Dear All,
what a long time between 'blogs'! I decided that I had no excuse at this stage, as I am off school at home recuperating after a small sinus/nose operation. Ah such air we breathe!! Didn't actually know there was so much air in the world, so I guess that means that the problem has at least been partially solved - if not completely...Hard to tell at the moment with the routines I am going through - and I will spare you the gory details - but needless to say - what is in, must come out! Just wish it would all hurry, and the internal nasal stitches are a 'bitch'.

BUT - can't say enough for the care I received! Great surgeon (professor actually - wanted to tell him I was a professor too, but it sort of seemed to pale in comparison). Hospital was more like a hotel, and the nurses etcetera were great. Food and beverages - well - okay, that could have been a bit better, certainly no Starbucks (as was a common feature in Kuwait hospitals).

So now we merrily submit the bills and see just how nice this Health insurance group is!! I did have it pre-approved, but they may balk at the private room (worth every cent in my book regardless).
SO - I am off for a week, which I sort of 'pooh-poohed' initially, thought it was all a piece of cake, nasal douches, drops and all for the first day or two, and then they removed the internal plugs...Yeah, that was interesting. So since then, have actually spent a great deal of time sleeping and groaning - didn't know that even I could sleep quite this much. Have broken all previous records!

Yesterday was much better, and today is a good day, so I guess one should just trust what the good professor says, and understand that when he says a week there is good reason. Thankfully there is a long weekend now to help the whole process. We had already arranged to go to Macau as Andy is there today to visit a school, so have continued with the original plan. We are off to the Cirque de Soleil which is now based at the Venetian there.

What, then, has happened in the past (almost) year! Oh boy, where to begin... Guess it may be easier to try to remember highlights and go from there.

HK - yeah, we are still here, have just moved places. I would sooo love to live in a country and remain settled in the one home for the duration of our stay, but it seems it is not to be! The housing prices just continued to rise astronomically during last year, and so we knew that we would be in for a bit of a rental 'hike', but that word really doesn't convey the result! More like a long distance marathon! Our landlords, in their ultimate wisdom and greed, decided to put up our rent over 50%! Actually it amounted to an extra $8,000 US per month!! And we were already paying "way" over our housing allowance. Strangely our salaries had gone up - well - not at all, so there was no relief there, and when we tried to negotiate (at that stage there were 7 villas empty out of a total 19) they were kind enough to suggest we could pay$200 US a month less. Terribly big of them. So we really were left with no choice. Would have thought that they had it in for us, except that the exodus has continued and they now have 11 of their 19 villas empty.

By the way - new address, same phone numbers...

2/f, Block 2, Villa Martini, 8 Stanley Beach Road, Stanley, HK

(825) 61147365 (andy), (825) 61147364 (Me) and (825) 28131329 (home)

In some ways we were lucky, we moved just to the next complex down the hill, but still pay much more than our original rent, for a smaller place, and while the kitchen is better, it really feels much more like an apartment, which is, of course, what it is, but what I was trying to avoid. Ah well...Still if the school doesn't recognize something it could well be the death knell for us. We are not loving living in HK, and this is just too much out of pocket to make it worthwhile. Not to mention the school gets a sweetheart deal with our housing anyway - with 2 administrators in the same family!

Which is really the next point - I guess that is part of our problem here, and I, for one, am getting a little 'jack' of it. The school really eats into our lives big-time as we are 2/3 of the admin team. Can't escape anything and everything seems to involve us both at the same time. It really is too much. I did take on the principalship of the middle/high school to get the high school started last year, but that, of course, has made things worse. I have never wanted to be a principal, and while I think I am doing fine, the arrangement was that I would drop back to part-time if I wanted to for a 4th year here, and let a new person take over the reigns for an easier transition. Only problem is that we really can't afford to do that now! So to stay - or to go...That is the question. Still on the drawing board at the moment. Jury is definitely out. Small schools are just soo much work, and there is no-one to delegate too, and no budget to hire extra as so much of the budget goes into our small class sizes and instructional hires. Hmm. Catch 22. So there is no end to a work day ever, and while my hubby is (as you all know) the original energizer bunny, I, most certainly, am not. Brought home this week with Sidhonie throwing herself into my arms each night to say "it is so nice to have you home when I am mummy." Don't get me wrong, don't ever think I will become the stay home mum type, but she definitely has a point.

And Andy, as usual, has too many fingers in too many pies - and has no idea how to pull them out (or so I say). Keeping busy is not even a choice in Andy's life, it is just 'life' and I have to admit it is driving me crazy at the moment. Lifestyle is a word used a lot in our household at the moment. We do compensate by making sure we have decent breaks, but even so, the computer reigns supreme for us both - sort of takes the 'down' out of 'down-time' to a large extent.

Anyway, enough of that...
As for the little lady - still heavily into the dance (thought that may go this year, but no such luck it seems, the allure of the stage seems to have got to her), as well as gymnastics. She is now a 'big girl' evidently, at all of 9 years of age, and nagging us like crazy for a phone for her 10th birthday...Bit of a problem when so many of her friends have one! Still we are STRONG! (and it is still a year away almost). Pulled out some old "pre-wedding party games for the party with the masses of little girls like sucking the cotton wool up with straws in relays, and balloons between the legs. Just 'knew' those party games would come in useful one day! My nephew, who is currently living in Hong Kong with his wife, was quite amusing..."I just thought kids ran around and just played at parties, but I guess, when I think about it, you do need to organize things for them". Ah, yeah! So the whale cake went down well, and the theme for next year is being discussed - already!(She thinks she may have a 'mixed' party next year - oh dear!).






School is still not easy, but she has pretty much caught up all round, and is such a diligent little worker, and so enthusiastic still, that I think she will always be fine. I know a lot is said about medicating children, but she is very able to verbalize what it does for her, and thus far, her growth and development is doing nicely. To see her without those tablets now almost seems cruel as she is so unable to concentrate and make sense of things. Still it will be her choice as she grows older. It still amazes me the misunderstandings about ADD out there. I still hear from people all the time "oh, she will grow out of it". Very unlikely dear readers...She may well become better able to handle it as she grows older and more mature, but very few people grow out of it. Having met many adults with it now, they certainly back this up, and of course, had to go through schooling without the benefit of people knowing anything much about it. It is, afterall, a brain development problem, and that is very unlikely to change unless diet or environment related, which we have ruled out for Donie. Such is life, we are just happy that it was discovered early enough to save her a lot of heartache, and to be somewhat 'treatable'.

Now - a little venture into the unknown came about as a result of a holiday last year...After a 20 year lapse, we decided to return to Bali. Had an absolutely great time (may have been helped by being upgraded to a villa in the hotel we were staying in - sometimes complaining does serve a purpose!) and started - as we do - taking a look at property while there. End result, we returned a few months later and bought a lovely little 2 bed villa there. It is on a complex of three, all owned by expats (one bought by 2 friends of ours as a result of our raving) and with onsight management. There have been a lot of teething problems being expats, but all is settling now, and they are all paying for themselves thus far. Infact, trying to book to stay in our own place has proved problematic!! Can't (and won't) complain. We will go in October to inspect our and our friends property to organize a few little jobs, but they really are quite lovely, a 5 minute stroll from the beach in Seminyak (just above Legian) next to the Oberoi, and a 5 minute stroll to what is called "eat street" in Seminyak. Shopping an easy stroll too (a must for 'moi'), and we have our own swimming pools with each villa. Yes, for those nay-sayers, Bali is still messy, traffic is bad, and of course, there is always a possibility of another bombing. But, as you may have gathered by now, we have had a very nice lifestyle from using common sense and not watching CNN. Life is short, who knows what it will bring, and you get nowhere by doing nothing! So say I! Even if there is another bombing or similar, Bali will recover, and for the moment, the investment is far better than any Australian ones we have!! We still loved Bali (obviously) it is beautiful, vibrant, Bali belly is no more an issue anymore than most other places (Gee, I got salmonella poisoning here at a very well known place early last year!), and it is now very cosmopolitan with just about anything you could need or want. Can't wait to redecorate (though Andy is trying to keep my enthusiasm down, down, down) butfurnishings there are fabulous, and bathroom stuff - Oh my god - and so cheap!!







