~Happy Turkey Day!~

Date: November 27, 2014

Mood: Thankful

Weather: Warm and Gorgeous

Listening to: Disco Blu (radio edit)

Reading: Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Being that we live in China it was not technically a holiday for us, and we still had classes today just like any other day. Some of the students who have familiarized themselves with some of the US culture did, however, wish us Happy Thanksgiving so that was kind of nice. This was especially nice as this was our first Thanksgiving away from our family back home in the States. That being said, I can't really say today felt that much different from any other day though.

If I take the time to think about it being Thanksgiving I find myself feeling a little bummed at not being able to wake up this morning and watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with my girls or go to dinner and spend the afternoon with my mum and step-dad at their house. However, truthfully, because it didn't really feel like Thanksgiving it was easier to glaze quickly over the subtle pop of disappointment. I'd be lying if I didn't say that seeing friends' Facebook posts about food prep and holiday gatherings didn't make me a little homesick for my mommy and my step-dad though who we have almost always spent turkey day with back in Oklahoma. Funny thing is, right now it's going on midnight my time so lunch won't even be ready for another couple of hours there still.

I missed spending the day celebrating with my family, but this was actually the first ever Thanksgiving that hubby, the monkeygirls, and I have spent with his mom and sisters. Every year that we've been married, up until now, we've been in the States for all major holidays. In that regard, it was kind of nice to mix things up a bit this year. And even with working and errands to handle today, we made sure we carved out the whole evening for ourselves to do our own little family holiday celebration.

We ended up checking out a new Asian/Western fusion restaurant that's inside the new mall across town. I thought it was quite nice and the atmosphere was very upscale. (Hubby wasn't sold on it, and probably wouldn't request to go back again in the future because he thinks another restaurant on the other side of town has the same basic menu options but better food.) Three of us had rice covered with pork, pineapple, and red sauce with a side of broccoli. Two had spaghetti with red sauce and a side of broccoli. One had steak with black pepper sauce, rice, broccoli, and corn on the cob. And I had the “pretty meat plate” which consisted of black pepper sauce covered pork chops, chicken, steak, a hot dog, and rice with broccoli and corn on the cob on the side. It wasn't the traditional turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, and veggie tray. It was, however, scrumptious!

In lieu of fresh baked pumpkin pie for dessert we tried the “Italy Ice Cream Expert” shop, also in the mall. They had Gelato, waffle cone sundaes, mixes, and snow tops. I got to taste my sister-in-law's cranberry gelato and omg, it was delicious! I had a mocha snow top which was like a frozen mocha with vanilla ice cream on top. Hubby had something that was like a Dairy Queen mix thing. Monkeygirl #1 had a chocolate dipped waffle cone bowl with chocolate dipped vanilla ice cream and strawberry glaze/sauce over the top. Monkeygirl #2 had a frozen cookies and cream thing with vanilla ice cream on top.

After dessert we took a quick peek around the mall and discovered the new cinema they just recently opened. They currently have the new Penguins of Madagascar movie playing and it's even in English!

I'm thinking Sunday afternoon we're gonna have to go for a drive back over to watch it. My sister-in-laws are really wanting to see this while it's in the theater, and I know the monkeygirls would really enjoy it too. We don't go to the movies much here because finding them in English here in China isn't always that easy, and while they play in English all the time in Hong Kong they are far more expensive. At this new cinema tickets are under $5 USD for adults, and both the monkeygirls are short enough that they get in for free. Booyah!

To close out our Thanksgiving Day fun we've got the younger sister-in-laws, from Hong Kong, to spend the night. Last week was such a hit that we decided to do it again. (Plus mil #2 and the kids are making a trip back to her hometown in the Philippines next week, and we won't get to see them for about 2.5 weeks. This way the kids get one last hurrah before they hit the road for a bit.) I'm gonna stay holed up here in my room for as long as possible while they run rampant throughout the rest of our flat. lol Send me luck and you have a very marvelous and happy Thanksgiving wherever you are.

***This year I am incredibly thankful for all my friends and family, both near and afar. To all my family and friends back home, I love and miss you like crazy. To all my friends and family locally, I don't miss you, but I love you. I'm so thankful for each and every one of you.***

Just Another Week

Date: November 25, 2014

Mood: Relaxed

Weather: Clear and Warm

Listening to: Come Out To Play by Pomplamoose

Reading: Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger

Playing catch up again here. Last week's sleepover with the sister-in-laws went quite well. Everyone had a good time, and we ended up extended their fun by dropping all four girls off with the in-laws that next afternoon when I had class. Hubby met up with them that evening to bring the girls home, but that was around 11 o'clock. They were exhausted by the time they came home, and yet wouldn't have changed it for anything. For this I am ever so grateful. 

Saturday was a lazy day spent just vegging at home. Both girls were trying to recover from some cough and congestion funk they both started coming down with. So I was more than happy to do nothing but binge watch the last season of Drop Dead Diva. (Which I finished, btw. Talk about bittersweet moments. I loved that show. haha) 

Sunday we set out bright and early for a local breakfast of noodles and vegetables. Then we were off to watch my oldest sister-in-law compete in the 6th Annual Dong Guan Oral English Competition. There were about 25 of us, family plus teachers and students from the school, that went along to support her. The competition, being the final round of several legs, was held in one of the local television stations. It was recorded live and then aired on tv later that evening. Pretty cool. Our big group spread out throughout the audience seating area and then during the competition we had four big banners, with the school's name on them, that we held up periodically whenever the camera aimed our way or sil was on the stage. It was kind of neat, especially since it was my first ever experience being in a tv audience or even inside a tv studio for that matter. 

