Things I'll miss:
Resourcefulness. Sometimes you make do with what you have. A Doritos bag does keep the sun off your neck when folded, duct taped and tucked into the collar of a shirt.

Please offer these seats to ....

Old, people with babies, people who need assistance or pregnant people. Or please, ignore this and make someone's life a little harder.

MTR

I was the only one on the mtr to give up their seat to an elderly woman. The rest of these people didn't look up or acknowledge her.

That's pretty sad.

Jonathan and me at the HK rugby sevens.

Do you think a lot of people get sick in the cab?

10's

A week of Rugby

Rugby week
Last week we were told about some up-coming training opportunities for
the girls.
Sunday, they girls trained with the boys and with the rugby team from
England.

 

 

 

 

We got to then watch the HK team take on England.

Tuesday night they got to train with the HSBC penguins. What an
experience to meet the "professionals".

 

 

 

 

This is actually the rugby team from Rwanda.  They did a little dance for the kids and signed their shirts.  It was great seeing them!

I was talking with the girls' coach during this training. He asked what
our friends thought about our choice in sport. I told him that we are
used to picking obscure sports that no one really follows. He did
mention that because rugby was now an Olympic sport, the US was going to
start putting a lot of money into it! Awesome!!!

Today, Wednesday, we are off to watch the 10's.

Week recap

Oh this week ....

It has been a roller coaster of stuff.  Making plans to come home, making travel plans for the month of May, packing, schooling and then dealing with people who really don't get it.  This combo makes for a very interesting week.

Booking our tickets home
We have gotten the "OK" from the US company to go ahead and buy our tickets home.  This is kind of funny, because we had to submit how much the flights were going to cost.  JC estimated it at about 5K.  But, what would the company do if it were 10K?  Who knows. 

Now, onto WHEN we come home.  So many things come into play here.  When is the last paycheck coming.  Will all the security deposits be in our account at the end of May?  Where are there the least amount of people on the plane ... you know ... important questions.

JC talked with the company and told him of our plans to travel the last month.  We originally thought that because his paycheck showed he had 28 days of PTO, we would get 28 days of PTO.  Incorrect.  What complete BS.    Why bother showing it if you don't get it.    We finally figured all of that stuff out and settled on a date.  These people also fall into "those who don't get it".

School
I'm over it, the girls are over it.  JC is tired about hearing about it.  So, we decided that for the end of the year, we are going to take our ITBS test (Iowa test of basic skills) and pretty much be done with school for the year.  We were going to test mid-April, but moved it up to yesterday, today and Sunday.  We will only be finishing math (about 15 lessons left) and language arts (which is done online).  Now, we should be able to pack up 90% of all of our books to be shipped back home. 

Packing
Hannah has finally started.  She, with Gabby's help, packed two boxes this week.  Most of it was stuffed animals and clothes.  We told the girls that for the next two months, we were going to be down to the minimum needs; 3 or 4 pair of shorts, 5 shirts, couple jeans.  That's it ... the rest is going back (or being given away).

I would love to get everything that is going by boat packed and ready to be shipped by Monday, April 1.  Then the air shipment can go out April 30 and we can be done!

People who don't get it
What can you say about it?  It doesn't matter where you are ... people will always think that they are more important and the rules don't apply to them. 

The look
Those of you who know me ... know that I wear my feelings for you on my face (right Dana?)  I really don't mean to, but it just comes out. 

Yesterday, the girls and I went to go and grab some lunch in Causeway Bay, got a foot massage then walked back to get on the mini bus.  There was one guy in front of us, then one running up the side of us.  We actually got there and stood in line before the second guy.  The first man got the last seat, but the second guy, thought that he should check to make sure there weren't any other seats, and that if there were, HE was going to take it.  Since that was a fail for him, he stood there next to me, really wanting to be first in line.  Looking at me ... with my pursed lips and and my hands folded across my arms, instead of taking a step forward to the bus ... he took a step back. 

Rugby
This week I had to let one of the coaches know that we were not coming back next year.  I think some of them knew, but this confirmed it.  I think that they were looking forward to Gabby being an important part of the team for next year.  This stinks, because she is really, pretty good at it. 





