On the Periphery of My Existence

I hate colds in the summer...

2009-09-26T13:30:00.001+08:00

Finally caught Erik's cold...his lasted about 10 days and included laryngitis. Great. I am on day four, and still don't feel much better. I am sticking to my promise to post at least once a week...but this is just an update that my brain can't put together much more than a sentence, let alone a whole blog post. More to come I promise. Just to keep you interested...we are getting a cat today. I know we are crazy. It is on a trial basis though, so if it doesn't work out, it's not the end of the world.

Things to Love (and Hate) about the Kingdom: Part 1

2009-09-17T22:12:00.008+08:00

There are so many things to love and hate about living here. I thought I'd regale (is that spelled right) you with tales of a few of them in a multi-part posting...so check back to read more.

The number one thing to LOVE and HATE about the Kingdom: (drumroll please) THE WEATHER

So let me start by saying it is not as hot as I thought it would be. It is more humid than I remember though, which is a little disappointing. On the dry days, I am like "bring it on", but on the mornings I come downstairs and it looks like it has been raining outside, i think "f... today is gonna suck".

Fortunately, EVERYTHING is airconditioned, but usually overly so. This means you need to remember to bring a sweater, EVERYWHERE so you don't freeze. This is very counterintuitive..even when you live here. Erik actually teaches in a fleece. Our upstairs is much colder than our downstairs, but the thermostat is downstairs, so if it is comfortable downstairs it is probably like a walkin freezer upstairs. By the way, this is why I let the dog (who will perhaps be the number 2 thing to love and hate) sleep with us most nights. I don't want her to be too cold!

One of the crappy things about the heat is that it is hard to play outside with the girls right now between the hours of 8am and 6pm. The playground equipment is scorching, and even a walk around the block with the dog has Anika panting for water and Saskia begging to be carried. We all come back a sweaty mess.

Evenings are LOVELY though....a balmy 90 some degrees, I almost need a sweater when we go for our evening walks into the desert (our house which will for sure make one of these posts backs right up to the desert). Everyone says around October 31st or November 1st, the weather changes and is just lovely until May. A little cold even in the winter, especially at night when it can get into the 50's or 40's even.

Twice a week, when the nanny gets here I head to the pool for two hours of sunbathing bliss at the pool. This ROCKS. I read, lay in the sun, and dip in the pool to cool off. Some days it is so hot I can't go longer than 10 minutes without a dip in the pool, and am completely dry by the time I need to dip in again 10 minutes later. This makes for disjointed reading but I can't complain. I diligently apply SPF 50 before every sunbathing session and am still developing a LOVELY tan.

Going anywhere in the car during the day with the girls is a MAJOR torture session for everyone. Despite all our efforts to block the sun in the car, the seats are always scorching, and the air stifling hot, until the aircon kicks in (usually right around the time we arrive at our destination since nothing is much more than 5 minutes from here). I have found all sorts of tricky ways to use dishtowels and things to wrap seatbelts and car seat restraints so that the girls don't get burned by their too hot buckles. I have considered wearing gloves to drive because the steering wheel is SO fricking hot.

The most amazing thing is that right now is the month of Ramadan. This holy month of fasting rotates throughout the year (since the muslim calendar like the chinese is lunar). However, right not it falls in September. I can't believe that most of the people in this country are not drinking water during the day. I try to be contientious, but the last few weeks have been sneaking a water bottle into the car and taking furtive sips whenever I feel like I am far enough away for anyone to see me.

I am sure I am forgetting highlights, the tar bubbling to the top of the asphalt and sticking to your shoes when you cross the street, crayons melting in the car, and the ever amazing tap water. (In the summer people turn off their hot water heaters and use the hot water as cold since it is in the house and is cooled by the AC, the cold water tap then becomes the scalding hot water, as the water is heated naturally to almost boiling in the pipes that run underground outside the house!) Crazy.

I think that's enough for a first post. More to come soon. Stay tuned for part 2 Liyah the wunderdog supremo!

There's no place like home...

2009-09-15T12:05:00.003+08:00

So here is my horrorscope for the day! I think it says it all....