I found the seats in the studio to be completely comical. You might wonder what on earth could make me find the chairs comical, yet if you'd have seen them I think you'd have to agree. Effectively, they were bus seats! Now I'm not talking hard plastic city bus seats, but these were literally seats exactly like the cross city/country coach buses we take when traveling from to and from Shenzhen or Guangzhou. They had stair step levels all the way up like solid bleachers, but instead of, say, movie theater style chairs or something of that nature they had these soft bus seats bolted to the floor. haha But, hey, I guess whatever works, right?!

Came home Sunday night to find that hubby was feeling mostly better (yay!). But while we were gone he got a wild hair, no pun intended, to partially shave his head. :( Anyone who knows me knows I prefer him with this hair slightly grown out- not long, but not buzzed either. That's why when I got home and discovered what he'd done to himself I got a bit pissed. I know, I know, it's his hair to do with as he wants. It still aggravated me though because I had asked him not to cut it, especially not like that.Let's just say he now appears to share a barber with Vanilla Ice circa 1990. :o 

In my annoyance I tossed my Beats down on the bed, apparently harder than I intended to, and the bloody things broke. #&@%! Thankfully I'm pretty sure they aren't legit Beats but rather good knock offs. Doesn't make me any more happy about the situation, yet I'm not nearly as broken up about replacing a pair of ¥89 (approx $14.50 USD) as I would be were they the bonafide kind that run approx $152+ USD. In my experience though these knock offs are really just as good. Hubby's out attempting to find me a new pair right now as I was able to superglue these ones okay, but now they are freaking tight fitted on my head. I suppose that's better than not holding up at all; however, I can barely wear them for longer than a few minutes and my ears begin to hurt from the pressure. I'd rather just buy a new pair and keep this pair as back ups. Plus now I can't fold up the ones I have to pack when we travel, and that's just unacceptable. Haha

Last night after we did our shopping at Walmart hubby ran across the street to a little shop he recently discovered and bought me what has quickly become my new favorite drink, zhēnzhū nǎichá 珍珠奶茶. In English it's called Pearl Milk Tea or Bubble Tea as many in the States might refer to it. The McDonald's here sell these too, but the one hubby bought last night was just amazing. It was so good I could seriously see drinking one morning, noon, and night. lol Many people would probably be turned off by the glutenous tapioca-esque balls that they use to make this tea, but I love them. I drink regular Chinese milk tea* quite often and the addition of the pearls makes for a fun and delicious twist on an already tasty treat. 

*I specify Chinese because I do NOT care for the Hong Kong style milk tea. Bleck. Hubby prefers it, however. What's the difference? Honestly I'm not 100% certain, though I think it is the type of tea they use.

Playing Catch Up

[Note: This is yesterday's post, but the internet was being wonky and wouldn't let me on to upload it until now. Doh! So without further ado...]

Date: November 20, 2014

Mood: Feeling Good

Weather: Beautiful and Warm

Listening to: Let It Go by Idina Menzel

Reading: Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger

Sheesh! Life has been crazy busy the past several days, and I never have had a chance to make a blog post. So much for making this a daily thing. I've nearly missed more days than I've done. lol Let's see, what has been going on...

Sunday I was feeling loads better than I had the days before, and still wasn't 100%. Hubby had plans out of town for the day, soit was just me and the monkeygirls for the day. Because I'd been sick the previous couple of days I had a bazillion tests that still needed grading before class Monday. Which meant my day was pretty much spent curled up on my bed grading tests while semi-watching and listening to the last season and a half of Californication. (Great show, btw! But certainly not for everybody.) I think when all was said and done, I graded close to 120 tests that day and my hand was screaming. So was my red pen which ran out of ink shortly there after. Too many corrections. Ugh.

Monday was back to school after being off for 5 days. It was nice to get back into the swing of things, except I still wasn't finished grading. Nope, that'd have been too easy. lol I still had to assign grades for 73 three part oral tests, count word totals and make corrections to 43 1-2 page essays, and finish up going over a couple dozen other tests. Seriously, if I never see another test I have to grade again for the rest of my life it will be too soon! [Guess the joke's on me since this is just first quarter of the school year. haha]

Tuesday the monkeygirls and I got back on track with their schooling, as we kind of took an impromptu week off last week since we went to HK when hubby and I were off work. I had classes that afternoon, but nothing much exciting to note. I did have my weekly morning Skype time with my mommy back in Oklahoma. We didn't get to talk last week due to my testing schedule, so we had lots to catch up on. So grateful for the ability to video chat with her. Definitely a big improvement on life compared to when we lived in Hong Kong when I was a kid. But then I've mentioned this before.

Yesterday, Wednesday, was my day off, and thank God because I woke up feeling wonky again. I'm so over this crud. Really. I'm done. Bleck. Stayed in bed til lunchtime and then forced myself to get up and  meet the hubs for lunch at the canteen. My tummy wasn't one hundred percent sold on the idea of eating, but I ended up choking down some veggies and rice which then made me feel quite a bit better. I was still lagging though so ended up coming home and just vegging after lunch. The girls got to have a lazy afternoon. Then last night when hubby went to teach English at the factory across town we did school. Not our usual schedule, but it worked. 