 

Preparing for HK through my eyes

As we finish up our time here, I think that I am going to also blog about what I am grateful for during this rotation.

Starting April 1, I will post a picture or a little story about what makes me smile here. This will be Hong Kong through my eyes.

Water hydrant

On my way home from LAX, I was greeted with a broken fire hydrant across the street.

This place is NEVER dull.

Rugby

Hannah just took off the nail polish off her big toe this morning. This is what we found underneath.

She thinks it's from the other teams stepping on her foot during the matches. This could explain why she limps sometimes down the field.

Interesting what the breakdown is on Airline crap fees

I just got an email from Air New Zealand that they are having a sale.  We have already gotten the tickets for this trip, but I wanted to see if we what we paid was inline with the sale. 


Every ticket has a MISC fee section.  On ANZ, they allow you to click on it, to see what the codes mean and what the price is.

This is what the fees are for 3 adults and 1 child.  (Hannah is now an adult at the age of 12 in the airlines' eyes)

Charges summary

TAXES LEVIES & SURCHARGES

CODE                            DESCRIPTION                    AMOUNT

HK                            Passenger Facilities Charge    HKD $360.00

IA                             Passenger Security Charge     HKD$236.00

KK                            Passenger Facility Charge      HKD$558.00

YQ                            Fuel Surcharge                      HKD $8,312.00

Total additional taxes, levies & surcharges

HKD $9,466.00 (that is USD approx $300 per person)

I can't believe the fuel surcharge.  Shouldn't fuel be included in the price of the ticket? 

They are at their word though ... what you see is what you get.  That was the price I found including all the crap fees.

The Kim Lam Cup

Rugby - The Kim Lam Cup

There was some pressure put on the girls for this tournament. This tournament was to announce the best team for Girls' rugby for the year AND slot the team for next year. This year the girls wanted to make sure that they were still number 1 AND try to put the U12's in a good position for next year.

They did just that! I am really proud of the way the girls played. ALL the girls on the HKU - Sandy Bay team did a fantastic job and really worked as a TEAM. Here are some pictures from that tournament.

 

The day started (and ended) with some sprinkles and a ton of fog. Here you see what we were looking at from our pitch.
 

 

 

This is the team getting together before the match. The girls all get together ... and this is the time that the parents and coaches step to the side and let the girls motivate themselves. Sometimes, it's not who is cheering for you, but you cheering for your mates. This team does a great job of playing together, laughing together and winning together --- with GRACE!

The happy faces at the end of the tournament ...

What a Team!

Here is Pool A.  We are HKU.  They didn't get a chance to update the last one before we started the awards.  

The girls and the coaches!
"Let's hear 3 cheers for Sandy Bay
Hip Hip Hooray
Hip Hip Hooray
Hip Hip Hooray"
This is actually what each team says about the other team.  Sometimes, the hip hip's are more enthusiastic than others~

Congratulations on a GREAT win!

What I want to teach my girls

What do you want to teach your kids about playing sports? 

Is it about winning and losing all the time?

Is it about being a good sport?  Is it playing with integrity while the chips are down?  Is it about playing your own game?

What kind of sideline parent are you?

 

These are the questions that are in my head now.

Are sports only about winning and losing?  Not at a young age.  At a young age, they want to play the game.  They want to be with their friends.  They want to run around.  But, there comes a time when winning does matter.  Everyone want to be a winner.  If you don't ... what's wrong with you?  Winner's get ahead in life.  You "win" the job interview, you "win" a spot on the varsity level; everyone want to win! But at what cost is where the integrity part comes in.

The second set of questions has been put in front of me because of what I have seen during this rugby season.  I want to teach the girls not to stoop to the levels of other players.  High tackles, pushing and punching are not ways to win a rugby match.  (Today, after the ball gotten out of the ruck, a girl came up swinging at Gabby's head.  Luckily, she blocked and kept on running.  But, I'm sure those that know me, know that I wasn't going to take a child punching my child in the face during a match.  I put the other mom's on notice, and the coaches too ... that I was going to run onto the pitch if that happened and contact was made.)  When you are losing ... go back to the fundamentals ... go back to the basics ... teamwork and and ball skills.