You may be getting anxious today because of your uncertainty about how the past leads to the future. It's hard to see the real connection between what you are currently doing and where you want to go. You prefer having a concrete plan, yet being weighed down by too much structure can be dangerous now. This is an opportunity for you to practice letting go of control, for you can always tighten the reins again in a few days.

I have a feeling this will be the theme of my blog (not to mention life) for the next few years. Erik was crazy to mary a capricorn.

However, despite the fact that I am still very much on a journey of some sort, and the fact that we are far from setted...I feel like I am home for the first time in a very long time. We don't have our "stuff" yet, and have not settled into anything anyone would call a routine, we don't really have friends yet. As you can imagine this creates a certain level of stress in my life, and the life of those around me (see above horrorscope). But underneath it all, I know it will all be okay. Because I am home, and I am realizing I haven't "been home" since I left Saudi in 1992. I feel like I have been searching and searching for years, and all the time it was right here.

I look forward to sharing more with you about my home, and our life here through this blog, email, skpye, and good old fashion phone calls and letters. I love you all.

Pictures from Paradise! Finally!

2009-04-13T12:57:00.014+08:00

So, after a 2 hour plane ride, and 2 hour drive from Bangkok, we arrived at Ban Phe Pier

where we would meet the speedboat that would take us to our resort.

We figured out that these kids live on Koh Samed, and take a

speedboat and this motorbike bus to school everyday.

Pale and excited!

For three blessed days we sat on the beach reading, sipping water and Singha.

I was a bit worried about the storm clouds but they say Koh Samed is under an

umbrella in the Gulf of Thailand, and the clouds just passed right by. At night we

could see lightning in the distance, but never a drop of rain. Perfect.

This boat came in EVERY day to bring water to our resort. CRAZY.

On the third day we moved up under those trees you see there to nurse our sunburns, despite the spf 30 and the beach umbrella. The shade of the trees allowed us a third amazing day at the beach. Thank you trees. We also had a massage under their shade EVERYDAY we were there.

We ate fresh squid everynight, and delicious thai food of course!

With plenty of Singha to wash it down.

My handsome husband!

Our shady refuge in the evening.

Hope to see you again soon, Koh Samed!

Full House!

2009-04-03T10:47:00.001+08:00

Erik's parents, sister Kirsten, and our nephew Aidan arrive tonight for nine days of Hong Kong fun. We can't wait. Anika is particularly excited. Hope there will be lots to share in coming days.

Perfection: Stay tuned for pics...

2009-04-01T10:10:00.003+08:00

Our home computer is acting up, so pictures will come at a later date. Today is Wednesday, and I am still recovering from the best spring break ever. It was absolutely perfect, and seemed to last forever. A good thing when you are spending time with people you love.

The first four days Paul and Dave were here visiting. What a blast! Of course they have been to Hong Kong several times before, so we mostly chilled, played with the girls, lots of scrabble, settlers of catan and good wine. Erik took Paul and Dave to MongKok one day and Paul bought a Nikon D-90. Very nice..We also took them to Sai Kung a fishing town here in the New Territories they had never been to before. We had a blast watching the girls checking out the fish and recently caught sea creatures swimming around in tanks. Fish the size of Saskia (she is big now) and lobsters bigger than my mom's dog.

* As a side notew. I am going to have to post next about how amazing and huge and fun and wonderful my girls are right now. I love mothering them.

Then on Tuesday Erik and left rainy Hong Kong, for sunny Thailand. More specifically Koh Samed a small island in the Gulf of Thailand 2 hours from Bangkok. What a treasure. Our resort was beautiful. The sand white and sparkly. The water salty and oh so warm. The food amazing. And the Singha cold and refreshing. I spent $50 US (as much as our bungalow cost per night) on trash magazines at the airport, brought 5 books and was in heaven!

Erik and I spent almost every minute of our three uninterrupted days on the island lounging in the beach chairs reading. I tried to be all responsible about the sun. As hard as it was for me, I slathered on SPF 30 three times daily, and came out from under our beach umbrella only to swim, pee, or order another Singha. I still got burnt. At first I was mad, as I NEVER use an SPF over 8. But in then end I was happy I chose wisely and was able to enjoy the sun all three days.
Rather than holed up in my hotel room nursing a burn. I am happy to say it has changed to a nice full tan, with minimal peeling. I am hoping that they will open our pool soon at our apartment so I can maintain it until summer.