Last night our friend Bob came over after his and hubby's evening classes ended. Bob is actually a friend of the family (on hubby's side) from back in the States. He currently teaches here at the school with us, but only stays on campus two days a week. The rest of the time he lives in Hong Kong with his family there. So we, sadly, only get the joy of hanging out with him on Tuesday/Wednesday evenings and at lunchtime on Wednesday/Thursday. Which means we gotta enjoy every second of time we get to visit. 

Tonight my sister-in-laws from Hong Kong (ages 7 and 12) are coming in to China and are coming over for a sleep over with the monkeygirls (ages 9 and 11). I've probably mentioned it before as well, but it's pretty nice having them so close in age- auntiesor not. In preparation for their arrival we ended up calling today a cleaning day, and we spent most of the day cleaning our flat and shopping for sleep over goodies. Because, what's a sleep over without soda, candy, and chips?! This is only the second ever sleepover we've hosted. Needless to say, my two are biting at the bit for them to arrive; so I'm hoping they'll be here soon.

On a completely unrelated note, today I got to hold a little tiny kitten that some of my students rescued this morning. There are several “wild” cats that the school keeps on campus specifically to keep the rats and such at bay. One of them must have had kittens, but then apparently up and left them or this one wandered off from mom. Cause the students who found her said they'd seen her crying by herself for the past couple of mornings and only just today decided to snatch her up. But in China most people don't see cats as pets so much as hunters. Like the mentality of the school heads, they keep them to keep the pests away. They don't usually consider them as cuddly pets. So when the students took this little cutie in, none of them were exactly sure what they were supposed to do with it. 

You see, Chinese people typically lean towards dogs, birds, and fish when it comes to animals in the home. Not a lot of hands oncare is required for two of those three, and dogs are still very different than cats when it comes to the care and attention they require. My students knew we have cats though so stopped me after school to ask me about what they needed to do in order to care for it. I showed them how to hold it- they were audibly shocked when I walked in and scooped it up to hold and pet it. I'm thinking when they rescued it they simply scooped it up and promptly put it in the box they were keeping it in. No one knew how to even pet the cat. Seems like such a strange thing, and yet I suppose if you aren't used to seeing cats as domesticated family pets you would find the whole thing a bit confusing too. I ended up running back to our flat and grabbing a few pieces of dry cat food and a corn weenie for them to feed the kitten. One of the students is going to take it home with him tomorrow, but until then he needed something to feed it since he can't leave the school until then. 

Anyhow, that was my day's excitement... I'm off to help hubby finish up dinner before the sils arrive. 

A Quick Run to Town

Date: November 15, 2014

Mood: Feeling Good

Weather: Warm and Sunny

Listening to: Alive by Gravity Kills

Reading: Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger

OMG I woke up dizzy and nauseous this morning. Got sick and that seemed to help a little, but I still ended up staying in bed til noon. Not a fun way to start the weekend. I still felt wobbly and pretty crap most of the early afternoon, so spent that time curled up watching tv and just resting my head. By late afternoon I really wanted to get out and enjoy the gorgeous weather we have been having today, so I pushed through and we went out and caught a bus to town.

We made a pit stop at McDonalds for a totally unhealthy but mildly yummy late lunch/early dinner. Monkeygirl #1 and I labeled it a belated early linner because it was a late lunch and early dinner. lol I couldn't eat my whole meal with my tummy still in recovery mode, but what I ate set well and definitely helped me feel better. After that, I was good to go, so we hoofed it a few blocks to the biggest stationary store here in town. This place is awesome! They have any kind of pen or pencil you could dream of, tons of awesome notebooks, all kinds of art and craft supplies, office supplies out the wazoo, and they have sports equipment, toys, etc. It's called a stationary store, but really it's a bit of an everything store. It's one of my favorite places in town to visit, but it's so hard to go in and come out empty handed. I went in to buy two pens, one for writing letters and one for grading papers. I came out with five pens and two super neat pencils. Plus hubby picked up a few things and the girls got some notebooks, erasers, and miniature storage totes. Who'd have thought it would be so difficult to pick out a pen, pencil, eraser, or notebook? But it was cause there weren't just two or three options to choose from. There were literally dozens on all accounts. FUN! =)

Had to hit the grocery store for some noodles and the wet market for some veggies on the way home. Took about 20 minutes to walk over; however, the weather was so absolutely amazing that it was perfect. And along the way we had the pleasure of taking in a sidewalk magic show. One of the local mobile phone service companies was attempting to draw in crowds before promoting one of their special offers, and what better way than to lure in those with kids first. I have to say though, their guy who was playing the role of the magician was actually quite good. He did several tricks that appeared seamless while we were watching. The girls loved it! After the magic show was over they brought out a snake for everyone to oogle, and then they even threw wooden bead bracelets and stuffed animals to the crowd. Each of the girls scored a couple of the bracelets, but sadly didn't manage to get a stuffie. The hostess saw how hard they had tried to grab one though so pulled us aside afterward and gave them both one. It was really sweet.

