Saturday, October 30, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Adam is sick today :(
The crazy week ended yesterday and I have my first real day off in about 3 weeks. The bad part is I'm battling a energy sucking intestinal bug. I feel ok but get tired easily, it all started when I walked back from work yesterday. I spent about 15 hours or so in bed.
Now I'm looking to get some food, the gas finally ran out so they are coming sometime this evening to replace it. For now I've put some yeast into some flour in hopes if using out glorified toaster oven to cook a calzone in a little while.
That's all I've got energy for atm...
-- Post From My iPhone
Now I'm looking to get some food, the gas finally ran out so they are coming sometime this evening to replace it. For now I've put some yeast into some flour in hopes if using out glorified toaster oven to cook a calzone in a little while.
That's all I've got energy for atm...
-- Post From My iPhone
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
An infrequent update from...
...the other side if the world
Since my last post I've was off the next day and spent it with Katy, but everyday since I've worked on some level or another and I'm going straight through to the end if this week.
I had a day last weekend to prepare for the French camp that came this week, the typhoon had the second group cancel. This allowed me to spend two more days on the camp coming this week, then I pretty much spent the total of another day At home finalizing it for the staff meeting today(Sunday).
I'm coordinating 150 kids, 10 leaders, 3 support crew, and 11 or so teachers on this program. We've also never run the program before, this is the first year that they are using TI so I had a lot of work to do filling the massive gaps, most of which are still there until I can meet with the teachers tomorrow.
On a slightly more awesome note...I got a call from the guy that I borrowed the banjo from last year on Friday inviting me to a jam session Sunday. I'm on the ferry back from it now actually.
It was really fun, there were 3 of us, I played a bit of fiddle on soldiers joy while Stephen doubled on clawhammer, then I switched over to my ol' friend the toy washburn banjo and we played foggy mountain and earls breakdown. Then we rolled into a bunch of fiddle tunes I didn't know but want to learn now. Bill cheatem and Billy in the lowground, I've heard them before but the old joke "how do you tell the difference between two fiddle/banjo tunes?"
Ans. BY THEIR NAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Another busy week coming up for me hopefully I can fit in some fiddle time. After this week it really starts to slow down for me. Fist week of November I have off, then second week is co-coordinating then third week is off, then last week is one school. December is one two day school or something until I'm done for the year December 3rd!
My upcoming free time will be centered around the following projects: fixing the food shelf, putting in a permanent shower curtain bar, trying to find some way to get three new non-cockroach infested doors for the three rooms of the flat, getting another small wardrobe for winter clothes and to consolidate all my stuff from like 8 different places, flashing the firmware on the new router to something more stable, watching more NFL games, there's probably a bunch more but that's all I remember right now.
-- Post From My iPhone
Since my last post I've was off the next day and spent it with Katy, but everyday since I've worked on some level or another and I'm going straight through to the end if this week.
I had a day last weekend to prepare for the French camp that came this week, the typhoon had the second group cancel. This allowed me to spend two more days on the camp coming this week, then I pretty much spent the total of another day At home finalizing it for the staff meeting today(Sunday).
I'm coordinating 150 kids, 10 leaders, 3 support crew, and 11 or so teachers on this program. We've also never run the program before, this is the first year that they are using TI so I had a lot of work to do filling the massive gaps, most of which are still there until I can meet with the teachers tomorrow.
On a slightly more awesome note...I got a call from the guy that I borrowed the banjo from last year on Friday inviting me to a jam session Sunday. I'm on the ferry back from it now actually.
It was really fun, there were 3 of us, I played a bit of fiddle on soldiers joy while Stephen doubled on clawhammer, then I switched over to my ol' friend the toy washburn banjo and we played foggy mountain and earls breakdown. Then we rolled into a bunch of fiddle tunes I didn't know but want to learn now. Bill cheatem and Billy in the lowground, I've heard them before but the old joke "how do you tell the difference between two fiddle/banjo tunes?"
Ans. BY THEIR NAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Another busy week coming up for me hopefully I can fit in some fiddle time. After this week it really starts to slow down for me. Fist week of November I have off, then second week is co-coordinating then third week is off, then last week is one school. December is one two day school or something until I'm done for the year December 3rd!
My upcoming free time will be centered around the following projects: fixing the food shelf, putting in a permanent shower curtain bar, trying to find some way to get three new non-cockroach infested doors for the three rooms of the flat, getting another small wardrobe for winter clothes and to consolidate all my stuff from like 8 different places, flashing the firmware on the new router to something more stable, watching more NFL games, there's probably a bunch more but that's all I remember right now.