Another thing I am looking forward to about moving to Saudi...full time tan.

By the time we had to leave on Saturday, I was ready to go home, cause I missed the girls so much. But could have stayed longer if they were with us. It was a much needed trip to paradise. The only thing that would have made it better would have been having one of you and your partners there too!

Out of the abyss and to the beach...

2009-03-20T10:19:00.005+08:00

Hello ladies,

Sorry I have been absent for so long. After Saskia got so sick, my depression took a major dive, I missed work for a week and have been climbing my way out through med management and counseling ever since. The good news is that I am doing much better.

Today is the last day of school before spring break. Paul and Dave will be visiting for the next few days which we are really looking forward to, and I hope to post about.

Even more exciting is that Tuesday Erik and I will head to beautiful Koh Samed in Thailand for 4 nights of beach bliss sans kids. Anika will be overnighting with her friends the whole time, and Saskia cuddling with Lilian on the home front.

I hope these pictures from the internet peak your interest enough to tune back in the first week of April to see our own pictures. Hope you ladies are all well...

This is a picture of the bungalows at our resort in the evening, we weren't able to get a seaview bungalow, but the garden view bungalows look just as nice!

We will spend plenty of time gazing at the beach while we sun and swim during the day, and at one of the many yummy restaurants right on the sand. There is even a bar down the beach from us that sets up a nightly dance floor in the sand!....

(jenny look how quiet it is compared to Phuket)

I swear it must be the plague.

2009-01-29T15:22:00.003+08:00

I am the only person in our household who has managed to stay healthy through this plague that has hit our home. Last night I was buried under two snotty, coughing, fever ridden girls all night long, and not a sniffle. I plan on getting sick the night before we have to go back to work from this Chinese New Year break. Erik and Lilian are on the mend at least, so I don't have to go it solo any more.

For more interesting news read the blog entry about our last minute New Year's trip, and our move to Saudi, if you haven't already. Hopefully next week, all will be back to the land of the living and I will be able to share something other than a health update.

Saskia is home!

2009-01-22T10:47:00.002+08:00

Saskia has officially been discharged from the hospital. She doesn't have much of an appetite, but is getting back to her old smiley self. More when I have time. (Lilian is super sick too, someting totally different so I will be home today and tomorrow too! Yeah!) I'll try to type more during naps and between loads of laundry. We managed to capture a couple pictures of Saskia at the hospital yesterday after they disconnected the IV. They are pretty darn cute. Thanks for all your love and support everyone.

While we are thanking God...

2009-01-21T00:35:00.003+08:00

I just keep giving thanks over and over again that I have such healthy, strong girls, it is all I can do.

Saskia's stomach flu has not gotten any better, at 11am this morning she was admitted to the hospital for observation with a diagnosis of gastroentitis (sp). By 7pm, she had still only been able to keep down about 4.5 ounces of water in the past 48+ hours. Her lack of wet diapers and tests showed that she was nearing the danger zone for dehydration, so she was put on an IV drip. Erik and I are taking 6 hour shifts with her at the hospital. I just got home from mine, and so will keep this short to try to get some sleep.

She was a different baby today than yesterday. Much more subdued and whimpery. It is painful to watch, even my HS principal cried when he saw her during visiting hours. However, she manages to scream like the dickens anytime a nurse or doctor comes within 10 feet of her, so she still has some spunk.

Hopefully with the IV fluids on board, she will finally get a good night sleep, and be back to her old self sooner rather than later. She was sleeping like a baby when I left her around midnight tonight.

I thank God everyday for my children's health and happiness, today I have found myself choked up with gratitude again and again. I am so blessed. This is merely a blip on the radar.

Please pray, send happy thoughts or whatever it is you do, for the health and welfare of all kids everywhere.

Thank God for Socialized Health Care

2009-01-19T19:44:00.004+08:00

Saskia has been unable to keep anything down since 3am. After the 6th round of puking at 7am and the sight of little blood specks in the vomit, sent us straight to the ER. This is the second time we have visited the lovely public hospital since our arrival in HK. We couldn't be more impressed with the care we have received.