That's one of the things I just can't get over here. The people, especially mainlanders, get such a negative rap in so many groups. And I won't say that they don't deserve it in those instances, but you rarely hear anyone say just how kind and nice they are too. That's the thing. They're human like anyone else, and they have their flaws just like the rest of us. Some of their flaws are pretty extreme (urinating publicly with no concern for discretion, spitting, etc.), but many of the mainlanders are incredibly thoughtful, giving, and kind. Someone almost always gives up their seat on the bus for the girls if there aren't seats available, our vegetable guy at the market always throws in free green onions for us, the owner of the shelter gave us an hour ride home after we adopted our kitties, and I could go on. It's sad when a group gets pigeon holed for the shortcomings of some people within in. That's not to say there aren't plenty of things to be legitimately complained about, but it's not really any different than in any other country- just the complaints are different, still all shortcomings though.

All in all it was a really nice afternoon and evening out, and I'm really glad I decided to suck it up and go out despite not feeling tip top. I really think I feel better now, though tired, than before we went out. The fresh air, or as fresh as it can be in and around the crowed polluted streets, and exercise did me good. And spending some quality time just hanging out with my hubby and the monkeygirls was just what I needed. But now this air of relaxing must end. I have several stacks of ungraded exams calling my name, and I'm afraid if I don't respond to some of them tonight that I'll be grading ALL day tomorrow. Let's do this!

Shopping in HK

Date: November 14, 2014

Mood: Blah

Weather: Cool and Overcast

Listening to: Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman

Reading: Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger

Yesterday was a go non-stop day, and by the time I actually had a chance to sit down and write about it I was too tired. Today's been the opposite- a completely slow and lazy day. I slept in, went to lunch at the canteen, and then vegged all afternoon and evening watching movies and attempting to grade exams. I woke up feeling rather like crap today though, so I have a good excuse for my laziness. This one time anyways.

Hong Kong was fun yesterday. Mil #2 and I went out for breakfast and shopping in the morning. It's the first time we've gone out just the two of us without the kids, and it was really nice. She took me to this little hole in the wall resale shop she recently discovered in Sheung Shui. It's literally the size of a large walk-in closet, but they had a ton of stuff packed in there. It was mostly clothes with a few odds and ends tossed in. I picked up a pair of pants and a shirt for monkeygirl #2. I'm crossing my fingers the shirt fits her cause it's an all but brand new Draculaura t-shirt. Monkeygirl #2 adores Draculaura, so it was a natural decision to consider it a purchase for her. I'm a little worried though that it's too small or almost. Worst comes to worst and it will fit monkeygirl #1 because she's built differently than her sister, but sister will be most put out if her new shirt ends up getting passed along to big sister. Due to this I haven't yet figured out how to test the shirt. I guess I'm just gonna have to suck it up and go at it head first. Hopefully it fits, and if it doesn't we will deal with that then.

In the afternoon hubby, the monkeygirls, and I set out towards the other end of Hong Kong to do some browsing and shopping. He was looking at video cameras and I was looking to get my ipad fixed. Found a shop in the computer center that would fix it, but they wanted $700HK (approx $100US)!! My ipad isn't even 2 years old and everything else works perfectly on it which means I really don't want to spend nearly 1/3-1/2 the price of new one just to fix a button. Since I can still use the on screen touch button I'm delaying the repair until we can see if another less expensive shop can be located. If not then it's time to debate whether or not I want to plan to just shell out the cash and fix my current pad or save up to just buy a brand new model with a larger storage capacity and sell my current one. Too many decisions right now. I think I'll wait for the holidays to pass and then revisit this issue then.

While the ipad repair trip was a bust, I was successful in picking up a new ipad charge cable and cord for my Beats. Yay me. Also the girls and I found a lovely book shop in mall in TST. We were browsing while hubby was across the hall investigating the camcorder options, and before I knew it my monkeys were drooling over books- in English. It's hard for this bookworm to deny the call of book buying appeal, especially when they are few and far in between. That's why I walked out of the store $480HK lighter. That's about $61.92US, a LOT for 3 books. But monkeygirl #2 got two new My Little Pony chapter books, one a brand new hardcover. Monkeygirl #1 actually spent part of her money on her purchase because I didn't have enough HK money on me, and she got the new 2015 Guinness World Book of Records hardback. She was beside herself excited with her decision because she's been wanting one of these GWBR books for a few years. So, I'm happy with the money spent. We would have spent a little let in the States, maybe. But since finding books here isn't as easy and we rarely buy print books over here, it was a worthwhile expense in my book. Then we came home and I had to get online and get monkeygirl #1 the new Diary of a Wimpy kid book because she also discovered and started reading it at the store, but she has the rest of them on her Kindle so wanted this one in the same format. I gotta say, I love seeing my monkeygirls get excited over books. Ahh one of life's goals accomplished.

All in all, it was a good trip to HK, even though it was a quick one-nighter. And today has been lack luster due to my not feeling tip top, but here we are. It's been a good mini-break from classes. Tomorrow and Sunday will need to be heavily dedicated to grading if we're going to have all our exams scored and ready to turn in and hand out Monday.

Mommy Needs to Recharge

Date: November 12, 2014

Mood: Relaxed

Weather: Chilly and Wet

Listening to: Beyond the Veil by Lindsey Stirling

Reading: Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger

With exams over, the rest of the week all of our students are out of classes. They aren't technically out of school, but instead of classes they have some kind of sports meet to attend each day. I think this means that it is kind of like a carnival with sports competitions and such for the students to participate in. We, however, were not required to be present, so opted for a mid-week journey to Hong Kong to visit hubby's dad and his family for a bit.