Having said all of that, we currently have one of our Sunshine Coast places on the market...Keeping the one we stay in (which we recently added a 3rd small bedroom/study to) and trying to offload the other. Don't know how we will go, but would prefer to keep an eye out for something in Brisbane down the road. So, we shall see.

HK has also helped us re-examine finances - and we now have reviewed our loans and have them offshore - but still through an Australian bank, at less than half the interest. Has certainly helped the finances given our housing issues here. If we move, we evidently have 10 months to reorganize again. Keeps life interesting. Having said that the economic recession is not helping, and the loan people are suggesting that we may have to "top up" if things don't improve very soon. Now that would be interesting...We don't exactly keep a lot of extra cash hanging around.

Other than the little foray we did have a short break in Kota Kinabalu (where we are returning shortly to a regional Administrators conference), nice, quiet, orangatangs and other interesting wildlife (Malaysian Borneo if you need a better fix). Spent Xmas at our place in Coolum, and will probably head back this year to do a few more things to the place. Did our usual dance between Coolum and Tas over the summer/winter break, where our Tas upstairs bedroom and bathroom are finished and were very much enjoyed. Did a weekend or two in Macau, and one in Beijing - with the main aim of seeing the Great Wall and Forbidden City - and to catch up with friends. The weather was very kind, and we had a fabulous day on the wall, could see for miles!




This year, Bali, as mentioned, and back to Coolum to renovate a little more. It really is time we took Sidhonie back to Vietnam, but...my love/hate relationship with the place still makes it hard for me. We shall see...So many places within easy reach from here (Phillipines, Laos, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, more of China, and on) and all places we would like to return to, particularly now that Donie is old enough to take more in. Watch this space (but not too closely - despite good intentions, I am not terribly efficient with these things these days and you may well find out after the fact!!). Regardless, I do think that we will, at most, only be in HK one more year (AT MOST) so if you are thinking of calling through - get your plans in action!! As always, we love to catch up with old friends, and this is a great 'stopping off" place, as many friends have already discovered.

Oh and by the way - have already been to the Cirque de Soleil in Macau, and it was brilliant! If you ever get a chance, don't miss it!

Do keep us posted on your whereabouts and antics...We love to hear from everyone. Short messages (even two liners) are perfectly acceptable!! Just do it!!

We think of you all (truly!!)
Merris, Andy and Sidhonie

Dear All,
Long time between blogs!! Always good intentions, but time seems to move on despite them. And as Christmas is soon to be upon us - I guess this has become Seasonal Greetings at the same time. Slack Merris!!

Anyway, here we are in our second year in HK. If you had asked us during our long summer (winter to those of us from the Southern hemisphere) break I am not sure we could have answered whether we would extend our stay here or just do this year. Certainly we tentatively started to look around at what might come up, but moving on and going through that whole job search experience is never a pleasant thing to do, so we were definitely not excited about the prospect. On the other hand - life had not been in anyway "fun" during that whole first year here as many of you were aware. Anyway, the long and the short of it is that things have improved immensely! The new board have moved things along, and things are far more pleasant. As a result we have agreed to stay for a third year (2008/9) and will review the situation again next summer. Quite possible a four year stay is in the wind. Certainly that is what the board wants, and probably what we should do. Don't see this as a long term place for us, the city is just too frenetic, which transfers to everyone and everything, but we shall see how things go.

I think it is fair to say, that we feel much more comfortable here this year - although there are still many challenges looming. The most prevalent would be the urgent need for a new school site. We know that the site we currently occupy is scheduled for redevelopment, and that we are on (very) limited tenure - not to mention that the primary school is totally full to overflowing, and as the school has finally agreed to head on to a grade 9 as the beginning of the high school next year, space will also be an issue for the middle/high school. As a result Andy is currently spending heaps of time looking at potential sites as a short term solution (with the eventual plan to build - but that is definitely down the track). Space is at a premium in HK so it is not an easy task.

With the decision to go on to a high school - despite my great desire to go back to the part time world of work - I have agreed to stay on as the "interim" middle/high school principal. Have never wished to be a principal, but essentially, despite my title of coordinator, I guess that is what I do now, so I was torn between the part-time position (probably curriculum and MYP coordinator) and seeing through what I had started with the fight for a high school. The latter won - but I have sworn just for the year to get things started. Much easier to attract a good field of candidates if the plans are in place and operations have begun. Silly me - but as they say - no fools like old ones!!

Aside from that the summer was very productive and expensive. We spent three very solid weeks finally doing our attic room upstairs in our family home at Berean St in Tas. We now have our own little space to use whenever we are home, and decided that as we had waited for so long, we were going to do it "properly". That was fine until I got to the shower screen which I decided had to be of the "frameless" variety (Andy says I have obviously stayed in far too many luxury hotels) which of course cost three times the amount of the "normal" variety.Still - I am determined it was worth it!





We, of course had some enjoyable times catching up with friends (THANKYOU to all of you who remain faithful, excellent friends who never fail to drop things to make sure they catch up. It is wonderful to have so many great people in our lives who go the extra mile whenever we are home). Family, of course were also a part of our catch up - although with Andy's parents in the UK for the "summer" and my sister Jen and her husband in Melbourne for most of the time to spend time with my new great nephew, we were able to spend more quality time with my other sister Glen and her husband (I think). Never enough time for anyone though I guess!



We did spend a few days in Melbourne on our way up to Coolum for the last 2 weeks of our break to see baby "Liam" and to make sure Sidhonie and we had a chance to catch up with the family there.

Coolum, as ever was lovely. Great weather, and a very relaxing time for us all. Sidhonie now has 2 little class mates that holiday in close proximity to us - one at Marcus Beach (Lulu), and one at Buderim (Thomas - who I think is the current boy"friend". Photos follow...), so that makes it even better for her! The interesting news on that front was that after various ideas on our behalf, and half-baked plans, we did end up meeting our "neighbours" who had similar ideas - that was to add a 3rd bedroom/study to the back of both of our places. We figured we had a better chance if the "outer" view of both villas remained the same - even if it could only be seen from the back side.






We left the whole idea in the hands of some friends up there to put to the body corporate (quite thinking that it would go no further) when much to our surprise we received the news that the body corporate had agreed and that we were now to submit plans to the council.

More money to spend, but it should be a good investment on our villa, and certainly will make it more comfortable for our stays - at the moment we spend most of our time tripping over the computer cords as we really have nowhere to use as a study or workplace. So - as a result, we will spend our Xmas break in Coolum moving that plan along. Ah what's money for but to spend and enjoy???

We arrived back to HK to celebrate Sidhonie's 8th birthday. We decided to do it a few days early so that Andy's parents could be here for it. Not sure about the sense of it, but we agreed = per the little one's request - to have a pool party for 13 little girls here. Hmm. Anyway, we made it through - think the guest list may be severely curbed for # 9 though!



On that front, Sidhonie is doing much better this year, and her "tablets" really have helped here move along and "focus". Infact a few days without the tabs during the break really brought home the difference to us - to say she just about drove us to drink may not be too harsh! She is so much more settled and "mature" (for want of a better term) when on them, and is now far more confident at school - seeing herself very positively - and generally having caught right up to her grade level - but we have to watch her eating as it tends to take away her appetite!! No spare flesh on that little frame to lose!! The fight is not over on any count, but it is so nice to see her happy at school again - never let me hear anyone say that ADHD is a fictional malady!!

