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.

NIS Sports Day 2012

The Norwegian International School has a sports day every year. The kids are divided up into five teams represented by different colors. They compete individually and in team events. Mr. Eduardo, the kids PE teacher, planned a full day and kids were awarded trophies and medals.

I was assigned to Mrs. Nadia's (Elliot's teacher)orange team. I looked in my closet and had green,blue, red and yellow but no orange. Where do you go to shop in Hong Kong when you need a cheap colorful T-shirt? The popular Japanese clothing outlet Uniqlo.

Here is Nadia and me in our unplanned matching t-shirts. Both of us had purchased them the day before. This season's featured theme is The Peanuts Gang. Since I am fan, it was easy for me to choose this as my orange option.


The 3rd grade girls were the cheerleaders, they opened the event with a routine. Cheerleading was the only athletic activity I did in school, this brought back memories.

The parents and kids teamed up in three leg races, relays and piggy back races.

Nathan was there that day too to help run some of the events and compete.

Parents and teachers raced each other in the final event of the day. The video documents my stunning performance.

NIS Sports Day 2012 from outypants on Vimeo.

Chinese New Year 2012

The year of the Dragon has arrived.
Last year we had a warm day for CNY and made a trip to Lai Chi Wo
This year it was cold with rain. Lucky for the Chinese in their tradition but not so much fun for us who want to get outdoors and enjoy the holiday.

The Norwegian International School had a fair. The kids could play traditional games and buy snacks and other items.

The kids with their teachers- Jane- Ms. Chan
Elliot's Mrs. Nadia
Chinese teacher Song Laoshi (laoshi- is teacher in Mandarin and the proper form address for teachers in China)

Song Laoshi invited some girls from her class to come to her house and make traditional Jiaozi (dumplings) siblings and parents were invited to join in the fun.
She handmade the dough and filling and showed us how to make the wrapper and boil dumplings. The correct technique is to bring water to boil add dumplings,bring water to boil again then add just a little cold water you do this two times then the dumplings are done.
Angela is from the province of Liaoning- near Korea.
Elliot and Gabriel probably ate the most dumplings and kept asking for more.

Elliot took a turn at spinning the cloth. A traditional game from Song laoshi's hometown. The idea is to spin it and get it flat, he did quite well with it.

It was a great time and the dumplings were delicious! We are thankful for the kind teaching staff at NIS.

Buying flowers is also a traditional Chinese custom. Last year Nathan went out at midnight, like a lot of locals do and bought the flowers at half price. This year we attended the Tai Po fair and walked around with kids, let them spend some of their money and came home well before midnight.

February

A year in photos

January

Lavender Garden

The kids school went to Lavender Garden in Fanling. I let Jane take the camera with her.
Classmates

She and Elliot's class were kept apart so she didn't snap any photos of him.

The chocolate mint was her favorite plant.

She also fed a goat and named him Billy. The class was memorizing a play of the three billy goats gruff at the time.
Seeing a praying mantis and playing on the see-saw were some other highlights.

The most fun activity offered was making the candle.

The candle Jane made was later given to me as a surprise birthday gift.
The kids said they had fun and we might go back as a family sometime.