Now that I've spent almost a month at my new apartment and new school I feel like I've settled into things here pretty well. I'll finally begin teaching lessons tomorrow and I'm looking forward to trying out the lessons I've been planning over the past few weeks.
My duties at the school are teaching language arts to the first, second, and third year students and teaching film appreciation classes to the fourth year students. In addition, I'm going to be advising the sixth year students as they work on the school newsletter and make broadcasts on the school's PA system. With that and the afterschool English activities I'll be running it's going to be a busy schedule but I've got plenty of support from the staff and students if I need it.
Two weekends ago there was the Mid-Autumn Festival here, which along with the Lunar New Year are the most important holidays in the Chinese calendar. Families get together over the holiday to do moon viewing and eat moon cakes, which are palm-sized cakes usually filled with egg yolks and lotus seed paste. The kids also light up lanterns and play with them. To celebrate I went to Victoria Park on Hong Kong Island where the Lantern Festival was being held. Many giant displays made entirely out of lanterns were there to see, such as one showing the moon goddess Chang'e and her friends the Jade Rabbits. It had to have been the most crowded place I had been in since arriving in Hong Kong. It really was a struggle moving through certain areas in and around the park.
Right now Typhoon Hagupit is passing through Hong Kong so the authorities have hoisted "Typhoon Signal Eight" warning everyone to stay indoors. There are several levels of signals, but they only represent the proximity of the typhoon and not the force. This one has a lot of rain but isn't expected to be particularly destructive. Normally during the day if there's a Signal Eight businesses and schools close down, giving everybody a day off so most people are very glad when a typhoon is coming! The weather reports estimate that the typhoon will have passed Hong Kong by tomorrow morning so the chances of getting a day off this time are pretty remote it seems. Until next time!
2 comments:
You'll have to tell me more about your actual classes; it's wicked cool that you get to teach film appreciation!
Sometimes the people here ask me if Japan, especially the subway/trains, is more crowded than America. Now, I kind of want to send them to Victoria Park during 中秋節 (right after I send them to Constantia, that is :3).
More pictures please.
Wow, it's awesome you get to teach film appreciation.
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