both! I can go shopping in big air-conditioned malls, and right next door I can check out everything Chinese.

Will I ever get sick of Ikea?

I feel a bit guilty on days like today when I've more or less spent the whole day in my place instead of getting out and exploring more.

On the other hand, I did get lots done. All my washing, cleaning, groceries, more emailing, I organised all my school stuff, and got out my sewing. So I shouldn't feel guilty.

To make up for it, I went out to Wan Chai for dinner with the girls at a fantastic Vietnamese place - it was one of the best meals I've had. And what do people do after dinner when they live in Hong Kong? More shopping! The girls needed more stuff for their new places and I needed a cushion. Yes I really did need it!

I love it when Ikea has Haagen-Dasz icecream right outside their door when it is dessert time.

PS I've now experienced my first full-on rush hour on the MTR - they have people holding up little traffic stop signs when the train is too full. Too funny!

2 more days of holidays

Well it's nearly a week since my last update. In that time I have had 3 school induction activites.

Last Monday I spent the day collecting information about working for ESF, and meeting new people. It was very well organised. They (ESF) really make it as easy as possible to move to a new country.

They also organised a treasure hunt around Hong Kong. I teamed up with a couple of girls, and as well as finding our way around and seeing new things, we kept running into other teams so it was a nice way to get to know people more. And it ended at a seafood restaurant on an island, which was fabulous.

The last activity was a cocktail party at the racecourse. What a great venue! I wish I had taken a photo of the view of the city skyscrapers behind the racecourse. Anyway that was a nice night too - a good chance to get a bit dressy and eat fancy fingerfood and mingle with schoolies.

Chris came with me, and he and I met other Chris in Rat Alley for dinner, and then I met up with my new friends, Abi, Ruth and Nicole, for drinks at Lan Kwai Fong (still don't know how to spell names around here). It felt like my life is becoming a little more normal now, being able to walk through the crowded expat area and meet friends for a night out.

So other than that I've done lots of relaxing this week, knowing that my holiday is running out. I've had my new library assistant, Debra, over for drinks, I've had my internet and TV connected, I've built more IKEA furniture (a bit wonky), and I finally got to Dymocks for a couple of new books.

My new home

Woo hoo! I have internet again!

I've just been adding a couple of pictures for the last few posts, since I couldn't do photos from the coffee shop.

And I can finally put up a couple of photos of my new place. I had some on facebook which were pretty much the same, but I took these after I had unpacked and made it feel more like home.

Quick update

Still no internet... Saturday is the day. So still hogging the computer at a cafe with people hovering over my shoulder waiting for me to finish.

I had a great weekend with mum and dad, although due to dad's visit being a surprise we hadn't planned much. We ended up checking out a shopping mall called the Dragon Centre - 9 floors high complete with ice skating rink, jumping castles, and a roller coaster up the top! (closed that day, bummer). They had some big shops, but a stack of shops were only as big as a double bed. Imagine standing on your bed and setting up shop in that space. No kidding!

We also dragged dad to the flower markets (which I LOVED!) and the bird markets, since we hadn't done that. And Chris took us to dinner in Rat Alley. Nice!

We spent Sunday at Ocean Park - a bit like Seaworld. Very hot but very worthwhile. We even got mum on the Wild Rapids ride! We also fit in the light show, dinner and Temple St markets all at Kowloon that night.

Mum and Dad did more touristy things yesterday (Monday) before I met them after my induction day (I'll save that for the next blog).

And then they left. It was the first time I'd been alone for over a month - the flat felt quite empty and lonely for a while!

Bring on Saturday... I can't wait to email people again, and not keep checking my watch on a time limit.

Surprise!

Dad told me he knew people coming to Hong Kong that were willing to bring some things that I forgot. Three ladies, all coming to shop for a few days. Mum and I were really nice and wrote out a fabulous list of hints and tips for shoppers - just little things we have discovered in the last 2 weeks.

So off we trotted to meet them at the train... but they didn't come! It was all a big fib. Dad decided he wanted a holiday in Hong Kong too, and surprised us by coming over for the weekend!

Ha ha! He thinks he is very clever! It's really nice to have him here as well :-)

PS Still not able to download photos. I'll update all these blogs when I can.
PPS I can still quickly check my hotmail at my brief internet cafe outings... so please keep emailing! It is good to hear from you all, I miss you!

PPS This photo is of the "wet market" near my place. I thought it was great! Beautiful fresh fruit and veg, and the fish and meat is so fresh it is still alive when they cut it up in front of you. Ok, that bit wasn't so great, but very interesting!

I hate this weather! except thunderstorms

I really really hate how stinking hot it is here. I would so much rather the 5 degree weather Cooma has been having. Except I love the thunderstorms! We had another one tonight that mum and I got caught in as we walked to the supermarket. Only across the road, and we were saturated! I am sure the thunder is 50 times louder here than back home. Maybe it's just because it has so many buildings to echo off!

Anyway we have being doing touristy things yesterday and today. We caught a tram just to see where it would take us, explored parks, went up the Bank of China tower, and explored our local streets a little more.

Today we caught a bus to Stanley, a little town at the bottom of my island (yes, I can call it "my island" now). It is a beach little town with some great markets. That's what the photo is of. We spent quite a few hours there, and came home with heaps of stuff we probably don't need!

And I am no longer friendless over here!! Chris is back, and we had dinner together last night. It is good to have him back!

I have TV again

Odd jobs day again.

I now have 2 english channels on my TV, and a DVD player that works. Yay!

I had the handyman come and replace things that weren't working. I counted the lights in my house - 39. They are everywhere, in all sorts of places!

Mum has beautiful hands and feet after visiting the beautician a few metres away from my front door.

I cooked my first meal in my kitchen. Success!

I also discovered that I am not receiving any text messages from Australia on my new mobile. Have to get that sorted!

And this internet cafe I'm at is really good - great coffee and free internet. Gotta be happy with that!

Monday

What a great day we had! We moved all my stuff over to my new home, then visited my school to pick up the boxes I sent from Australia weeks ago, full of lots of interesting stuff like the Australian tattoos, stickers, pencils etc that some people kindly gave me :-)

I did some unpacking, and it is finally starting to feel like I live there now.

We also had time to catch the Star Ferry across the Harbour to Kowloon for some great shopping (I know, I'm not usually a shopper, but there is something about this place). And we saw the Light Show - looking back across at Hong Kong Island while all the building flash their pretty lights at us. What an amazing sight.

And the first night at home... I liked being able to lie in bed and stare down at the street and watch everybody. It's true, this city never sleeps. I did. Quite well.

I have no internet access at home now, so am doing blogs from a cafe. I'll have to update the photos later. Watch this space...

Attention WOPS!

Hello to all my WOP friends! There had better be at least one of you reading this blog, since I have dedicated it to you... I think you know why :-)

Alex (property manager, the only person I know in Hong Kong right now!) told us a handyman was coming over today to fix the table. So mum and I went to the flat fairly early, and waited and waited and waited. Lucky we had the DVD's we bought yesterday, so watched one on the laptop.

So that was most of our day! I have started stocking my little kitchen... that didn't take long ha ha! It is quite fun exploring the little supermarket right outside my front door... so many things I have to try, and so many things I never will!

Oh, the other photo is for Julie, who commented on the view from my kitchen window. This is the view we've had from the motel - 2 walls, one of which is very green and mouldy. If we squash up against the window and look right up we can see a tiny patch of sky. A new view will be very nice :-)