Back in November, our school did our annual overseas service and adventure trips. This year, Brandon and I got to go to Gopeng, Malaysia with 24 year 10 (14-year old) students. The trip was focused around adventure and culture instead of service, so it was getting students out of their comfort zone doing various activities in the jungles of Malaysia, and visiting local villages. And Brandon and I got to participate in everything :) We did a ropes course, rock-climbing, abseiling, rafting, and some hiking. Overall, it was a great trip. It was a bit stressful though, as Brandon and I were the “parents” of all of these kids for the week. At least the days were busy and exhausting, so getting them to sleep at a decent time wasn’t too terribly difficult. The hardest part was coming back to Hong Kong and then having to go back to work two days later. Definitely needed some time to recover from it. But I’m so glad we got to have these experiences with these students, especially because we are leaving Hong Kong next year. It’s so great to see students learning outside of the classroom, and especially great to see all these experiences that these “city kids” get to have in rural Asia.
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For our mid-term break, we decided to go to Bali. It’s been on our list for a while, but we’ve just finally gotten around to planning it. Obviously I spent lots of time over-researching this, and honestly, I’m not sure it paid off. We had some great experiences, but we also had some not-so-great ones. Instead of giving a day-by-day run-down of this trip, I’ll categorize it into the good and the bad. A couple weeks ago was a long weekend for us due to a public holiday in Hong Kong, so since we didn’t have to work, we went to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam with Aani and David. Aani and David went there last year, so they knew a good area to stay in, which was great. Very much appreciated when I was (over)-researching hotels! The massive city of 8 million people (and almost 1000 square miles) was narrowed down to small radius. Definitely saved me hours of time. A couple weeks into school, we decided that we needed (ok, really wanted) a weekend getaway. We had miles that we need to use in the next year or so from Cathay, so I looked to see where we could get to easily, with just a few days notice. Manila it was! Even though I didn't relish in idea of going to Manila when it was a place that I dreaded when we lived in Baguio, I thought getting away for a weekend would be nice. This summer was awesome. So much time with friends and family, and so much time enjoying Minnesota. We arrived MSP on a Saturday night (school ended Friday) with the intention of going straight to our hotel and going to bed. Well that didn’t happen. We really wanted Buffalo Wild Wings (don’t judge), so we went to Mall of America to get some. Very much under the impression that that was all we were going to do. Get some Asian zing wings and call it a night. But then we discovered that MOA has lots of bars with good beer. There was even an arcade with good beer! Brandon’s two favorite things: video games and beer. So we made a night of it and didn’t end up leaving until after midnight. So after being awake for almost 36 hours, we headed back to our hotel. Aani and I went to high school together and hadn't really hung out at all since A Capella choir senior year, but last year her and her husband moved to Singapore. So we've gotten together a couple times in the last year and it's been awesome. In May we met them for a weekend in Phuket, Thailand. It was a cheap and easy place for both of us to get to, and we got a hotel on the beach. Definitely plus! At the end of April we had a long weekend, so I went to Hoi An, Vietnam with some girls from work. One of them had been there a few times before, so that was awesome to have a guide! We stayed at a wonderful house right on the beach, and spent lots of time in the pool, ocean, and shopping. Even though I really hate shopping, it was great because there were lots of tailors, so I was able to get a custom made dress for our graduation dinner. (since I'm so late on posting this entry, I actually have a picture of me wearing in at graduation in June! See last picture.) Overall another great weekend away and a great reminder of why I love living in SE Asia! For our Easter break, we met my parents in Greece. We went to a lot of places that I went during my semester there in college, so it was wonderful to be back again, and to be able to share the experiences with Brandon and my parents. March was a very busy month for us. Year 9 camp on Lamma Island, Singapore to visit friends, and Taipei for football. Immediately after Claire and Tara left, we spent 4 days and 3 nights on Lamma Island with all 100 of the year 9 students for camp. It was a wonderful week filled with hiking, outdoor activities, and camping. The students were so well behaved and really enjoyed all of the outdoor activities, especially because many of them are definitely city kids! At the end of February, Claire and Tara came to visit! We did lots of HK sightseeing, and obviously lots of talking to catch up. It was so wonderful to have MN friends come all the way to HK :) |
LissieInternational teacher, math-lover, traveler Categories
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