It's been over a month since our schedules meshed, so it has been nice to come in and get to visit. Hubby's dad, step-mom, and two [half] sisters live here in HK and whenever we are in for an overnight trip we stay with them. This is even where we have our mail delivered. Briefly put, it's our home away from home when we aren't at our own flat at the school. The sisters-in-law are pretty much the same ages as our monkeygirls, so despite being their aunties they get on together more like cousins or even friends. (These are the only kids our girls really spend any time with that are their ages. Their aunts in China are teenagers [14 and 16], so they don't really have a lot of the same interests. There are kids on campus that are probably close in age to the monkeygirls, but we don't really socialize much there. If the kids do see other kids they may greet each other, but that's about it other than a couple of isolated times over the Summer. It'd be a great way for the kids there to learn English and for mine to work on their Mandarin, but so far it hasn't happened that way. We mostly stay indoors or go out as a family to play together. My monkeys want friends, yet haven't quite welcomed the idea of having to work quite so hard for them. Anyhow, I digress....) And my two literally count the days between visits because they have so much fun together. That's what makes it all the more difficult when we go weeks in between visits like we have this time around.

Anywho, we took an early bus to the border this morning, and here we are. When we came in this morning I couldn't have been more stressed. Hormones were raging, I blame Eve, and everyone in my immediate family seemed to be annoying the absolute bloody crap out of me. But then we arrived and the kids spent the afternoon/evening playing, hubby caught up with fil, and mil (#2) and I talked over lattes. Then I introduced her to Pinterest, because why not?! lol It may not seem like a lot, but I can't begin to express how refreshing it was just to have some quality face to face adult conversation that wasn't with hubby. Mil (#1) and I don't really talk that much about anything of consequence, so aside from Skyping my mommy once a week, I don't really get many face to face girl chats. And let's face it, no pun intended, a Skype video call doesn't quite qualify as a true face to face conversation.

I miss having coffee and girl talk with my bff, Brenda, and my Wook, Marci, back in the States. I miss my margarita and movie nights with my amazing friend Janine. I miss having tea and cookies with my mum while we work a puzzle and talk. Simply put, I miss having an outlet for a little bit of me time that doesn't constitute merely being in the next room over from my monkeys while I watch a movie or read a book and they do their own thing. That's nice too, but being able to step completely out for even just a few minutes to disassociate yourself from all the roles of mommyhood for just a bit and be just YOU is something I think is imperative for every mom. It's not that I don't love my girls to freaking pieces and then some, because I do, but I believe it's important for me to be able to recharge too if I'm going to be the best me I can be for them, for hubby, and for myself too.

Since we moved back here in February I have really struggled with finding this important time for me. Hubby goes out usually once a week for a couple of hours or more to shoot video for his vlog, to shop, and to just get out and away to relax. I don't. It's not that I can't, because I technically can, but I don't because I don't know where to go or what to do. It isn't fun to me to go aimlessly and see where I end up all by myself. Sure in China I could go to the store on my own. Oooh boy, can I please?! And here in Hong Kong I can go out pretty much anywhere I'd like in all of Hong Kong. I can go to the mall, go grab a coffee, go to the cinema, etc. It's just that without a friend to do so with, not one of those things sounds enticing. So I never go. Or if I do it's with hubby on occasion, but never with a girlfriend where I can just go have girl talk and hang out. It kind of sucks.

Some days it feels like I'm ready to burst at the seams with pressure because I so need that outlet that I regularly go without. I feel like when I get this overwhelmed I become a different person, far more stressed and agitated. I don't feel like I'm a good mom or a good wife during these times because I'm no fun to be around. I'll bite your head off over nothing because my stress levels are through the roof and I just can't take it anymore. I should clarify, it's not as though I'm going to go postal or anything, but I'm definitely not doing myself or anyone else any favors by being this irritable. Having said this, I feel like a new person after coming into HK today and getting to just relax and talk with mil (#2). It was so utterly refreshing. I've known since almost immediately upon arriving here in February how blessed I was to have this woman in my life and how much I enjoy her company. I guess I just didn't realize how much I depend on it. Cause how I feel today after having just spent the afternoon and evening together, well I feel like a new person. It's amazing how much tension can build up in you over 6 weeks. I think we need to make sure our schedules are better coordinated from here on out. I'm not sure I can afford to go such a long time between visits again. Haha

[On a complete side note, I should say that I love both my mother-in-laws very much and have been blessed to have them both in my life. I may not always have the same type of relationship with one as I do the other, but I believe I have good albeit different relationships with each. And for this I am grateful.]

Exam Time

Date: November 11, 2014

Mood: Tired

Weather: Warm and Partly Sunny

Listening to: Come With Me Now by the Kongos

Reading: Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger

As of lunchtime today, my students have all finished their first quarter oral exam. Yay! Now, I still have to assign marks for all 72 students, and I also have another class of 40+ students taking a written English test that I have to grade. Quite technically, I'm far from done, but we're over the first hump. 

