School!

I'm finally uploading some photos from school for you to meet the new class. This is everyone except for the new student I just got on Monday. Now, I'm capped out at 18 and can't get any more. 11 wild and silly boys and 7 girls! I somehow ended up with several Australian and British kids this year...I thoroughly enjoy listening to their adorable accents!

Last week, the director of Chinese studies at HKIS sent out an email about education in China. Here are a few interesting stats from it:

Before 1949, 80% of the Chinese population was illiterate: Before the People’s Republic of China was founded, nearly 80% of the 500 million people living in China were illiterate. During Mao Zedong’s rule, education became one of the government’s chief priorities and experienced great change during the Cultural Revolution.

Chinese youth have a 99% literacy rate: UNICEF reports that from 2000-2007, Chinese youth ages 15-24 years old enjoyed a 99% literacy rate.
Preschool curriculum: Preschools and kindergartens put a lot of emphasis on training young children, since the Chinese believe that this time is crucial to personality development. Students are taught to play games, dance, sing, act and uphold the values of Truth, Kindness and Beauty.

Special education: Gifted and special needs students were not addressed until the 1985 National Conference on Education. There are now 1,540 special education schools in China, plus special vocation training schools for special needs students.
Students must take a test to go to high school or vocational school: Those who do not pass the test effectively end their formal education.

"Real China"

Last Friday and Saturday, Nate and I made our first trip into "Real China." (I know, it's terrible that we've been neglecting China, but there's only so much time to travel when you have a full time job!) We went with a small group of teachers from school just over the border to Shenzhen. It probably takes about 1 1/2 to get there, then you have to go through customs. China might as well be a completely unrelated country to HK, as we had to apply for a separate China visa to go there and were afforded no privileges for being HK residents.

So, about Shenzhen. Shenzhen is a Special Economic Zone in China. As it is just over the border and has easy access to water, it is a prime location for commerce. On our trip to Shenzhen, we went to Lo Wu (pictured below). Lo Wu is a sort of shopping center, but definitely nothing like we had experienced before. It is crammed full of tiny shops which are crammed full of all kinds of goods for sale.

One of the big reasons people go to Lo Wu is for the tailors and fabric market. It is definitely cheaper to have clothes made there than to buy them in Hong Kong, but we've heard mixed reports about how the clothes actually turn out. From what we hear, it works best to take clothes you love and have them copied. Nate and I took a pair of his pants and two summer dresses of mine to try having them copied. We first went to the tailor to find out how much fabric we needed, then we went to the fabric market to pick out material. You wouldn't believe how much fabric there was in this place (see below for a mere sample). While we tried to quickly look through fabrics, vendors were constantly trying to show us things, saying, "Missy, missy!" This was probably one of the most fun parts of the trip, getting to imagine all of the clothing possibilities.

Other things that can be found at Lo Wu: knock off (and a few real) designer purses and wallets, DVDs, electronics, jewelry, clothing, sporting goods, etc. In addition to clothing tailors, there are also plenty of tailors who will make bedding, curtains, table furnishings, etc.

The thing about Lo Wu is that it is total chaos. People will practically chase you around trying to convince you in broken English to come buy their goods. You absolutely cannot browse; you must look like you are on a mission at all times. It is a sport. On Saturday, it got so bad that ignoring the people harassing us, or evening saying a very firm, "NO!" did not help. People started touching my arms, and then I was done with Shenzhen. I just don't feel comfortable with strange men touching me. Unfortunately for you, all of this translates to very few photos. If Nate's blond hair doesn't scream "gweilo" enough, a camera definitely would! Moral of the story: you must do Lo Wu in small doses for it to be fun.

Lucky for us, we had a nice hotel in which to escape the madness. This is a photo of Nate with the Shangri-La's gigantic moon cake. (Just for reference, an average moon cake is round and about 3 inches in diameter.)

This last photo is of another teacher, Claire, and me at dinner. I ordered a bowl of fresh fruit, and they brought out this huge bowl of fruit covered in mayonnaise. Yum!

Still here!

