Aimee’s World Tour

My new kids are AWESOME.

And Aimee Teacher is very happy.

I don’t know how to describe Korea.  First off, I haven’t seen the half of it.

Then there’s the culture itself.  Once I’ve finally made up my mind that people are cold and unfeeling, I come upon the exact opposite. 

I really should also factor in that this is my first winter in 3 years so it’s a bit gloomy and LONG. 

And of course there’s the bipolar inconsistency of things at my school.  Some days are good and some are bad- many just fall inbetween.  I feel like if I’m gonna share my excitement with stories and pictures there should be some sort of representation of my frustrations.  Certain days actually can be quite difficult. 

I now present you with a rare venting email written to my parents, rare because I don’t want my parents to think I’m gonna quit and flee the country. That and I know that things pass and it’s not that bad. 

What you must understand is that on the average day I like Korea.  I do not like how our school is run but I like the kids, the job, the shiiibang.  Once in a while I feel a bit aggravated. Enter email.

The African is leaving tom.  My buddy, my pal – going back home to Cape Town after her horrific school experience.  It will be a bit of a bummer as the pickins of interesting people out here on a whole are pretty slim.  I’m happy however that I don’t always have to go with the flow.  That I’m not just part of the herd. 

If all the sheep are going over to THAT grass I might just hide in a crate and hop a boat to Reno.  I’d prefer to hang out with the stow-a-ways than the same old flock doing the same old thing.  I like the funny sheep.  I like the sheep who get what I’m doing, what I’m saying – who appreciate me.  Not that there aren’t a few good ones in the flock.  They’re just hard to find.  I feel like the flock would toss me to the wolves but the cargo sheep would offer me a spot in the crate.   “Come to Reno with us!” they’d bleat. 

-Baaaaaaaah

Mr. Lee, the owner, CEO, the whatever of kings of top notch around here, was in the hallway looking through my door at my lesson.  That like never happens.  Anyhoo… I was doing a really exciting lesson about about transportation and every kid had a lamenated steering wheel.  We all danced around the room in a circle to a song that goes “broom broom broom… broom goes the car… I’m driving the car… broom broom broom… I’m the driver…” 

After class we went to lunch and Mr. Lee spoke to me, his mouth full of kimchi so that I had to ask twice.  “You do a very exciting lesson.”  Well I also asked twice because I wanted to make sure that’s REALLY what he said.  If that’s not a compliment to write home about I don’t know what is!  Ellie had complimented me last week and said I was really good with the 5 year olds and becoming an experienced teacher.  Ellie’s praise was a nice surprise so Mr. Lee is just like GOLD. NO – PLATINUM. Yeah. Like totally platinum.  =0)

I don’t know how I did it but I did it.  On the count of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, JUMP, I somehow mustered the courage to run and leap horizontally in the air, arms out and fall approx. 45 meters down below.  I have been replaying the actual countdown and jump in my head and still don’t know how I mustered the strength.  Perhaps because it was Natasha’s idea for her birthday and no matter what I was gonna make sure she jumped!!  And so we both did something quite gutsy and well rather stupid on Saturday.  I’m quite proud of us!!

~ Daredevil extraordinaire

* THIS BLOG MUST STILL BE EDITED FOR INCOHERENT WRITING*
*IT HAS ONLY BEEN PUBLISHED TO INFORM READERS THAT MORE IS TO COME* 

Every ending is a new beginning.  Our new school year started yesterday (Monday) and I have brand new, well, babies practically.  Ok they can eat and poop and even pull up their own pants but need guidance washing their hands.  They don’t yet understand that no Korea is to be spoken especially since they don’t know enough English yet not to.  They sincerely try to talk to me and I’m like ummm sorry cute little adorable girl but I don’t know a damn thing you’re saying.  ”English please.” 

Aiight.  Tomorrow is my 2nd official day of teaching these well let’s call them “babies”.  There are def. 2 or 3 cryers.  Overwhelmed with 10 newbees in each class I wanted to cry myself! haha.  JK.  Toward the end of the day a little girl Lauren said to me, “I want to go home.”  I looked directly at her and said, “Well I want to go home too.”  Touch crap for both of us. 

One of my best and funniest friends Handan sent me an amazing box of presents one of them a journal..  (Don’t worry – Hooker  you’re still up there!)  Usually when I get a journal I’m not sure what to use it for and it either remains blank or is just used for random lists. etc.  However THIS JOURNAL is quite speical.  I’ve started carrying it around with me and writing down funny things that happen at work for what will hopefully be turned into numerous and humerous postings. 

SIDE NOTE:  Ironically as a child Harriet the Spy was my favorite book and I used to walk around with a notebook spying  – or making observations rather – on my family, friends and the world around me.  I loved sitting in the attic looking out the tiny window and writing.  I think I still have it somewhere and would love to read it now that I’m older! and ”spying” again.  Apparently creativity never dies and perhaps some day I can write a book.  Thanks Harriet!