Donie is still doing her gymnastics, as well as taking tennis lessons, and jazz dance. Now, of course, she wants to learn an instrument as well - just not sure what - or when we might fit it in!! Still in the "to think about" basket.Oh and the front tooth has finally come out, with another one to follow shortly. She is still very slow on that count, but not as slow as her mother who had full intentions of getting a nice family shot before it happened! Guess I either have to do the toothless one now, or wait a bit!!

Am about to "kill" our maid who continues to have a hard time "learning" about what is clean and what is not,and when it may be a good idea to ask a question. She is a nice enough lady, but our plants drop like flies (and then just disappear without a word uttered to us -I think she thinks we won't notice), and when she does use initiative, it is definitely directed in the wrong areas (bleach has now been banned in our house - what is it with maids and bleach?). Still, working out a solution in HK is just not that easy. We don't really need a full time helper anymore, just someone to do some housework a few times a week, and to be there at the end of each day when Donie gets home. That, though, is the problem, it is very difficult to get 'live-out"helpers in HK, and not exactly legal. Still something needs to be done! Another thing in the "to do" basket.

Have already managed a couple of trips away - the first just to Shanghai for a long weekend. It was interesting, but just brought home to me that I have no desire to live in "real" China. The city is huge, very polluted, and while it probably has a few more redeeming features than Beijing, it still isn't what I would call overly attractive. Did take the opportunity to catch the speed train back to the airport - 430 km per hour! Amazing! Also managed to come very close to losing my wallet. Had my hands full and my little bag hanging on my stomach so that I could watch it - but that was nearly not enough. Felt something just as Sidhonie yelled "look out mummy", and sure enough, my bag was undone. Thankfully it was a tight fit, so would have been hard to get out, but still, leaves a nasty taste in your mouth, and reminds me how blase we have become having lived in very safe cities since being overseas. A young lady right at my side was probably the culprit... I just elbowed her and told her to get away - she ignored me and dropped back.








Having made it through to our mid term break a few weeks ago, we arrived back from 5 lovely days in Kota Kinabalu (Malaysian Borneo) where we stayed at a very nice resort that catered to families very well. Just as luck had it (Sidhonie's good luck, and not such for us) there were several other families from school who had decided it would be a good place to go too! At least she had little friends to play with, thankfully my middle school students spend most of their time diving, and all of the "big" people wanted their own privacy I think. Donie had a lovely time at their kids club (nails done, hair braided), horse riding, visiting the animal reserve adjoining (who specialize in organgatang rehabilitation) and was a junior ranger for a day helping out with the animals.







Spent a few days in Kuala Lumpar too - at the EARCOS administrators conference. It's always great to catch up with old friends and see what they are up to.

THEN, my husband decided to surprise me and take us all off to the brand new Venetian Macau resort (and casino) for my birthday. Isn't he a sweetie! The hotel, as expected, is way over the top and HUGE! We easily spent the 2 days there (in the hotel), and still didn't see everything - and a lot of it isn't open yet! 3 canals and - well of course, we had to have a gondola ride - complete with singing Italian (the real thing!). And, heaps of shopping, just the sort of birthday that appeals to me!

And now, we are heading towards the Christmas break at breakneck speed. We have an old friend from Qatar days coming in next week to do some work with us on setting up the High school, and have had other friends visit during October, with more to come later in the year. I had intended getting this out way before now - and am now thinking I had better just go ahead and publish it as Christmas greetings!! So much for my blog schedule...I keep telling Andy that we need to get a life! Can't quite see when things are going to slow down at all, but some changes definitely need to be made. Holidays are great, but one needs time to smell the roses occasionally between times?? (or the frangipanis in this case I guess).

Love to you all friends. We wish you a very merry Christmas and new year, and urge you to drop us a line - just a line - occasionally.
I will try to be better about getting the next blog out in timely fashion - I think my family are a bit tired of my line of "this weekend"!

Merris, Andy, and Sidhonie

The Page-Smith's in Prague...Read on!

Blog # 3
Okay, the aim is to produce 3 - 4 of these a year...We shall see!

We are now into March - and I have a feeling that it will be over before I complete this edition! I always have such good intentions, but one must be realistic, and checking out the school calendar, this month looks like a doozie!

Let's see...January seems to be "eons" ago, and I have no idea what happened, other than, this year continues to super hard yakka!! People keep asking us whether we are enjoying HK and I just can't give them an answer. Work seems to be inpinging on everything, and, "yeah" I know, all work and no play...We have to do something about it!

Never-the-less, January did see the Page-Smiths celebrate a milestone - our 25th wedding anniversary. We spoiled ourselves by having a weekend away in Hua Hin (Thailand) in a beautiful suite on the beach. The hubby outdid himself, as he organized it all! I also now sport a beautiful new tennis bracelet to replace the one I lost in Q8. Sidhonie came with us, and was most impressed with the whole deal. The hotel kept turning up with treats each day, and so she thought it was wonderful.





Then February. Chinese New Year was definitely a major focus in the school (oops - to be culturally sensitive I evidently should say "Lunar" New year). Our little lady totally shone in the "parasol dance" that she was in with her class. Now I know I am biased - but she really was good! Lots of people told us - so we were happy to drink it up. It seems that she really is quite a little performer, and has finally found her rhythm (Oh me of little faith). Months went in to the preparation for this hour long school wide assembly, but I have to admit it was pretty entertaining and most impressive (the Mandarin teachers organized the whole thing). The New Year break saw Andy in the States recruiting, and while it is a heap easier than it was in Kuwait, we are a small school in a big pond. Regardless, I think we only have one person left to get at this stage.

So, as my husband was away - we "girls" decided to take a few days out too. We went off and spoiled ourselves for a few days in Bangkok. A little shopping, a great manicure and pedicure (Donie was most impressed as the chairs were "massage chairs" and we had individual televisions and headphones!), a visit to the aquarium (definitely worth it) and a stay in one of my favorite old haunts - the Sukhumvit Sheraton, plus catching up with our old friend Carmel. What more could the girls want?

And then March. I swear this is the busiest March I have ever lived through...Not helped by the politics happening within our little organization - which saw lots of extra meetings held than would normally be the case. Anyway, a milestone event happened as a result, and the school has just had its first open community election for board members. A major breakthrough - albeit that we still only have 3 community members versus the three original member - or four if the other co-founder chooses to re-join. Some really good people have been elected, so we shall see what happens next. We are definitely committed to stay here next year, but the next few months will determine whether we extend for longer or not. Enough said at this stage.


Donie at Sports Day, HKA

The weather here has been crazy, and I swear winter lasted all of about 3 weeks. Highly unusual evidently. Since the "cold spell" the temps have been up and down like a yo-yo. This week has been high 20's (Celsius) with 95% humidity! I have never had so many curls in my life - every day is a bad hair day!! And then there is this fog or mist that just hangs over the city due to the moisture in the air. There are days when I feel as though the whole upper part of the island is permanently "in the clouds". They say it will cool off again next week though. As I said - yo yo stuff!

Donie has been doing gymnastics for about 2 months now, and is really doing well. She loves it too, which is more important. She has been super busy with after school activities as well, and as a result has learned the fundamentals of netball (have to get those Aussie roots in their somewhere), soccer (definitely her father's influence) and has learned to sew! She will start new activities after the break. More soccer (hmm) paper making, and Tae Kwan Do! She has been begging us to let her do the latter for months and we finally gave in - though I am not looking forward to the antics that may follow. It is bad enough when she has been watching "spy girls" on TV!


Sidhonie's gymnastics medal after her first competition

Sidonie has been struggling a bit with school this year - particularly math, and it was beginning to really play on her confidence and self-esteem. So after much discussion, we have done a heap of testing, and she has just been diagnosed with ADHD. It explains a lot, and to be honest was a huge relief to find that it was nothing more sinister. We are workiing with a great lady here, and Sidhonie's teacher/s have been great. The little lady, it seems, is actually quite bright, but just needs to slow down! She does everything fast, fast, fast, and when she thinks she is not doing so well, she just tries to go faster! As it turns out she tested above average in every mathematics test. Just can't concentrate long enough to get it right!