-- Post From My iPhone
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Home on the a41p
finished for the day and finished for the week in sai kung. I had a really nice week dragonboating, wish I could get 1000 hkd per day working 8:30-2:30 everyday.
Now I can put "dragonboat instructor" on my resume.
Each day consisted of 140 kids arriving in various stages of lateness, then sitting down in their groups getting a colored shirt for their "house color," you know like in Harry Potter, since no school in North Eastern New York is large enough to have "houses."
Once the groups were settled we showed all of them briefly how to hold a paddle and split them into two groups. One half (7 groups) went right to the beach and into the boats while we did some more paddle instruction with the other half.
This morning I lead an energizer of "Big Star, Little Star" for everyone and it came out really well. This week I've been the only native English speaker and the only non-Chinese person working, which has been an interesting experience. It did help my Cantonese though. It's interesting how I see myself as a reserved person, but in this setting and compared to those working around me I came off as quite outgoing. I was the awards announcer each day an really go the kids excited AND they actually listened to me.
Once each half had a practice land session and a practice water session, we had 2 heats of races with the top 3 in each heat qualifying for the final after lunch and the best 4th place time also joining to make a 7 boat final and there was also a 7 boat los...er... consolation round for everyone to get a chance to race again.
Then we had lunch, really nice fresh deli made sandwiches with that tough, chewy and tasty bread that makes your jaw hurt from chewing after each bite. Much, much better than other sandwiches I've experienced recently....
The afternoon was the two races then awards for the top three teams, then changing and boarding the busses at 2-2:30. Then we were done! That was my last four days. There are some pictures on my twitter, but I'll have to put then here so I can have record of them for "Doc Bones in HK 2: The Return" hard bound edition going on sale in not too distant future to all fine retail stores near you.
Mobile Blogging from here.
Now I can put "dragonboat instructor" on my resume.
Each day consisted of 140 kids arriving in various stages of lateness, then sitting down in their groups getting a colored shirt for their "house color," you know like in Harry Potter, since no school in North Eastern New York is large enough to have "houses."
Once the groups were settled we showed all of them briefly how to hold a paddle and split them into two groups. One half (7 groups) went right to the beach and into the boats while we did some more paddle instruction with the other half.
This morning I lead an energizer of "Big Star, Little Star" for everyone and it came out really well. This week I've been the only native English speaker and the only non-Chinese person working, which has been an interesting experience. It did help my Cantonese though. It's interesting how I see myself as a reserved person, but in this setting and compared to those working around me I came off as quite outgoing. I was the awards announcer each day an really go the kids excited AND they actually listened to me.
Once each half had a practice land session and a practice water session, we had 2 heats of races with the top 3 in each heat qualifying for the final after lunch and the best 4th place time also joining to make a 7 boat final and there was also a 7 boat los...er... consolation round for everyone to get a chance to race again.
Then we had lunch, really nice fresh deli made sandwiches with that tough, chewy and tasty bread that makes your jaw hurt from chewing after each bite. Much, much better than other sandwiches I've experienced recently....
The afternoon was the two races then awards for the top three teams, then changing and boarding the busses at 2-2:30. Then we were done! That was my last four days. There are some pictures on my twitter, but I'll have to put then here so I can have record of them for "Doc Bones in HK 2: The Return" hard bound edition going on sale in not too distant future to all fine retail stores near you.
Mobile Blogging from here.
Dragonboat Z!!!!
Groups heading out to line up for their heat. Each race was about 50 meters long.
Either getting lined up or coming back in I cant really remember.
Kids in yellow getting ready ad my co-staff in orange watching the race on the first day.
Sent from my iPhone
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Dragonboating
I'm with Katy at her parent's flat in Ma On Shan, we saw Jonathan off to Japan this morning and we went back to the flat to rest since it was a pretty late night last night especially being out the door at 6am to get at taxi.
We made some guacamole from scratch and it was incredible. I packed my bags for the week and Katy and I rushed out to catch the bus, but we missed it. We went to plan B and instead of taking a bus into the city we took the MTR.
I bought a new router in Sham Shui Po, it took us a little while to find the exact one that I wanted, but the old adage holds true, "you can find any computer part you'd ever need in Hong Kong you just have to look long enough." Luckily it wasn't that long, maybe 30 minutes of wandering. I had my full Go-Lite bag complete with fiddle, camelbak, and laptop case. Katy helped me carry a lot of the stuff while I dodged and ran around trying to find the piece i needed.
Once I purchase my prize we caught a taxi right up to Ma On Shan and we looked at the summary website for Jonathan's Japan trip, he should finally be arriving to his final destination about now after a full day of traveling.