I'm not looking forward to the grading though, specifically for the oral exams, because since these were the IELTS tests they have a very strict scoring scale to adhere to. And, unfortunately it doesn't favor the beginner. So, even though I had some of mystudents who really knocked it out of the park and did a fabulous job working with what they know, they will still still get really low marks. I hate this. I think it is incredibly discouraging to the ones who really tried hard and put their energy into coming up with quality answers that showcased their understanding and ability. I'm thinking that I'm going to do a double score. I'm going to give them the technical score that they each earned based on the grading scale that I have to use. But then I'm also going to give each of them the score I feel they earned on actual effort and progress from day one of class to now. Hopefully doing this will help encourage them a bit more, because several of them have been asking me about their grades and they are so excited because they know I praised them for their work at the end of their exams. I would hate to turn around and take away that feeling of accomplishment simply because this future goal of taking the actual IELTS exam in 1-2 years requires they be scored on the same level now. Truth be told, doing so doesn't even make sense to me at this point. It should be a gradual scale that increases in technical difficulty as the student's skills and training increase. But what do I know?

Hubby still has to grade all of the essays they students wrote for their exam in his classes, so I am looking forward to helpinghim with that. I especially enjoy helping him because his students are also my students, we just teach different aspects of English. (For example: I teach speaking. Hubby teaches writing. Mother-in-law teaching listening. And another foreign teacher teaches reading. It's the combination of all four that make for a well rounded learning environment and program that will effectively help the students train to take the actual IELTS test in another year or two.) And I'm eager to see how each of the students does and what they write about. That said, we have til next Monday to turn in our grade sheets, so at least we don't have to rush through them all right away. 

Speaking of school, I really need to go get the monkeygirls started on their assignments for the day. Usually they would be doneby now, but my testing schedule threw off my usual Tuesday morning routine. I'm kind of dragging my feet though because monkeygirl #1 has a 500 word essay she needs to write about Ancient Egypt and a scientific method experiment she has to get started on today. I just don't feel inspired to oversee either right now. Blah. I know, I know. Suck it up. And I will. I'm just working towards it slowly. haha

Testing Day

Date: November 10 2014

Mood: Happy and Tired

Weather: Overcast

Listening to: Magic by Coldplay

Reading: Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger

Decided tonight that, after a long day of testing at school, we needed to reward ourselves with some fairly inexpensive eats from our favorite local Chinese restaurant for dinner. (What, you ask, you mean they're not ALL Chinese over there? LOL Well, of course they are, but they also have some that serve a different style cuisine such as Western or even Korean.) Mother-in-law was heading home in that direction anyhow, so we opted to bum a ride over so we only had to hop the bus home. Dinner was delicious as always, and I'm really glad we went out and did have to hassle with cooking tonight. Monkeygirl #1 had her usual beef fried noodles (niúròu chǎomiàn牛肉炒面). Monkeygirl #2 had one of her favorites, egg and beef with rice (jīdàn niúròu fàn 鸡蛋牛肉飯). Hubby ordered his standard egg, beef, and tomato with rice ( jīdàn niúròu xī hóng shì fàn 西红柿飯). Meanwhile I, myself, ordered my usual which is eggplant with rice (qié zi fàn 茄子飯). Mmm can you taste it? It was so good. And mine almost always comes with surprising little chunks of ridiculously salty swordfish mixed into it. That part I could honestly do without, but the idea of ordering it without seems wrong to me somehow. Haha)

I briefly mentioned the testing earlier, but what I didn't mention was just quite how time consumer it was. Today was day one oftwo for period exams in our international English classes.  (Referred to has international classes because these are supposed to be the students that have a goal to study English to the point of becoming proficient enough to take an international placement test. If they pass this test called the IELTS exam it will help them get overseas to New Zealand to study further.) Because I teach the Oral English class today I got to give 43 students all individual 3 part oral tests. Now that took some time! Testing for this one class alone took me 1st-most of 4th period and then 5th-part of 6th period. ~yawn~ 

This class was my first year students, so while none of them aced it, I was happy to hear some really promising responses and progress. Not everyone is as skilled at the rest though, so others left me wanting more and feeling rather bad. This was especially the case with my one student who, present for the ORAL ENGLISH exam, had the audacity to ask if he could give one of his multi-sentence answers in CHINESE! lol You're kidding right?! Nope, he wasn't. He didn't quite know how to translate what was in his head in Chinese to come out his mouth in English. Unfortunately for him, not only would this have been an epic fail in my testing had I allowed him to answer in Chinese, but I wouldn't have been able to make heads or tails of what he said anyways. (My Mandarin is very limited. I am trying to pick up more, but it's just not an easy language and I'm not a fast learner like my hubby.)

Like any teacher, I just want my students to succeed, one day graduate, and eventually realize their dreams. I likely won't be around them for long enough to see all those dreams come to fruition, but I would so love to see each and every one of them garner enough knowledge and confidence to knock that first one [the IELTS exam] out of the park. Sadly I think many will not get there. Whether it's because they aren't interested themselves and are here in this class solely because their parents want it for them or because they simply lack the confidence and gumption to apply themselves. It's a sad reality that probably over half of them won't actually do anything with their new found language skills, yet I hope that I can impart even a little bit of useful knowledge to each of them. Tomorrow is day two of the testing, and I will have 29 second year students completing their 3 part oral tests. Here's wishing them all luck! 