It almost seems that we predicted this from the first moment we saw her. Merris: "that's the baby I want, look how bright and alert and ACTIVE she is compared to the other "blobs". Andy: "Mmm, she probably has ADHD". Aah, famous last words! Anyway, after years of teaching plenty of kids with this, and really never understanding it, we now are getting pretty familiar with it. Much maligned over the years, it has tended to be labelled as being "over prescribed", " a fictional condition for students that just can't behave", or all about children that bounce off the walls. When really it is all about kids that just can't sustain concentration for long periods of time to process information (obviously there are different degrees of this). Anyway, I could go on at length.. And need not (and certainly in Sidhonie's case) have anything to do with behaviour. Suffice to say, I will never "pooh pooh" the condition again, seeing what it can do to a child and how it can manifest itself. Actually, we have self diagnosed Andy with it too!! I kept saying as we were looking through the results - "Andy you do that"!! As the therapist said - there are some people who are race horses, and some who are farm horses. While I would prefer a more glamorous persona - I think I am the latter. Donie and Andy are definitely the former!

March also brought a visit to Beijing - albeit brief. Andy had to attend a local ACAMIS meeting (Association of Chinese and Mongolian International Schools) and so Donie and I went too. We took the chance to catch up on more old friends (Ehrick, Sally, and the Edwards) and then ran into even more that we hadn't realized were in that neck of the woods! It was really good. Didn't see much of Beijing itself, but checked out Western Academy of Beijing (WAB) pretty thoroughly and deemed it a pretty impressive facility. Some say it doesn't resemble a school - I think that is good, others think it is too far out of the box. All in the eye of the beholder I guess. Now the shopping did seem to be far more "economically viable" than it now is in this neck of the woods. One could invest in a complete wardrobe of "copies" still with very little impact on the pocket! I did take the opportunity to add to my designer handbags, and Donie got into "Billabong" and game boy games. We shall have to return at another stage to check out what people seem to consider the real sights (the wall perhaps, or the Forbidden City?). All things in good time.

As predicted, we are now into April, and have just finished a 2 week break. Strange timing, as it didn't really match with the local EARCOS conference, as most breaks at this stage do, and was quite unusual to have 2 weeks. So, we decided to take advantage of it this year, and go a little further afield...I should mention that this was after having Mark and Nick for the Rugby 7's ( a little depleted from the original houseful we originally expected). I have to admit it was a pretty impressive "thing" having attended for all of one afternoon. Crowd entertainment was ongoing, and they even had heaps laid on for the kids. Definitely a family event, and one that, despite the alcohol free flowing on the perimeters of the stands (or available in hand in the Southern Stand where my husband chose to spend his time) there were evidently no arrests the whole weekend. Pretty amazing! Most people were just there to have fun. I wonder where else you could go to such a packed venue for three days, with alcohol and people from all over the world and not have any level of discomfort??? Impressive.

We then took off to Europe for 10 days. Now why, you might ask, would we do that when we have lived much, much closer for the past 5 years? Good question. I guess the 2 week break made the difference, but it was a long way to go.

We spent half of that time in Prague staying with friends Kate and Rob Landau ( he is the head of ISP, and they had visited us in Kuwait), and then took the overnight train to Warsaw to see friends Chip and Lillian Barder (head if ASW, and Joe, their son worked with us in Kuwait). It was a good trip, and Chip was lovely enough to look after Donie while Andy and I took off to Krakow and Auschwitz for a day. I don't think she suffered...After an easter egg hunt and soccer game with the ASW staff kids , and then Lillian taught her to knit (she has been on at me for a month or so now - by the way, I have told her that Auntie Jenni is just the person to take her to the next level!).


Prague


Castle outside Prague


Donie with her friend "Kip" in Prague (Rob and Kate's dog)












Warsaw - Old Town Square


Birkenau (Auschwitz camp 2)

Ours was a more sobering, but very interesting day. I have to say though, that we really liked Warsaw. I guess it surprised us both! Prague, as ever, was lovely, but is now much more expensive and extremely crowded (I gather it is wall to wall people during the summer these days).

Back in Hong Kong, we have just generally tried to catch up on things before we return to school tomorrow. I have a MS trip to Thailand (Chiang Mai - Prem Center) with the MS kids next week (and we all know how much Merris LOVES school trips!!). Andy will be away a couple of nights the following week on the 3rd grade trip.

We have also been making a little bit of effort on the local front. Took Donie and a friend over to Kowloon a couple of weeks ago to visit the goldfish and pet market. Certainly different to the souk in Kuwait!! But have never seen so many different types of fish, and we were quite intrigued by the chameleon Shop! Yesterday we did a day trip out to Lantau. Ferry there, lunch in the village, bussed around the island to the "Big Buddha" and poked around that area a bit, and then took the new"ish" cable car back to the mainland -with a follow up MTR and bus trip home. Certainly put the public transport to the test, and it came through with flying colors! The cable car is the longest in the world, and is quite something. A good day was had by all. It was just a shame it hadn't been a clearer day as the views would have been phenomenal!!

Back to Ocean Park this weekend for a day. Donie had been asking for ages, and as we had bothered to buy seasons tickets when we first arrived, we felt we should put them to use. They are expanding that place all the time, and I was told recently that they were trying to double its size. As we have been three times now and still have not done/seen everything, I guess more visits won't be too much of a hardship. This time we saw an ice skating show while there. Quite good, and certainly Donie and her friend Alex, loved it.



We have also managed to catch up with some old friends here in HK. One from Kuwait (Michelle), and some old friends from Tas (Kerry and Luanna). Kerry is actually going to be working with me in the Middle School next year.

I am sure there is much more I could tell you, but time, as always, gets the better of me. The next couple of months will be quite interesting with the new, board members. We will need to make a decision by the end of October as to whether we will stay or not...

In the meantime - our summer break looms ( we finish up right at the end of June), and we will spend a good portion of it in Tas working on our upstairs room. Hopefully will still be able to head up to Coolum for a couple of weeks of sunshine before we return here in early August. As always, if any of you are intending to be in our region, do let us know. The guest room is always ready and waiting.

Love from us all,
Merris, Andy and Sidhonie

Take 2! And a verry Merry Christmas to all!!
I think the last blog was out of date before I actually published it -but hey, one can only cover so much at any one time!!
So, now that we are settled??? Perhaps not, but I suppose that I can say we are a "little" more so...
Andy is actually busy upstairs painting walls at the moment, so I suppose that is progress! We have things actually hanging on the wall, the cats are home and settled, and while I don't think I could say that things are any less hectic, at least we are starting to learn our way around and get into some sort of routine.

We have actually just started a week break - so what better time to catch up on chores such as this! Ever the pessimist though, this could well be a work in progress over the next few weeks unless things slow down!

Where to start? Well, just so that you understand that life isn't boring, 4 weeks after our school started we experienced our first ever earth tremor. Came as a bit of a shock (shock - get it??!!), as we are not in an earthquake zone, but the news broadcasts reassured us that these can happen anywhere in the world. Actually I vaguely remember the "earth moving" for just a tad of second when I was about 11 in Tas. This one measured 3.2 on the richter scale, so I am not exaggerating - the earth really did shake us up for a few moments! Sidhonie and I were sitting on the couch, and I kid you not, the couch did a little dance and things shook and rattled. My first thought was that a huge truck had just gone by - but it soon registered in my aging brain - that we never even hear traffic from our "house" so that was exceptionally unlikely. Our "helper" came up the stairs in a semi-hysterical state. Ah well, no damage done, and we can just add it to our experiences. Can't imagine what it must be to actually experience anything larger!! (Don't really want to either!).

