Bethia in Hong Kong: Crash! - 21st-28th October

Well, as I had hoped for, this week has been far less exciting than the previous one. It is nice to experience a week where there are few engagements and a chance just to hang and chill. It has given me a chance to sail through the week with friends and food, two VERY important things in life.
Tuesday morning had me convinced, though, that this wasn't going to be a restful week. As we started to usher the children into the school, taking their temperature books to check they were well enough to come to school and giving them a squirt of anti-bacterial hand gel, we found ourselves also welcoming several members of the police and security that look after Siu Lun Centre where the school is.
It transpired that a window pane had fallen from one of the tower block that surrounds the school, and smashed on one of the corridors of the school. Luckily this occurred when no one was here and the corridor in question is only used to bring the children who arrive on the school buses in the morning in, so it was easy to re-route them to the main doors instead. It did provide some good talk later in the day and we are still unsure as to how the incident actually occurred.
Later that day, I met up with Grace in IFC, a shopping mall on the island for food where we went to a 'maor your own' salad bar which was really delicious. I did admittedly end up choosing a ham and swiss cheese panini but it was a reasonable price and tasty. We rounded it off by sharing a blueberry cheesecake from Starbucks and getting our names on our cups, as you can see below! It's the first branch in Hong Kong that I've seen that do it and is a wonderful reminder of home.
On Friday night, Ruth and I travelled with the guys working in Yuen Long to the night market that happens near Mong Kok, towards the edge of the mainland. It was vibrant and we managed to pick up quite a few bargains although sadly the food wasn't as good as the guide book had promised. It was a fun experience and we are already planning to go back there again before Christmas!
Saturday's entertainment lay in the evening where a group of us went over to Will's flat and one of his flatmates, Ben, cooked us all chilli con carne! Katie also had friends who were getting married in England that day so we toasted their marriage with cava and that accompanied our food! A strange but good combination. I learnt how to play Mahjong, a game often played over here and it seems like good fun. I'm not sure if I got the hang of it or not but surely enjoying myself is the most important thing?
Food, friends, games and the evening was complete with ice cream and a film, chosen by mutual consent to be Bridesmaids. It was the first time I'd seen it and while there were good moments, it wasn't the best comedy I've ever seen and I wasn't convinced by many of the characters. Oh dear, there goes my critical mind again...
Sunday was a poignant day in the life of The Vine Church. The senior pastors (like the head vicars), John, Sandra and Tony, were stepping down in their roles and Andrew Gardener, raised in The Vine and already a leader in the church, was initiated as the new senior pastor with his wife Christine. Although I haven't been at The Vine for very long, it was wonderful to be a part of the moment. The changing of the roles was all scripted and it felt very much like a marriage service with quite a few 'I/We do's' thrown in and lots of cheering.
Today has found K3 very much testing my patience. While some of the children are just adorable, smart or a combination of the two, there are always those who seek to try me and none more so than 2 out of 3 of my afternoon classes. I was glad that the class teachers were there to help with discipline but I have to hope that I got the vocabulary through to them as well as them having a good time which I feel is imperative to happen in all my classes. Just a chance to lighten the mood and make the class laugh is something that I find makes the children a) want to listen to me and b) through having fun, the children learn more. They are not bored and they can learn that I am a teacher who exercises her control but does know the meaning of a good time in class.
I have just returned from IFC where I met up with a few of the gaps for some drinks at the roof garden bar, Red. There is a lot of plans for Halloween being made and while I have never celebrated it myself, I don't want to deliberately distance myself away from my friends so I am still considering it. As long as I won't have to wear a horrid costume, I have good company and there is a strong possibility of a good time, I think it is a perfect excuse to go out.
Well, it is most definitely time for me to be getting to sleep. Until the next time where I will be frantically trying to write 1,600 words for my NaNoWriMo project on the same day!
Batkinson xx

Cantonese word of the week: pronunciation - see yow; translation - soy sauce
Quote of the week: 'This above all, to thine own's self be true.' - Hamlet
Prayer points:
- more sleep, it has been difficult for the last few days
- to be able to get more information about my Christmas holiday plans which are currently shaky as I am not sure what is going to happen and it is approaching scarily fast!

Proof that Starbucks in Hong Kong has a cup with my name on it!!!