 

During one of the matches a few months ago, the girls were watching two other teams play.  They started to cheer for the one that they knew they could beat easily.  I told them to immediately stop.  To me, it was not an acceptable thing to do.  You do not wish harm or ill will to another team.  (Karma??)  I explained to them, that it wasn't good and why, and what if the tables were turned.  They immediately stopped and haven't done it since (they have watched other teams, but only have cheered on the good plays made by both teams).  Today, I had to ask another team to not do that to our team.  I told them they were being rude.  (We beat the cheering team today, so they actually wanted us to lose to the other team - thus the cheering.) 

As a parent, you will never know what exactly happens on the field.  I get relayed some messages like this one.  "Mommy, do you know know what that team said about us on the field?  They said "We've hurt two now, let's see how many more we can hurt."  "  Really?  REALLY?  Is THAT what we are teaching our girls?  I did inform them that if I ever hear anything like that come out of their mouths, I would walk onto the pitch and yank their butts off ...  

The Ref's can help in situations too.  They need to stop the game, and corral the players.  Though, no need to play favorites.  Just an FYI ... you should not ref a game for a team that you coach, and one that your child is a member of.  No one is THAT impartial. 

So what are we teaching our girls?  I am trying to teach them not to react to other players that are losing (Gabby made me proud today).   I am trying to teach them to have Grace when cheering for other teams, when losing a match or when winning a match. 

Lastly, as a parent, I am working on, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all".  I learned this as an athlete in high school.  I hated it when other parents yelled at me and told me what I was doing wrong.  I am still of the mindset that if you're not the coach or that child's parent ... Keep. It. Shut.  So, from the sidelines, you will hear me yelling, "Play your game girls", "tackle at the legs" and "Great job ....".    I will only use my extremely loud voice for good ... not evil.

This is a great group of Mom's.  (Gabby pointed out that I am the tallest when she took the pictures ... yeah, that's something new ;) )

***I know that our team has made high tackles, had a bad attitude and said cuss words (usually in a foreign language).  I am not here to make it sound like we have angels.  Those that know me, know that my eyes are wide open to good and bad of my kids (any myself).

The Kim Lam Cup

So proud of these girls! We are in the finals.

A coffee bong.

Jonathan Shops

Conversation with Jonathan:
JC: You know, I hate shopping in HK. I'm ready to go home.
Me: Really. What happened
JC:First I did some research on what mouse I wanted, then decided that I was going to Fortress
up the hill.
Me: What hill?
JC:You know, the hill in Central.
Me: No.
JC:You know across from where the the McDonald's used to be?
Me: No.
JC:I don't know the names of the road, let me look ... It's Queen's Road.
Me: That doesn't help me ... I don't know the names of the road's in
Hong Kong.

It took him forever to finish the story. But it is basically the same
story as my shoe story, except this time he was trying to find a
specific mouse for his laptop. I won't bore anyone with this ... trust me.

The next few months

This is a quick little email update about what will happen with us in the next few months.

We will be finishing up school for the year in the next four weeks.  The girls asked if we could be done with everything before we leave for Easter in Boracay, Philippines.  They were willing to do some school work on Saturday and Sunday's so I knew they were serious!  For the month of April, we will be trying to visit the rest of the sites in HK that we didn't get to do.  I know there will be lots of museums, hikes and possibly days at the beach!

We move out of our apartment on 30 April.  We will be traveling during the month of May, so we didn't think that it would be cost efficient to pay so much money for an apartment that we will only use for about 5 days.  We are also in the process of shipping most of our belongings by sea, which will take close to two months to get home. 

In May we will be flying to Christchurch, New Zealand and renting a camper to take around the South Island.  We will be gone for for 2 1/2 weeks.  We then fly back to HK (staying in a hotel) and then hopefully find a good deal to a beach to in either the Philippines, Thailand or Malaysia.  I'm not sure how much access we will have phone wise, but you should be able to catch us on email. 