Other than that, we finally got into the middle school almost 4 weeks after school started...There was still a lot to do, but we were all going stir crazy, and really needed to just get over there. It then, however, took us another 2 weeks to get access across from the primary school building. Boy what a loooong 2 weeks that was! As you are already aware - if you have read the earlier blog = HK is full of steps, and the school is no exception. There are (for a recap) 85 to get to the primary school, and then 6 floors in the school and not an elevator in sight. So just to add insult to injury, to get from one campus to the other entailed going down the 85 steps from the primary school (not counting whatever floor of the building you had come from), and then up 161 steps to the middle school! It was taking us forever to get back and forth! And just think about the grade 1's coming over for Art and PE! Thankfully, Andy and the business manager managed to come up with a compromise with the bureaucracy involved, that now allows us to just cut across sort of a bit above midway, and only tackle about 55 steps - HUGE improvement!

You would think that after a few weeks of tackling the whole up down thing, plus back and forth, it would be getting easier...It is not!!! I guess I have to put this down to the aging body, but it is perversely reassuring to see my students huffing and puffing too (and not an overweight one among them!). I am told it takes about a year - something to aim for I guess!

Things are school are improving, but very gradually. We are both putting way too many hours in, and are recognizing that Donie, as a result, is the one suffering. It is hard to know just how to rectify the situation, but we definitely need to. I will leave further details to the more anonymous email form of communication. Needless to say this has been, and continues to be very hard work, with very little sign of it abating. Some of it is "small-schoolitis", but other aspects are much more complicated.


Sidhonie with some of her class at Ruby's (front and centre) birthday party

On the upside, the weather at the moment is absolutely beautiful, and we are hopeful of getting another month or so. Daily temps are around 28 - 30 celsius, and the humidity has dropped significantly. We are loving sitting outside eating whenever we have the chance - either in the village, or in our courtyard. Speaking of the latter, we have finally tidied up and bought some plants too, so it is feeling more and more like "our place". We continue to love Stanley - although for the sake of the bank account, I am trying hard to limit my visits to the market - or at least to go with limited time and a definitive shopping list! Each weekend I walk down to get my weekly bunch of flowers, and while it is nowhere as cheap as Vietnam was, it is definitely affordable. I am SO enjoying having flowers in the house all the time again.

The cats have been home for several weeks now, and have settled in remarkably well. They hid for the first 2-3 days - as we had expected - but now are very much at home. While neither seem to like being handled quite as much, they are getting better, and I think we just have to persevere. Cookie LOVES the grounds around the compound, and we are having a hard time getting him inside. Infact he stayed out most of last night, and I haven't seen him since breakfast time this morning. Not sure what to do about that! Biscuit has developed the unfortunate habit of waking us every morning at 6.30 regardless of whether it is a school day or not. Jumping on us is one thing, but the continued miaowing is getting a bit much - this is the cat that never used to utter a sound! In fact they have both become far more talkative! Positives are also in evidence though, they don't try to scratch the furniture anymore (can't quite work that out, but we aren't complaining), and they get along very well together (I guess that comes of sharing a tiny space for 4 months).

We still haven't spent much time looking around HK or surrounds, but will try to rectify that a little this week, as well as catch up on home jobs. We intend heading up to Xenshen on Friday (just over the border) to what the HK'ers fondly refer to as the "Great Mall of China" to do a little shopping and looking around. While shopping is still good here (if you know where to go) evidently this is still the bargain centre. So we shall see! We have also managed a day at HK Disneyland...Sort of pales next to the visit to Disneyworld this summer, but Sidhonie still enjoyed it!



Hong Kong Disneyland


As predicted - this is a late update/ instalment!

Let's begin with Sidhonie's teeth! What a subject. The poor little lady has been desperate to lose a tooth, but nothing was happening. A few weeks ago, she came to me complaining about a "blister" in her mouth, and sure enough, there appeared to be a small mouth ulcer behind her front bottom tooth. Thought about it no more for a few days until she started to complain about a rough spot...Ah yes - there was tooth coming up behind her existing teeth, and quite crooked. SO - mum did a panic and raced her off to a dentist trying to prepare her for the worst (you know - the injections, extractions scenario). Much to my surprise - he basically laughed when he looked, and said something along the lines of "wish I had a dollar for every panicked parent I had had in over this issue over the years! Hmm. We were reassured that the inside tooth, over the course of several weeks would move forward and gradually push the other one out. Doubting Thomas me - was proven wrong. The offending tooth has now given up the fight thanks to the gentle nudging from the one behind, and while it is not yet straight, it is certainly looking better. I guess as he assured me that it would take 7 - 9 months to straighten, I just have to have faith! Anyway, the whole experience was made worthwhile by - a. finding a very nice (Aussie by chance) dentist (that Donie LOVED), and b. the tooth fairy finally having a chance to visit! We now have two further "wigglers', so it is all happening, and we may well have those "toothless" Xmas shots that every child seems to have.

The saga continued as Donie rang us at work one Friday evening to let us know that the "tooth" had come out on the way home on the bus. Great celebrations - and one colleague who had enjoyed a couple of beverages (we can do that here),and whom Donie loves, grabbed the phone and told her that the tooth fairy was sure to bring at least $100 as she had been such a good girl (think she was getting her a bit mixed up with Santa Claus)!! Gee thanks!! Now we may have been talking HK dollars - but even so! Much "discussion" was had on the subject when we arrived home - the tooth fairy has had so many children losing teeth lately....I think you get the picture. It must have worked as she seemed very happy with her $20 the next morning (only double what we had originally intended!)

The Xenshen visit has been and gone, was remarkably effortless, and very profitable (I think!). Much fun was had by all as the group of us that went (3 couples and Donie) came home with 4 sets of golf clubs (evidently excellent quality copy Calloways - complete with travel bags and other bits and pieces which will remain nameless as i don't know what they are called!), 3 copy handbags, and numerous new clothing items - in the making. The clothes etc are supposed to arrive here, at our doorstep, after the weekend, and if all turn out okay - were fantastice value ( I may never touch my sewing machine again). Of course we shall have to wait and see, but it is likely that you will find out before I finish this blog!! We also managed to fit in a couple of pedicures, and an all you can eat dimsum lunch at the Shangri La over the road ($68 HK = $10 Aus, and about $9 US). Excellent!! We shall venture forth again! Even the visa process at the border was pretty easy (for Aussies).

Since then, Andy and I have been to Bangkok to the EARCOS admin. conference, and it was great to catch up with old friends and acqaintances in this region. It was a tad sad though, as the director of the region, a good friend and supporter of ours who had been in the NESA region until a year ago, passed away just before the conference, We will certainly miss him. His wife, Linda, carried on brilliantly - I certainly couldn't have done it! Sidhonie, in case you were wondering, stayed here in the house, with the "tooth fairy" lady and her husband!! I was sort of hoping Donie would lose another tooth while they were in charge! No such luck!

Currently, things are busier than ever. With our elementary principal search well underway, there have been many late nights meeting with the committe of parents and teachers to determine the final list. We had over 40 applicants, and a "long" short list of 10 to weed down. Boy - what a difference to Kuwait!! We almost had to beg people to apply there! Actually, quite a few friends and acquaintances applied - guess we can't be too horrific to work with!!

OKAY - latest update - as predicted this has become more of a Christmas blog!!

We now have an elementary principal - a lady we both knew from Dubai, and who is very excited to be moving to HK with her journalist/writer husband, three year old son (who thinks he will be living where King Kong lives), and her 7 year old daughter, so another companion for Sidhonie. Can't wait for 2007/8 - we desperately need the help!.

Other than that, it seems that HK is definitely in to celebrations! Halloween went on for what seemed like a month! Our little complex had a party at the pool for the kids, followed by trick & treating around the neighborhood. A good thing really, as we don't celebrate anything at school (board policy) and so Donie was feeling a little disoriented after all our celebrations in Q8!. I ran out of sweets at about 8.00pm, and the doorbell kept on ringing. In the end I had to put a sign up! I guess all of the other nearby complexes were doing similar to ours...Doors were decorated etcetera. Quite something!


