I owe you

Okay, so I definitely owe y'all a couple of posts.  I meant to last weekend, but it never happened.  Sorry! I can't believe I have been in Hong Kong for 3 weeks already!  Time is flying and I love it.

I have already begun my second camp, but first things first.  My first week as a teacher was insane.  I had 11 boys and 2 girls.  This is not by any means something I was expecting.  There is no one-child policy here in HK, so I thought I would have an even mix.  Well, two of my teammates had 10 and 11 girls and only 3 or 4 boys.  I am still confused as to why the school would rather a girl teach a bunch of boys....I don't get it.  But that's okay because I love my students so much.

And they were a rowdy bunch, let me tell you.  Most of them are sixteen and seventeen years old.  One of my students didn't have an English name.  When I asked him what he would like to be called, the rest of the class answered "Somebody, Somebody!!"  So that is what he wrote on his name plate.  I was not about to call the poor boy "Somebody," so I mostly just gestured to him in an effort to not horrendously mispronounce his name.  But I know how to spell it, so I do hope that he knows that I know his name.  Anyway...he was an interesting student to say the least.

He is so bright!  And he regularly responded to me in class, which I appreciate.  He also watches House, which is one of my favorite shows.  Sarcasm doesn't really cross into Asian culture very well, though.  So it surprised me when he said that he watches that show.  Well, he understands and uses sarcasm very well.  If you know the Asian culture, this is an odd thing!  It was kind of fun and refreshing though.

We had an Easter-themed cultural activity one afternoon, and as you can imagine...we had an Easter egg hunt.  Well the last group to hunt the eggs was my class, and they were disappointed that they didn't get to hide the eggs for anyone else to find.  So one of my teammates, Hannah (who is also my roommate) takes half the class outside of her room to let the other half hide the eggs for them to find.  Well my crazy boys hid an egg in the ceiling tile.  The tile then fell on the floor. Another egg ended up outside a window. We're 5 floors off the ground, so as you can imagine...that egg is gone forever.  They are very active boys...and mischievous...but I love them.

They took me out to lunch early this week.  They made fun of the way I hold chopsticks...which is a fair thing to make fun of me for. haha.  We ate dim sum...and it was so delicious.  Dim sum is not a type of food, but more like a style of eating.  It's a bunch of different food on a lazy Susan that just rotates around, and you snag what you want.  I had egg yolk buns (which I would love to learn to make), beef balls, noodles, rice, chicken, pork, pork rolls, and various other foods which are nameless to me.  I was offered cow's stomach, but I passed on that one...I passed on chicken claws, too.

My team is great, and I think we meld well together.  We each have our own classes for 3 hours a day, and in the afternoon we do a cultural activity together.  Sometimes we have stations, other times we all interact with each other.  I got married almost 2 weeks ago to my teammate Peter.  We put on an excellent skit and had a wedding reception!!  The students had so much fun, and they all took pictures with me and thought I was beautiful.  The girls here really boost my self esteem. ;)  I had a blast.  We've celebrated Christmas and Easter, taught American poetry, dances, fairy tales (four-part stories vs three-part stories), and had our students do presentations on Hong Kong culture for us.  It's been great!!!

The fellowship is amazing.  Today was the first day that I actually missed the city of Ruston.  I obviously miss my family and friends and sweet boyfriend, but today was the first day that I was a tad homesick for the States.  On the other hand, I love Hong Kong.  My sister said it best when she described it as a "New York City with a London twist....full of Asians." It's sweaty and humid, but the people are kind and genuine.  They stare at me a lot....But I'll write more on that as soon as I can.

The Father is really telling me a lot about what I'm good at though.  He has been compassionate to me, and I have been able to lavish that compassion to others.  I adore my first camp, and my second batch of students is quite different. I have 9 girls and 3 boys...and they are so sweet and mild.  I'm not sure what to do with myself. haha. I have lots to learn, teach, write, and tell you. I'll blog more later.  Scout's honor.

Ruin my life for the plans that I've made.  Ruin these eyes for my own selfish gain. Destroy the idols that have taken Your place til it's You alone I live for. -Jeff Johnson "Ruin Me"