Ah so with the new school year comes new teachers.  Daniel from New Zealand left and we have now welcomed Laura and Sue from Canada as well as Hayley from California, US.  These girls seem pretty chill, especially Sue!  Hopefully this will change the dynamic with the original teachers (Justine, Andrea, Angus and myself) and we’ll all spend more time together exploring and going out, though Angus never seems to be around.  He’s always off snowboarding or wakeboarding on the weekends or just does a great job of avoiding me as my next door neighbor.  He also works a second job and finishes rather late. 

One aspect of Korea that really disappointed me was the lack of upbeat and interesting people.  I didn’t come to make best friends but I had expected a better dynamic.  From my experience I’ve found that people who go abroad are generally more my speed, outgoing and adventurous.  Not that I don’t like the “old crew”. 

I was was lucky enough to make a best friend out here who is practically like a sister to me and not just out of necessity or location.  Miss Natasha, seen in many a photo from previous blogs, is a lot like me and my saving grace out here.  We can talk about anything and everything without hesitation or awkwardness.  

– peace out girl scouts

I’m afraid I’ll have to interject and write a few blogs before I actually finish my Hong Kong ones as I had taken over 744 pictures in 4 days!! 

Nothing and at the same time so much has happened since I’ve last reported. 

I’m up now at the wee hours of the mornin’ so I’m just gonna give a brief run-down to avoid dear diary syndrome.  You know how deadly that can be! 

For starters we had Helen Doron graduation on Thursday.  I never understood the major achievment of finishing kindergarden.  Caps and gowns on 5 year olds.  What is this maddess?

Our kids may not have worn the whole gettup but they had a major ceremony at a hotel complete with onstage awards, song and dance, an elegant dinner and a frickin ice sculpture of the helen doron child icon!!  This celebration is rumored to have cost the school $30,000. 

I did have a great time once we broke for dinner because I got to mingle with the parents and while a lot of the time I deal with BS smiles and semi-bows, “my parents” have come to like and respect me. 

It wasn’t just a hello thanks for helping my kid.  Rather the thank you’s were sincere and I was told that so and so “loves Aimee Teacher.”  It was touching and sad at the same time though I was so happy to talk about the kids and to the kids. 

One of my favorite little darlings that I’m just completely bleak about passing on to the 6 year old class was standing with her mommy and sister after everyone had done the chicken dance.  (When 5 year olds with their parents and grandparents do the chicken dance it becomes one of your favorites!  I still boycott the song at weddings. Don’t be that DJ.) 

My mother had given me a little black and grey bracelet for Christmas and I said to Ashlie as I slipped it on her wrist, “My mommy gave me this from America and now I want you to have it from me.”  As it was a bit big I added, “Well you can share it with your mommy.”  Her mother is a doll and I found out Ashlie has a little sister named Daisy.  I don’t think they could have come up wtih a more perfect name. But enough of that mushy crap.

~Aimee Teacher

Also written Jan. 25, 2009

We finally caught the ferry…

The skyline reminded me of NYC but of course it wasn’t NYC – it was the Hong Kong mainland and Hong Kong island as that is where we were headed to see the or one of the hightest points in Hong Kong. 

One building in particular reminded us of the Syndey Opera House. 

Flash forward through our scenic bus drive up to the peak where I had some amazing photos (too bad it was a bit foggy).  (OOhhh this little kid next to us said somethiung quite funny, “Mom, if I have blue eyes does that mean I’ll live longer?” hehe) 

Once we reached the peak we went to The Peak Galleria which is sort of a shopping center but also offers its visitors tremendous views.  Then we went right next door to where we are now, The Peak Tower.   I’m in such a rush because we need to head out to catch the tram back down the mountain ASAP.  We almost went to the very top of the tower but to the top figured the view would be almost the same and saved our money.   

 On a rather vain note I must say I feel much more photogenic on this trip and made sure to have quite a few pictures of myself taken to make up for like the 5 I had taken in Thailand. 

Time to celebrate the New Year!!

Aims

Jan. 25th, 2009 – continuation of first Hong Kong blog but separate to facilitate picture placement.

Ok switch to this morning.  We slept in till about 9:30 am.  I showered with one of those showers that looks like the thing attached to your sink, on the floor right next to the toilet but didn’t really mind it because it was warm.  I was just wondering how this shower system worked. I can remember my father getting annoyed when I had left the floor outside the shower wet on one occasion.  I blame the rest on my brother.  Just kidding  Matt. 

Our area (And I’ll fill in the name later) was absolutely gorgeous and the most New York-esquse place I’ve seen in Asia.   So of course I had to photograph everything thus we ended up getting on the ferry about an hour to an hour and a half later than planned, if you could actually call anything we did planning.  I think this was only to our benefit – just have a look! I hope you enjoy the photos.

