People...whom I love and don't love, and think are strange, and some who I have to mention!!!

Ok, the people chapter begins before the "weird things to see" chapter. I'll get to that. But, I wanted to introduce some of you to the wonderful people in my life...and the other people too.

The thing is, I also want to be really careful of privacy, so I may use code names for a few. Anyway, I digress.

Friends at school:

I have met a ton of really sweet people at school. THe people here are completely real, they don't gossip, they are genuine, they try and put in an effort to get to know the newbies, I love it. Most are girls, and it's about half and half married and single. Many have lived in Hong Kong for years, and others were born here, and then left, and then returned. A few are like me. One cool lady has been here for 5 years, another has been here three, and both have decided that it's home to them and they're going to stay for a long time.

Gloria is a good friend of mine. She loves Hong Kong, and speaks Cantonese, but, she is going to end up in a crazy place I'm sure. We'll be spending Christmas together with the Schmidts and then travelling for a week afterward.

Sarah is really cool, she's charming, funny, outrageous, and likeable. Blond and blue eyed, she does not fit in with the locals, but she has learned many cantonese phrases and often surprises people.

Alicia and Tawnie, from home, have been completely supportive and wonderful and we're all learning things together. Wicked.

Rececca, new this year, from Toronto. Grew up in a chinese home and so has a good understanding of Chinese. She is an athlete, through and through.

Teresa and Kat: Two lovely girls who have been teaching here for a year. Kat used to teach at the alberta school in Macau, she's married and she and her husband are really nice people, just ready forlife's adventures. And Teresa, she's all class. I feel like a slob compared to her sometimes. ha ha.

Maria: one of the KG teachers here. It's her first year teaching after being an EA for years and raising her family.

Helen: Best Faith I've seen. She did volunteering for the last 5 years and never went hungry.

Catherine: The senior kindergarten teacher, not by age, but by experience. Helen Maria and I, this is our first or second year teaching...and also teaching Kindergarten. Catherine has taught KG at this school for 16 years. She's the boss.

Linda: my boss, lovely though, and she's really helpful with getting things we need.

this guy won't want me to post his name...he's cautious like that but... he: Reminds me of Eli. Very serious, but still funny, and only talks when he has to, not a sentimental bone... it's quite funny.

Daniel: Chamer, athlete, and thinks I'm a weirdo for eating organic when I can.

Sue: my mentor.

Jed: my EA. She is a professional musician. I think she's doing this job for financial stability, but, her boyfriend is also a musician and he works with Bobby ____ (brown?) , so old famous Mo Town singer/producer. I'm trying to get a back-up gig with them, just to say I met this guy...I guess it would work better if I could remember his name...

Ok, so, don't even worry about remember those names. This is the fun part. No names included, but, these are SOME of the kids in my class by personality:

Kid #1: very serious, but completely obsessed with dinosaurs. He often signs his name ______________ _____________ dinosaur. And once he got upset because his name didn't fit on the line. He recently decorated a fish which he called a megladon, and he can draw and spell the names of over 20 actual dinosaurs. Incredible. And funny.

kid #2: sweet as Candy. Answers questions correctly, sits still, does his work to the best of his ability, and then tells me that he misses school even as he's waiting to go home on the bus..... every teacher should be so lucky.

Kis #3: very Japanese...she loves to say (in her perfect japanese accent) " I love Japanese dance"....and other cute phrases. She is probably one of my favorites for being so cute. I'll give you a demo if you ever skype me.

Kid #4: Sneaky little thing....like a minx. She pretends to be sweet as candy, kissing my hands and giving me hugs and saying "I love you Miss Ritz" and then you look in her bag, and she's stolen a bag of decorative beads.... but she'll smile at you and say..." I thought they had been forgotten"... ha ha

Kid #5: complete trouble maker. He breaks about every rule there is from spitting on other kids, to punching them, to talking when he shouldn't, to sticking his hands in his pants, oh dear.... I'm glad I have kid #2, or this one would be too much!!!

Kid#6: day dreamer. She rolls around on the carpet, even when she gets in trouble for it, she never participates, she never follows directions...but she is always humming a little song or laughing out loud to herself....almost like a crazy person...but not quite. She's pretty hillarious.

Kid #7: computer guru. He is very excited to tell me that he plays two hours of computer games every day and when he sees me log into an email he said "g mail, I have a g mail" or "facebook, yep. that's where you put your password" or " what is this website for? He recently made me a calculator out of paper, telling me that I can just write in the numbers and when I need to clear it, I just erase them...and write again.... I think he missed the fact that paper can't actually do a calculation...but I won't tell him. :)

These kids and 9 others make up my current life at work. They're priceless. Hillarious, and keep me on my toes. And though I don't see myself teaching kindergarten forever, because I get rather bored of monotony... at least I'm well entertained.

Outside:

I haven't made any friends outside yet...some aquointinces, but no friends. I plan to join a small group at my new church and we'll see if I can build some relationships there.

I joined a choir where we learn Christmas music. My one almost friend there is penny. She is probably about 35, she used to sing, but then got busy in university, got married, travelled, and then moved to hong kong with her husband, and decided to try again by joining the choir. The people here are funny, at least to me they are. They are incredibly serious about this music. We've had two rehearsals and they are just about to jump out of their seats with excitment over the framatas and decresendo's and phrases in the songs, and we do all 12 verses of some of the oldest hymns....man, I'm going to have to learn a lot of words to these songs. But, penny is like me, so we're just thinking its' ridiculous. we'll get it....give me a few more weeks!! ha ha.


Randoms:

The ladies at my organic shop. They know what kinds of food I like, and they know how many times I've come in and what days.

The man in the wife beater tank top...he scuffles his feet along the side walk, wears a facemask (as many people here do), and wears the same cothes everyday. He may or may not be blind, but he is stiff as a board. I see him so often, it's almost a familiarity.

The security gards, and the janitors at the school...they cally ou "missy" and they can't speak any other enligh so they just keep saying it...and you keep saying hello...and on and on.

I'm sure I'll come up with more.

Otherwise, it's just me and JC, so, I'm glad I have so many fabulous people all around.

I'm blessed.


Ta ta for now.