Halloween in Hong Kong

And that just paled into insignificance as Christmas approached! This city is totally ablaze, and looks amazing! I have never seen such wonderful decorations, and all of the apartment buildings, business buildings etc are all decorated and lit up. We took Donie over to see the lights from Kowloon on Saturday...Definitely worth it! Despite nothing happening at school (except for the little Xmas tree I couldn't resist putting in the middle school staffrooom, and the Xmas dinner we did at our place for the staff last Friday) there is a definite Xmas feel to the city.



Christmas lights and the Page-Smith's in Hong Kong



A couple of weeks ago we went over to Macau where my silly husband (and a few other silly staff members) did a half marathon. He actually did pretty well, and didn't seem to be too exhausted afterwards (although I don't think he would have let me know anyway!). The trip was sooo easy...Taxi to the Macau ferry terminal, 15 minutes later, on a ferry, and an hour later - presto! The city has certainly changed since we were there 20 years ago, and seems in some parts to be styling itself on Las Vegas...Casinos are definitely the to, and a new "Venetian" with 3,500 rooms and the same design as L V's is about to open, with Circus de Soleille basing itself there in Asia. That wil definitely be worth a visit!! All in all it was a really good weekend, and definitely on the list when we feel we need a quick "getaway".



Macau fun!

Sidhonie is settling in well now, and has a busier social life than we do! Play dates are definitely the go here!! Unfortunately her closest little friend, Mackenzie, is about to move to Tokyo, but I think she will be okay. She is coping at school. Academics I think, will always be hard work for her, but she continues to try sooo hard. If her enthusiasm remains, she will always be fine! Strangely (and much to our surprise) she seems to be doing quite well with Mandarin....And of course still loves Art, Technology, PE, and Music - and does well in those areas. Her latest goal is to get really good at reading chapter books so that she can read hers on holiday like Mummy and Daddy - by the pool! Sounds good to us!!

with Mackenzie

The weather continued to be kind, and winter has only just arrived - this weekend! Today is the first day I have been in a sweater. While we have heating at home, school could be a bit more of a struggle... Just one tiny oil filled heater in each classroom. Thankfully I have one under my desk! Of course, the temps don't get really low, but everything is relative, and as HKers are a bit like Tasmanians and seem to ignore the need for adequate heating,it will be interesting for this wimpy body!

2 and a half more days and we are off back to Tasmania for Christmas! A week there, and then pure holiday for the remaining week in Queensland. Our good friend Brian Berneking will be coming with us, and I think we all feel well and truly in need of a break.

In the meantime, a very happy holiday season to you all! I am sure there was much more I could report on, but enough is enough, and this has already become at least 3 chapters long.
Excuse my lack of Christmas cards this year - hopefully this will suffice...
Our love and best wishes to you all for the Christmas and New Year, and remember, we still have that guest room ready to go!!

All our love,
Merris, Andy, and Sidhonie
xxxxxx

The PS Newsletter

Life After Kuwait…
Off to the States for the summer via Hong Kong. The aim of the latter was to find ourselves somewhere to live, and hopefully beat the rush of July when most expats arrive. It didn’t “quite” turn out as we had hoped, as we were greeted with the news that housing/accommodation prices had risen 15% in the time since we had negotiated our contracts and allowance. Hmm, challenging to say the least, and we ended up going quite a bit over our budget – again! We had pretty much determined that we would definitely live on HK Island (as that is where the majority of expats live, and hence more western conveniences, products etc are available. Not to mention that it just makes it easier to meet people. We have both always liked the South side of the island too, and while this meant a longer commute to school, as the school will be moving in a couple of years, we didn’t let that figure too much into the equation, and decided that lifestyle came first.

The end result? A “house” (as they call it here –although to us it is a co-join villa in a complex of 19) in Stanley. House hunting proved a real challenge, not just because of the increased prices, but because we were determined to have some sort of reasonable outside space, and a pool. They kept on taking us to these huge complexes made up of 6 – 16 towers with handkerchief balconies, and more often than not, on the 30th (even up to the 60th) floor. Thousands of people living in the one complex - despite the fact that many had great facilities (including supermarkets!) - was just a little overwhelming to us, and way too much like living in a city within a city. Moving house here, too, is quite an ordeal (with all the high-rise, steps, hills, and the complications that they bring – most movers and deliverers of furniture and the such charge an amount ‘per floor’)! So all in all we knew we had to make a good decision.

Banyan Villas – our new home – seems to meet most of our criteria, although getting a flowing living space, in addition to our above criteria, proved to be just a little too challenging. The place then, reminds us in many ways of houses in Vietnam…Wedding cake style – we have 6 (yes you read correctly) 6 floors!! Basically one room per floor – although it is hard to visualize without seeing it. BUT, the rooms were all a decent size (many we looked at wouldn’t even fit our beds!), it had great built in wardrobes in the bedrooms, the bathrooms had all been renovated, and the kitchen - while certainly minute in comparison to what I have become used to (but then the last one was humongous) – was workable, modern, and had western fittings. Many here only have 2 gas ring burners, and no oven at all.




The main selling points, though, were the roof top (yet to be converted into a “respite”). A front and a back courtyard, very pretty communal gardens, and a nice swimming pool which gives you the feel of being in an intimate little resort. Even better, it is only a 6 -7 minute walk to the Stanley Village where there is pretty much everything you need – not to mention one of my favorite “markets” in the world. There really is a village feel to it which is making settling into a huge city much easier. But more on that later…

In retrospect we definitely tried to do too much in too short a time period during the summer – but then it would have been difficult to know what to cut out as well! So from HK we headed to the US.

We arrived in New York, and managed to drive out and find our way – relatively uneventfully – to a little place called “North Wales” (no – we didn’t do a quick trip back to the UK), in Pennsylvania. We finally ended up in a really cute little town, with an equally cute inn…More importantly for me, it was pretty close to a whole heap of shopping areas. You can probably guess what Sidhonie and I did the next day while Andy worked (Academy of International School Heads Strategic Planning meeting). Actually we did very little damage - perhaps helped by the fact that Sidhonie put a hole in the knee of her “most favorite” (at the time) pants, and so we spent quite a while tracking down some pretty (and of course, matching) patches for her knees.

The next day we drove out in the pouring rain to catch a flight to – the BIG surprise for Sidhonie – Orlando - where we spent 4 days at Disneyworld. I don’t think she really believed us until we arrived at the hotel and she saw Mickey and other characters around. It wasn’t a straightforward trip however…One delay led to another, and another, and another, then a flight change, and thankfully then our final flight change. Instead of arriving in Orlando at 11.00 in the morning, we finally got there at 9 pm that night. A very long day to say the least! Amazingly the passengers (and that included a ‘heap’ of kids) remained very patient during the whole saga. I am sure that wouldn’t have been the case had we been on a more ‘business oriented’ flight, rather than the ‘holiday mode’.

Followed by – 2 very busy and hectic days madly running around “Magic Kingdom”. I have to say that Sidhonie was great! She was very patient about all of the lining up that had to be done, and just struck up conversations with anyone who would talk to her while we waited (surprise, surprise!). Of course it was also the middle of summer, so very hot, but she coped really well with that as well… We did (after the first few hours) finally cotton on to the “new to us” fast track system. Basically you grab a pass from a machine, which allows you to use the “fast” line within a certain time period specified on the pass. The catch is that you cannot get another fast pass until the first has been used. Once we got used to the system it worked well for us – Sidhonie and I would line up in a “slow” line, while Andy took off to one of the rides that had the longest waiting times to get us a fast pass for later use – then re-joined us.

