soccer

Football ( Soccer) is fairly popular in the States but has yet to gain the following of other countries. Hong Kong and Asia follow the rest of the world in celebrating football. This year was the world cup which took place in South Africa. We watched a few games at 10 at night and some at 2 am. The displays in the mall were fun for the kids. The malls here would show them on their giant TV screens and create seating or standing room that allowed the crowds to watch the games. We rooted for the US of course- Nathan picked the Netherlands as a winner early on. The final came down to Spain and Netherlands with Spain winning.

Transportation

Trying to fix my old post that were changed due to formatting issues and loss of videos.
 If you see any  new and updated post from us in Hong Kong this is what is happening. 

Nathan and I both agree that not having a car to think about and worry about is nice. There are days with the kids that it would be handy. But overall I like the exercise of walking. The double-decker buses I have to watch with the kids, as they don't stop for you to find a seat, so I have to try to get the situated otherwise they can get jostled about. Jane calls them bunk buses.  The best feeling of all is arriving at the bus stop just as the bus is coming in, getting down to the platform just as the subway arrives. You feel like you won something, or accomplished some great task.

Jane is holding the toy replicas fo the real thing.

Obviously the MTR is our primary mode of transportation.

The MTR is safe, clean,reliable and very easy to use. 

2012 

 2009

This is our stop!

Commuting via public transport has its benefits.   If you are a reader it can give you time to finish a good book.  Depending on how far you travel you can have five minutes uninterrupted to fifty minutes. 

As the normal conversation around me is a quiet hum of Cantonese I usually tune  it out. Therefor when anyone starts speaking English my ears perk up and find it a bit distracting that I can overhear the conversation.

The Star Ferry is my favorite way to travel. 

Ferry Ride with Jane from outypants on Vimeo.

New Blog

 A new blog . http://oughtasee.blogspot.com/
If you are interested in keeping up with the Sweeneys you can find us at the blogger address above.

Love
Sarah

Cherish not Cling

We left Hong Kong over a month ago.
I will be starting a new blog about this next chapter in our lives.  I will update when I begin it. 


A wise friend shared with me the difference of cherishing and clinging.
The idea is that we should cherish the blessings, opportunities, friendships and good experiences we have in our lives, but we are not to cling to those things.  We are to cling to those closest to us, like our spouses, and children. As a Christian, I ultimately cling to God, the most constant relationship I have is the one I have with Jesus.
I can allow myself to be sad, but If I find myself trying to hold onto all the feelings, emotions and live in a perpetual state of lamenting the losses, then something is wrong.
We can cherish our time and our friendships, but it is to my husband and kids that I will cling. Those are the people that my ties should be the strongest, and relationships that need to hold up, regardless of our address.


So I will choose to cherish our life in Tai Po, the countries we got to visit, the delicious food we got to eat, the experience of a different culture, and a different way of life.


I will cherish the friendships, the richness of a life lived in an international community.

Our time in HK will hold some of the best memories and best times of our lives.

2009

2012

Our thanks, gratitude and love to all the people we have met along the journey.
In the hopes our paths will cross again one day.

The Harveys: for Christmas, Disney on Ice, birthday parties, op-shop- shopping, coffee, explaining all things Aussie to us ( and some African :-)
 Ping, Joseph and Joanna:we will remember playgroup and Christmas cookie making, and always an open door.
Kate, Daniel and Christopher:  Bible study, play groups, sharing life, showing us where to eat Korean in HK and in Korea.
Esther and Aaron: our first friends at Parc Versailles
Greenie and Jamie Lin: for making sure we had more friends at PV
Hoopers: Telling us about ECC, the quick bus from University to Ma on Shan and let us staying at their house in Brisbane
Noelia: for making me laugh and practicing my Spanish
Munleys: Almarie's brillance and bravery, Jacks humor, Mia's laugh and Hannah's insight
Abe: compassion and helpfulness
Whitfords: hiking, exploring, coffee, scrapbooking!, sharing,
ECC: Susie and the terrific Christmas programs, allowing us to teach those cute and super smart 5 year olds. Elaine and Alexis, Sarah and Andrew, Sherry, The Loks, Kiki.
NIS: The staff and the rest of our friends there, for making the school such a great place to attend and so hard to leave.
Denise: Being my first local friend, always willing to hang out, introducing me to Shabu shabu and yunnan noodle.
Krohns: Starting us out right and not leaving us to ourselves.
Annis': following God's call so we could be neighbors in a different country
For anyone else who showed me how to do something, shared a coffee and a laugh.

A photo from our last night in HK.

I thought this snap-shot of our last good-bye with the Harvey family was fitting.
They are exiting the platform at Tai Po Market Station.

Zaijian
The Sweeneys

Beginning of the end, saying good-bye

How do you say goodbye? If are like me you try to avoid ever having to say it.

 Those few weeks before our departure I found myself saying, "I'm sure I will see you again before I leave, so this isn't good-bye" As the time became shorter and shorter I realized I had to stop saying that and face the reality that there might not be another chance.


 This was the kids last official day of school at The Norwegian International School.

Mr. Eduardo the PE teacher.  

The friendly and caring staff, sent the kids off with momentos and class parties. 

Song Laoshi's gift to the kids was a traditional hat, it came from Beijing where her grandparents live.

My friend Abe Chung who has two kids in NIS,  coordinated a farewell dinner for our family at the Hong Lok Yuen country club.

Abe (in the white blouse) and Lillian (far lef)t are Hong Kong moms that are very active  at the school, without their involvement I am not sure how well it would function.
 They are also generous and lovely women.  This photo was taken  in 2011 at Almarie's birthday celebration. The three of us who are foreigners in the picture (Almarie in the striped and Tanya in the dress) had to leave Hong Kong reluctantly, it is no coincidence we also had the privilege to be friends with Abe and Lillian.

"Western friendly" Chinese dinner.  

Cheers!
I was touched by everyone who took the time to attend and I am thankful for the  opportunity to have been  part of the NIS community.

Final Sunday Part Two: The Morning Trail Hike at the Peak

On our last Sunday in Hong Kong we took one last trip to the Peak.

First we had some good-byes at church, ECC Kowloon.

We didn't plan on it, but it did end up being the kids last day to ride the ferry

This is has to be the best photo I have ever taken from the ferry.

=

The Peak is some of the most expensive real estate in the world.  It is where the British first settled when they took over and was home to all the governors before Hong Kong was handed back over to China.

We didn't take the tram for a couple of reasons. Sunday afternoon with great weather, usually means an hour or more waiting in line, second reason was this was the day we went to the Police Museum. We needed to take the bus to get there.

Photos from other times we did the hike.

The last time around

The kids have been boycotting normal photos lately.

There are lots of interesting trees and flowers to see as you make a way around.

The hike is a nice way to escape the tourist at the shops, it is an easy walk for families.