I splurged on 6 Rob Munsch books yesterday. English books in HK are always overpriced. I went to Page One at Festival Walk. And it annoyed me sooooooo much that almost all their books were shrinkwrapped. Which makes me miss Chapters even more. I was stupid, and didn't bring my kiddy books to HK, left it all at my aunt's place in TO. Although I don't think I could have lifted the suitcase at that point. I should petition to Chapters to open a store here;)

Finally finished The Silmarillion. Slow read at the beginning. Get's interesting when names I know start popping up (Elrond, Luthien, Galadriel, Gandalf, etc.) This book was pretty much how the "world" was created (lots of parallels to the biblical creation), and the early history of Valinor and Middle Earth. Interesting to read about the first dark lord (before Sauron). Not bad at all. It's Tolkien, what do you expect?;)

Back to Work

My voice is back, kinda weak still, can't talk for too long before it gets sore. But the principal let me cut back a little on teaching this week. Afraid I'll lose it again (my voice, not my mind). I'm learning to use my voice in the classroom. I'm just happy to be able to speak again:) Who knew? Since I'm not much of a talker. More to post later. Really tired today. Getting into the Christmas mood already. And looking forward to everyone that'll be in HK this holiday!!:)

Sick AGAIN

My immune system is shot. Either that or there's some killer germs at school. Well, I don't feel sick this time. I feel totally normal except I've lost my voice and got a lot of "tam". When I say lost my voice, I mean really, as in I can't speak even if I tried. The most I can do is whisper. And the doc says no talking (not even whispering) for 2 days. The boss was nice enough to give me 2 days off work. It was pretty hilarious, my mum had to call in sick for me because I had no voice. I felt like a little kiddy again, having mum call the school;) There were a few times when I forgot that I had no voice. The phone rings, I pick up, automatic reflex. I would whisper hello and the person on the other end would sound totally confused. Eventually, I just stopped picking up. Anyhoo, I've been doing a lot of writing and reading. It's nice to have a break and not talk to anyone. But I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow, back to work, where I'm allowed to break my vow of silence;).

How I spent my birthday...

Every month, there's a Birthday celebration day at our school. This was for September kiddies. Since my birthday was in Sept, they decided to take a shot of me too hehe....see the red eggs? Brings back the memories. I still remember we got red eggs way back when I was in kindy. Although they have much cooler gifts now!

Love

Life is about learning to love.

Love is an act of the will.

Tourist at home

I just got an email from my baby cousin Esther back in Canada. She sounds so GROWN UP already!! Still can't believe she's already in gr. 5!! She was writing how she missed me and told me to hurry back to Canada. Man, that really got me, made me miss Canada and the people there that much more. Who knew I was so attached? I've done my fair share of complaining about snow, snow, and snow. But now that I'm here in HK, 30 degree weather, I'm kind of missing the snow! Well not really that much, but lots of other things, mostly the people though. I spend a lot more time with people in Canada than HK. People are more laidback in Canada and are more willing to invest time in others. I miss just hanging out with people and doing nothing. It's so different here. Everyone's always on the go, rushing off to somewhere, rushing, rushing, rushing. OK, I kind of wandered off on a tangent there. What I'm trying to say is that I always MISS things after they're gone (or I'm gone). That's why I've decided to appreciate the HERE and NOW. HK is my home for now, and I plan on exploring and experiencing this great city. I'm going to be a tourist from now on, do something new everyweek.

Tired of all the gossip

Oh man, I'm going nuts working in an all girls atmosphere. I guess it was nice for a while...girl talk and all. But there's just way too much gossip. Girls are hostile and never forget a grudge. I guess I don't like myself being so gossipy, but it's just so hard to catch myself. Half the time, I don't even realize I'm doing it. So my new motto is to 'walk away' once the gossip starts up. Starting tomorrow. Wish me luck!;) Actually, there is a NET teacher that comes in Mondays who's a guy. But that's a pretty weak ratio of 1:14 girls. Ah well, I'll deal, as usual. I think I'm just having a bad week. But there's ALWAYS things to be thankful for. Like the summer weather we're getting, 28C today! I'm still wearing my flip flops everywhere:) Yes, even to work.

Hooked on Lost

I finally got around to watching 'Lost'. And it was sooooo awesome. I'm hooked now. Watched the whole of season 1 in 2 days time. I'm bad that way. Absolutely no self-control;p. The plots pretty weird at times, but it works, znd it just hooks you. I had to stop in the middle of episodes when I wanted a break, because the end of the each episode is such a cliffhanger. I guess this show is my new '24';) And just watching Dominic Monaghan (former hobbit) is fun. He'll always remind me of Merry the hobbit. Hurley is also such a cutie pie. Hilarious character, the things that come out of his mouth! So watch it if you haven't.

Other news, work has been brutal this past week. The turnover rate at this school is crazy, not a very nice atmosphere to work in. I've only been there 2 months, and 4 teachers have quit. So, in turn I've been thinking about looking for another job. Mulling over the possibilities. I really have it in my heart to volunteer somewhere, or work in China, or many other ideas swirling in my head. But then I think, do I really want to quit so early on? Give up so fast? So I'm kind of deciding right now whether I should stick it out for another couple of months or quit. Aargh! I don't like making decisions. These 2 months have gone by so fast, but at the same time, I feel as if I've been here forever. A bit confused at the moment on what my next move should be.

Oh, and my book of the moment is The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien. I've been reading everyday on the one hour commute to work. It's a slow read. But interesting to know the history behind LOTR. It's kind of the Genesis LOTR's story.