Our child is definitely a thrill seeker! She totally loves fast and scary rides, and the only thing she didn’t enjoy was the haunted house. Andy refused to go on the teacups with us, but she and I had a wonderful time spinning ourselves around and around – and around and around...Thankfully she ‘just’ made the height for pretty much all of the rides – so it all worked out beautifully!

Sidhonie also learned about ‘autographs’ and really got into the whole thing. She spent a heap of time getting her picture taken with characters around all of the parks, and getting their autographs…Not always inspiring for her parents, but, after all, the trip was really more for her than us (I think?…).


Donie and "Flick" from the movie "Ants"


The next two days were spent at MGM, and Animal Kingdom (we decided to give Epcot a miss as many of the attractions there are more interesting to ‘older” folks).
AND…finally, totally exhausted after 4 very long days, we all got back in to our “mustang convertible” (Andy decided it would be a nice change – and after all, it was the same price as the ‘other’ more boring cars). 2 hours later we arrived in our old stomping ground from doctoral study days – Siesta Key (Sarasota). We even stayed in one of the apartments we had used during our five summers there! By the way, Sidhonie loved the car – until – she realized what a mess it made of her hair!! Is she her mother’s daughter or what?

It (Sarasota) hadn’t changed, and we still love it there. Caught up with some friends, enjoyed the beautiful beach (probably one of the few we have seen elsewhere in the world to rival our great Aussie beaches), shopped, ATE, and rested. Our good friend Brian came to join us for a few days while we were there, and a good time was had by all…But not long enough – we definitely needed 2 weeks there instead of 1.



Back to Orlando again, where we hopped on a plane to return to Pennsylvania, and this time our car (ordinary variety this time) took us to Bethlehem – supposedly the “Christmas City” of the states (gee, wonder why they make that claim?). It even has a HUGE star of Bethlehem blazing on one of the surrounding hills (just so that you are aware of the magnitude of the ‘writer’s’ totally useless ability to take in facts that will have no relevance or further use to her in later life – the star actually has 246 light bulbs in it…Enough said).

SO – for the next 9 days or so, Andy worked, and Sidhonie and I found places to play. Actually, he mostly only worked mornings, so we often set off on family outings during the afternoons. The city of Bethlehem was really quite quaint. Lots of lovely old buildings, and while the area around the university has obviously been the ‘poorer’ end of town (big steelworks city until about 10 years ago – they even produced the steel for the Golden Gate Bridge – another of my useless, never to be forgotten facts!!), the actual campus of Lehigh is absolutely gorgeous. Such a profusion of beautiful old buildings set in amongst quite picturesque grounds. We spent quite a bit of time picnicking with squirrels (I know our American and Canadian friends think they are a nuisance, but we still think they’re cute), watching fireflies, and wandering around the area.

The highlight for Sidhonie was our visit to the nearby Crayola factory. She and I had a great day just going from activity to activity, and she ended up with lots of “things” to bring home. It really was probably the most ‘child-friendly’ and educational “visit” I have ever done, and she still tells Andy how much fun he missed out on that day.

Next, off to Virginia – Newport News – where our friends, the Pucketts, have moved after 10 years overseas. A couple of lovely days exploring their new world, and we set off again. This time we ended up in a little place called Cape May, Rhode Island -another very historic part of the states with just row after row of beautifully (although sometimes gaudily) restored houses. We splurged on a “just okay” b & b (which made us aware of the fact that we needed to splurge quite a bit more to get a good one), spent a little time on the “pay” beach (that was a new one for us – you actually had to ‘pay’ to go on/use the beach!!), rode a “family bicycle” (which Sidhonie thought was great fun as we had to do all the work while she rang the bell), and tried to relax a bit.

Sidhonie and Seth Puckett


And off again…Back on a plane from New York to the final destination for our break, Canada. We basically spent the next 9 days ‘on the road’, and once again, we fell in love with the beautiful Canadian Rockies. The drive from Vancouver to Calgary, and then back down from Edmonton, through Jasper, is truly magnificent with ‘postcard’ scenery around every bend in the road. The driving is super easy, and the people very laid back and friendly. We weren’t quite as fortunate as we had been on our previous drive (18 years ago) with our animal spotting, but still managed to see quite a deal of wildlife – just no bears! Had to resort to a zoo just outside Vancouver to show Sidhonie the bears we had been constantly looking for. We did have a great time catching up with Andy’s relatives though (and Gwen, Sidhonie has been asking when you are coming to visit), as well as our friend Glenis. Also managed to fit in a horse-ride, a walk on a glacier, and definitely Andy’s highlight – a trip to the “Enchanted Forest” (slight dose of sarcasm there) that Sidhonie certainly enjoyed. Some last minute shopping for “supplies” – school shoes and the like, and our time had come to an end. And so, on with our next transition….


Andy and Sidhonie at Lake Louise, and our little lady on Athabasca Glacier








Hong Kong! It was certainly a spectacular start! We arrived in the middle of a typhoon, and boy was that a never to be forgotten experience! We were warned as we approached Hong Kong that the typhoon warning had been lifted to 3. Now for those of you who are not in the know – this may not seem bad, but here is the breakdown:
• 1 = strong winds and possible rain
• 3 = gale force winds and driving rain
• 8 (yes that’s right – we jump straight to 8) = typhoon alert – all businesses, schools and public transport close down.
• 10 = well you don’t want to be around for 10 I guess!
The pilot was pretty honest (as we circled for an hour waiting for a break in the weather) and stated that no planes had successfully landed yet that morning, but that he would give it a go if he thought he could. He did – try that is, and I have to admit that in my window seat position, and with the amount of flying we have done, I really didn’t think we were going to be too successful. The seas were amazing, and we were being jostled all over the place (in a jumbo!). But the sudden plummet (it felt like a long way, but it probably wasn’t) obviously made him change his mind, as he pulled straight out of there, and off we went to some place in China for a few pleasant (sic) hours spent sitting on the tarmac. So much for HK and China relations – they wouldn’t let anyone off the plane as we didn’t have Chinese visas. Hmmm.

Three hours later we set off for another try. Quite an interesting approach as he obviously tried a different tactic and came in very (and I mean very) low over the sea for quite some distance, obviously trying to avoid the heavier winds. Still a great deal of buffeting to be had, (Sidhonie thought it was great – just like the roller coasters at Disneyland! Other passengers didn’t seem quite as taken with the experience – I probably don’t need to go into any further detail on that score), but the pilot did a great job. We found out later that we were the only plane to land that day. I decided that there should be a system to ‘tip’ the pilot under such circumstances.

It then took 2 days to clear the air traffic as so many planes had to be diverted, and flights cancelled. We were very lucky only being delayed for 5 hours total. One of our new teachers ended up being delayed for 30 hours! 20 of those were spend sitting on the tarmac of another Chinese destination – same problem – China wouldn’t let them off the plane, and the weather got so bad there, they couldn’t take off again! When they did – they flew back to Singapore!!

The weather wasn’t much better on the ground, and even the taxi ride in was extremely “interesting”. Later in the day (we had an appointment to sign the lease on our house) our excursion promised more excitement. I don’t think I have ever seen such driving rain, and things were blowing all over the place…Can’t imagine what it must be like at “8”!

Anyway – enough of that drama – we soon found out there would be more. The shipment arrived at the house 3 days after we arrived back…And so began the process of trying to make things fit. Now, 4 weeks later, there are still days when I feel as though we have made little progress. It certainly made us aware of the amount of “stuff’ we cart around the world with us (not made any easier by a little lady that is one of the biggest collectors of “stuff” I have ever come across. I throw it out, she finds it and “rescues” it, in a never ending cycle). Dealing with single rooms instead of flowing spaces with our existing furniture and “bits and pieces” has certainly challenged my interior decorating skills. Not to mention that in the past we have always had ‘some’ school furniture to fill spaces as needed. Not the case here – which sort of doesn’t bother me as I have always hated having to deal with other people’s tastes (or lack of), but it certainly made for a busier start to life here as we scrambled out and about on shopping sprees to fill the gaps.

