You'd Think They'd Learn

Some pictures from our weekend trip to Hong Kong.

Interesting sign in the walkway. They have huge, long walkways about the city, connecting the ferries to Central.
Double-decker buses and people galore.
Some boats in the harbor.

The latest in China - the dairy producers shameful tainting of milk. We discovered that it was not just baby formula that was tainted with the chemical melamine, but also the milk and yogurt we had been drinking. Needless to say we were mad! It is so frustrating to be trying to do something healthy for your child, and then to find out that someone is doing something so evil just to make money. Supposedly, they were adding this chemical because it would make the milk appear to have a higher protein level. The thing is, this is the same chemical that killed thousands of dogs and cats last year. Why wouldn't they think that there might be eventual consequences.

They took most of the milk off the shelves at the western-type grocery store near school. We threw out everything we had just bought, and we have been drinking imported Australian milk. The chemical gives babies kidney stones, but usually it was after six months or so. I'm just glad we haven't been here that long. Something like this gets me thinking - what else is tainted? It makes me want to buy all imported products, which, of course, are about five times more expensive. I wish that China would institute tighter controls.

That's been one of the major things going on over here. Today, we had a typhoon pass by, but it was just south of us. Too bad, we still had school. Apparently, all the other schools had the day off. Oh well. Just two days until vacation. Unfortunately, I just checked the weather forecast for the Philippines and it's forecasted to rain all next week. Let's hope not! What can you do? I guess we'll just have to try and take it easy no matter what.

Goldfish and Condoms

When people ask me why I continue to live overseas, I usually answer first that it affords us a lifestyle that we couldn't have in the U.S. We can travel. We have someone to help out around the house. Dinner is always on the table, which means more time for our family. I have to tell you, though, the other main reason is that life overseas is just plain interesting. Take yesterday, for example.

I spent the day at home with Sophia because she was sick. When the nanny arrived, I went out to run some errands. In that one walk, so many things stuck out to me as being different and interesting. First of all, walking to the dry cleaner, there is this little street vendor. She doesn't sell the normal things - soda, candy, popcorn - oh no, she sells meat parts. Don't ask me what they are, but I'm sure you can get any of them on a stick. Strange, unidentifiable dark meat parts.

Just out front of our apartment building, there are several street vendors. You can buy fruit from a cart. You can buy nuts that are roasting in some sort of black coals. A couple feet away, a man sits with a can of red sticks. He can use them to read your fortune. Yesterday, there was a goldfish seller. He had a movable cart, loaded up with goldfish and bowls. As I walked by, I noticed that there was a condom dispenser right there on the side of a building, for those times when you are walking down the street and need a condom. (Incidentally, there are condoms at every check out. Very accessible.)

There is a restaurant with a little pool outside where you can select your own fish. There are bikes everywhere. Some women even wear these visor hats with a brim that goes all the way down in front of your face like a motorcycle helmet to block the sun.

Of course, there are the not-so-nice things. The stench at our busstop where they also sell the fruit. Yesterday, on my way home, right there just a few feet off the sidewalk, a guy was going the bathroom. In not so pleasant terms, it was a big pile of waste. Nasty.

The thing we can't figure out is why there are so many bums. Maybe it's because we are in the special foreigner district. Who knows? We just thought a communist country would take care of their people. Of course, we can't even tell we're in a communist country.

So that was my walk. Just a few errands, but oh, the sights you see. It's always the little things that are really interesting.

Last Minute - to the Philippines

We are excited! We are going to the Philippines in two weeks. We have been trying to decide where to go for our week-long October vacation. First, we looked at going somewhere in China because we thought it would be cheap. Unfortunately, it's also a Chinese holiday and because the Chinese will be traveling, the prices are up. We had also heard that prices are low to lots of nearby places like Vietnam and Thailand, but we couldn't find any deals. Just when I had given up, I checked an airline one more time. It was like 1.50 Philippine pesos to Manila and $0 from Manila to Cebu. Can you believe that? Now, granted, they add on lots of tax, but we are all going for pretty cheap. No cost, only tax. Too bad America can't do that once in awhile. I don't know how these airlines do it. We'll stay on a little island and take it easy for a few days. I can't wait!

It's so much easier to travel from here. We definitely made the right choice, I think, leaving Kazakhstan and coming here. The school is more organized. There is more to do. Prices are much, much lower. Our students are very well-behaved. We teach less classes. On top of it all, we can travel to great tropical locations for much less. We recently signed up for a gym which is actually pretty decent. They are trying to get foreigners in to attract business, I think, so they cut us a deal. It's about $10 a month. We also bought a discount card for our now weekly foot/shoulder massages. It's a regular thing now. It's funny because we go after school and there's a whole room of teachers getting massages. One of the teachers from Canada said that they offer teachers monthly massages in Canada. Now, doesn't that just make sense!

Some interesting sights lately - chicken feet in every form. A street vendor was selling them pickled on the street today. Bikes everywhere and anything loaded on them. Yesterday, a bike loaded at least 3 feet tall with styrofoam. Men here roll up their shirts when they are hot. Such a strange thing to us. One negative - the smell. There are a lot of stinky smells. Our grocery store has a pretty stinky smell. Our bus stop is near a little street market. We don't know what that smell is (probably the stench of chicken crap and death), but it is not pleasant.

School has been rolling along quite nicely. We have one more period off this year than last year. You can really get work done at school. I even have a full lunch period three days a week without having to have duty. Today, I emailed the director to ask for a convection oven. He emailed me right back and said, no problem. There are no real ovens here, so even a little one will make me happy. Maybe I can make cookies.

One more day this week. We have our big international brunch this Saturday. I am mystified about what to make. Everything I know how to make is baked. Hmmm....

The Art Village and Hong Kong

Night views of Hong Kong as we crossed the harbor by ferry.

Chef Sophia
You just have to love the Chinese propaganda.
Street views of the artists' village.

It's been busy these last couple of weeks. Last weekend we headed to the artists' village. We were imagining a little village with straw huts and dirt roads. Instead, we found a little city area filled with art shops. There were rows and rows of art and frame shops. We got some pictures framed (done in an hour!). We also scoured around for some Chinese scrolls and a large scroll painting. We'll have to take pictures of our apartment for all to see. The art village also sells lots of knock-offs. Apparently, you can take any picture in, whether it's a photo or another painting you like. The artist will recreate it, frame it and deliver it to you in about a week.

This past weekend, we took the ferry to Hong Kong since I finally got my visa. It was a little difficult the first time since we had to figure out where to go and when. Of course, the schedule published online was not the same as the actual schedule. We headed to an island of Hong Kong called Kowloon. You would not believe the amount of people in one place! It felt like what I would imagine New York to feel like - hoards of people crossing the street, throngs of people passing you on the sidewalk. We went to a shopping center called Harbor City. It was a behemoth. There was every designer store you could think of. There were sports stores, restaurants, grocery stores, even a Toys-R-Us. It must have been at least three blocks long. Needless to say, we spent most of our time there. You can get everything in Hong Kong, even English books. We realized when we returned to the ferry that there were no more ferries back after 1:00, so we had to take the ferry over to central Hong Kong, find the pier and ride the last ferry back from there. An exhausting day, but it was great knowing that so many things were just an hour away.

I don't want to write too much now. I just want to get some pictures posted.