Saskia was quickly triaged to URGENT, seen by two doctors, x-rayed, poked and prodded, and diagnosed with a bad stomach virus all for about $12 US. Amazing. We were given the option of admitting her for observation and rehydration, but opted to try at home first.

She still hasn't kept anything down (and has vomited a total of 13 times) and it promises to be another long night. However, no major signs of dehydration yet, so we will stay home and avoid the hospital IV as long as possible. She is such a great kid and is in surprisingly good spirits, considering.

We will keep you posted.

It's Official: You really can go home again....

2009-01-12T13:16:00.013+08:00

Sorry for the delay on this, but I haven't wanted to jinx anything until it was FOR SURE, FOR SURE...

So...You may or may not know that we ended up with a last minute opportunity to travel to Saudi Arabia this holiday season. After many trips to the Saudi consulate in downtown Hong Kong, over $200 HK dollars on photo booth photos of Saskia for her visa (she was screaming in EVERY one, at least her visa picture matched her passport photo), we finally had the go ahead to visit my parents on a visitors visa. When I say last minute, I mean the visas came through on December 24th, we booked our tickets and flew out on the 29th.

What an adventure.

It was incredible to see my family, and return to the home of my youth, a place I thought I would never get to see again. However, the main purpose for our trip was for Erik to interview for a job with Saudi Aramco Schools, argualbly the best gig in international school teaching.

This has been a journey of faith.

Earlier this fall, as we were considering our job opportunities and priorities for our family in the coming years, Erik and I decided we would only leave Hong Kong if we could find jobs somewhere we wanted to settle for a long time, and somewhere that provided financial security. In fact, if it were the right school, my amazing husband even decided that for the sake of his family, he would be willing to teach a subject other than drama to make it happen for us.

Thus the first set of doors opened. We interviewed and sent resumes off to several fantastic schools all over the world. But the biggest door opened, was the beginnings of a conversation with Saudi Aramco Schools, where my parents work (I grew up) and to which I have always wanted to return.

Now when we first started the process, we thought that Erik was being considered for a drama/music/ESL/Language Arts position (which he was, by my Dad), but after the superintendent and some others saw his resume they saw a different possibility for him.

So after months of praying, hours of paperwork, lots and love and support from my parents, and days of interviewing, "Insh'Allah" we will be joining Saudi Aramco Schools next August.

Erik has been offered a job developing their drama and speech program, contingent on his completion of his teaching certification this summer. He will also have the opportunity to teach film and music composition. We got to see his HUGE classroom while we visited, and imagine the media lab they will be installing in the back of his room. The job is in Dhahran the largest of Aramco's four communities (close to 15,000 people, think suburban Arizona). The MS is about 525 students total.

There is not a job for me right now, which is A okay, as Erik will make about double what he and I make here in HK together. I am thrilled to be joining the ranks of my fellow SAHM's out there, and to have the opportunity to take time to focus on the girls, and maybe even more importantly myself. I need to do some major med management that I just can't afford to do while I am working as I get a little crazy (literally), and work on integrating some other healthy anxiety prevention (yoga and regular exercise into my life). The even better news that will make this all possible, is that Lilian has agreed to join us in Saudi, so I will have my very own SAHM, while I am a SAHM. This means I can go to yoga in the mornings without hunting for childcare, and take my girls swimming in the afternoons without having to worry about the laundry piling up. I can substitute on the days I want to for a little extra cash, and I can say no on a day I'd just rather stay in bed and cuddle with the babies. I can contract with the school for occasional groups and parent workshops, but not have the pressure of everyday clients and the problems and the energy that zaps.

I can hardly wait.

typical houses

backyard with GRASS

the beach at Ras Tanura one of the ARAMCO towns about 45 minutes away ( I lived 4 blocks from this beach 6-9th grade)

Sunset on Halfmoon Bay, the ARAMCO beach about 15 minutes from where we will live, and where I did my first night dive as a returning student in 10th grade.

On being 34...

2009-01-12T10:42:00.008+08:00

So I just turned 34, but I am already thinking about what it will be like to turn 35. I know some of you have just turned 35, or will be turning later this year, so maybe you can fill me in. It seems a more epic age than any other I have encountered. I don't think it seems that way because it feels old, as you all know I LOVE getting older (I know I am weird that way). But being 35 seems, well, grown up. Just one year to go, and FINALLY, I will be a grown up .