I had never realized how big our lounge suite was – until it was ‘confined’ in a single room. Ah well, some things can be re-considered down the track. We are getting there, but it is slow progress. I do, however, appreciate our decision whenever I look out the window and see a beautiful expanse of water with islands dotted around, ships in the distance, and water skiers, windsurfers and kayakers making their way around Stanley Beach Bay. At night it is equally as pretty, with the lights of the buildings reflecting in the water from around the Bay.

And, within our little complex, there are 8 other 6 and 7 year olds – 6 of them girls!! So Sidhonie has been very busy, and I am having to adapt to coming home to the noises of several little girls in the house – not to mention their mothers…We have about 4 Dutch families in the complex, who. I have discovered, are a very social bunch, and who just “pop” in…Something I am definitely not used, to, and after turning around in the lounge room a couple of times to see one of them coming up the steps, I reviewed the situation, and promptly put a set of bells on the back door to give me some warning when I have “visitors” approaching. I can’t be negative though, none of these ladies work (and are amazed that I do), and were a great help with Sidhonie when we first went back to work and she was still at home.

CeCe – our new “helper”, as they call them here, will be okay “I think”. There have been a few glitches (she had a little difficulty understanding that it wasn’t appropriate to leave Sidhonie and the 4 year old from next door on their own while she popped down to the shop to get some things – thankfully we arrived home as she was heading out the door). She is very hard working, and has a nice way with Sidhonie, and is very good at helping her with her homework (she was trained as a primary school teacher in the Philippines but couldn’t get work) but – as is generally the problem – finds it very difficult to be “tough” with our little lady. Similarly, she has never been a helper before, and so we are having to teach her everything from scratch. Things from how to use a toilet brush, to how to clean the filter on the drier – things we take forgranted, but that we forget are not part of everybody’s life. Frustrating when we have so many other things on our plates, but in some ways, better than trying to teach an “old dog new tricks”. Try as I might, I just cannot get used to having a live in helper, but it is so much cheaper to do it that way here, and easier than having to find babysitters whenever we have to go out or are late home. It is just something I will have to bear with I guess.

I am not sure where to start with school. It has been a challenge thus far, and there is no sign of it abating. The promised middle school premises had not eventuated, and while there was a lease that had just been acquired when we arrived, it all seemed to be caught up in a heap of bureaucracy and red tape… It has been a heck of a challenge.
Currently the Middle School is “hanging out” in the assembly room, which can be divided into 2 classrooms. We have one full group of Gr 6, and a very small group of Gr 7…Okay, considering it was never advertised, and despite our pleas before we arrived, the website and all documentation still says “Primary School”. Something we are currently changing.

We now have access to the ‘new’ building, but it will be at least another week before we get in – the rooms are almost ready, but the air conditioning, phones, and internet still need to go in…Then comes the fun of determining what supplies we still need to get in – pronto!! So, just what do you need to order or an empty science lab? Thankfully, the kids and parents have been great, and all are being very patient (including us). The teachers are also a great bunch, so despite the problems, and unknowns with the board and its organization (more so than we had anticipated) we are persevering.

On the positive side, the school community is amazing… So welcoming, supportive, and so “into” the school. We get almost daily messages of support and thanks from parents who make it very clear that they know we are in tough positions at the moment, and who constantly offer help in many forms. This truly is a community school! The kids are also great, and while we have already imposed and changed many things, the staff also seem appreciative of the changes, and the school is buzzing despite all of the internal problems. To be honest, they just all seem happy to finally have one person calling the shots. The place has sooo much potential, if we can ride the ‘waves” to get it there!

And Hong Kong thus far? While it is taking some getting used to (as all new places do), there is just soooo much to see and do here. We have had no time to even consider it yet – but we will get there. We did make a trip (with 4 little ladies in tow) to Ocean Park for Sidhonie’s 7th birthday. We seemed to manage to pick one of the hottest days of the summer (and remember we are back to high humidity here), but I think a good time was had by all. After spending quite a bit of time on the “little rides” which suited us fine, and a very quick trip through the pandas (I could have watched them all day – but that is not the way of little people I guess), they decided we needed some more excitement and so we headed on the amazing cable car over to the other side of the park to go on the “raging river”…Actually, the wet look that resulted was just what the doctor ordered, and at that juncture we decided to head home for cake and a swim.


Catherine (redhead), Mackenzie (blond), Yuji (self explanatory), and 2 little neighbors with the penguin cake, and the 4 girls with a dance troupe at Ocean Park

And of course, much time has been spent addressing our storage and display issues – a little money spent, and – definitely a positive – things in HK work!! No more enshallah, if they say it will be delivered, or someone will come between 4 & 6 on a given day – that is exactly what happens! The public transportation is great, and there is pretty much nothing you can’t get if you know, or can find out, where to look. I still crave something like a Kmart or Target (sort of a one stop for almost anything type place) but I am told that there is a “woolworths” just over the border – something (and somewhere) yet to be explored. Oh, and the postal system is extremely efficient. It took just 4 days for some mail to arrive from Aus!! You never know, I might just get my act together and start sending birthday cards to the nearest and dearest again!

We visit our kitties once a week, and they are doing okay, although, I am not sure whether Biscuit (our timid little girl) will ever forgive us or get over this experience entirely. They are certainly healthy, and better kept than I expected, but of course they are not getting the handling that they have been used to, and Biscuit, in particular, is reluctant to be held and petted. Cookie has grown to a HUGE size, and has us a bit worried as we were reading an article while in the US that suggested that Main Coon cats can continue to grow until they are 3 – 4 years old… Cookie has just turned 2, and is already bigger than many small dogs! We are due to pick them up in 1 more week, which I guess will soon pass. As we have a dog on one side as a neighbor, and 2 cats on the other, it will be interesting to see what our kitties make of it. Biscuit will probably just hide for a few weeks.

Cookie and Biscuit outside their "room" at the quarantine station.

Steps! One thing that you just have to learn to live with here are steps! Between the house, and the school (84 steps to get up to the entrance, and that isn’t counting the 6 floors of the school once you are there – there will be more for the middle school too), one would think that we would be getting quite fit, but it sure doesn’t seem that way.
I was initially quite happy as we had EATEN a little too much over the break (and beforehand, and so badly needed some exercise, but typically, while my husbands weight is coming off, my ‘excess’ seems to be stuck like glue! It appears that my muscular legs are coming back to their prime, and that my body is just too busy making muscle to recognize that it should be losing weight!! EEEK! One can only hope that patience will take care of it, as I certainly feel as though life here should be helping the figure somewhat. Someone told us recently that you can tell how long a person has lived in HK from the definition of their leg muscles – before too much longer I think I will look like a lifer!!

Donie has settled quite well into school, and seems to be enjoying it, although, at least once a week she gets out the ASK yearbook and points out all of the people and things she misses. And we do miss people and things – no doubt about it! One of the many challenges of being in a small school is that you have a limited number of people you come into contact with. We haven’t had time to really get out and about to meet new people yet, and so haven’t had time to ponder it too much, but there is no replacing good friends, just more to be made I guess. Anyway, we truly miss everyone from everywhere that have become special to us over the years. Another of my pleas...PLEASE keep in contact!!!

So, in conclusion, we think of you all often, and when the dust settles, hope that some of you will come to check out the most organized room in our house – the guest room ((king size bed, ensuite bathroom, and rooftop access included free of charge)!

We are new to this blogging caper, but think it may be a better way to keep in touch, and - more importantly - forward the photos that I never seem to get around to sharing!! I will try to keep this updated fairly regularly (I think it is already out of date!!) and hope that many of you will take the time to "check in on us".

At the risk of sounding like a broken record - but do keep in touch…It gets a bit boring when the communication becomes too one sided.

Love from us all
Merris, Andy and Sidhonie