A New Yorker living and teaching in Hong Kong
Just another WordPress.com site
Back in the classroom
Even though my role at Eureka has evolved into that of someone that manages teaching projects versus teaching exclusively I still find it useful to teach one or two classes a term to keep my skills sharp and also so I am never that far removed from the classroom.
I teach at a third tier secondary school in the Ma On Shan section of Hong Kong and enjoy it. I may have shared but many educators in the United States hold a view that students in East Asia are all motivated and well behaved. However, after spending time at this particular secondary school my views about the infallibility of Asian students have changed. Students in Hong Kong are just as volatile and require the same motivation provided by a passionate teacher.
The course I teach at this secondary school is a “Social Issues” course which is one of the modules that all Hong Kong secondary school students must be familiar with to perform well on assessments necessary for students intent on continuing to university. Many of my students at this particular school find this course difficult. Although I do not like using my Cantonese language skills when I teach I have found it necessary in some situations.
I continue to learn a great deal working with this group of students. Last week we spoke about “Underage drinking” and the word of the day was “feasibility”.
Happy Year of the Dragon!
Happy New Year readers! It has been a while since my last post. Besides coughing my lungs out (blast this HK pollution) I have been busy preparing various English teaching jobs for newly hired teachers at my firm Eureka. There was quite a rush before Chinese New Year to get proposals into schools… it is less busy now, but the project management side of my job really takes a lot of time. And, next week my own teaching job “Social Issues for Form 5″ resumes at a high school in Ma On Shan in the New Territories.
Life is busy, and I pledge to be more diligent in my reporting of my life here in Hong Kong.
7-11 and Vitasoy
A good friend familiar with the in’s and out’s of Hong Kong introduced me to Vitasoy, a sweet soy beverage served in a bottle and sold warm at 7-11s across Hong Kong.
I had one after working until 11:00pm last night. It’s 8:30pm and I am still in the office so maybe it’ll be another Vitasoy night. Better for me than San Miguel’s.
Air Quality Sucks
I am a huge fan of this city (HK), but I’ve read air quality is 30% worse versus New York’s air quality
For about a week now I’ve been coughing. I never suffered from any kind of respiratory ailments in New York. Perhaps my pristine US home grown lungs haven’t fully acclimated to the air here. I have this dry cough that just won’t go away. It’s really bothersome. I am not sure if it’s the moisture in the air that I am not accustomed to or just the pollution.
Otherwise, it’s been a productive and good *cough* day(*cough cough*).
China denounces ‘Hong Konger’ trend
In a January 11th Washington Post article “China denounces ‘Hong Konger’ trend” writer Andrew Higgins reports on the tendency of Hong Kong permanent residents to describe themselves as ‘Hong Kongers’ versus Chinese citizens. The past few days I have seen a flurry of editorials and opinions on this topic in the territory’s English dailies. It is an important issue for Hong Kong citizens concerned with the future of the city.
Dinner with out of town friend
A teacher friend of mine asked I meet and show a New York friend around. I met her and meant to take her to Mak’s which is a famous spot for wonton noodles. But it was closed at 8:30pm which was weird. Ended up grabbing Vietnamese in Central.
What a great evening. I love it here in Hong Kong but sometimes it’s just great to connect with someone from home. And she was really lovely too.
Hong Kongers…Chinese but not really?
I saw the above editorial in the South China Morning post a few days ago. It really made me take pause.
I have only been in Hong Kong for 10 months but I am already feeling local with a vested interest in the future of this city.
It is an odd thing but back in New York I only gave tacit acknowledgement to recognising Hong Kong as a city with its own unique culture separate from China’s. I am truly by no means qualified to speak about this but it seems to me that Hong Kong is a Chinese city. It’s colonial history can be viewed as shameful but the British provided a stability Hong Kongers have enjoyed which has enabled the city to prosper. There is something palpably different in the way Hong Kong think, speak and relate to one another. You feel it the moment you come across the border at Lowu from Shenzhen Something about the body politic is different. It is this something I love and think worth preserving.
Are Hong Konger’s Chinese citizens? I say they are but with a strong unique identity as a Hong Konger just as I identify myself more a New Yorker versus anything else. Don’t change Hong Kong.