Tomorrow I head into Sai Kung for the dragonboating experience, it will be interesting to see how it turns out. It is supposed to be really windy tomorrow, I think we will be protected from the swell, but it doesn't matter because my job is 100% land based anyway.
I should be done at 2pm every day so it will be really nice to have that time off in the afternoon, i brought some curry ingredients up here to Ma On Shan in hopes that a chicken will come in contact with them and then fall into the frying pan.
We made some guacamole from scratch and it was incredible. I packed my bags for the week and Katy and I rushed out to catch the bus, but we missed it. We went to plan B and instead of taking a bus into the city we took the MTR.
I bought a new router in Sham Shui Po, it took us a little while to find the exact one that I wanted, but the old adage holds true, "you can find any computer part you'd ever need in Hong Kong you just have to look long enough." Luckily it wasn't that long, maybe 30 minutes of wandering. I had my full Go-Lite bag complete with fiddle, camelbak, and laptop case. Katy helped me carry a lot of the stuff while I dodged and ran around trying to find the piece i needed.
Once I purchase my prize we caught a taxi right up to Ma On Shan and we looked at the summary website for Jonathan's Japan trip, he should finally be arriving to his final destination about now after a full day of traveling.
Tomorrow I head into Sai Kung for the dragonboating experience, it will be interesting to see how it turns out. It is supposed to be really windy tomorrow, I think we will be protected from the swell, but it doesn't matter because my job is 100% land based anyway.
I should be done at 2pm every day so it will be really nice to have that time off in the afternoon, i brought some curry ingredients up here to Ma On Shan in hopes that a chicken will come in contact with them and then fall into the frying pan.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Monday Morning Football
Up this morning getting my weekly football fix. Up a little later than I wanted, but Katy and I went to bed at midnight so it's alright. Now i'm waiting for the 8:20 game to start and i'll run in to work just before 9 and follow the rest of the game there.
This weekend was really great, so restful. Here's a brief summary for your reading pleasure.
Thursday - Finish Katy's school's camp, go into Sai Kung and eat at the best pizza place I've ever been to in Southeast Asia we got the 24" "Godfather" and finished the entire thing. Then the staff and I boarded the bus to Ma On Shan where I put them all on an airport bus and then walked across the street to Katy's parent's flat and met Katy and spent the night there.
Friday - Slept in really late, went into Sai Kung for a meeting at 3:10. Talked about dragonboating. Went back to Ma On Shan, boarded a bus to Wan Chai. Got my hair cut at a place that only accepts 50 HKD bills and you are in and out in 10 minutes (pictures to come soon, Jonathan has them on his iPhone) Katy, Jonathan, and I bought some outdoor gear for Jonathan's trip to Japan next week, then we went to get Nepalese food at the Himalaya. We raced to the ferry pier only to find out that the ferry was canceled on account of the Commie Day's fireworks...So we ended up taking a taxi the other way around instead of waiting 50 minutes for a 50 minute ferry back to Lantau.
Saturday - Jonathan was up and out for all his usual Saturday lessons and Katy and I slept in. We met former T.I. staff and recent passer through of HK, Cameron. We had coffee with him and picked up some stuff in Mui Wo. Then we came back to our flat and relaxed some more, then went to a party in Mui Wo and from there we went to the T.I. flats to join in the usual craziness. On the way, however, we crossed paths with a harmonica/guitar player playing with a clawhammer banjo player on the sidewalk in Mui Wo right by the shore. The two guys were from Quebec and were on their way to a festival in China I was really hoping they were living or working in Hong Kong, but they were just passing though... I sat down and played a couple tunes with them, it was OK, it was an open back clawhammer Gold Tone and I had no finger picks
It was a blast playing with some real musicians and game my live music starved soul a nice booster shot, at least it's not on as much life support as it used to be here in The Big Lychee
Sunday - Slept in, met Jonathan in Mui Wo to eat Chinese food, went to the farmer's market and Park N Shop for tons of food, caught a taxi back and waited in vain for the internet maintenance guy to come. Five phone calls and 5 hours later, still no acceptable outcome besides rescheduling the appointment (for a 5th time!) because they have failed to show up and have never called to let us know either way. We got a "supervisor" to write a note to the technician saying he needed to come today, ***IM SHORE THATLL WERK!11!!!1!***
Once we realized they weren't coming (EVER) Katy and I caught a bus to the airport, we were going to just buy a plane ticket to anywhere that had internet, but then realized that we left our best knickers in the washing machine and simply couldn't count on Jonathan to hang them out to dry for us.