In late May, we fly back to HK, hotel it again, close our accounts and make sure everything is settled.  Our plan is to fly out June 1-3. 

When we arrive back in the US, we will be at my parents for about a week while we move our belongings back into the house and do some cosmetic retouching. 

That is really as far as we have planned.  We will get back into the routine of home ownership, driving in traffic, seeing friends, and sitting out on the deck with a cup of coffee. 

You should be able to follow our next few months on the blog, facebook, skype or email.

If I have forgotten anything, I'm sure Jonathan will follow up.

 

Weather

The weather people in Hong Kong can't seem to get it right. Today was suppose to be a high of 75* and we are at 81*. What they did get right was the partly cloudy business. I need some sun ... And lots of it.

Hannah bumping the ball

Soaking up the vitamin d

Random stuff in my head

Books:

I have started to read the book, "The Art of Coming Home" by Craig Storti. The company sent that book, along with "Third culture kids" to read before we come home.  I have gotten through the introduction and chapter 1.  I have to say ... it is a bit depressing. 

According to this book, I will start to hit a low point within a month of arriving home.  WTF!  I don't have time for that!  It also states that every member of the family will come out of their funk at different times, and it can last as short as a week and as long as a couple of months!  Again, WTF! 

I will probably pick the book up again, and I hope this gets better, because really, who wants to hear depressing stuff about coming back to the US when your whole family is excited about it?

The Gap and Shanghai Tang:

Yesterday, the girls and I were going to the "Gap" in central.  I saw that they had some really cute "Gap Hong Kong" shirts.  As we were walking, a guy gave me a leaflet, "Shanghai Tang loft sale".  What?  A sale at Shanghai Tang?  We back track to Pedder building and up to the 6th floor we go.  We got up there and I was like Gabby with too many choices ... my head was going. 

We started to look around, picked up some polo, they were cute.  Looked at some dresses and knew that is what I wanted.  (I told Jonathan when we first got here, that before we went back, I would be getting something from here.  And now, I get to get it on SALE!) As I looked at all the dresses, I wondered where I could wear them.  As beautiful as this is:
or

It is really not something that I will wear often.  I found this ...

I could wear this  to work or going out with Jonathan or friends.  I love it! 


And then I found this:

I love this! The zipper is at an angle and allows you to either zip all the way up or just part way and show some of the beautiful lining on the inside.  Funny enough, my top seems to be built like an Asian - skinny on top and longer arms, so this large fits great.  It seems that I am built more "American" on the bottom - and we'll just leave it at that.

If I had to pay full retail price for these items, I wouldn't have gotten either.  They are both beautiful pieces that I will have for a very long time, but, at heart, I'm still cheap.

After doing some damage to the checking account at this store, the girls and I were hungry so we stopped by swift in Prince's building and got a pretty tasty red velvet cupcake.  We were waiting for Jonathan, while he finished up a meeting.  We then stopped by Canteen and got a quick dinner (because I am an adult, I chose to have dessert first).  Then it was off to the Apple store. 

Oh the Apple Store:

Jonathan's turning 40 at the end of the month and we just didn't know what to get him.  But since Hannah helped his computer take a tumble (see previous post), he thought that he might just want a Macbook Air.  I thought that I would surprise him yesterday and just go an pick one up, but I thought that the technology department of Collins Inc. should be  with me while I shopped for this item.   So, while Gabby and I went and did a little shopping for Hannah's birthday, he bought it.  I was gone for 10 minutes .. 10 minutes ... he basically walked 3 steps from where I left him, handed someone his credit card and as I walked down the stairs, this man stuck a brand new computer in the bag ... and said good-bye and thanks to him.

"What just happened?" I asked.  Jonathan's response, "They make it too easy".  Yeah ... they do.

Happy birthday

Being in HK and knowing you are going to leave makes gift giving for a 40th birthday a little hard. Thanks to Hannah dropping the computer, Jonathan got a new MacBook Air.

Happy birthday!!!!!