Hi everyone! By this time, you've probably given up on us and are assuming we've completely forgotten about the blog...Nope, we're still here! Things have been super busy with the start of a new school year, and we just haven't had the time or energy to do anything particularly photo-worthy.

The school year got off to a good start, but I've told some of you I definitely have some rowdy boys in my class this year. I also have the youngest class: All of my kids were born in 2004, so no one will even turn 6 until January of 2010. I even have one child who's still 4 now! But, it should be a good group once they've gotten into the school routines. (You can't help but fall in love with every class...some just take longer than others!)

The big drama at school so far has been swine flu. Our school has had lots of sick kids, and the government is really on top of that here. They want to know who is sick, what their symptoms are, and whether they've been tested for influenza A or swine flu. Unfortunately, doctors seem to have stopped testing people, so they're just giving everyone Tamiflu and sending them home. Obviously, that's not working so well as our numbers of sick kids kept increasing daily. On Monday, we had an all-time high of over 100 students in the Lower Primary out sick (out of around 600). Half of my class was out with flu-like symptoms. As a result, the government closed the school to students for a week. So, I've been at school, bored out of my mind, but grateful to not be surrounded all day by germy munchkins who aren't so great with personal hygiene and hand washing.

On Friday, Nate and I are making our first trip into "real China" - just across the border to Shenzhen. We'll let you know how that goes in the next post!

North Carolina

Here are the last photos from our trip home. As you'll notice, I was very bad about taking photos with the fam. Must do better next trip home.

First stop, the NC Zoo, located conveniently close to my parents' house.

We got to watch the seal feeding/training

Jaba the Hut's stunt double

Real flamingos, much more beautiful than the plastic variety

Hairy African river hogs

These next two photos are from when we went out to dinner with a group of our friends in Durham.

The last photos are from Sally's wedding, the day before we left.

The bride and groom high five.

First dance

Posing with the lovely bride

We've been back in HK for a week now. On our way home in the taxi, our driver burped (very audibly) three times, and that was when we really knew we were back. We were very happy to find that our apartment was not taken over by mold while we were gone, thanks to the two dehumidifiers we left running while we were gone. Some of our friends were not so fortunate. Nate had to return to work immediately, but I've been enjoying this time to get things done around the house and so forth. I'm organizing things, cooking a lot, cleaning, and sprucing up the house (curtains, plants, and maybe paint soon). One more week until teacher workdays begin...

Michigan

Here are some photos of our time in Michigan with Nate's family. The beach photos below are of the beach in Tim and Marcia's neighborhood.

Unfortunately we can't take credit for this sand castle.

Nate & Holly walking on the beach

Beach picnic to celebrate the summer birthdays in Marcia's family

Happy birthday to our new niece, Clementine!

Sunset over Lake Michigan

The next photos are of our golf outing at Arcadia Bluff. Jessie is working there for the summer and was so kind as to share her employee vouchers (thanks, Jess!!) with Nate, Cooper, and Tim. She and I didn't play, but rode along and enjoyed the scenery.

Looks like we were dancing!

These last photos are from our kayak and canoe trip down the Platte.

Jane, Jessie, and me paddling away

Jane and Nate in the canoe

Crystal clear waters where the Platte connects to Lake Michigan

Cherry Grove

Nate and I are excited to be back in the US to see family and friends! Our first stop last week was Cherry Grove beach with my family. The weather was gorgeous, and we enjoyed lots of time on the beach. Here are a few photos of the area. Next stop MI, as of yesterday, to see Nate's family. We'll be up here until the morning of July 18th.

International Day

Last week we had International Day at school. All of the students were encouraged to dress up in clothing representing their country of origin. We had a great assembly with performers dancing, singing, and playing instruments from all over the world. At lunch, parents brought in lots of different international foods. Students (and teachers!) really enjoyed the feast.

Preston and Joshua representing Korea

Sebastian dressed as a German soccer fan, and Jessica dressed in a silk Chinese dress

Cute little Nikki, the youngest in the class

Ron and Brandon, goofing off as usual

Best friends Jessica, Nikki, and Penelope

The Feast