YIPPEE!!! I hope it is all I've built it up to be.

The hardest thing about being abroad...

2009-01-07T20:59:00.005+08:00

...is that I miss you all so freaking much. I wish I were in the financial position to live in the best of both worlds, where I could live the expatriot life, and satisfy my itch for travel and adventure, but afford to buy a ticket back to the US whenever I want to.

I wish I were able to hop on a jet and cuddle and sip a beer with baby Clark and Jenny, have a glass of wine with my sister, clean Heather's bathrooms, add a snowy crown to Heather Melver Underpants Snow Queen in the Griffin back yard, catch up with Dahli in her favorite MN coffee shop, watch the Obama innaugaration with Kelly in Chicago, and walk the Mall with Noreen and our girls in DC. (I think that covers all of you who check in regularly).

My point being. I miss you, and the little moments that make life what it is.

More updates this weekend on our EVENTFUL trip to Saudi. I will say that it looks like we will be moving this summer. And that I will be joining the ranks of the SAHM's in our crowd. I am counting the days! Thank God for large miracles.

Girl Power

2008-12-02T09:36:00.007+08:00

So my horrible excuse for not blogging is that I have been waiting for us to get more memory for our computer so that I can download pictures to post! I have been wanting to put up the pictures from my China trip, but it is just taking too long to get that organized. We have already filled up our Bijillion MEGA BITE HD passport (this is what happens when you have two kids and too many digital toys).

So while that problem gets solved I figure I better post pictures or not.

This weekend my boy's basketball team had a tournament with the best teams in the city, and my head coach decided that he would be too busy to make our Friday night game. So...I had to coach all by my lonesome. I have never been so scared in my life. Let's end the suspense right now, we lost. But only by two points to the best team in the league, and the reffing was awful, and I paced and yelled, and made a REALLY good impression on my boys, the boys on the other team, and all the other coaches.

At the beginning I could feel them all looking at me, like "pshaw, a girl coach, this oughta be good". But as the game got more exciting, and my boys did so well, all the smirks turned to nods of approval. By the end of the game and the ENTIRE next day, people were coming up to me and complimenting me. It was CRAZY. I even yelled at a punk on the other team. YEEEE. He yelled at me when I asked a question to one of the officials, and I just looked over at him, gave him my best MOM look and said, "Don't you speak to me that way." His coach immediately apologized. It was awesome.

In the end we came in second at the tournament. We will beat all of those teams in the real season. We have a very good team, and Dave is a GREAT coach I am learning so much, and can't wait to have my own team next year, even if it is 6th grade girls.

Also, yesterday was my first official time back on the court in practice. My ankle is much better and I have new shoes. Evidentally, women don't play basketball in Hong Kong, so I had to get men's shoes. Check these out:

I am totally embarrassed by them, but they feel really good, and have great ankle support. I am finally not afraid, to get out there and hustle with the boys. I had a great practice yesterday. Even made a few baskets.

When we get the camera and picture business sorted out, I'll post a picture of me and the boys.

To China We Will Go...

2008-11-09T09:17:00.005+08:00

Yesterday, I was able to ditch the crutches and walk. So, I am heading to China today with 24 middle school students and 3 other teachers. We are meeting at 2pm today to take an overnight train. In the mornings we will be doing service in a local elementary school, and in the afternoons treking around the county. Although I still won't be doing much trekking, I don't care, because I will be able to sit with a good book, cup of tea and take in the scenery. Erik is letting me bring the good camera because of this:

and this:

I don't know about you, but this is exactly what I imagine when I think about rural China. So I will be offline for a week, but will report back hopefully with good pictures and stories next weekend.

Flat on my back....

2008-11-05T10:48:00.008+08:00

The good news is that I am home from work for the next 5 days. The bad news is that it's because I sprained my ankle.

I had decided last year that I wanted to be an assistant coach this year for basketball and softball, in the hopes of feeling confident enough to coach on my own someday soon. Our good friend Dave Dreidger agreed to take me on as his prodigy this year. So not only am I an assitant basketball coach this year, but the team I am coaching is the HS Varsity boys.

