Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Pep Rally Movie 2008

Here is the movie I put together for today's pep rally:

The Latest

This weekend I was back on the road. This time on a sequel trip to Kaiping, China, as a staff sponsor for our high school students. I soaked up the chance to be in the real China again: boys with pink motorbike helmets, the prolific Chinglish signage, dusty streets, Chinese students requesting me to sing their favorite song (either Westlife, Big Big World, or Yesterday Once More), cheap everything, my favorite green tea, and random men on the street with big goofy smiles and hearty "hullo"s. Love it, love it. I didn't take many pictures this time around, but I couldn't resist trying to capture the ultimate cute factor of the little Chinese babies in their bundles!
The downside was the loooow temperatures. I know, I know. It sounds ridiculous to say I was chilled to the bone for three days straight when the temperature was ten degrees. But true. There's no escape from it; no indoor heating to be found.

Today we had our second annual school pep rally. I felt very much transported to my days at Johnson. Good times. It was fun to watch the kids, and particularly my players, as they enjoyed themselves. Definitely worth the effort!! I'm happy to invest my time and energy into helping make our school a place where kids have fun and feel a sense of pride in their school, and of course, their teams!

I'm excited for this weekend because it kicks off the Chinese New Year holiday, which means one week of delightful rest and play. I was originally planning to travel to Malaysia during this week but decided to stay put. I'm definitely glad I made this choice, as I'm already planning many things I would like to enjoy here in Hong Kong. On the priority list: cheap lunches at amazingly good restaurants, squash with Bob, tennis, working out (it's a foreign concept these days), trimming the growing fro :), a couple movies, some reading, some thinking (not toooo much), and what I need most: a lot of praying!

Guess I'd better head for bed. Stay warm!

Friday, January 18, 2008

Aussie Open Hype

Day 5- Serena is sizzling with 15 aces in her third round match. Domination or what?!

Justine Henin blows my mind. Her overall record in the past 3 years is 63-4. Her one-handed backhanded leaves me dumbfounded. She is so good. I love watching her play.

I've got to say, in honor of Heather, that Rafa's orange look is just not working out. I'm not digging it.

However, I know Heather's rooting for Jankovic, so here's a pretty awesome picture I found. Desktop material! I dream of a two-handed backhand like that!

Speaking of Jankovic, this is a neat video on "The Rebirth of Serbia". I find it hard not to cheer for the big three of Jankovic, Ivanovic and Djokovic.

Here's an interesting article detailing how both Roger and Pete tragically lost their coaches- and were seemingly spurred onto their legendary play as a result. It's a good one.

Looks like the match of the day was Baghdatis/Safin. A five-setter, one I hope to catch via my friend's marvelous daily recordings of tennis coverage.

Both ESPN and Tennis.com have good highlights to wrap up each day's action.

Ohhh. I love tennis!!!

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Zephaniah 3:17

My students' memory verse this week has become my new favorite. I never tire of hearing this:

The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.

Monday, January 14, 2008

The Big Visit!


Well, once they finally made it to Hong Kong (a mere 39 hour adventure from Regina due to delays), we had such a good time together. They were great sports in trying different kinds of Chinese food, squishing into my flat (everyone gets 120 sq. feet to themselves, ha ha!), embracing the crowds, and riding in style on the double decker buses around town. Saturday was a beautiful day with a blue sky and we spent it at Disneyland! The favorite ride was definitely Space Mountain! Ah, it was just so much fun to have them here. My students were thrilled to meet my parents and interrogate them on what they imagined to be my evil childhood. Ha ha. They were a little disappointed to find out I really was an angel. Ha ha ha!

It's never easy to say goodbye to my family though, even though it's only five months this time around. I'm glad they get to sneak in one or two more days on their way back home. I was reminded again, of how blessed I am to have such awesome parents. And, just how special Autumn and Andrew are to me. Even though I don't get to spend as much time with them as I'd like, I feel pretty lucky to have some sweet traveling memories with them. Last year, their home in India as well as Nepal. This year, my home in Hong Kong!

Follow this link to my pictures of the weekend!

The Space Mountain Thrill.

Team India 2008. It was great to hang out with Pam and Raysha. They're going to do an awesome job in India!


Buzz and Andrew.

Thailand...two weeks later...

I think my last post regarding Thailand was from Chiang Mai. I didn't tell you about....

-our awesome cooking class (I learned my favorites: pad thai, red curry, sweet and sour vegetables and papaya salad)
-the white flour sand and green see through waters at Koh Samet
-jumping the waves
-playing water frisbee
-laying the smack down on the girls in our Ultimate Pillow Wrestling Challenge
-how it is marvelous to have a tan, but after three days laying around on the beach, I'm ready for a new game
-spending New Year's Eve and New Year's Day next to the toilet :), something that is turning out to be an annual holiday event for me...a yearly cleansing ritual?!
-sweet chats with the three gals I traveled with
-how lovely and refreshing the fruit shakes are, or did I?
-how I really enjoy Thailand, but I feel a certain darkness there. There is beauty, but a more clear lostness than felt in other places I have lived in and traveled to.

There you have it. It was a great two weeks. Sorry to the Flickr fans out there, but for the four of you who check it, here is the first album, and here is the second album of my Facebook pictures. You can view them there; it's just seeming a bit tedious to upload them twice. My favorites are from the Elephant Nature Park. Enjoy!

Our lovely cooking prof and my wicked papaya salad. Spicy!

White Water Rafting!

Quadding!

Giving Dumbo a scrub-down in the river

Feeling the Love!

Our day at the Elephant Nature Park

The Beach!

Monday, January 07, 2008

Best Movie in Years.

I just watched August Rush.  I think it is one of my favorite movies, all-time.  Have you seen it?  
My favorite lines of the movie (spoken to the main character, a young orphan boy):
"Boy, what do you want to be, more than anything in the whole world?"
"Found".
A beautiful movie.  Now if only itunes would add the soundtrack...
Thanks for the nudge, Steve.  You were right.