We walked around for maybe an hour or so taking a ton of pics and enjoying the scenery.  Tash probably would have killed me only she doesn’t own a camera (or a gun for the matter) and must be dependent upon moi for photographs. 

Luckily we dawdled long enough to catch part of a parade rehearsal.  I believe the group was Portuguese.  Don’t be mislead by their skimpy outfits – it was frickin freezing outside!! 

Aims

Right now I’m sitting in The Peak tower with Natasha at a juice/dessert bar that just happened to have two computers.  We’ve both been pounding away for about 15 minutes now.  I thought it only my duty to offer a whirlwind recap of what’s happened so far. 

As soon as we landed in Hong Kong on Lantau island we set off on our quest to greet the giant Buddha – all 202 tons of him!   I had been secretly hoping to take the cable car all along and the view was well worth the effort though like Thailand it was a bit foggy. 

We met a couple from Austrailia who shared our car with us.  They were quite good company and we kept the laughs going the whole time.  Thank goodness for funny people – or at least people who think I’m funny! haha.

Our first stop once we got to town was actually the Ngong Ping Tea House.  Here’s a map of the village itself:

After we climbed the I dont know how many steps up and back down we decided to hit up a local Starbucks because we wanted… well… Starbucks. 

More than that we wanted to rest our backs.  For the first time ever I only packed a backback and a big purse for my trip!!!  Tash had an over the shoulder bag and one smaller purse. 

After our little respite we headed back in the direction toward Buddha to the Pho Lin Monastery.  I gasped when I saw the intricate and ornate detail. 

The pictoresque ceilings, the Buddha display, the special flowers displayed for good luck during the Chinese new year, as well as small prayer cushions lining the floors. 

Hurry or “p/bally p/bally!!” as they say in Korean… I need to cover a lot in just a short time… ok ok ok think Aimee  Oooh after the monastery we went to some little park with a Buddha-esque building and then I bought a couple birthday gifts for Handan and my sister. 

Fun fact:  there are little mini orange trees all over the place including malls and monasteries also for good luck.

Oooofff my body feels like I worked out yesterday with all the backpacking (well minipackpacking).  We did a crapload of walking last night just trying to find an accomodation.  Three HOURS to be exact.  Some genious had suggested the Panda hotel as a cheap place to stay and the cab driver agreed.  3000 HK dollars – are you frickin INSANE? At least the lady upstairs helped us find our way.  The most expensive 15 min. on a computer EVER, right Tash?  Ok I’ll admit the hotel was pretty damn impressive.  There’s no way you wouldn’t know if was the Panda.

We were both cranky but didn’t really take it out on each other. 

We just kept on chucking until we made it a guest house a friend of mine (Justine from work actually) had recommeded:  The Lee Garden Guesthouse. 

Oh we slept so soundly once we grabbed a rather late dinner. 

The area we ended up in (I’ll need to copy that down) was gorgeous at night but I know as a zombie my mind was VACANT. 

Ok switch to this morning.  We slept in till about 9:30 am.  I showered with one of those showers that looks like the thing attached to your sink, on the floor right next to the toilet but didn’t really mind it because it was warm.  I was just wondering how this shower system worked. I can remember my father getting annoyed when I had left the floor outside the shower wet on one occasion.  I blame the rest on my brother.  Just kidding  Matt. 

Our area (And I’ll fill in the name) was absolutely gorgeous and the most New York-esquse place I’ve seen in Asia.  We walked around for maybe an hour or so taking a ton of pics and enjoying the scenery.  Tash probably would have killed me only she doesn’t own a camera (or a gun for the matter) and must be dependent upon moi for photographs. 

We finally caught the ferry… the skyline reminded me of NYC but of course it wasn’t NYC – it was Hong Kong mainland and Hong Kong island as that is where we were headed to see the or one of the hightest points in Hong Kong.  One building in particular reminded us of the Syndey Opera House. 

Flash forward through our scenic bus drive up to the peak where I had some amazing photos (too bad it was a bit foggy).  (OOhhh this little kid next to us said somethiung quite funny, “Mom, if I have blue eyes does that mean I’ll live longer?” hehe) 

Once we reached the peak we went to The Peak Galleria which is sort of a shopping center but also offers its visitors tremendous views.  Then we went right next door to where we are now, The Peak Tower.   I’m in such a rush because we need to head out to catch the tram back down the mountain ASAP.  We almost went to the very top of the tower but to the top figured the view would be almost the same and saved our money.   

 On a rather vain note I must say I feel much more photogenic on this trip and made sure to have quite a few pictures of myself taken to make up for like the 5 I had taken in Thailand. 

Time to celebrate the New Year!!

Aims