Monday was the first day of tryouts. Dave had me doing drills with the senior boys, while he worked with the juniors. Fortunately, they are not that strong of a shooting team, so I was not totally humiliated. I even made several baskets. Besides messing up a few drills, I was feeling pretty good about myself. Really looking forward to the season, enjoying the hard exercise, and layer of sweat I was working up. Thinking about what great shape I would be in when the season ended in March.

Unfortunately, since I haven't played basketball in 15 years, I don't have basketball shoes anymore. I was going to buy some this past weekend, but we were so busy with company that was in town that we didn't get around to it. I figured Monday was just the boys trying out and that I wouldn't have to do much. So I just wore my running shoes, and my ankle paid for it...

Fortunately, it happened during the last drill of the day. I stopped, but my ankle popped, and all of a sudden I couldn't walk on it. I tried to play it off like it was no big deal, but when I got home Erik insisted we go to the hospital. For the whole hospital experience you can check out HKM tomorrow, with flip footage! Long story short, I am home on doctor's orders, trying to mend up enough so that I can go on a school trip to China next week. I don't know if that is going to happen, but we will see.

The upside of all of this was that I got to watch the election results pour in this morning. Go Obama!

Bad walkers

2008-10-28T19:58:00.008+08:00

When we came back to Hong Kong after the summer, I made a little pact with myself that this was home now, and part of my settling in and accepting that meant letting go of some of the things about Hong Kong that drive me crazy (the pollution, how grocery shopping takes most of a day and requires at least 3 different stops, crunchy underwear, the 87 degree 95% humidity in OCTOBER, et cetera, et cetera).

HOWEVER...I just don't seem to be able to let go of my frustration regarding all the bad walkers. They are everywhere and it is CRAZY MAKING.

This is a big city, is it not? You would think it would be full of determined city folk all making their way quickly somewhere important. But people here mosey. You'd think we were in Kansas. Not only do they mosey, but they spread. They cover the whole sidewalk with their moseying making it next to impossible to get past with out seeming like a rude guialo who can't pronounce "mngoi" correctly.

It is really weird when you think about it, because in many ways Hong Kongers are so pushy and fast paced. They push their way on the subway or bus or elevator before you are able to exit. They are always trying to get ahead, in school, in work, in the world.

They, they, they....hmmm

Most days I am able to take a deep breath, slow down, and enjoy the stroll. Remind myself, that I am the one that needs to acculturate here, not the other way around. I say a happy prayer. I am thankful for all the things I love about Hong Kong. But not everyday yet. I'm not sure if I'll master the step of accepting this home, before we move on to the next. But in the meantime, I'll remember the things I love about Hong Kong (the amazing new things I see everyday, the old folks who do Tai Chi on the podium of our apartment everymorning, the friends we have, the color everywhere, the view as I walk out of the train station each day, the amazing food, the pushy old people, the beautiful young people, the vibrant markets, THE CITY, the public transportation, our little shopping cart, the drivers of our minibus, the people who work in our apartment building, et cetera, et cetera) and keep trying.

Things Fall Apart

2008-10-23T10:07:00.004+08:00

Two nights ago, my amazingly beautiful three year old came into our room at 1am. Chills, fever, the full nine yards. I spent the night cuddled up with her in her bunk bed, soothing her into fitful spurts of sleep. At 6am when the alarm went off I woke to intense gut wrenching guilt.

One or the other of the girls has been sick at least once a month this school year. This means I have been staying home with them, at least once a month. Even though we have Lilian in our lives, I feel like it is my duty as Momma to be there to cuddle my babies when they are under the weather. But as a professional woman trying to make her way in the world I feel like a total slacker. Finally I decided to head to work for an hour or two to take care of the biggest items on my professional plate and then to come back home to cuddle with my girl. Agh, guilt. Either way guilt. I am so tired of guilt.

One of the BIG things I needed to deal with at work, was a presentation at a faculty meeting about self care, and being a wick burner. The idea is that a candle burns it's wick all the time, but that the wick of an oil lamp only burns if the oil runs out. I basically ended up crying my way through the presentation, because my self care is in SHAMBLES right now, and I was so emotionally wrecked at having left Anika at home.. Fortunately (and unfortunately) this is a huge issue at our school and it sparked a really important discussion. Also fortunately, this Christian school is super family friendly, and full of lots of other wick burners like me. So there was a lot of love in the room.