Wild Water Buffalo and Chickens ... In the City

Date: November 9, 2014

Mood: Annoyed

Weather: Warm and Overcast

Listening to: Air Balloon by Lily Allen

Reading: Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger

Today was an out and about day. The school we work for is wanting to update their web options and highlight our fairly new English program by making a website for the school in English as well as the traditional Chinese one they already have. Because the school's goal is to hopefully eventually bring in more foreigners to help with their rankings, making our area look as appealing as possible is key. So today we ventured out to get some good pics around the area to showcase a few of the internationally recognized shops that we have around here (e.g. Starbucks, McDonalds, KFC, Walmart, etc) in addition to some of the more foreign friendly local spots. Hubby was in charge of taking the pics, and will later, possibly, be the one putting the new site together. He'll do a great job, and it will be a fun way for him to cross promote his vlog that he started since we moved here also. (Shameless plug... If you want to see more of what we see here in China and Hong Kong you should totally check out and subscribe to his YouTube channel “Snarky White Guy”. He makes and uploads weekly videos about the food, culture, etc. And he's pretty good, if I do say so myself.) 

While we were out traveling around we got to see some wild water buffalo grazing in the storm drain/river overflow a few blocks down from where we live. There must have been 15-20 of them making their way along. I'm sure they must live near there, but in all the months we lived here I've never seen them before. I gotta say, it was kind of neat. It's not like you can just drive down the street in the middle of the city back home in the States and see a wild water buffalo, let alone a whole herd of them, walking past. Of course, we also have wild chickens that scamper around everywhere here. Driving down the road you'll see them pecking about in the bushes between the sidewalk and road. I wouldn't ever eat one for fear of what diseases it might have from eating out of the trash and lord knows what else, but I bet some people do. Don't quote me on that though cause I'm really not certain. (Eventually I will start trying to include pics from time to time of some of these things, but right now I'm still figuring out how to get them to upload. Seeing as I can't actually get online to blog from my laptop without a vpn, I have to go a round about way to get on and that makes the photo part a bit more difficult. I'll get it though one of these days. For now though, you'll just have to use your imagination. lol)

I'm not feeling overly wordy tonight, so I'm gonna close with one final thought. Family...

Is it just us or does anyone else out there have family members that just love to overstep their boundaries and try to parent your child(ren) even when you are right there and could handle anything should an attitude or issue arise? This right here has got to be one of my biggest pet peeves. No joke, when this happens I just wanna scream! Even more so when said person not only is trying to make an issue where there wasn't one to begin with, but do so quite publicly so everyone around can see just how involved they are. Still, better yet, is when said person doesn't actually play the designated family role consistently, but instead only when it is convenient or they think it makes them look good to others outside the family. !#@$%^&! And if you didn't gather, we had several of those instances today, hence current mood. Oi!

Okay, big breath.... inhale... exhale... 

Dreary Days Make Me Reminiscent

Date: November 8, 2014

Mood: Thoughtful

Weather: Rainy

Listening to: A Thousand Kisses Deep by Leonard Cohen 

Reading: Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger

Dh woke up early and went on walkabout, aka a trip to HK by himself. So it's just me and the girls for the day. Stayed up reallylate last night, so they are enjoying this lazy and rainy Saturday morning tucked in between their covers dreaming of sweet nothings. Meanwhile, I woke up fairly early to discover dh gone, but then couldn't fall back asleep. Opted to start my day off with a coffee and my book between the sheets. Nothing pressing to take care of today, so might as well just enjoy the relaxed and definite Fall like air of the day.

Finally caught up on last week's episode of Parenthood. I can not express how much I love this show. I'm not sure there's ever been a show just so real to life as this one. I mean, the family dynamics are so pure and raw. I literally cry at some point during every episode because the writers and actors come together to form such a perfect portrayal of life. It hits home. Every time. I don't come from a big family. Well, I have a fairly big extended family, but as far as an immediate family goes mine was small- just me, my dad, and my mom. I lack the sibling experiences, but somehow this series sucks me in to it in such a way that itseems like it's all wrapping around me. No more unknown. It's kind of nice. lol And, well, let's just say I'm really sad it is in the last season. :(

It's nice to be able to have these small pieces of home even though we aren't there right now. Thank God for the internet. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have the modern day conveniences the world wide web brings us today compared to twenty years ago. When I was growing up in Hong Kong it was a rarity to get to talk to my grandparents in the States or to get care packages from home. Long distance calling rates were insane and the postage rates were utterly ridiculous themselves. But here we are, twenty years later, and it's all different. With the internet I get to talk to my mum or my grandmother whenever I want via Skype. I can chat via Facebook, WeChat, e-mail, etc. It's like we aren't quite so far apart. I like that. It doesn't make the homesickness any less when you really just wanna hug your mom or grab a frappe' at your local McD's with your bestie though. I guess it can't be perfect. sigh Maybe in another twenty years they'll have an ap for that. lol

Sometimes people ask me what I miss the most about living in the States. Aside from the obvious (family and friends), my answer may change on any given day. There are so many things to miss, yet you do acclimate and find somewhat passable substitutions where you are. For me, I'd say my most common answers are good pizza and Mexican food. lol It's not that you can't find them here, but they are few and far between and not always that fabulous.