Actually I signed a 12 month contract for my cellphone. In the last month I've spent 300 HKD on phone cards and was given another 100 HKD (~13USD) phone card that I've also blown through. So it really made sense to sign up for something, so now if i ever lose my SIM card, I'll still have the number that I've given everyone AND put on my business cards, I'll also be able to just carry around one phone since I now have wireless data on my main number, and I can unlimited* spam text Katy and anyone else on the 3HK network (*up to 10,000 free texts per month) So it should workout better, I'll pay about 228 HKD (~$30USD) a month for unlimited data and texts, 200 minutes to other 3HK customers and 1,000 minutes to everyone else or something like that. I have to wait a couple days for the number to be ported over and need to bring them a proof of address, but it's pretty much all set. Well as long as I can find a bank statement...
Monday - Go in to prep for the Year 4 camp coming Wednesday-Friday. Also, I will give them my Invoice for the last three weeks of work! (plus one day)
This weekend was really great, so restful. Here's a brief summary for your reading pleasure.
Thursday - Finish Katy's school's camp, go into Sai Kung and eat at the best pizza place I've ever been to in Southeast Asia we got the 24" "Godfather" and finished the entire thing. Then the staff and I boarded the bus to Ma On Shan where I put them all on an airport bus and then walked across the street to Katy's parent's flat and met Katy and spent the night there.
Friday - Slept in really late, went into Sai Kung for a meeting at 3:10. Talked about dragonboating. Went back to Ma On Shan, boarded a bus to Wan Chai. Got my hair cut at a place that only accepts 50 HKD bills and you are in and out in 10 minutes (pictures to come soon, Jonathan has them on his iPhone) Katy, Jonathan, and I bought some outdoor gear for Jonathan's trip to Japan next week, then we went to get Nepalese food at the Himalaya. We raced to the ferry pier only to find out that the ferry was canceled on account of the Commie Day's fireworks...So we ended up taking a taxi the other way around instead of waiting 50 minutes for a 50 minute ferry back to Lantau.
Saturday - Jonathan was up and out for all his usual Saturday lessons and Katy and I slept in. We met former T.I. staff and recent passer through of HK, Cameron. We had coffee with him and picked up some stuff in Mui Wo. Then we came back to our flat and relaxed some more, then went to a party in Mui Wo and from there we went to the T.I. flats to join in the usual craziness. On the way, however, we crossed paths with a harmonica/guitar player playing with a clawhammer banjo player on the sidewalk in Mui Wo right by the shore. The two guys were from Quebec and were on their way to a festival in China I was really hoping they were living or working in Hong Kong, but they were just passing though... I sat down and played a couple tunes with them, it was OK, it was an open back clawhammer Gold Tone and I had no finger picks
It was a blast playing with some real musicians and game my live music starved soul a nice booster shot, at least it's not on as much life support as it used to be here in The Big Lychee
Sunday - Slept in, met Jonathan in Mui Wo to eat Chinese food, went to the farmer's market and Park N Shop for tons of food, caught a taxi back and waited in vain for the internet maintenance guy to come. Five phone calls and 5 hours later, still no acceptable outcome besides rescheduling the appointment (for a 5th time!) because they have failed to show up and have never called to let us know either way. We got a "supervisor" to write a note to the technician saying he needed to come today, ***IM SHORE THATLL WERK!11!!!1!***
Once we realized they weren't coming (EVER) Katy and I caught a bus to the airport, we were going to just buy a plane ticket to anywhere that had internet, but then realized that we left our best knickers in the washing machine and simply couldn't count on Jonathan to hang them out to dry for us.
Actually I signed a 12 month contract for my cellphone. In the last month I've spent 300 HKD on phone cards and was given another 100 HKD (~13USD) phone card that I've also blown through. So it really made sense to sign up for something, so now if i ever lose my SIM card, I'll still have the number that I've given everyone AND put on my business cards, I'll also be able to just carry around one phone since I now have wireless data on my main number, and I can unlimited* spam text Katy and anyone else on the 3HK network (*up to 10,000 free texts per month) So it should workout better, I'll pay about 228 HKD (~$30USD) a month for unlimited data and texts, 200 minutes to other 3HK customers and 1,000 minutes to everyone else or something like that. I have to wait a couple days for the number to be ported over and need to bring them a proof of address, but it's pretty much all set. Well as long as I can find a bank statement...
Monday - Go in to prep for the Year 4 camp coming Wednesday-Friday. Also, I will give them my Invoice for the last three weeks of work! (plus one day)
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