The second BIG thing I had to do was my performance evaluation. Of course. Contracts come out in about a month. So I sat down with the Elementary School Counselor, Middle School and High School Principals and my supervisor the Director of Admission and Student Services. I was still super weepy (totally professional) and emotionally wiped out. My two biggest areas of growth were that I show too much initiative, and that I care too much, which ends up burning me out. Big F-ing surprise.

So today I am home with my girl, again. I don't feel guilty about missing work. Well not too guilty anyway. And I am loving the extra cuddles.

A new kind of fluff...

2008-10-17T20:07:00.014+08:00

I LOVE to read. You could say I am, in fact, a voracious reader. Despite my crazy life ( see Who's Driving Anyway? ), I actually manage to read every night. And not just Click, Clack, Moo or Charlie & Lola, but real grown up books. I am a bit of a literature dork. I have always been head over heels for my lit teachers, Mrs. Nace, Audrey Eyler, etc. The ICS AP English teacher recently, did a devotion ( I will explain this concept in a future post) based on a sonnett by John Dunn, and I almost cried I was so exicted. I felt like the annoying girl in the front row who couldn't stop throwing her hand up in the air. I literally had to PHYSICALLY pin my arm down at my side with my other hand. Lit. Dork.

Anyway...despite my taste for fine literature, my MO as a reader is to alternate one "really good book" with a piece of trash. That's right, this lit dork likes to read trash. Usually this means a crime novel, preferably without a love story. Hard to find, but out there. Sometimes, I cave on the love story part, particularly if loaned a book by my friend Jenny's mom.

Lately, my trash has run toward the juvenile, and by that I mean "adolescent" literature, and unfortunately love features prominently in most of these stories. I figure, that if I am going to get into the minds of these kids, I've got to live in their world once in awhile. Last school year it was the "Twilight" series by Stephanie Meyer. If you have been living under the rock of motherhood, and haven't heard of these books you will soon, the first book "twilight" has been made into a movie featuring oh so lovely Robert Pattinson (also played the ill fated Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter movies). It comes out in the US late Novemeber. Lucky you. At first I told myself I was reading these books to understand my students better. Then it was because most of the story takes place in and around Forks, WA. That's right. Forks. In my admission days at PLU, I actually visited Forks HS, where much of the novel takes place. And then there were the vampires, and the Native American Werewolves. Needless to say, I was hooked.

This school year, with Stephanie Meyer's "breaking dawn" checked off my list I was at a loss after finishing my last non trash bookbook (The Book Thief, if you haven't read this amazing book, read it. I cried so much in the final pages, I literally had to put the book down between paragraphs to regain my composure enough to be able to see to read.). But then, one day, while perusing the new scholastic books my husband Erik had just ordered for his classroom library I discovered the "Uglies" series, by Scott Westerfield. This futuristic series includes four books "Uglies", "Pretties", "Specials", and "Extras", about a society, where everyone is considered ugly until their 16th birthday when they undergo an operation that makes them supermodel pretty. I tore through the first three books, only to discover that Erik didn't order the fourth.

Sigh.

I guess I have to read a non trash book now. Suggestions?

To Stay or Not To Stay

2008-10-11T22:14:00.010+08:00

It seems like we JUST moved to Hong Kong, and we are already having to think about whether or not to sign a new contract. Officially we won't be offered a contract for another month or so. But we will have to tell the school by December 15th, whether or not we plan to return.

While we are happy with our current life here in Hong Kong, we really need to keep looking for a school that will pay us really well so that we can get out of our massive amount of school debt, and start saving for retirement, college for the girls, etc. (Of course with the current economic situation my idea of a good savings plan is a shoebox under a bed) So, about four weeks ago I started the brutal, all consuming process, known as the job hunt. I should say we started, since in the international school job scene, Erik and I are seen as a teaching couple. We are a package. However, the reality is because I am so obsessive about this kind of thing, I am the one who ends up doing most of the work, cover letter writting etc.