Pizza, for instance, is available both here in China and in Hong Kong. Predominantly in HK, but even there it isn't what I wouldcall great pizza. There is a little hole in the wall place called Pizza Box that, I've heard rumored, is some off shoot from Dominos. I have no idea if that is accurate or not, especially since there seems to be only one branch of said restaurant. And they only do carry out or delivery, no dine in. It's tiny. Anyhow, back on point, they have decent pizza- probably the best I've had here. It's not gourmet or anything like that, but they seem to have the concept down fairly well. Compare that to Pizza Hut, which is the most common pizza venue you'll find in these parts, and I'd pick Pizza Box any day. But then I'm not a Pizza Hut fan even in the States. Something about their cheese or crust or something. It's just never been a favorite of mine, and certainlyless so here. Here in our little town in China we have a little hole in the wall dine in pizza place too. Again, nothing to write home about, or not for the positives anyways (lol), yet it's okay in a pinch. They even have little bottles of real Parmesan cheese on each of the tables. I'd say that's a pretty good selling point, even if the pizza names and toppings aren't always real traditional.

The best part of going to this restaurant though, like many restaurants locally, is reading their English menu. It's hilarious. At this particular one they have a pizza on the menu called the “Happy Memory”. Sounds interesting, yes? That is until you read the ingredients... onion, green pepper, own flesh and bone, shrimp, and tomato. You read that right, OWN FLESH AND BONE! Ummm... Yeah. I'm not sure I'm keen on chopping off parts of my body for you too cook up and toss on the top of my pizza, but thanks though. lol Okay, so truth be told, it's undoubtedly a really bad translation. Pretty certain the proper translation is something along the lines of you pick your own choice of meat to go on with the other ingredients. It sounds far more menacing the other way around. haha 

Mexican food is much harder to locate around these parts. I've heard rumors of several really delicious taco stands or Mexican dives in Hong Kong, yet they aren't in areas close to where we live when we are there. Therefore we haven't had the pleasure of trying them ourselves yet. Hard to believe we've been here since February and still haven't managed to seek one of them out. Mexican food was like a family staple back home in Oklahoma. Man alive do I miss it! On the Border, Fajita Rita's, Senor Tequila's, even Taco Bueno and Taco Bell. Ahhhh I can almost taste the guacamole and salsa now. 

On a complete and total side note, this “station” I seem to be on on xiami.com is streaming some great dreary day music. I started out listening to Leonard Cohen; then let it keep playing when my song was done. I've since been introduced to Gerard Darmon, Lou Reed and John Cale, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, among several others I've never even heard of. 

The First of Hopefully Many

Date: November 7, 2014

Mood: Content

Weather: Fall temps and overcast

Listening to: Budapest by George Ezra

Reading: Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger

Decided I need to pick back up journaling. I haven't been very diligent about it since we moved here back in February, which is kinda weird considering how much I enjoy writing. Anyhow, I'm gonna see if I do it on the computer, instead of by hand, if I'm any more likely to stick with it. Some days are pretty dull and hardly worthy of noting, but then others are really great and have multiple memorable experiences or parts worth keeping track of. And ideally I'd like to start a canteen lunch photo blog. Exciting, right? LoL The food is almost always good, or partly anyhow. I think it would be fun to showcase what it looks like on a day to day basis for my friends and family back home in the States. Maybe it won't be fun for anyone else either, but can't know if I don't give it a whirl. Guess I need to start remembering my camera, or at least my android phone, when I head to lunch each day. 

Woke up today needing to prep my test for next week's classes. Already had the tests themselves figured out, but needed to tweak a few things online before hitting up the print center for some copies. The girls were still sound asleep so even though they were supposed to be getting up to start school, I went ahead and let them sleep in. Once they got up I ran to the copy room and displayed how terrible my Chinese skills are. I had two sheets that I needed five copies of  (ten pages total- five and five), and after my fabulous communication skills had been demonstrated I came home with 55 copies of each. So.... Yeah, my Mandarin leaves something to be desired. 

Lunch was quite good today. On the menu was cooked cabbage, greens with egg (I think the greens are green onion tops, but I'm not 100% certain on this.), random meat with taro, cooked cucumbers with beef, rice, and cucumber dishwater soup. Mmm I don't think I've ever eaten cabbage that tastes as delicious as this cabbage they serve. No idea how they prepare it, but it is really good. 

Monkeygirl #1 just this week joined the photography club at her [online/home] school, so naturally she's been eagerly snapping pictures anytime she can. The first photography task that she had was to take a selfie and post it along with an introduction soeveryone could get to know one another. Now the first post-intro assignment that she is working on is to snap an outdoor, natureshot. She was having a lot of fun running around the rooftop garden and the larger ground level garden today after lunch looking for that perfect, photo worthy image to capture. She showed me a few of the ones she took, but she hasn't pulled them up on her laptop yet to review them in a size bigger than than the 2 inch display on her camera. I'm excited to see what she came up with and which she chooses to submit for the assignment.

Went to my year one IELTS [English] class this afternoon and worked on reviewing with them for their upcoming test. I was trying to help them become more comfortable with the information and the process of presenting their information. (Mine is an oral English class; therefore, the full three part test is also completely oral- including the 2 minute on topic speech each has to give.) Somehow, unfortunately, I think that instead, however, I had the opposite affect. I think instead of better understanding therequirements and becoming more confident in their skills I probably just freaked them out more than they already were. Eiyah! Way to go, teach. =/