For us this process involves, submitting our complete life histories along with a $200 check to a placement organization called Search Associates. Then we have access to an AMAZING data base of all the international schools in the world (almost), their current openings, salaries, etc. Currently, there are few openings in our areas, but it is early in the process still. I waste plenty of time everyday fantasizing about living in exotic places like the Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. So our fingers are crossed, our references on standby, and our resumes current. All that being said, despite the religious fanaticism our current school is a pretty great place to work, the kids are amazing as are most of our colleagues. And Hong Kong is pretty exotic in it's own right. So if nothing comes up, I think we can suffer through another year here. (SMILE)

We will keep you posted.

Cooking in Hong Kong (Vegetarians beware!)

2008-10-08T13:11:00.004+08:00

During the 1st Gulf War, the company my parents worked for in Saudi Arabia brought US Marines in from their camps in the desert (think tents, dusty grit everywhere and camel spiders that can eat your face off) to nice American homes for showers, calls back to the US, and a good home cooked meal.

Last school year I received an email forward from our crazy librarian. Normally, I delete these unread, but this one titled "Meals in the Home" I opened. Two minutes later I was replying to the Hong Kong American Women's Association Chair saying " Yes, please, we would love to host 3 or 4 sailors/marines/soldiers/whatever.". Our first hosting experience was a big success, and we were excited when the opportunity came up again this past weekend.

The whole thing was probably doomed from the start. First a typhoon threatened to keep the ships (and when I say ship I mean a "small town" of 5,000+ sailors and marines) out of Hong Kong habor. Then Saskia woke up with a fever. While I was at the grocery store shopping for our 3 marines Erik called to say that a Navy Sailor was being added to our group. No problem! A couple extra potatoes, another ear or two of corn, a second tub of ice cream, and a 2 kilo pork roast instead of 1.5.

That's right. Pork roast. (Here's where the vegetarians might want to stop reading) .After much fussing I had decided on a menu of down home pork roast, mashed taters, and corn on the cob. For simplicity sake, I decided to spend the extra $100 hk, and buy the pork roast at the fancy grocery store where I had to go for most of the other ingredients instead of the wet market, where we usually buy our meat. I didn't see any pork roasts in the display and so asked the nice butcher did he have any hidden away in the refridgerator. He said yes, I asked for my 2 kilos, got distracted watching the fish jumping out of a near by tank onto the grocery store floor, took my nicely wrapped (huge and very heavy roast), paid and left.

When I got home, imagine my surprise when I tore off the paper wrapping ready to smear on a lovely olive oil, lemon, garlic, rosemary paste and was faced with this*:

That's right: SKIN on! I supposed a true chef would be thrilled by a piece of meat like this. I however was completely at a loss. In a panic, I started googling like mad, "how to cook a roast with the skin on" "skin on roast" "roast with skin". Where would I spread my lovely lemongarlickyrosemary paste? I almost started to cry. The only thing I could think of to do was to (gulp) start cutting. As I was elbows deep in pig skin and fat (I could never have been a doctor) my phone rang. It was Erik telling me that only 1 of the 4 expected guests had shown up. 1. One. No problem, I said. Smile. See you soon, and went back to "carving" away at my little piggie.

One.

In the end it was a fantastic meal ( the roast was a little dry, I probably should have left the skin and fat on). Our one sailor was a funny, talker from Oregon of all places. And to top the evening off our good friends (and downstairs neighbors) the Driedgers came upstairs to help eat the massive quantity of brownies, ice cream and berries I had prepared.

Imagine if I had bought the roast at the wet market. Yikes!

* This is not a picture of our actual roast, we had left both our cameras at school. However, this could be the twin sister of the hunk of meat I wrestled with yesterday.

Who's driving anyway?

2008-10-05T15:17:00.001+08:00

So I am having difficulty keeping up with my life these days. In some ways it doesn't even really feel like my life anymore. I know it's me, and I go through the motions, get through my day, but in the end I feel out of control. It's like someone else is in the driver's seat and I am just along for the ride. Now, don't get me wrong. I actually love just about everything about my life, and wouldn't have it any other way. But it is disconcerting to feel like it all just keeps moving, regardless of what I am thinking or doing.

As you can imagine. I am tired. Alot. I am happy alot too though, which is good. Sometimes I wonder: "Who is in control here?" , "Do I even whant to get back in the drivers seat?". I feel like I should, but the reality is that I just don't know